As more and more American businesses—and not just the Fortune 500—“come out” of the H.R. closet and begin to offer a full range of employee benefits to LGBT employees—and their partners—an entire new realm will come into focus, one where public policy meets the free market, and where captains of industry will become, in greater instances, required to put their portfolios where their mouths are.

Diversity experts point as examples to the CEOs of AT&T and “Big Four” professional services and accounting firm Ernst & Young, who serve on the Board of Directors of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Randall Stephenson, the Chairman and CEO of AT&T, and the telecom giant he helms both have strong records of supporting diversity and LGBT rights, as does Ernst & Young and its CEO, James Turley. Likewise, both companies have recently issued statements in support of LGBT rights. But neither CEO has hinted at leaving the Scouts over differences concerning LGBT rights, even though BSA policy forbids openly gay individuals from serving as Scout leaders, or from joining as members. Although the Scouts have recently agreed to review the ban on gay Scout leaders, officials say that a decision isn’t likely until 2013 at the earliest.

In 2001, Hollywood mogul Stephen Spielberg resigned from his seat on the BSA advisory board, citing conflicting views with the organization. “I thought the Boy Scouts stood for equal opportunity, and I have consistently spoken out publicly and privately against intolerance and discrimination based on ethnic, religious, racial, and sexual orientation,” Spielberg said when he resigned.

Although investment bank and securities titan Goldman Sachs is reported to have lost an anonymous client after CEO Lloyd Blankfein publicly endorsed same sex marriage, company officials say the bulge bracket house has no plans to change its policy supporting marriage equality. Retailer JCPenney was threatened with boycott by the conservative American Family Association and its offshoot, “One Million Moms,” after the chain selected Ellen DeGeneres as its spokesperson.

Experts on both the retail and public policy fronts say that culturally, there’s a growing intolerance among younger consumers for companies and brands that don’t support LGBT rights. When JCPenney was attacked for choosing DeGeneres, Facebook was bombarded with people who said they would shop at the retailer, and “1 Million People Who Support Ellen for JCPenney” on Facebook quickly overtook One Million Moms’ page. Both JCPenney and Gap have advertising campaigns depicting same sex couples.

Medical products manufacturer Johnson & Johnson has teamed with Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFFLAG) to end gay bullying. Target, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, recently began selling T-shirts to support a group that is trying to defeat the state’s same sex marriage ban. Food products giant and Fortune 500 Corporation General Mills, also based in Minneapolis, is another institutional supporter of LGBT rights.

The endorsement last month of President Obama for same sex marriage has all the usual suspects up in arms— social and religious conservatives, Evangelical and Fundamentalist Christians, Muslims, and Jews, and traditionalists who are nervous about governmental intervention into an institution older than God (the word itself, I mean, which dates back to around the 6th Century), as well as the center-right candidates who are anxious to assuage them, and thereby earn their political backing.

But the president has been making all the right noises for an important constituency, and his campaign coffers are seeing the windfall results. So stoked is this segment of moneyed Democratic supporters—which comprise wealthy LGBT donors—that an Obama campaign fundraiser held yesterday required a larger venue, after organizers were bombarded with a barrage of RSVPs for the event, which featured pop performer Pink, after Obama’s May announcement.

According to an analysis by CNN, among President Obama’s biggest fundraisers—known in the parlance of campaign finance as “bundlers”—at least 33, or about one out of every 16 of them—is openly gay. The Washington Post reports that as many as one out of six bundlers who supports Obama is gay.

The Advocate.com estimates one in five. All told, they raised at least $8 million for the Obama reelection campaign from January to the end of March. That compares to the efforts of bundlers from the entertainment industry—which includes some of the biggest names in film, music, and television, among them actor and director George Clooney— who, during the same timeframe, raised $6.8 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Laws on campaign finance require that donors disclose their names, addresses, jobs, and employers, but there is no such disclosure required for sexual orientation. The law also doesn’t require that candidates release information about their bundlers. The Obama campaign has released its list, but the campaign of his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, hasn’t.

After the initial excitement of his 2008 campaign wore off, support for the president in the LGBT community waned—in large measure a result of what was seen as Obama’s lukewarm support for a repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT), and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). In 2010, actor Alan Cumming wrote, “We keep hearing that Obama is an ally—that DADT will end under his watch—but what do we actually get? Diddly squat.” DADT—the Pentagon policy that banned openly-gay men and women from serving in the armed forces— officially ended on September 20, 2011.

Among the wealthy LGBT Americans who have opened their checkbooks to Obama’s reelection efforts are software entrepreneur and Gill Foundation benefactor Tim Gill, who has donated, with partner Scott Miller, $672,800 to Obama for America. Fred Eychaner, the owner of Chicagobased Newsweb Corp., has given $1,220,550, and co-hosted in February a $35,800-per-person LGBT fundraiser for Obama. Kathy Levinson, the former President and CEO of E-Trade, has donated $202,150. Karen K. Dixon and Dr. Nan Schaffer, her partner, hosted a Washington, D.C. fundraiser that was reported to have raised over a million dollars for Obama’s campaign.

On the Republican side, Mitt Romney has not disclosed his bundler list, which makes it hard to know if there are any openly gay bundlers working for the GOP. But the presumptive Republican nominee is on record opposing same sex marriage and civil unions, and supports a Constitutional amendment to ban marriage equality for all Americans.

(PHOTO: Neil Patrick Harris, Suze Orman, Ricky Martin, Ellen DeGeneres, Dustin Lance Black)

The approach of Valentine’s Day and the treble victories of Rick Santorum in Republican primaries this week bear more than a passing relationship to one another, as well as to some other things of LGBT interest this week, than might first be apparent. Although couples of every stripe, political and socio-economic, gay and straight (and BTQ, too), will exchange the gee-gaws of lovers on Feb. 14, there’s no first-hand evidence of what exactly they will be commemorating on that day.
The name “Valentinus” isn’t even mentioned in the earliest lists of Roman martyrs compiled in the 4th Century A.D. The first “Feast of St. Valentine” was celebrated in 496 by Pope Gelasius I, who named

“Valentine” as one of those “… whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God.” Even the Holy Father didn’t quite know what we are honoring.
Fast forward to this Valentine’s Day, and we find that love is in the air as the self-described One Million Moms (an affiliate of the American Family Association) pressure retailer JC Penney to fire its new spokesperson, Ellen DeGeneres–an action so contemptible that even Bill O’Reilly called it “McCarthyism,” saying that One Million Moms is behaving in an un-American fashion to “actively push for a private company to fire an American citizen based on her lifestyle. That’s just wrong.”

Of course it is, as is all bigotry hidden behind a veneer of “religious freedom” and “freedom of speech,” both of which I personally revere. But a scoundrel is a scoundrel, and a bigot is a bigot, even if he is pretending to  be somebody’s “Mom.” (DeGeneres’ unruffled response this week: “My haters are  my motivators.”)

Last week in this publication, Nick Stone opined as a gay Republican on the reasons why he supports a Mitt Romney presidential candidacy (and in this issue, Marc Paige offers his own thoughts on why Stone and Romney are full of … it). I spent a number of years “living among the Mormons,” and found that any xenophobia that I thought existed concerning their culture and my own was both misplaced and wholly a product of my own imagination. In the main, they are, individually and collectively, men and women of goodwill, straight, gay, bi, and questioning, Republican and—well, mostly Republican, but willing to hear an honest “gentile” out on issues of mutual import.

Ironically, the LDS Church-owned KSL-TV in Salt Lake City (an NBC affiliate) carries Ellen DeGeneres’ program every weekday, and its news programs ran a story last month that praised the comedian for a $100,000 grant her program made to an elementary school located in Utah County, Utah, home of Brigham Young University and the most conservative spot in the most conservative place on the planet. Talk about the lamb and the lion.

When I listen to gay Republicans extol upon the lonely existence of the queer conservative, I sympathize with their contention that they are not “one issue voters” focusing solely on marriage equality or the plight of LGBT armed service members. And there are plenty of gay-bashing registered Democrats to be sure. But I have a hard time reconciling the Mitt Romney of 1994, who said “I am more convinced than ever before that as we seek to establish full equality for America’s gay and lesbian citizens, I will provide more effective leadership than my opponent” (who happened to be Ted Kennedy), with the Mitt Romney of yesterday, who, after the federal appeals panel’s ruling that California’s Proposition 8 is offensive to the Constitution, offered helpfully “Today, unelected judges cast aside the will of the people of California who voted to protect traditional marriage. This decision does not end this fight.”

Ron Paul, usually a paragon of principle, has danced around the marriage equality question with all the skills of Rudolf Nureyev (gay), Tommy Tune (gay, too), or Alvin Ailey (also gay). One side of Paul’s mouth speaks fluent “libertarian” (“I am supportive of all voluntary associations and people can call it whatever they want.”). The other side does a mean imitation of Mussolini, as authoritarian as any Leather Daddy in wielding the whip of the Federal Government to make the states bend to a narrow—and dare I say it? bigoted)—You’re-Not-Admitted-to-Our-Club mean spiritedness. It is as sour as is his default facial expression (“I supported the Defense of Marriage Act, which used Congress’ constitutional authority to define what other states have to recognize under the Full Faith and Credit Clause, to ensure that no state would be forced to recognize a same sex marriage license issued in another state.”).

Like Paul, Rick Santorum–who swept the Minnesota and Colorado GOP caucuses and the non-binding Missouri primary this Tuesday–has an appeal to those who are inclined to dislike (or worse) LGBT persons. Unlike Paul, who at least has the courtesy—and one supposes, the guts–to agonize about his conflicting views, Hamlet-like, in the public arena, Santorum has no such love for
the subtleties of human behavior— or, apparently, human love. He compares “consensual sex within your home” to “bigamy,” “polygamy,” “incest,” and “adultery.” Now isn’t that romantic?

“Love, American Style: Truer than the Red, White and Blue. Love, American Style: That’s me and you.”

Cliff Dunn - Editor

Cliff Dunn is the Editor of Florida Agenda. He can be reached at Editor@FloridaAgenda.com.

De Rossi is best known for her roles on Fox’s “Ally McBeal” and “Arrested Development,” and most recently starred on ABC’s short-lived comedy, “Better Off Ted.”

All four major broadcast networks were interested in the rights to the show.

City Councilman Found on Adam4Adam.com

We hear a snippet of news about a person and quickly Google their name to see what pops up. In 2010, gays and lesbians dominated the Google search waves. Here are the top 1 0 most popular gay and lesbians that were searched on Google in 2010 and a little about why people took the time to look them up.

Most ‘Googled’ gays and lesbians of 2010 Courtesy, YES Institute news

10. Neil Patrick Harris – He acts, he sings, he dances – NPH, as he is affectionately known, has come a long way since his “Doogie Howser, MD” days. He’s gorgeous, has a gorgeous husband, and makes us all want to live his life.

9. Antoine Dodson – This kooky character from Alabama had the mostwatched video on Youtube when an interview he gave to a local news station about the attempted rape of his sister was turned into a music video called, “The Bed Intruder Song.” Dodson earned enough money from the song and related merchandise line to move his family out of the projects.

8. Rachel Maddow – The queen of 24-news. Maddow’s show on MSNBC highlighted many issues affecting the LGBT community and pushed the liberal agenda. Maddow is anti-tea party, anti- Bill O’Reilly and pro telling it like it is.

7. Alexander McQueen – A popular British fashion designer who committed suicide. McQueen was suffering from depression and lost his mother the week prior. He is best known for his work as chief designer at the French Haute Couture House Givenchy.

6. Marc Jacobs – Fashion designer who is the creative director of the French design house Louis Vuitton. Also owns dozens of his own boutique stores throughout the world.

5. Ricky Martin – Singer who came out of the closet. Martin adopted twins with his partner and he felt wrong about teaching them to be who they want to be and live life without shame while he was still in the closet.

4. Elton John – The British singer had his usual rounds of supporting LGBT rights, but was also denied the adoption of a boy from the Ukraine, because that country does now allow homosexuals to adopt children.

3. Ellen DeGeneres – The talk show host also spent time as a judge on “American Idol” and helped launch the careers of several Youtube sensations. She is married to actress Portia de Rossi.

2. Adam Lambert– The former “American Idol” runner-up upset many with a raunchy performance on the “American Music Awards.” Instead of backing down, he pushed the boundaries of sexuality and attempted to make gay displays of affection in public a normal existence of American life.

1. Perez Hilton – The man that all celebrities hate, but the general public can’t stop reading. While still being the king of tabloid trash, Perez launched several new ventures this year including CocoPerez, FitPerez, and TeddyHilton, which focus on fashion, fitness & health, and pets.

By DMITRY RASHNITSOV,

In the wake of five suicides by gay teenagers in September, celebrities and politicians are participating in a YouTube video campaign launched by Seattlebased sex columnist, Dan Savage to help kids understand that they are not the only ones who had to endure bullying and harassment growing up.

“There were no gay people in my family and no openly gay people at my school, but I was picked on because I liked musicals and I was obviously gay and some kids didn’t like that and I did get harassed,” Savage said in the candid, 8- minute video.

Since Sept. 21, the YouTube channel, which can be found at http://www.you tube.com/user/itgetsbetterproject, has had more than 1.4 million visitors viewing the more than 1,000 videos that people have submitted.

The project was sparked by the recent suicides of Raymond Chase, 19; Tyler Clementi, 18; Billy Lucas, 15; Asher Brown, 13 and Seth Walsh, 13.

Some of the celebrities participating include: Ellen DeGeneres, Neil Patrick Harris, Tim Gunn from “Project Runway,” Chris Colfer from “Glee” and blogger Perez Hilton.

Photos Courtesy YouTube, Lifetime Chris Colfer(L) Tim Gunn(C) Perez Hilton(R)

“Nine out of 10 gay teenagers experience bullying and harassment at school and gay teens are four times likelier to attempt suicide,” Savage said. “Many LGBT kids who do kill themselves live in rural areas, exurbs and suburban areas, places with no gay organizations or services for queer kids.”

Some within the GLBT community are criticizing the project.

“However, if we keep telling suicidal people that their situation will ‘get better’ without actually taking any steps to improve it — if we don’t provide support and medical care for people with depression; if we don’t help people who are being abused to find a safe place; if we don’t make sure that the systematic, community- wide abuse of GLBT youth is eliminated — then belief alone can wear thin,” writes Sady Doyle, a freelance writer and blogger.

Zoe Melisa, another gay blogger lists her top 13 reasons why she doesn’t like the project at Queer Watch.

“The rhetoric about being accepted by family encourages folks to come out — even when coming out isn’t a safe idea,” Melisa writes. “There is no infrastructure to catch you when your family reacts poorly. There is no truly benevolent queer family, waiting to catch you, ready to sacrifice so you can thrive.

For a lot of folks, coming out doesn’t only mean that your parents will promise to hate your lovers — it means violence, homelessness, abuse.”

Even in the wake of criticism, President Barack Obama’s administration is getting behind the project and pushing the message that bullying in high schools, middle schools and colleges needs to stop.

“No young person should have to endure a life of relentless taunts and harassment just because they’re gay,” said Obama Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett during the Human Rights Campaign’s annual national dinner. “On behalf of President Obama, I want to make clear that this administration is firmly committed to working with you and other advocates. For we all have to ensure that we are creating an environment in our schools, our communities, and our country, that is safe for every person, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.”

The Safe Schools Improvement Act and the Student Non- Discrimination Act were introduced in Congress in 2009, but lawmakers have not been in a rush to tackle the issue.

“The Department of Health and Human Services has announced an unprecedented National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention,” Jarrett said. “This alliance brings together a wide range of public and private partners. And it’s going to make sure people have access to help, and to resources when they are in crisis. One of its specific goals is preventing suicide in at-risk groups, including LGBT youth.

A. County Superior Court judge granted Portia de Rossi permission to officially take on the name of her famous talk show host wife, Ellen De Generes.

The two got married in August 2008. Her name is now Portia Lee James De Generes though she will continue to use Portia de Rossi as her professional name.

In a culture that has allowed men to run society into a state of catastrophic ruin with no real consequences, the fear of lesbians in society doesn’t shock me. It makes for a safe outlet in the “blame anyone but ourselves” game played by the alpha males in control. Lesbians have been given credit for everything from tornadoes, 9-11, canceling prom, and the decline of marriage. Seems you lasses have been quiet a busy bunch.

While some of those charges are quite extravagant in their claims, there might be an iota of truth in them. When more logical reasoning like terrorist, nature, and bigotry appear magically, as if outta thin air, that iota about two women being in love as a reason for some of these problems just seems to disappear in the thinking of most rational folk’s minds. Of course this is America, where freedom allows for rational thinking to be ignored and stupidity to get a pulpit to reach and influence millions.

Case in point, the claim that Ellen Degeneres and her “lesbian activism”  is to blame for “American Idol’s” ratings decline. Certainly a bizarre claim if there ever was one, but at least there is some thought process involved with the notion. Conservative minded folks could be inclined in switching to another channel because Ms. Degeneres espouses alternative lifestyles.

Gary McCullough, the director of Christian Newswire, explains:

“While renewal talks continue with FOX, excuses for the show’s decline have been widespread.  This season’s new judge, Ellen DeGeneres, is the recipient of a good deal of the blame for the rating drop, but not for the glaringly obvious reason: Miss DeGeneres is a lesbian activist.” – Gary McCullough www.earnedmedia.org/ccn0524.htm. 6/24/10.

Hold on one second, research needs to be conducted. Okay thirty seconds using Google and my work is done. When Ellen outed herself on her old TV show it drew some forty two million viewers, a higher number then any average viewing number for any season of “American Idol” in its eight years of broadcast. Guess “lesbian activism” was uber popular back in ’97 or something.

I’m hard pressed to swallow a pill suggesting “lesbian activism”, whatever that actually is, is really to blame for the ratings decline in a show that has been on air for nine seasons. As someone who has watched maybe five minutes of “American Idol”, but knows a thing or two about being a pubescent male, it’s easier for me to think a harder in your face styled lesbian anything might get people who generally aren’t inclined to watch musical shows to tune in. Certainly your more average male viewers might start watching.

Should “American Idol” stoop to such lowbrow tactics; no of course not; the show should be about the performers, but after you’ve shattered multiple television records where else is there to go but down in ratings. Was Ellen brought in to push some gay agenda as McCullough also suggested in the same article; the truth may never fully come out, but I seriously doubt her sexuality was a driving force in her getting the gig when she popped ratings when guesting on other shows and people tend to respond well to her positive attitude. Besides, Ellen being gay is old news and it adds nothing of value to the show.

If Ellen being gay in 2010 would be so controversial that it could cost viewers, I can’t imagine any producer worth one’s salt would give her a position on the show, let alone one so prominent. Of course because its 2010 gays being on TV shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Obviously McCullough missed some of the previous seasons of “American Idol” with Clay Aiken and Adam Lambert or any one of numerous television shows that happened over the last few decades that must have been also been promoting that gay agenda.

Now assuming McCullough isn’t really gay, would someone who’s actually gay tell me what this gay agenda is and how does being on TV promote it exactly? I’m not changing the channel if all it’s about is tolerance and acceptance.