My Blog

Point Foundation's 4th Annual Gala in Los Angeles Takes Place at Raleigh Studios

Los Angeles, September 1, 2010 /LGBT News/ Point Foundation (Point), the nation's largest scholarship-granting organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students of merit, today announced the recipients of its Courage and Inspiration Awards. Emmy® nominee and Tony® Award-winner Alan Cumming (CBS's "The Good Wife"), will receive the Point Courage Award; luxury automotive brand Audi will receive the Point Inspiration Award. They will be joining actress Brittany Snow (New Line Cinema's "Hairspray," NBC's "Harry's Law") who will receive the inaugural Point Horizon Award, as previously announced. The awards will be presented at Point's 4th annual Los Angeles benefit, Point Honors, which will be held on September 25th, 2010 at Raleigh Studios Hollywood (650 N. Bronson Avenue).

The Point Courage Award recognizes an individual who has advocated for the future of the LGBT community and lives with the vision that investing in today's potential will produce a brighter tomorrow.

"In addition to being one of the one of the most talented and versatile actors today, Alan Cumming is a wonderful example of what our scholars should strive to be: proud of their diversity and generous and vocal in their support of the community," said Jorge Valencia, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Point Foundation. "We are grateful for his commitment to the LGBT community and Point."

"Point Foundation stands for everything I would like to do in my life: to redress the imbalance that exists in our society because of prejudice over sexual orientation, and to give hope and help to LGBT youth," said Cumming. "I am so proud to be honored by such an inspiring organization."

The Point Inspiration Award recognizes a corporation that champions respect and inclusion of the LGBT community, and operates with the vision that the success achieved by talented young people is limited only by the resources and opportunities they are given to help them fulfill their potential.

"Audi has been more than a supporter to Point, they have been a true friend to the organization," said Valencia. "We are thankful that they have continually shown that they are an ally to the LGBT community and are committed to the importance of education."

"Audi has been privileged to work with the Point Foundation throughout the years and is honored to be this year's recipient of the Inspiration Award," said Jeffrey S. Kuhlman, Chief Communications Officer, Audi of America, Inc. "We believe that diversity is a key driver of innovation, and we applaud the Point Foundation for developing future leaders through their generous scholarship program. The leaders of our two organizations are proud to share the understanding that support and inclusion are necessary ingredients for success."

The Point Horizon Award recognizes a young person who has taken a leadership role as an advocate of the LGBT community.

"We're honored to recognize Brittany for her vocal support of the LGBT community and Point Foundation. It isn't easy for someone so young and visible to take a strong stand on the importance of equality, and yet time and again she has been outspoken in her unwavering support of a more fair and equal environment for all individuals," stated Jorge Valencia. "Envisioning a future where all individuals are seen as equals makes Brittany most deserving to be the first recipient of this award."

"I've always been intensely moved by what the Point Foundation offers. Through their efforts, they are actively helping to make a real difference – not only in the lives of the scholars they champion, but in how the world as a whole thinks about the LGBT community," says Snow, currently filming the mid-season NBC series from David E. Kelly, "Harry's Law." "I am deeply humbled and so grateful to be honored by this truly exceptional and essential organization."

The Point Honors Los Angeles gala includes a dinner and awards program, live and silent auctions, and celebrity performers and presenters.

Presenting Sponsor is Motorola. Premier Sponsor is PricewaterhouseCoopers. Principal Sponsor is Wells Fargo. Point Friends are Grey Goose and Coca-Cola. Media Sponsors are The Advocate and Frontiers in L.A.

Students who are awarded the organization's prestigious scholarships, known as Point Scholars, are selected through a rigorous and highly competitive process that requires a record of demonstrated academic excellence, leadership skills and financial need. Several Point Scholars will attend the benefit.

About Point Foundation

Point Foundation (Point) is the nation's largest scholarship-granting organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students of merit. Point provides financial support, leadership training, mentoring and hope to LGBT individuals who are marginalized because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. Point provides its scholars with the financial ability to attend the nation's foremost higher educational institutions and its donors and mentors with the rare satisfaction of directly investing their resources and time in future generations of leaders.

For more information about Point Foundation, please visit www.pointfoundation.org. Point Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) organization.

SOURCE Point Foundation

Bryn Mawr, Pa., Aug. 25,2010 /LGBT News/ The financial services industry needs to increase the level of minority representation in senior management and mid-level management positions. According to the most recent data gathered by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, white males hold approximately 64 percent of the senior management positions available in the financial services industry. Minorities are underrepresented with only 2.8 percent of senior management positions being held by African-Americans, 3 percent being held by Hispanics and 3.5 percent being held by Asian-Americans.

In an effort to address this situation, The American College, the nation's premier financial services educator, is sponsoring the first national Summit on Diversity in Financial Services this November. This important forum, limited to 80 participants, will allow leaders interested in recruiting and retaining more talent from the African-American, Latino, Asian, Women and LGBT markets to hear the latest thinking on diversity issues from national thought leaders including The American College's world-renowned faculty. In addition, participants will have the opportunity to network and discuss best practices.

This event is being made possible by a generous grant from the PennMutual Life Insurance Company. The robust two-day program will be held November 11-12, 2010 at the Fairmont Mayakoba Hotel in Riviera Maya, outside of Cancun, Mexico.

"The financial services industry has an incredible opportunity to embrace the changing mosaic that is America. How each company recruits and retains talent must change," notes Larry Barton, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of The American College. "Top human resource and field leaders have few opportunities to share best practices about how they are succeeding in realigning their business models. Important issues including language, advertising, HR strategies and even how we prepare conferences and client materials demand the attention of today's executive. As America changes, we must be open to new ideas and learn from each other's best practices."

Presentations for this dynamic event include:

• The African-American Advisor: Recruitment, Retention, Recharge!

Presenters: Thomas McLeary, CLU®, President, Endow Inc., and Gregory Jones, Director of Diversity, Northwestern Mutual.

• Beyond the Glass Ceiling: New Insight on Building a Strong Women's Network

Presenters: Debra Boblitt, CLF®, Senior Vice President, State Farm Insurance Companies, and Mary Quist-Newins, CLU®, ChFC®, CFP®, State Farm Chair in Women and Financial Services, The American College.

• Understanding the Gay and Lesbian Market: Helping Advisors Understand Cultural and Language Differences

Presenter: H. King McGlaughon, JD, CAP®, Chief Philanthropic Officer, Wells Fargo.

Attendees must be nominated by their companies to attend this important event. To learn how to be nominated for the first National Summit on Diversity in Financial Services, please contact Mary Varner at (610) 526.1302 or by e-mail at Mary.Varner@TheAmericanCollege.edu Nominations end on September 20.

The American College is the nation's largest non-profit educational institution devoted to financial services. Holding the highest level of academic accreditation, The College has served as a valued business partner to banks, brokerage firms, insurance companies and others for over 83 years. The American College's faculty represents some of the financial services industry's foremost thought leaders. For more information, visit TheAmericanCollege.edu.

Summary Description:

Qualifications:

Please submit inquiries, nominations, and applications (consisting of resume and cover letter) to Ms. Sarah Ashton, Search Consultant.

For more information, visit: http://www.fordfoundation.org/employment/jobs/278

Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach filed papers in Idaho federal court, requesting a temporary order blocking his possible discharge under the "don't ask, don't tell policy."

“We hope they take the opportunity to follow the law and follow the new enforcement standards that they approved,” Fehrenbach said.

He said he hopes his case will help others facing open investigations, but ultimately he wants to be retained by the Air Force and continue to serve. "That’s all I’ve wanted to do these last 23 years is serve my country."

On Wednesday, Fehrenbach's lawyers filed papers in Boise, saying that a discharge would violate the airman's rights and cause him irreparable harm.

A transsexual woman took the Hong Kong government to court on Monday in an unprecedented bid to marry in her new gender.

August 9, 2010 /LGBT News/ The Chinese male-to-female transsexual (20s), identified as "W" under court order, was denied the right to marry her male partner by Hong Kong's Registrar of Marriages last year because her birth certificate still identified her as a man, the Sunday Morning Post said.

The case underscores the uncertainty of marriage law when it comes to people who have changed their biological gender in the socially conservative ethnic Chinese community.

The woman is one of a small number of people to have undergone sex change surgery in a Hong Kong public hospital, her hormone therapy and sex change surgery were paid for by the government, and she has obtained a new identity card and school certificates stating she is female.

But the city's Registrar of Marriages ruled last year that she could not marry her boyfriend because her birth certificate -- which could not be changed under Hong Kong law -- says that she is still a man.

"On the one hand, the government has recognised the rights of transgender people by having in place for years a system of gender support and the provision of sex-reassignment surgery," her lawyer Mike Vidler said.

"Yet on the other, they want to stop a person who has been living as a woman for several years - with their help and assistance - enjoying the same rights as other women. This is not a back-door step towards same-sex marriage, it is simply a case of allowing a couple to express their love for each other and live life together as a married couple." he added.

Speaking to BBC, "W" said she is determined to fight for her rights.

"I don't want to go to other countries to marry. I am a Hong Kong citizen. I have a right to marry here. The Hong Kong government allows us to have the sex change, but they don't allow us to marry. But for women to want to get married to the person they love is just normal," "W" said.

Transgender marriage is permitted in many European countries and some U.S. states. In Asia, countries that allow it include Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and mainland China, according to Prof. Sam Winter at the University of Hong Kong, who studies transgender issues.

"On sexual matters, Hong Kong is a fairly conservative society. In this case, the government clearly takes the view that W is a man, and it is afraid stiff of opening the door to same-sex marriage," Winter said. "But W is a woman and should be regarded as a woman and should be given the rights of a woman to a heterosexual marriage."

The government's position effectively means that W, though anatomically a woman, can only be allowed to marry another woman, Winter said. "That is a fairly delicious irony that comes out of the government's policy."

August 8, 2010 /LGBT News/ An estimated 500,000 people gathered along Amsterdam's historic canals joining the Gay Pride parade despite heavy rain, the highlight of a week of activities including concerts, art exhibitions and film festivals. The theme for this year's parade was "Celebrate".

Alongside the 80 or more boats laden with scantily-clad party-goers, the parade through the city’s canals included vessels from political and government organizations demonstrating their support for gay rights. Amsterdam’s newly-elected mayor Eberhard van der Laan was among those who took part and recorded a special filmed message to welcome everyone to the event.

"We want to celebrate the fact that this is the 15th year we have organized Gay Pride in Amsterdam," said Philip Tijsma, a spokesman for the gay rights group COC.

There are around one million gays and lesbians in the Netherlands, and in 2001 it became the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.

Photo: Peter More

Singer Justin Timberlake will be lending his voice to a gay character in a cartoon comedy.

The pop singer turned emerging Hollywood actor is busily boosting his acting resume and will lend his voice in an upcoming episode of "Family Guy" spin-off "The Cleveland Show." He will play Paul, the boyfriend of Terry, as well as a "singing booger."

"Terry [voiced by Jason Sudeikis] falls in love with a guy voiced by Justin," show creator Rich Appel told Us Weekly during Comic-Con in San Diego. "Justin is just hysterical!"

The Cleveland Show episode featuring Justin Timberlake will premiere next year in February.

Timberlake is also keeping up with his film career, voicing Boo-Boo Bear in the upcoming animated 'Yogi Bear' feature and playing a major role in 'The Social Network,' a dramatization of the creation of Facebook starring Jesse Eisenberg. He's also attached to play the son of Job in 'The Wrath of Job' -- Roseanne would play his mother. That film also has an 'SNL' connection -- it would feature the welcome return of Don Novello as Father Guido Sarducci.

Photo: Edward Kustoff

U.S. Federal Court judge has overturned Proposition 8, California's same-sex marriage ban as unconstitutional in a sweeping victory for gay and lesbian civil rights.

August 4, 2010 /LGBT News/The opinion, issued Wednesday afternoon by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker, scuttles the state’s Proposition 8, a state Constitutional amendment barring such unions. The Prop 8 was approved by California voters in 2008, just months after state legislators legalized same-sex marriage – prompting more than 18,000 couples to converge on city halls across the state to marry.

In his ruling, Vaughn wrote that the Proposition 8 "unconstitutionally burdens the exercise of the fundamental right to marry and creates and irrational classification on the basis of sexual orientation."

Outside the U.S. District Court, dozens of people - most supporters of same-sex marriage - gathered long before ruling was announced. They carried American flags, played Bob Marley's "Get Up, Stand Up" and exchanged hugs.

Open Meadows Foundation is a grant-making organization for projects that are led by and benefit women and girls.

Open Meadows Foundation funds projects that do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, age or ability. It offers grants up to $2000 to projects that are designed and implemented by women and girls, reflect the diversity of the community served by the project in both its leadership and organization, promote building community power, promote racial, social, economic and environmental justice, have limited financial access or have encountered obstacles in their search for funding.

Additionally, organizational budgets should not exceed $150,000 and priority is given to proposals from organizations that have not previously received funding from the Open Meadows Foundation.

Small and start-up organizations are strongly encouraged to apply.

Proposals from organizations not previously funded have priority.

For more information, see www.openmeadows.org.

Next month new marriage equality laws will allow lesbian and gay people the right to marry in Argentina. Out Now has just announced it is to make a special donation gift to the City of Buenos Aires - a $50,000 training package of their GayComfort certification program, providing unlimited staff LGBT sensitivity training for the city's tourism and hospitality sector.

Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 31, 2010/LGBT News/ In two weeks time, lesbians and gay men living in Argentina will begin to legally marry, and the city of Buenos Aires has just received a wedding gift worth more than $50,000 to celebrate.

The move has been welcomed by the City of Buenos Aires Tourism Ministry - as Out Now, a global specialist gay marketing agency, has just donated over $50,000 worth of staff training to help educate the city's tourism and hospitality sector on how to deliver customer service which best understands lesbian and gay travelers needs.

In announcing the gift, Out Now's CEO - Ian Johnson - said his company was honored to thank Argentina for taking such an important step for gays and lesbians worldwide. He announced that Out Now is to make its GayComfort program widely and freely available to the tourism sector - right across Argentina's capital city, Buenos Aires.

"The importance of next month's move to equality for lesbian and gay people living in Argentina cannot be overstated," Johnson says. "By this one action, Argentina has sent a signal to the world that this is a modern country, where equal means equal - for all its citizens."

"As a result, lesbian and gay people around the world are now more likely to add Buenos Aires to the top of their tourism hit-list," Johnson said.

"Out Now is delighted to make our leading industry-standard GayComfort training and certification program available to all of Buenos Aires' hotel sector - at no cost," Johnson said. "It is our way to say thank you for taking this step - which inspires gay and lesbian people in the country, in the region and around the world."

Buenos Aires becomes the first Latin American city to become certified in Out Now's GayComfort training and certification program. Other GayComfort certified cities also include Berlin, Tel Aviv, Stockholm, Helsinki and Australia's Gold Coast.

GayComfort certification sets the standard in training staff on LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) sensitivity issues. By preparing frontline staff, hotels learn how to deliver enhanced customer service to meet the travel concerns of lesbian and gay travelers when on vacation.

Many of the world's leading hotel brands at locations around the world are also already part of this program. Leading global tour operators - including Air Canada Vacations, Mark Travel Corporation and TUI - are also partners in the GayComfort program.

About Out Now

Out Now is a global LGBT market specialist with two decades of marketing experience relied upon by leading brands including IBM, Toyota, TUI, Lufthansa, German National Tourist Office, Merck, Sony Music, Barclays, Lloyds TSB and Citibank.

About GayComfort

GayComfort is a trademark of Out Now. It delivers online training in four languages (Spanish, French, German and English) to tourism and hospitality staff working around the world. It is designed not to treat gay customers differently, but to treat them the same as all other customers - as equally worthy of respect as valued customers. GayComfort training leads to hotels becoming GayComfort certified so that lesbian and gay customers can 'know before they go' where to stay on vacation.

StatesThatAllowGayMarriage.com announces plans to document the stances of state lawmakers on equal marriage rights for same-sex couples. It will be the only clearinghouse of information on state officials’ positions on gay marriage and is designed to help voters, campaign donors, and the media better understand the issue of equal marriage rights.

New York, NY, July 30, 2010/LGBT News/ To date, StatesThatAllowGayMarriage.com has used media accounts, press releases from candidates and elected officials, and the public voting record of elected officials to document the support for or opposition to equal marriage rights of all 50 governors, 100 United States senators, and 435 United States representatives.

“Until StatesThatAllowGayMarriage.com launched, there was no one place you could go to find this information,” said Michael Zuyus, founder of StatesThatAllowGayMarriage.com. “We want to make it easy for people to get the information they need in order to support candidates who will vote for marriage rights in their state.”

Given that all of the expansions of equal marriage rights have taken place at the state level, StatesThatAllowGayMarriage.com will begin documenting the positions of state lawmakers. The site will start with states that are seeing the most legislative action on marriage equality: New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Maine.

The site is also updated weekly with news and information about current efforts to expand marriage equality. Visitors are also encouraged to make donations to fund the effort.

About StatesThatAllowGayMarriage.com

StatesThatAllowGayMarriage.com is a resource for voters,campaign donors, and the media about the positions of elected officials on marriage equality rights for gay and lesbian couples. It uses public records to document the stance of every governor, United States Senator, and United States representative on equal marriage rights. It is currently documenting the positions of lawmakers in all 50 states.