08.29.08
Posted in Gay Portal at 5:32 pm by pikapp44
NBC has apologized for what looked like a refusal to report fully on openly gay Australian diver Matthew Mitcham’s astonishing upset victory over the heavily favored Chinese team, taking the gold medal and garnering the highest score in Olympics history for his event.
NBC, which had offered extensive coverage on the personal lives of a number of other athletes, did not acknowledge the presence of Mitcham’s partner, Lachlan, whom Mitcham had brought to Beijing with the help of a program underwritten Johnson & Johnson to allow athletes to bring family members along.
More dramatic still was the back-story of a young athlete who had suffered depression over his sexual status to the point of nearly quitting, before making a comeback that took him all the way to the gold medal–and who came out of the closet publicly along the way, making him the first Australian athlete to do so and conferring upon Mitcham the distinction of being one of only ten, out of over 10,000 athletes competing in the 2008 Summer Olympics, to go to Beijing as an openly gay athlete; moreover, of those ten courageous people, Mitcham is the only man.
For gay and lesbian viewers, who were solidly invested in Mitcham’s performance and thrilled with his triumph, the result of four perfect dives, the lack of coverage regarding Mitcham was an insult. It also smacked of censorship.
When the GLBT media erupted in protest over the network’s silence regarding Mitcham’s personal life and the role it played in his victory, NBC made its apologies.
In a Gaywired article from Aug. 28 it was reported that NBC Olympics president Gary Zenkel had stated to GLBT publication AfterElton, “We regret that we missed the opportunity to tell Matthew Mitcham’s story. We apologize for this unintentional omission.”
That same article reported that when AfterElton editor Michael Jensen asked Greg Hughes, spokesperson for NBC Sports, about the issue of censorship which some GLBT viewers had begun talking about, Jensen was told by Hughes, “[W]e don’t discuss an athlete’s sexual orientation.”
Except, pointed out The Advocate.com in an Aug. 28 article, the sexual orientations of the athletes upon whom the network lavished coverage were implicit to the stories of married athletes, tortured love affairs, and the like.
And while the partners and spouses of straight athletes were discussed, Lachlan was never mentioned.
Moreover, once NBC reported the basic facts of Mitcham’s victory, Mitcham himself barely got a mention again.
Coming out of the closet was part and parcel of Mitcham’s overall story, from embracing his true identity as both an athlete and a gay man, to arranging for the funds for Lachlan to accompany him to the Games.
“However, the higher ups at NBC Sports decided that all these bits of information were not ready for prime time,” wrote Moylan, who went on to note that, “the omission shows a sore lack of sound news judgment.”
Moylan added that, “you could argue that his sexual orientation has nothing to do with the competition, but, then again, neither does what Michael Phelps eats for breakfast, that divers David Boudia and Thomas Finchum are roommates, or that the decathlon prepared Bryan Clay for being a father, all of which were mentioned more than once.”
The view from the heterosexual sports writers’ world is a bit different, at least at the blog The Big Lead which took a Mitcham quote from the Australian newspaper the Herald Sun (”I just want to be known as the Australian diver who did really well at the Olympics. It’s everybody else who thinks it’s special when homosexuality and elite sport go together”) as evidence that Mitcham would rather not have had his sexuality discussed on air.
An article declared that to the athlete for whom being gay and coming out had involved a personal and professional crisis that other media indicated was so profound that Mitcham contemplated quitting, being gay was “no big deal.”
For many GLBT viewers and journalists, however, the incident rankles, and NBC’s apology is, as The Advocate.com had it, a case of “too little, too late.”
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08.14.08
Posted in Advocate Articles, Gay Portal at 12:00 pm by pikapp44
Event date: August 17, 2008 - September 7, 2008
“Same-Sex in the City,” a wedding expo for gay and lesbian couples, takes place in two different cities at two different dates. The event will include top wedding professionals in catering, event planning, floral arranging, attire, and other services.
Twenty percent of show proceeds from each show will go to the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center.
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08.06.08
Posted in Advocate Articles, Gay Portal at 2:07 pm by pikapp44
Nearly 80% of gays think it’s important to integrate into the greater culture, and at least 64% are open about their sexual orientation to at least one family member, according to survey results released Tuesday by Logo TV network.
A majority said they would prefer to live in suburbia as opposed to a city, though 58% said they would prefer to live closer to other gay people. Marriage equality, the environment, health care, and the economy are the top four issues that LGBT voters are concerned about.
Two thirds of younger gays expect to be in a long-term relationship with children.
The survey, in partnership with Tru Research, included people ages 21-45 in New York and Dallas as well as research by Simmons Market Research Bureau that included 1,800 LGBT people ages 21-59.
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08.05.08
Posted in Advocate Articles, Gay Portal at 12:42 pm by pikapp44
A record number of LGBT delegates will attend the Democratic National Convention in Denver, according to the party’s gay wing, the National Stonewall Democrats.
It is expected that more than 350 LGBT participants will attend the convention.
This would represent approximately 6 percent of total convention attendees and is a 27 percent increase from the 282 LGBT participants who attended the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004.
“The Democratic Party is being positively shaped by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocates who believe in Democratic principles of fair play, hard work, security at home and equal opportunity for all,” said Jon Hoadley, Stonewall Democrats Executive Director.
“The Democratic National Convention is an avenue for our community to participate in civic life and advance the values that the majority of Americans share. Many of our brightest elected officials, chapter leaders and party officers began their participation in Democratic politics as delegates to past conventions and by increasing the number of LGBT participants, we are growing the ranks of future Democratic leaders,” she said.
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08.04.08
Posted in Directories, Gay Portal at 1:24 pm by pikapp44
Lesbian-Business.com is a very unique business directory. It’s been online since 2003, and has never stopped growing since.
Lesbian-Business.com, web business is their specialty.
Some of their Lesbian services are Business Consulting, Lesbian Dating, Accommodations, Clothing, Classified Advertising and much more!
Discover cool lesbian products and services offered by lesbians.
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08.01.08
Posted in Advocate Articles, Gay Portal at 3:12 pm by pikapp44
An effort to urge Barack Obama to pick former rival Hillary Rodham Clinton as his running mate is shutting down under the assumption she is not a contender for the number 2 spot.
The two former Clinton staffers who started the group Vote Both say Obama’s decision to offer Clinton a prime-time speaking role at the Democratic Party nominating convention and other signals suggest Obama will not choose her.
“Because it seems that Senator Obama has made his decision to offer the slot on the ticket to another candidate, we believe that continuing to ask him to pick Hillary is no longer helpful to our party’s chances of winning in November,” Adam Parkhomenko and Sam Arora wrote in an e-mail they planned to send Thursday to the 40,000-plus supporters who signed their online petition.
Obama spokesman Bill Burton said the campaign won’t comment on the vice presidential search and hasn’t finalized the convention speaking program. Obama and Clinton advisers have said Clinton is likely to speak on the convention’s second night, August 26, which is the 88th anniversary of the ratification of the amendment giving women the right to vote.
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07.29.08
Posted in Gay Portal at 12:29 pm by pikapp44
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, the utility company that powers most of Northern California, has donated $250,000 to the fight against Prop. 8, the proposed amendment that would exclude same-sex couples from marriage equality:
PG&E Announces $250,000 Contribution to Fight Prop. 8
So the company that routinely takes folks out of dark ages is helping to lead folks away from The Dark Ages? Fitting.
It’s unclear if the local “pro-family” communities will retaliate against PG&E.
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07.28.08
Posted in Advocate Articles, Gay Portal at 4:16 pm by pikapp44
Mars Inc. has pulled its newest television commercial for Snickers candy bars after communication with the Human Rights Campaign. “Following conversations between the Human Rights Campaign and senior Mars representatives, the company has agreed to pull its most recent ad using stereotypes of gay men to sell its Snickers product line,” HRC workplace director Daryl Herrschaft said in a press release.
The ad depicts a man speed-walking in an effeminate manner reminiscent of gay male stereotypes. The walker is then ridiculed by Mr. T as the former wrestler shoots Snickers bars from a gun, telling him to “be a man.”
“These kinds of acts perpetuate the notion that the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community is a group of second-class citizens and that violence against GLBT people is not only acceptable but humorous,” Herrschaft said.
In 2007, another offensive Snickers commercial was aired during Super Bowl XLI. “Following that, HRC began a constructive dialogue with Mars on workplace inclusion for GLBT employees,” Herrschaft said. “We were of course surprised to see the company return to the same practice it had just recently rejected.”
However, “HRC applauds Mars for taking swift and appropriate action” in the removal of both commercials. “We are hopeful that Mars will make the necessary changes in their organization to ensure this does not happen yet again,” Herrschaft said.
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07.21.08
Posted in Advocate Articles, Gay Portal at 2:31 pm by pikapp44
The gay community of greater Fort Lauderdale has been put through another homophobic incident.
After numerous physical attacks against LGBT people — including the murder of teenager Simmie Williams Jr. in February — and verbal attacks from Fort Lauderdale’s antigay mayor Jim Naugle, three south Florida homes were vandalized by homophobes early Friday, the Miami Herald reports. The attack occurred in Wilton Manors, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale with a large gay population.
Graffiti was scrawled on cars and homes, though one of the homes hit was not owned by anyone gay.
Victim Ron Helfrich seemed to take the attack in stride, telling the Herald, “Maybe I’ll just write an ‘I love’ on top of the word gay and add an ’s’ to the end.”
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07.18.08
Posted in Advocate Articles, Gay Portal at 5:52 pm by pikapp44
Finance company Prudential announced Wednesday that in a partnership with the Human Rights Campaign it will begin marketing its long-term care insurance plans to LGBT consumers and couples, according to a Prudential press release.
Sales representatives for Prudential’s long-term care resources have been trained to handle some of the unique financial challenges gays and lesbians face. A 2006 study by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force shows that 90% of gay and lesbian seniors have no children to help them, while only 20% of heterosexual seniors are childless. Assets for married spouses are protected when one spouse is in a nursing home or long-term facility, but there is no such protection for same-sex couples. When a spouse dies, surviving heterosexual widows and widowers also can receive Social Security benefits that remain out of reach to gay and lesbian partners. Federal and state tax laws also exclude same-sex couples from cost-cutting benefits that straight couples are privy to.
“Having choices and protecting retirement assets and personal savings from long-term care costs should be important to everyone; however, it may be especially significant for the LGBT community,” Prudential vice president Eric Holtzman said in a statement. “The reality is the LGBT community lacks the traditional support that married heterosexuals enjoy and as a result face a greater need for long-term care insurance. Our financial professional training program will allow us to deliver a planning experience sensitive to the specific needs of this community.”
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