Hate Don't P(l)ay: North Carolina Loses 2017 NBA All-Star Game Over Anti-LGBT #HB2 Law

Well, well! The backlash over North Carolina's discriminatory HB2 continues to build, as today the National Basketball Association announcing a decision to move the 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte, North Carolina because that hateful law is still in effect in the Tarheel State.

The NBA released a statement:

"The NBA has decided to relocate the 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte with the hope of rescheduling for 2019.
"Since March, when North Carolina enacted HB2 and the issue of legal protections for the LGBT community in Charlotte became prominent, the NBA and the Charlotte Hornets have been working diligently to foster constructive dialogue and try to effect positive change. We have been guided in these discussions by the long-standing core values of our league. These include not only diversity, inclusion, fairness and respect for others but also the willingness to listen and consider opposing points of view.
"Our week-long schedule of All-Star events and activities is intended to be a global celebration of basketball, our league, and the values for which we stand, and to bring together all members of the NBA community -- current and former players, league and team officials, business partners, and fans. While we recognize that the NBA cannot choose the law in every city, state, and country in which we do business, we do not believe we can successfully host our All-Star festivities in Charlotte in the climate created by HB2.
"We are particularly mindful of the impact of this decision on our fans in North Carolina, who are among the most passionate in our league. It is also important to stress that the City of Charlotte and the Hornets organization have sought to provide an inclusive environment and that the Hornets will continue to ensure that all patrons -- including members of the LGBT community -- feel welcome while attending games and events in their arena.
"We look forward to re-starting plans for our All-Star festivities in Charlotte for 2019 provided there is an appropriate resolution to this matter.
"The NBA will make an announcement on the new location of the 2017 NBA All-Star Game in the coming weeks."

Let's hear it for the good guys!

Hopefully the NBA moves the game (and its estimated $100 million in economic impact!) to a city and state with LGBT protection.s New Orleans, which appears to be the top contender, is in Louisiana which has no statewide ordinance banning LGBT discrimination.

Meanwhile North Carolina has two years to get its %*%#@ together and Repeal HB2!

QUEER QUOTE: Nike Severs Ties With Manny Pacquiao After Homophobic Remarks

Hmmm! After another homophobic outburst from boxing champion Manny Pacquiao Nike has responded by severing their business relationship with him, calling his marks "abhorrent."

Nike's statement is today's Queer Quote:

We find Manny's Pacquiao's comments abhorrent. Nike strongly oppose discrimination of any kind and has a long history of supporting and standing up for rights of the LGBT community. 

We no longer have a relationship with Manny Pacquiao.

What did Pacquiao say? Oh he just claimed to be quoting the Bible that gay people are worse than animals:

“It’s common sense. Will you see any animals where male is to male and female is to female?“The animals are better. They know how to distinguish male from female. If we approve [of] male on male, female on female, then man is worse than animals.”

Hmmmmm, obviously Pacquiao hasn't seen this video!

Nikon Features Black Gay Dads With Kids In Advertisement

One reason I know that LGBT people are winning the cultural war for social acceptance is the adoption by corporation of using LGBT images to sell their prodcts to LGBT (and non-LGBT) folks.

The latest case in point is the Nikon commercial featuring Kordale and Kaleb Lewis, two Black gay dads with three kids who live in Atlanta. They have their own Facebook group: KordalenKaleb.

The company is promoting the family as part of their "I Am Generation Image" campaign, with a whole website and video commercial.

That's today's good news for today!

Hat/tip to Joe Jervis

QUEER QUOTE: Apple CEO Tim Cook Comes Out Publicly

Tim Cook, the chief executive officer of Apple, has finally publicly acknowledged what many people have known for quite awhile: he is an openly gay man. In a first-person essay published today in Bloomberg Businessweek Cook says:

 Being gay has given me a deeper understanding of what it means to be in the minority and provided a window into the challenges that people in other minority groups deal with every day. It’s made me more empathetic, which has led to a richer life. It’s been tough and uncomfortable at times, but it has given me the confidence to be myself, to follow my own path, and to rise above adversity and bigotry. It’s also given me the skin of a rhinoceros, which comes in handy when you’re the CEO of Apple.

With openly gay Cook as its head Apple has been quite successful, and has flirted with becoming the largest market capitalization of any US corporation in recent years.

Congratulations, Mr. Cook!

CELEBRITY FRIDAY: America's Highest Paid Female CEO Is Transgender

Martine Rothblatt is the United States highest paid female CEO, but since she is a transgender woman (i.e. she was born a man and transitioned in 1994 at age 40) what does this say about the glass ceiling? In 2013, Rothblatt was paid $38 million as the CEO of United Therapeutics, a biotech firm she founded. Rothblatt has a Ph.D., J.D. and M.B.A. and previously founded other well-known companies such as Sirius Radio and GeoStar.

Look at this interesting interview with Dr. Rothblatt.

Hat/tip to TowleRoad

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: Do Corporations Have Religious Beliefs?

The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case of Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., a case about whether the federal mandate that for-profit corporations must cover comprehensive medical care (including contraception) for their employees under the Affordable Care Act violates federal law (the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act) and the religious freedom rights of the corporation.

Three federal appeals courts around the country have struck down the contraception coverage rule, while two other appeals courts have upheld it. That "circuit split" made a Supreme Court review more likely. Among the plaintiffs is Hobby Lobby, Inc. a nationwide chain of about 500 for-profit arts and crafts stores. David Green and his family are the owners and say their Christian beliefs clash with parts of the law's mandates for comprehensive coverage. They say some of the drugs that would be provided prevent human embryos from being implanted in a woman's womb, which the Greens equate to abortion. The privately held company does not object to funding other forms of contraception -- such as condoms and diaphragms -- for their roughly 13,000 employees, which Hobby Lobby says represent a variety of faiths. Companies that refuse to provide the coverage could be fined up to $1.3 million daily.

David Green frames the argument this way:

"This legal challenge has always remained about one thing and one thing only: the right of our family businesses to live out our sincere and deeply held religious convictions as guaranteed by the law and the Constitution. Business owners should not have to choose between violating their faith and violating the law.”

The Friendly Atheist responds:

On that matter, this isn’t just a war on Green’s “religious conscience.” This is a war on science and sex. Green doesn’t care that the FDA has said birth control pills don’t cause abortions — rather, they prevent abortions from happening, which you would think he’d totally support — but he believes they cause abortions. So there. And it’s hardly a surprise that an evangelical would be opposed to women having sex that doesn’t lead to a child, though Green has no problem paying for his employees’ Viagra pills… 

David Green thinks his religious beliefs ought to trump those of his employees. He doesn’t want them making their own health care decisions; he thinks he knows better than they do. 

There’s another issue here, too: If the Supreme Court rules in Green’s favor, where is the line drawn? What if a business owner is a Jehovah’s Witness who doesn’t believe in blood transfusions? Or a Christian Scientist who believe in the power of prayer over medicine? 

That the Supreme Court thinks this is a case worth hearing is frightening. That they could rule in the religious owners’ favor is a disaster in the making.

What if a business owner believes AIDS is God's punishment and that their religious beliefs would be violated if they paid for HIV treatment? Should businesses be allowed to not offer health plans that cover treatments for sexually transmitted infections if their religious beliefs say that sex outside of marriage should be punished?

Religious belief is so inherently arbitrary (and varied) that it simply doesn't make any sense for the religious beliefs of corporate owners to determine what kind of health benefits their employees receive. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of Hobby Lobby by determining that corporations have cognizable constitutional rights to freedom of religion it could radically restructure the religious balance of American society in as dramatic a fashion as the Supreme Court's decision in Citizen United has negatively impacted our electoral process.

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God

GODLESSS WEDNESDAY: The Bible Put In Costco's Fiction Section; Controversy Ensues

Just in time for Godless Wednesday, this story is hitting the news today:

A California pastor says he found the Bible filed under “fiction” at a Costco store near his home. 

Pastor Caleb Kaltenbach said he made the discovery Friday while shopping for a present for his wife in Simi Valley. 

“All the Bibles were labeled as fiction,” said Kaltenbach, pastor at the nondenominational Discovery Church. 

“It seemed bizarre to me.” 

The pastor said he checked the shelf for other Bibles, and he told Fox News’ Todd Starnes that each copy had a sticker that said: “$14.99 Fiction.” 

Kaltenbach said none of the Costco employees he found would answer his question about the Bibles, so he took a photo of one and posted it on Twitter.

“People are pretty shocked and upset,” Kaltenbach said. “We are supposed to be living in an era of tolerance, but what Costco did doesn’t seem too tolerant.” 

The pastor said he doubted the Washington-based company would have labeled a Koran as fiction and took the label personally. 

“If they don’t believe in the Bible, that’s fine – but at least label it as ‘religion’ as some bookstores do, or ‘inspiration,’” he said. “On the one hand Christians should not yell out.’ We aren’t living in Iraq or Iran. But on the other hand, I believe that we do need to stand up for our faith and we need to be vocal about our concerns.” 

A spokeswoman for Costco told Starnes the Bible was mislabeled as the result of human error at a warehouse,” and that the issue had been resolved.

It doesn't seem surprising to me that the Bible should be labeled as fiction. Where did he want it to be put, Biography? Of course, Costco should have just labeled it as "religion" but I wanted to blog about the story, which of course is now being picked up by Faux News and the conservative blogosphere, as an example of how controversy is manufactured in this country.

And, yeah, it's sorta funny, too.

First Openly Transgender Billionaire Identified

James Pritzker has announced a name change to Jennifer Natalya Pritzker

Forbes magazine is the primary source for information about the world's billionaires and recently they have identified a milestone: the existence of the first openly transgender billionaire, Jennifer Natalya Pritzker.

Jennifer Natalya Pritzker, formally known as James, is one of 11 billionaire members of the extended Pritzker family on the FORBES list. They sold a majority stake in industrial conglomerate Marmon Holdings to Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway  for $4.5 billion in 2007 and continue to control publicly-listed Hyatt Hotels. The heiress has an estimated net worth of $1.7 billion. 

[...] 

Pritzker is a retired Army lieutenant colonel with 11 years active duty, followed by 16 years in the U.S. National Guard. Earlier this year, she gave $1.35 million to the Palm Center to create the Transgender Military Service Initiative. The goal of the project is “to sponsor state-of-the-art scholarship on transgender military service, and to enhance the quality of public dialogue.”

As far as I can tell, there are only three known openly gay billionaires: David Geffen ($5.5b), Peter Thiel ($3b) and Jon Stryker ($1.2b). Regardless, this is an interesting milestone representative of the diversity of the LGBT community. "We are everywhere, indeed!"

WATCH: Ad for Amazon Kindle Has Gay Surprise

This is a cute ad for Amazon's Kindle which features a surprise (with a gay twist) at the end. As more and more companies do this, the lies of heterosexual supremacists like the National Organization for Marriage will become even less believable (or palatable) and marriage equality will become more and more recognized as a simple fact of life, which of course it is in 10 states and counting.

Watch the ad, it's fun!

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God

Top 10 Billionaires in the United States

The list of the 400 richest people in the United States was released by Forbes magazine recently. The top 10 have a number of familiar names, led by Microsoft founder Bill Gates at #1 and Nebraska-based investor Warren Buffet at #2. At #3 was Larry Ellison who made waves with the news that he was buying the Hawaiian island of Lanai in its entirety. The infamous Koch brothers, who are attempting to buy their preferred election result thanks to loopholes in campaign finance laws are tied for 4th, followed by 4 members of the Walton family (whose patriarch founded the Walmart company) and at #10 is the 3-term mayor of
New York City, Mike Bloomberg.

Forbes magazine notes that things are going very well for most of the super-ricj=h, with their wealth increasing at an astonishing rate:

Gates alone was worth $7 billion more than he was last year. Berkshire Hathaway head and renown investor Warren Buffett again ranked No. 2 on the list, with his net worth climbing by the same amount to $46 billion. 

Larry Ellison, head of software maker Oracle, remained in the No. 3 spot, but posted the biggest gain in wealth on the list, with his net worth rising by $8 billion to $41 billion. 

Two-thirds of the list’s members saw their wealth grow over the past year to an average $4.2 billion, Forbes said.

It's too bad that we have a communist president or else these revered job creators would not be suffering so much! (Yes, this is sarcasm!)

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God

REI Takes Strong Position in Favor of LGBT Equality

In the ongoing kulturkampf about LGBT equality in general and marriage equality in particular the pressure on corporations to take a stand has become intense. I have neglected to comment on the recent Chick-Fila-A brouhaha, but I do think it is significant when corporate entities (or their CEOs) stick their neck out to reveal their values to the community.

To that end, with the ongoing fight over Washington's Referendum 74 continuing, several Washington-based companies have been forced to say whether they are in favor of marriage equality (i.e. on the Approve Referendum 74 side) or not. Previously we discussed huge personal donations from Washington-based tech billionaires Jeff Bezos and his wife (Amazon.com) and Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer (Microsoft).

The latest one to join the good guys is the well-known outdoors retailer REI.

Washington United for Marriage reacts:

“REI is taking a position in support of marriage equality — an issue that is important to the co-op as an inclusive organization and a welcoming place to work and do business,” wrote [CEO and President Sally] Jewell, who went on to describe the importance of her own 34-year marriage through raising children, job changes and relocation, and the joys and challenging of aging parents. 

“Marriage equality is important to the co-op because the benefits, legal clarity and social understanding that Warren and I have enjoyed these past 34 years should be available to any two people who want to express their love and make a permanent commitment to each other that is so clearly provided for in the legal definition of marriage,” Jewell wrote. 

“We are so proud to have REI take this powerful step in endorsing the freedom to marry and our effort to Approve Referendum 74,” said WUM Campaign Manager Zach Silk.  ”REI is one of Washington’s iconic companies and it’s woven into many of our lives.  Whether we’re on a day hike, paddling in a kayak, or pitching a tent with our kids, we’re generally doing it with gear we got at REI.  As a result, this endorsement will register with a lot of people and we’re very grateful to have REI’s support.” 

With annual sales of $1.8 Billion, REI has nearly 5 million co-op members nationwide and has been on Fortune’s Best Places to Work ranking every year since the inception of the list.  REI has a long history of environmental stewardship and is committed to “increasing access to outdoor recreative through volunteerism, gear donations and financial contributions.” 

Among the leading business supporters of Approve 74 and WUM are Nike, Starbucks, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Alcoa, Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Vulcan.

Take another close look at that list of corporations in favor of the marriage equality referendum in Washington: it's basically a who's who of the business community in the state! As I keep on saying, the kulturkampf is basically all over except for the gnashing and wailing of teeth. Of course, that means the battles will get louder and nastier as the bad guys realize they are going to lose the war and might as well take as many casualties now.

Target's New Gay-Inclusive Ad For Its Gift Registry

There's a lot of discussion going on about the new front in the ongoing kulturkampf (culture war) on marriage equality that has erupted in the corporate sector. More and more companies are being more explicit about whether they are in favor or in opposition to equality, shedding what has typically been considered the default position of "neutrality" on controversial social issues.

One of the more interesting salvos is the above ad by Target for its popular wedding registry.

Amazon Founder Donates $2.5M To Approve R74

Matthew Staver/Bloomberg News

The corporate and LGBT worlds are buzzing today about an astonishing pledge made by the founder and CEO of Amazon.com, billionaire Jeff Bezos (and his wife Mackenzie) to donate $2.5 million in support of preserving marriage equality in Washington state (where Amazon is headquartered). The money will go to Washington United for Marriage's campaign to approve Referendum 74 on the November 6, 2012 ballot, and basically doubles the total amount of money WU4M has raised to date.


The organization responded with a press release:

SEATTLE—July 27, 2012—Washington United for Marriage (WUM), the statewide coalition working to defend the state’s law protecting civil marriage for same-sex couples, today announced an historic, $2.5 million gift from Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos.  It is believed to be the largest individual gift in the country to secure or protect the freedom to marry.  With the Bezos’ gift, WUM has now raised over $5 million towards its broad, statewide campaign to approve Referendum 74 in November.

“I am thrilled by Jeff and MacKenzie’s staggeringly generous donation,” said Jennifer Cast, who serves as WUM’s volunteer finance co-chair and spent over seven years in various senior positions at Amazon.com. “Their support of our efforts to approve R74 comes at an important time and will have great impact.  I am deeply grateful to both of them as this donation is going to help us make history.”

“The extraordinary contribution from Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos will make an enormous difference for our campaign to defend Washington’s marriage law,” said WUM’s campaign manager, Zach Silk. “While it provides an amazing base for the work ahead, we hope it spurs others to invest because we’re a long way from November and we face opponents with deep pockets who are committed to spending millions to defeat us.”

It will be interesting to see if this news about the massive amounts of money raised by marriage equality advocates will quiet the nerves of local LGBT activists who are nervous about the recent polling numbers out of Washington on marriage equality.

Microsoft CEOs Donate $200K To Approve R-74

Current Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and former Microsoft CEO (and co-founder) Bill Gates have each donated $100,000 to Washington United for Marriage, the marriage equality group tasked with defending that state's marriage equality law by advocating for the approval of Referendum 74.

KING-5 reports:

Microsoft is just one of several prominent Pacific Northwest businesses that have expressed their support for same-sex marriage, including Starbucks Corp. and Nike Inc.

Referendum 74 was certified for the ballot last month after gay marriage opponents turned in more than 240,000 signatures, far more than the minimum of 120,577 valid voter signatures required.

The referendum seeks to overturn the law passed earlier this year allowing same-sex marriage in the state. That law was passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Chris Gregoire in February. The law was supposed to take effect June 7 but was put on hold once the signatures were turned in.

This is an important signal to business interests that the leaders of the state's largest corporation are firmly in support of marriage equality (as are a majority of Washington voters) and are willing  to put their money where their principles are.

Hat/tip to LGBT Think Progress

Oreo Cookies Celebrate Pride

Oreo cookies posted the above picture of a rainbow-themed version of their cream filled snack with the caption "Proudly support love!" This is yet another example of how the bad guys are losing the ongoing kulturkampf over LGBT equality as corporations are continuing to choose the side of gay rights.

Tumblr On Path To Overtake Blogger This Year

The above graph was brought to my attention by Talking Points Memo. Apparently it was created by the guy behind the popular xkcd comic, Randall Munroe. It shows that in terms of google searches the term "tumblr" is increasing rapidly and can be estimated to overtake the term "blog" later this year (October 12, 2012).

I actually have a tumblr account myself, but haven't really used it that much. To me, it just appears to be more better suited for more picture-related blogging (or tumblr-ing)!

What do you think? Who will win: blogger or tumblr? (I bet Google just buys tumblr and makes the question moot.)

GRAPHIC: Big Oil Has $35B Quarterly Profit

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God

Bloomberg's List of the Richest People in the World

Bloomberg News has started a daily index compiling the worth of the Top 20 billionaires in the world. Note that the richest person in the world is from Mexico.

Also, note that right-wing Republicans like the Koch brothers (Wisconsin Governor's Scott Walker's sugar daddies) and Sheldon Adelson (Newt Gingrich's) are in the Top 15.
Curiously, Mike Bloomberg, the founder of Bloomberg News is not on the Bloomberg Billionaires index.

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God.

Google Change Spreads Santorum Across The Web

Google apparently made some changes to its search algorithm which dropped the Dan Savage website spreadingsantorum.com from the first page of search results but instead raised the Urban Dictionary's definition of "santorum" which is even more explicit:

The sometimes frothy, usually slimy, amalgam of lubricant, stray fecal matter, and ejaculate that leaks out of the receiving partner's anus after a session of anal intercourse. Named, by popular demand and usage, after legislator Rick Santorum because of his homophobic political statements.

Not exactly the first thing one wants people to see when they google your name. Forget about Santorum, I'm more interested in the definition of "romney" (to defecate in terror).

LGBT Friendly Apple Worth Over $500,000,000,000!

The largest company (by stock market valuation) in the world is Apple, which also happens to be one of the most LGBT-supportive companies in the world. For example, it's CEO is Tim Cook, who is an openly gay man. It is now worth nearly half-a-trillion dollars, according to the Los Angeles Times:

The company's market value passed the rarefied half trillion mark in trading Wednesday, as its stock bumped up more than 1%, or nearly $6, to put its value at closer to $504 billion.  The stock jump came a day after the company sent invitations to members of the media for an event next Wednesday in which it is expected to release its third generation iPad. 

Apple is currently the world's most valuable company by market value -- a measure of the total combined value of all of its outstanding shares of stock.  For much of last year, Apple was neck and neck with Exxon Mobil Corp. for that title, but over the last month Apple has catapulted nearly $100 billion past Exxon, which is now worth about $407 billion.

Interestingly, Apple's rival for the top spot, Exxon-Mobil is one of the most anti-LGBT companies in the Fortune 500, infamous for eliminating policies like domestic partnership benefits and sexual orientation nondiscrimination when it merged with Mobil. It is the only company ever to get a negative rating on HRC"s Corporate Equality Index.