July 2010

The Secretary General of the IGLCC was in Brasília on July 28 to personally congratulate President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for the advancements made in the area of LGBT rights and equality in Brazil, as well as to urge him and the Brazilian Government to continue defending and promoting these rights for all its LGBT citizens.

We recall that Brazil, under the Presidency of Mr. Lula da Silva, was the first country in the world to convene a National Conference for Lesbians, Gay Men, Bisexuals, Transvestites and Transsexuals (LGBT) launched in 2008 in the federal capital of Brasília.

To honor the Brazilian Presidency for the creation of the Conference, during its 2nd Annual Congress in Copenhagen in 2009 the IGLCC awarded the President of Brazil with the International Leadership Award for its remarkable inclusion of the LGBT community.

Since then, much attention has been given to the issue of equality for the LGBT community in Brazil and the IGLCC is encouraged by the creation last year of the Brazilian Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, based in the city of Sao Paulo.

The Secretary General of the IGLCC met with the Ministro Chefe da Secretaria de Direitos Humanos da Presidência da República (Secretary of Human Rights) Minister Rogério Sottilli and with the Ministro da Indústria e Comércio Exterior (Minister of Industry and Commerce), Minister Miguel Jorge and several members of their cabinets. He also met with the Coordinator of the National Council Against Discrimination, Mr. Jeter Ribeiro.

On the occasion of the audience with the Ministers, the IGLCC presented its projects for the future regarding the South American country as well as the continent and also learned about the plans of the Brazilian Government to advance equality for its LGBT citizens.

The IGLCC looks forward to continuing the dialogue with the Brazilian Government and working together to advance diversity and equality in business for all LGBT citizens of Brazil and the world.

While attending this year’s GNetwork360 event in Buenos Aires, the IGLCC met with local partners and supporters in anticipation of the Summit in October. The event will take place in a time of great excitement for Argentina and the whole Continent, with the recent announcement of Argentina becoming the first country in South America to recognize gay marriage.

The choice to hold the Summit in South America also follows the growth in visibility given to the continent with the creation in 2009 of two national LGBT Chambers of Commerce, in Brazil and in Argentina. There are great potential and major developments in South America, not only in these two countries, but also in the whole continent. The LGBT business community realizes this opportunity and will be gathering in Buenos Aires to celebrate the advancements made and elaborate together a strategy to continuing this growth in the future.

The 3rd Global Summit will count with the presence of renowned international speakers presenting their expertise on current topics. The IGLCC will present as well the latest developments on its main initiatives, the International Business Equality Index and the International LGBT Business Data Base.

The event will be held at the centrally located Novotel Buenos Aires. LAN Airlines is the official airline of the 3rd Global Summit.

More details will be coming up soon.

Save the date to join us in South America!

The IGLCC and BT Group are proud to invite all 2010 International Business Equality Index participants as well as all major international corporations to attend the 2010 Index Seminar. The event will take place in London, England, on September 23, 2010 at the BT Tower.

BT Group's CEO, Mr. Ian Livingston, will welcome participants to BT Tower and open the Seminar with a keynote speech.

The Seminar's main objective is the creation of a forum to discuss the various areas of the Index and to share the best practices on LGBT issues with the participants.

In the evening, a networking event sponsored by Iliad, will also be held. Seminar participants will benefit from this extraordinary opportunity to continue the discussion and to exchange with key leaders of the UK business community.

We encourage all interested participants to contact the IGLCC to confirm their presence, as places are limited for the Seminar.

Registrations for the Seminar are 750$ CND per corporation (valid for 2 participants).

Les fiers partenaires des manifestations gaies
Son rapprochement avec la fête s'inscrit dans le cadre d'un plan de communication à long terme avec la communauté LGBT. (Montréal) Pour ses 18 ans, ...
Read More
Source: La Presse Affaires

Target's $150000 Donation To Fund Anti-Gay Politics
Send the company a message right now, urging them to explain why their money is being used to fund a politics that not only serves to prevent LGBT equality, ...
Read More
Source: Change.org (blog)

At the UN, a Hard-Fought Win for an LGBT Leader
Before Monday, no LGBT rights organizations with UN special consultative status were based in the US Out of more than 3000 accredited NGOs, ...
Read More
Source: The White House (blog)

Creating Change with Our Change: $743 Billion in LGBT Buying Power
Businesses still need to get smarter about marketing to the LGBT community. Many still need to learn that the way one markets to a single, 20-something gay ...
Read More
Source: Change.org (blog)

Cristina Kirchner: « Nous sommes une société un peu plus ...
Lors de cette cérémonie, Cristina Kirchner a reçu la reconnaissance et les remerciements de la communauté LGBT argentine et de nombreuses associations ...
Read More
Source: Yagg

EuroPride parade is held in Warsaw, Poland
Europe's largest annual gay-pride parade, EuroPride, was held in Warsaw, Poland, on Saturday, the first time a former Communist bloc country has hosted the event. The city of Warsaw banned pride parades five years ago, but the ban was eventually struck down by the European Court of Human Rights.
Read More
Source: Voice of America, The New York Times

Irish president Mary McAleese signs civil partnerships bill into law
Irish president Mary McAleese signed the country's civil partnerships bill into law yesterday. It gives gay couples almost all of the rights of marriage. The bill passed in the Dail without a vote and was approved by senators in the Seanad last week.
Read More
Source: PinkNews

Más libre de tabúes, empresas se lanzan tras consumidores gay
Las parejas LGBT (lesbianas, gays, bisexuales y transgénero) tienen un poder adquisitivo mayor que las heterosexuales, principalmente porque en su mayoría ...
Read More
Source: Fortuna Web

Former BP chief says gays and lesbians are still forced to hide their sexuality
Lord Browne of Madingley, the former chief executive of BP, has said that homophobia is still commonplace in public life. He said gay men and lesbians still feel they have to hide their sexual orientation to succeed.
Read More
Source: PinkNews

Google donne un coup de pouce à ses salariés homos
C'est à la demande du groupe Gayglers (l'association des salariés LGBT de Google) que les dirigeants de l'entreprise ont remédié à cette injustice. ...
Read More
Source: TÊTU

Pink India tiptoes out of the closet
A year on,does the ghost of 377 still trouble the lesbian,gay,bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community? Coming out involves a lot more than a change in law ...
Read More
Source: Times of India

Laurence Bernstein is the managing partner of Protean Strategies, and is one of Canada's best known and respected strategic planners. A graduate of Cornell University, he is a regular contributor to Marketing magazine and has published articles in numerous business publications in Canada, USA and Germany.

WOULD THE LAST ONE OUT PLEASE TURN OUT THE LIGHTS!

So, it’s all over now. Thank you and goodnight. The Economist (undoubtedly the world’s leading authority on everything, especially their own authority) has declared that “the gay rights war rumbles on, but without the fire of old.” (“Fading Drumbeats” Economist July 17, 2010, page 34).

According to the American Enterprise Institute (a think tank), Americans are just as disapproving of extramarital affairs as they were in the 80s; but they have become markedly more receptive to almost all forms of gay rights. Only gay marriage leaves the majority uneasy (says Karilyn Bowman of the aforementioned Institute).

And, most interestingly, the US army in preparation for repealing the “don’t ask don’t tell” silliness, have circulated a survey to 400,000 troops (as an aside, a survey of 400,000 is no more accurate, technically, than a survey of 1100, so why did they not just send the thing to everybody as there is obviously some political purpose beyond information gathering?) asking among other things how they would feel about attending a function with the spouses of gay comrades (hello ?); and more amusingly they ask whether the pillars of the nation (and, according to many Americans, the pillars of the world) would mind showering without curtains when there are gay comrades around.

So, supposing the answer is “great” and “no” (respectively) what does this mean for us as marketers? Actually, quite a lot.

One of the most often heard barriers to investing in the LGBT (or as it is now referred to in Canadian circles, the LGBTTIQQ2SA community (http://www.pridetoronto.com/about/mission-vision-values/) revolves around the sub-textual argument that non- LGBTTIQQ2SA peoples in the community would be offended or react negatively to an overtly gay marketing initiative. In light of many things (not just the Economist’s enlightened pronouncement) it seems that this discussion can be relegated to where it belongs: historically interesting but currently inoperative. And, marketers can now wave the July 17 edition of the Economist in the faces of naysayers, to prove the point.

Of course, this is all about America. Does it have any significance in the rest of the world? The answer is “possibly”. If multi-national corporations experience the benefits of building business within the segment (which will happen as diversity programs start looking outward as they will), they will pay more attention to the commercial opportunities in the sector in other countries. And, while I would be last to say that as goes America so goes the world, it is unarguably true that in the world of multi-nationals, and specifically multi-national diversity programs) American companies lead the way (okay, so perhaps not unarguably – however, not arguable here).

All of which means that the Economist is indeed the authority on everything, and we owe them a debt of gratitude.

Buenos Aires
For more information:
cesar.maschmann@iglcc.org

Sexuality/Diversity in the workplace survey launched by GLOBE
Access the survey here
For more information visit GLOBE Website

The GLISA 2011 North America Outgames will be held from July 25^th to July 31^st 2011 and everybody is welcome.
For more information: http://vancouver2011outgames.com/

Wirtschaftsweiber & WyberNet, the national associations of lesbian managers and entrepreneurs of Germany and Switzerland have initiated an European online survey about "The L-World in Business".

Access the survey here
For more information: http://sites.google.com/site/thelworldinbusiness/Home

For more information: http://www.gba.org.uk/events.htm

Colloquium about 2010 Index results and LGBT equality in business
September 23, 2010
BT Tower
For more information: cesar.maschmann@iglcc.org

Out & Equal Workplace Summit – Los Angeles, California
Now accepting workshop proposals for the 2010 Workplace Summit and nominations for the Out & Equal Workplace Awards, known as “the Outies.” The submittal deadline for both is April 30.
For more information: http://outandequal.org/summit-2010

2010 NGLCC National Business & Leadership Conference: Out for Business!
For more information: http://www.nglcc.org/

NGLCC National Dinner: An Evening of Courage!
For more information: http://www.nglcc.org/

UNSUBSCRIBE

IGLCC.ORG

465 Saint-Jean Street, Suite 102
Montreal (Quebec) Canada H2Y 2R6