Mark your calendar for the 2009 Out & Equal Workplace Summit for LGBT Equality, set for October 6-9 at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Florida.
We will be providing regular updates over the coming months on registration, workshops, keynote speakers and all aspects of the event.
The Out & Equal Workplace Summit is the world’s premier conference on LGBT workplace equality, providing a unique opportunity to build alliances, share ideas and take actions that foster safe as well as equitable work environments for everyone.
More than 2,500 participants are expected to take part in workshops led by some of the country’s leading workplace experts, participate in unique networking functions and also listen to inspirational, unforgettable speakers.
2009 Out & Equal Workplace Summit
October 6-9
Disney's Coronado Springs Resort, Florida
Gay Business Magazine Blog Hosted By Echelon Magazine
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
MIZ COTTON RELEASES THE "ASK COTTON" IPHONE APPLICATION
Another sign pointing to the claim that everyone is jumping on the iPhone Application bandwagon
Miz Cotton could possibly be THE FIRST to offer an iPhone app featuring DRAG*.
The entertainment iPhone application "Ask Cotton" is a novelty YES or NO answer-seeking application that prominently features the z-list wannabe character of Miz Cotton. In the tradition of "should I" or "shouldn't I" ... Miz Cotton offers advice to those seeking answers for a mere 99 cents ... offering up the fun, camp and a touch of sarcastic nature that is Miz Cotton.
* iTunes queries using the search words "DRAG" and/or "QUEEN" prior to the launch of ASK COTTON did not return any applications that appeared to feature a drag character and post-launch only returned the ASK COTTON application [featuring a drag character]. Not a scientific study ... just an observation.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
A Message from the Founding Executive Director of Out & Equal Workplace Advocates Selisse Berry
I’ve just returned from the inauguration of our 44th president, Barrack H. Obama, in Washington, D.C. The energy and the sense of community I experienced there was incredible and life affirming. Cynthia and I attended the Equality Gala, co-sponsored by Out & Equal, and connected with friends from all over the country.
The jubilation and pride we saw throughout the capital area was euphoric. I remember in June 2007 when Barrack Obama said, "While we have come a long way since the Stonewall riots in 1969, we still have a lot of work to do. Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us. But at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans. It's about whether this nation is going to live up to its founding promise of equality by treating all its citizens with dignity and respect."
This represents a historic opportuntiy for all Out & Equal supporters to make progressive change in workplaces across the country. Already President Obama and Vice President Biden have included LGBT Civil Rights in their official plan, which is available on the President’s website http://www.barackobama.com. They include:
Strengthen Civil Rights Enforcement
Obama and Biden will reverse the politicization that has occurred in the Bush Administration's Department of Justice. They will put an end to the ideological litmus tests used to fill positions within the Civil Rights Division.
Combat Employment Discrimination
Obama and Biden will work to overturn the Supreme Court's recent ruling that curtails racial minorities' and women's ability to challenge pay discrimination. They will also pass the Fair Pay Act to ensure that women receive equal pay for equal work and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.
Expand Hate Crimes Statutes
Obama and Biden will strengthen federal hate crimes legislation, expand hate crimes protection by passing the Matthew Shepard Act, and reinvigorate enforcement at the Department of Justice's Criminal Section.
The jubilation and pride we saw throughout the capital area was euphoric. I remember in June 2007 when Barrack Obama said, "While we have come a long way since the Stonewall riots in 1969, we still have a lot of work to do. Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us. But at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans. It's about whether this nation is going to live up to its founding promise of equality by treating all its citizens with dignity and respect."
This represents a historic opportuntiy for all Out & Equal supporters to make progressive change in workplaces across the country. Already President Obama and Vice President Biden have included LGBT Civil Rights in their official plan, which is available on the President’s website http://www.barackobama.com. They include:
Strengthen Civil Rights Enforcement
Obama and Biden will reverse the politicization that has occurred in the Bush Administration's Department of Justice. They will put an end to the ideological litmus tests used to fill positions within the Civil Rights Division.
Combat Employment Discrimination
Obama and Biden will work to overturn the Supreme Court's recent ruling that curtails racial minorities' and women's ability to challenge pay discrimination. They will also pass the Fair Pay Act to ensure that women receive equal pay for equal work and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.
Expand Hate Crimes Statutes
Obama and Biden will strengthen federal hate crimes legislation, expand hate crimes protection by passing the Matthew Shepard Act, and reinvigorate enforcement at the Department of Justice's Criminal Section.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Editorial Comment/Statement from the Founder of ALLorNotAtAll.org
Re: Pastor Rick Warren vs. Reverend Gene Robinson Inauguration Roles
Yesterday, ALLorNotAtAll.org held a very successful protest outside of Pastor Rick Warren's Saddleback Church with our guest speaker, Robin Tyler and her lawfully wedded wife, Diane Olson. We believe that Pastor Warren delivering the invocation at the Presidential inauguration is both insulting to the gay community as well as harmful. While we firmly believe President-Elect Obama's message that we can only bridge our differences by communicating with people that we don't always agree with, Pastor Warren's participation at an event that is meant to unite and not divide would appear, however unintentionally, to give validation to his dangerous views that gay marriage is like child molestation or incest.
When openly-gay Reverend Gene Robinson was invited to speak at the kick-off party for the inauguration, it was meant to be an olive branch to the gay community. While delivering a prayer at a rock concert is a far cry from delivering the invocation at the inauguration, it was intended to mend fences. Imagine my dismay when I returned home from our peaceful protest to find that Reverend Robinson's prayer of peace had not been broadcast by HBO. They are claiming that they were asked to keep the prayer as part of the unaired "pre-show" by the Presidential Inaugural Committee.
The gay community deserves and is demanding an explanation for this insult and omission from both HBO and the Presidential Inaugural Committee. At the very least, it shows a shocking lack of foresight and consideration for a significant percentage of the nation's citizens and their loved ones, and we deserve and demand an apology. We aren't going anywhere and the number of people who support us is growing and these insults will no longer go unaccounted for and unnoticed.
All the best,
Josh Einsohn, Founder
ALLorNotAtAll.org
Yesterday, ALLorNotAtAll.org held a very successful protest outside of Pastor Rick Warren's Saddleback Church with our guest speaker, Robin Tyler and her lawfully wedded wife, Diane Olson. We believe that Pastor Warren delivering the invocation at the Presidential inauguration is both insulting to the gay community as well as harmful. While we firmly believe President-Elect Obama's message that we can only bridge our differences by communicating with people that we don't always agree with, Pastor Warren's participation at an event that is meant to unite and not divide would appear, however unintentionally, to give validation to his dangerous views that gay marriage is like child molestation or incest.
When openly-gay Reverend Gene Robinson was invited to speak at the kick-off party for the inauguration, it was meant to be an olive branch to the gay community. While delivering a prayer at a rock concert is a far cry from delivering the invocation at the inauguration, it was intended to mend fences. Imagine my dismay when I returned home from our peaceful protest to find that Reverend Robinson's prayer of peace had not been broadcast by HBO. They are claiming that they were asked to keep the prayer as part of the unaired "pre-show" by the Presidential Inaugural Committee.
The gay community deserves and is demanding an explanation for this insult and omission from both HBO and the Presidential Inaugural Committee. At the very least, it shows a shocking lack of foresight and consideration for a significant percentage of the nation's citizens and their loved ones, and we deserve and demand an apology. We aren't going anywhere and the number of people who support us is growing and these insults will no longer go unaccounted for and unnoticed.
All the best,
Josh Einsohn, Founder
ALLorNotAtAll.org
Saturday, January 17, 2009
GayFranchise.com Offers The Community A Unique Opportunity on Autonomy
The year 2009 has finally arrived and we are collectively filled with such a dichotomy of emotions. President-Elect Obama is poised to become the first African American president and the economy is rearing its ugly head leaving us spinning with a sense of wonder.
The recession has obviously affected most of us on some level. It is possible that we will see at least one or more of our friends face a lay-off from their current place of employment. Sometimes life forces us to change our lives around despite our reluctant efforts to hold on. As scary as this appears, there is still hope.
Read on.....
The recession has obviously affected most of us on some level. It is possible that we will see at least one or more of our friends face a lay-off from their current place of employment. Sometimes life forces us to change our lives around despite our reluctant efforts to hold on. As scary as this appears, there is still hope.
Read on.....
Sunday, November 16, 2008
The Obama Effect
Barack Obama's historic victory has energized the longstanding struggle and hopes of America's civil rights advocates. His landslide win has brought much needed faith and optimism regarding our country's current situation and near future. And for the African American community in particular, his triumph has had an undeniable impact on diversity. What will it mean now for LGBT media? Have we won? And is Obama’s message of unity going to dispel the need to recognize and strengthen its parts?
Read On....
Read On....
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
The Gay Vote
Today is Election Day 2008. To many (myself included), this day has been a very long time in coming. You’d be forgiven for thinking this was the longest presidential election campaign in U.S. history – it certainly felt that way many times over the past two years. It was also likely the most extensively covered U.S. presidential election in history. It was nearly impossible to escape the nearly blanket coverage of the election in many print, broadcast and online outlets, particularly over the past three months.
Read on......
Read on......
Friday, October 17, 2008
GLAAD + Log Cabin Republicans = Major Hypocrisy
by Michael Volpatt, EDGE Contributor
For the last ten years of my life I’ve moved back and forth from San Francisco to New York, and have had the chance to interact with all sorts of people. As a small business owner who works ’virtually,’ I make my own schedule and live where I want to live, which is why I chose San Francisco as my home base.
When I moved back to San Francisco three years ago I was invited to have dinner with a group of new friends. During dinner the discussion turned to politics and one of the guests, named Scott, began to talk about his support for the Republican Party. Mind you, Scott is gay, and when I heard that he supported the Bush administration- and therefore their discriminatory policies- my blood began to boil.
Since then, every time I see Scott, I make it a point to ask him whether he’s changed his thinking to be in line with a party that openly supports the gay community, rather than the party that works actively to repress us. In person and via email I’ve tried to explain the fact (and it is a fact) that our rights as gay men and women (not to mention other rights, including Roe vs. Wade among others) will be challenged if the three supreme court justice nominations that will likely come up in the next election swing to the conservative side of the coin.
Read On......
For the last ten years of my life I’ve moved back and forth from San Francisco to New York, and have had the chance to interact with all sorts of people. As a small business owner who works ’virtually,’ I make my own schedule and live where I want to live, which is why I chose San Francisco as my home base.
When I moved back to San Francisco three years ago I was invited to have dinner with a group of new friends. During dinner the discussion turned to politics and one of the guests, named Scott, began to talk about his support for the Republican Party. Mind you, Scott is gay, and when I heard that he supported the Bush administration- and therefore their discriminatory policies- my blood began to boil.
Since then, every time I see Scott, I make it a point to ask him whether he’s changed his thinking to be in line with a party that openly supports the gay community, rather than the party that works actively to repress us. In person and via email I’ve tried to explain the fact (and it is a fact) that our rights as gay men and women (not to mention other rights, including Roe vs. Wade among others) will be challenged if the three supreme court justice nominations that will likely come up in the next election swing to the conservative side of the coin.
Read On......
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Gaydar Gun
I met an actor turned entrepreneur the other weekend at an art exhibit for Tom Bierdz.
Terry Ray, producer and actor of Gaydar, a short comedy received so many requests for a Gaydar gun since he made the movie, that he decided to take the bull by the horns and offer the movie prop to the general public.
Click here to read more.....
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Out and Equal 2008
This past week I attended the 2008 Out and Equal Workplace Summit which is the largest GLBT business event in the country. The Summit was attended by over 2200 GLBT business professionals, mostly from Employee Resource Groups (ERG) of the major Fortune 500 companies.
The Summit took place in Austin, Texas this year and boy was it hot and humid. Us Angelenos are not accustomed to such humidity so it sure was a shocker. Fear of Hurricane Ike loomed over most of the attendees heads and was a major topic of conversation as the event progressed. I personally cut my trip a day short to prevent a prolonged stay out of the office.
But aside from the weather, the Summit went off as usual without a hitch. It has been running now for over 10 years and the organization leaves no stone unturned. The Summit consists of many workshops that focus mainly on how to improve one's ERG. However, there are also other topics including marketing and human resources.
I attended 2 of the workshops from the event's menu. The first was hosted by Matt Tuminello of Target 10 and Dan Whitman of the New York GLBT Center. The workshop focused on how corporate America can become more involved with non-profit organizations and how they can really benefit from the incredible branding opportunity while supporting great causes. The second was hosted by MergeMedia's Dawn Meifert and her client Doug Sanborn of Coors. Dawn and Doug made a great business case for marketing towards the GLBT community and discussed some of their market research to back up their facts.
Summits like these are the seeds for change in the GLBT business community.
There were two individuals who stuck out in my experience there. One was a gentleman who I met at the airport. He told me how he was the only "out" employee in his regional office of a major financial company. He discussed how uncomfortable he was in his working environment but was determined to create an atmosphere of inclusiveness. The second individual was a young lady from an aerospace company who revealed that she was made fun of in her office for attending the Summit. The perpertrators were not teasing her for being a Lesbian, but for just being so involved.
Author, Keith Boykin was one of the keynote speakers at one of the morning plenary sessions. What a great speaker! He regaled us on his experiences working for the Clinton administration and also revealed that he was a classmate of Barack Obama at Harvard. Boykin was also really proud to have his mother in the audience as he spoke.
So if you are involved in the GLBT business community on any level, I definitely recommend that you attend a Summit at some time in your career. It is amazing to be around so many like-minded individuals and is a fantastic networking event.
The Summit took place in Austin, Texas this year and boy was it hot and humid. Us Angelenos are not accustomed to such humidity so it sure was a shocker. Fear of Hurricane Ike loomed over most of the attendees heads and was a major topic of conversation as the event progressed. I personally cut my trip a day short to prevent a prolonged stay out of the office.
But aside from the weather, the Summit went off as usual without a hitch. It has been running now for over 10 years and the organization leaves no stone unturned. The Summit consists of many workshops that focus mainly on how to improve one's ERG. However, there are also other topics including marketing and human resources.
I attended 2 of the workshops from the event's menu. The first was hosted by Matt Tuminello of Target 10 and Dan Whitman of the New York GLBT Center. The workshop focused on how corporate America can become more involved with non-profit organizations and how they can really benefit from the incredible branding opportunity while supporting great causes. The second was hosted by MergeMedia's Dawn Meifert and her client Doug Sanborn of Coors. Dawn and Doug made a great business case for marketing towards the GLBT community and discussed some of their market research to back up their facts.
Summits like these are the seeds for change in the GLBT business community.
There were two individuals who stuck out in my experience there. One was a gentleman who I met at the airport. He told me how he was the only "out" employee in his regional office of a major financial company. He discussed how uncomfortable he was in his working environment but was determined to create an atmosphere of inclusiveness. The second individual was a young lady from an aerospace company who revealed that she was made fun of in her office for attending the Summit. The perpertrators were not teasing her for being a Lesbian, but for just being so involved.
Author, Keith Boykin was one of the keynote speakers at one of the morning plenary sessions. What a great speaker! He regaled us on his experiences working for the Clinton administration and also revealed that he was a classmate of Barack Obama at Harvard. Boykin was also really proud to have his mother in the audience as he spoke.
So if you are involved in the GLBT business community on any level, I definitely recommend that you attend a Summit at some time in your career. It is amazing to be around so many like-minded individuals and is a fantastic networking event.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
GayFranchise.com Launches New Web Site
The only vehicle that connects the GLBT community with the franchise industry makes an online upgrade of its services.
August 31, 2008 – (Los Angeles) GayFranchise.com, an online directory of mainstream franchisors reaching out to the GLBT business community, announced today the launch of its newly designed web site (http://www.gayfranchise.com) as part of a new overall visual identity to create more of an interaction with our visitors.
"Knowing that our web site is the only resource for the GLBT community to find gay-friendly franchisors, we upgraded it to ensure that potential franchisees will find the best and most up-to-date information available," said Michael Lamb, President of GayFranchise.com. "GayFranchise.com continues to bring new equality-minded franchisors to our site and has now accumulated over 50 franchise opportunities.”
“GayFranchise.com is a great tool to educate and engage the gay and lesbian community in franchising. Great Clips, the #1 hair care brand in North America is using GayFranchise.com to attract new franchisees to their concept. We believe the recession-resistant model, manager-run salons, and low start up costs are a great way for entrepreneurs within the GLBT community to keep their current jobs while growing their own businesses,” stated Melisa Peters, Franchise Marketing Coordinator for Great Clips.
“As party planners, our business is all about creativity and fun. We’re excited to work with GayFranchise to help us locate vibrant candidates within the GLBT community that are as passionate about One Hour Parties as we are!” Says Leanne Mumm Pardo, Co-Founder of One Hour Parties.
The Gay and Lesbian community now commands a $712 billion dollar purchasing power in 2008 and is expected to increase exponentially in 2008. Research has also revealed that Gay Americans report being more optimistic and less concerned about finances than their straight counterparts.
Features of the new web site include:
Enhanced navigation
Compelling new look
New search function to find franchises easily
New rss feed of current franchise news and announcements
Rotational banners of our franchisors on every page
Using php technology, the site is picked up better by search engines
About GayFranchise.com
GayFranchise.com, headquartered in Los Angeles, is the premier source for Gays and Lesbians to identify franchisors that understand the value of diversity and recognize the need to open their doors to new and diverse markets.
GayFranchise.com
http://www.gayfranchise.com
August 31, 2008 – (Los Angeles) GayFranchise.com, an online directory of mainstream franchisors reaching out to the GLBT business community, announced today the launch of its newly designed web site (http://www.gayfranchise.com) as part of a new overall visual identity to create more of an interaction with our visitors.
"Knowing that our web site is the only resource for the GLBT community to find gay-friendly franchisors, we upgraded it to ensure that potential franchisees will find the best and most up-to-date information available," said Michael Lamb, President of GayFranchise.com. "GayFranchise.com continues to bring new equality-minded franchisors to our site and has now accumulated over 50 franchise opportunities.”
“GayFranchise.com is a great tool to educate and engage the gay and lesbian community in franchising. Great Clips, the #1 hair care brand in North America is using GayFranchise.com to attract new franchisees to their concept. We believe the recession-resistant model, manager-run salons, and low start up costs are a great way for entrepreneurs within the GLBT community to keep their current jobs while growing their own businesses,” stated Melisa Peters, Franchise Marketing Coordinator for Great Clips.
“As party planners, our business is all about creativity and fun. We’re excited to work with GayFranchise to help us locate vibrant candidates within the GLBT community that are as passionate about One Hour Parties as we are!” Says Leanne Mumm Pardo, Co-Founder of One Hour Parties.
The Gay and Lesbian community now commands a $712 billion dollar purchasing power in 2008 and is expected to increase exponentially in 2008. Research has also revealed that Gay Americans report being more optimistic and less concerned about finances than their straight counterparts.
Features of the new web site include:
Enhanced navigation
Compelling new look
New search function to find franchises easily
New rss feed of current franchise news and announcements
Rotational banners of our franchisors on every page
Using php technology, the site is picked up better by search engines
About GayFranchise.com
GayFranchise.com, headquartered in Los Angeles, is the premier source for Gays and Lesbians to identify franchisors that understand the value of diversity and recognize the need to open their doors to new and diverse markets.
GayFranchise.com
http://www.gayfranchise.com
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