Major Corporations Back Equality Act

Today the Equality Act, a comprehensive federal LGBT rights bill, will be introduced in Congress. The Human Rights Campaign has already brought three major corporations on board. Via press release:

STATEMENT BY APPLE – “At Apple we believe in equal treatment for everyone, regardless of where they come from, what they look like, how they worship or who they love. We fully support the expansion of legal protections as a matter of basic human dignity.”

STATEMENT BY THE DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY – “Dow applauds the introduction of the Equality Act and continues to support a comprehensive federal framework that ensures fairness and opportunity for everyone. Full inclusion of our LGBT colleagues and citizens is quite simply the right thing to do – for business and for society.”

STATEMENT BY LEVI STRAUSS & CO. – “Levi Strauss & Co. is proud to support the Equality Act. We have a long history of supporting LGBT equality, and the time has come in this country for full, federal equality for the LGBT community. Ensuring fairness in our workplaces and communities is both the right thing to do and simply good business.”

Each of the three major companies scored a perfect 100 on HRC’s annual Corporate Equality Index (CEI), a nationally recognized benchmark of LGBT inclusion in the workplace, and were recognized on HRC’s list of Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality in 2015.

“These remarkable companies have proven once again their tremendous leadership on behalf of LGBT Americans,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “Time and again, these leaders of Corporate America have asked 'what more can we do?,' and each time they’ve stepped up to the plate and delivered. As the fight for full, federal equality enters a new chapter, I am tremendously thankful that we have these champions standing shoulder to shoulder with us.”

Yesterday winning Prop 8 attorneys Ted Olson and David Boies also endorsed the bill. Most believe that the Equality Act will see little traction in either GOP-dominated chamber.

One Million Moms Vs Levi Strauss

Just in via email:

Joe, In the newest "Live in Levi's" commercial, there are many suggestions of what you can do in your Levi jeans. The ad states consumers can do many things in their Levi's. For several reasons this Levi commercial is distasteful and sends youth the wrong message. Many have found the "unbutton them" and "button them" segment highly inappropriate. The scene shows a couple making out leading up to a sexual encounter. The female begins unbuttoning the male's jeans until their young daughter walks in on them and the male quickly buttons back up his jeans.

There are a few other offenses during this commercial including a water drenched man air drying his jeans from a public bus window while wearing his underwear, along with the statement you can "wash them or not." Then there is a "roll them" reference, with a couple rolling on top of one another while wearing their jeans. Levi Strauss & Co. is being irresponsible in their new advertising campaign, especially since it is aired as early as 6:30 pm when families are likely watching. This advertisement is harming children in the name of humor. TAKE ACTION: Please send Levi Strauss & Co. an email letter urging them to no longer air offensive commercials and to pull their newest "Live in Levi's" ad immediately.

Corporations To SCOTUS: Uneven Marriage Laws Are Burdening Our Business

Thirty major corporations have filed an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to hear AFER's challenge of Virginia's same-sex marriage ban. On the list: Amazon, CBS, Deutsche Bank, eBay, Intel, General Electric, Levi Strauss, Nike, Oracle, Pfizer, Staples, Target, and Viacom. In general, the brief argues that the nation's uneven patchwork of marriage laws places an undue burden on corporations. An excerpt:

Amici include technology, materials, financial services, pharmaceutical, apparel, and entertainment companies; hoteliers and restaurateurs, service providers, consultants, and designers. Amici all share a desire to attract and retain a talented workforce. We are located or operate in states across the country, some of which recognize marriages of those of our employees whose spouses are of the same sex, and others that prohibit marriages between same-sex couples and refuse to recognize existing same-sex marriages. This dual and continuously shifting regime uniquely burdens amici. This legal uncertainty exposes us, as employers, to unnecessary cost, risk, and administrative complexity. In addition, this irresolution hampers our efforts to recruit and retain the most talented workforce possible, placing us at a competitive disadvantage. Our success depends upon the welfare and morale of all employees, without distinction. The burden imposed by inconsistent state laws of having to administer complicated schemes to account for differential treatment of similarly situated employees creates unnecessary confusion, tension, and ultimately, diminished employee morale.

Hit the link for the full list of corporations.

Levi's Goes To Bat For Marriage Equality

Levi Strauss, perhaps the strongest corporate supporter of LGBT rights, is dressing mannequins in their store windows nationwide with the White Knot - the symbol of marriage equality. Store employees have been trained to discuss the issue with inquisitive customers.

In Levi’s-owned stores in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco, that means more than just marking the passing of Memorial Day, the traditional date to begin wearing white: in 20 stores, the mannequins’ white Levi’s jeans and shirts are adorned with White Knots, a symbol of solidarity with the same-sex marriage movement. The symbol was made more timely by the California Supreme Court’s decision on Tuesday to uphold Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in the state. Developed by Frank Voci, a digital media consultant, as a response to Proposition 8’s passage last November, the White Knot for Equality is a white ribbon tied in a knot.

Last year Levi's was the only corporation to file an amicus brief on behalf of the effort to repeal Proposition 8. They also partnered with the producers of Milk to market the film nationwide and sponsored the premiere at San Francisco's Castro Theatre.

And today, comes this word from the National Center For Lesbian Rights:

The Levi Strauss Foundation today announced that it will make a $25,000 donation to the National Center For Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and $25,000 to The San Francisco LGBT Community Center (“The Center”). The Levi Strauss Foundation is providing this support for efforts to achieve full and equal access to civil and human rights for all. NCLR’s most heartfelt thanks go out to Levis for their support.

While our inclinations may be to get fired up about boycotting companies that do us wrong, it also behooves us to remember to reward the folks that continuously do the right thing.

Ribbon-Cutting For Passionate Struggle

Last night the San Francisco GLBT Historical Society held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Passionate Struggle, the new Castro exhibit I mentioned here earlier this week. Go here for my slideshow of the exhibit. Among those at the ribbon are Levi's vice president Robert Cameron (first man on the left) and openly gay SF Supervisor Bevan Dufty (kneeling with his daughter Sydney). It's a wonderful exhibit, moving on many levels. Highly recommended. A Facebook gallery of the ceremony is here.

Our Passionate Struggle

Two weeks ago I visited a new exhibit from the SF GLBT Historical Society called Passionate Struggle: The Dynamics Of San Francisco's GLBT History, which is housed on the corner of Castro and 18th Streets in a storefront that once was the site of Wolf Camera.

This exhibit explores the dynamic tensions between passion and struggle that have forged San Francisco's very queer past century. Through four lenses-Places, Politics, Pleasures, and People -this extraordinary show invites you to take a peek into the world-renowned archives of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society.

Principally funded by Levis Strauss and Washington Mutual (with additional support from many others), the exhibit reaches back to the very beginnings of the gay movement right up through such relatively recent events as the murder of Matthew Shepard. Two extremely moving highlights for me were a gloriously gaudy beaded pantsuit worn by Sylvester and the blood-soaked, bullet-riddled suit worn by Harvey Milk when he was murdered. I was also fascinated to find the sewing machine on which Gilbert Baker made the first rainbow flag.

Photos are allowed at the exhibit, below is my slideshow. Go here for full-screen versions.

UPDATE: Robert Cameron of Levi Strauss writes to mention that the show will run until October 2009, not the "several weeks" noted on the Society's homepage. Kudos to Levis, Washington Mutual, the Folsom Street Fair, and all the other sponsors.

NOH8 By Len Peltier

Levi's sends us this excellent Prop 8 graphic created by their Executive Director of Overall Daddy Hotness, Len Peltier (right), which plays off of Robert Indiana's iconic LOVE sculpture. Peltier's image is perfect for your Prop 8 protest posters and Levi's invites you to "use it and pass it around."

The People's Premiere Of Milk

Last night at the Castro Theater I attended the "People's Premiere" of Milk, the Harvey Milk biopic by Gus Van Zant that opens nationwide on November 26th, the day before the 30th anniversary of Milk's assassination. My longtime buddy Robert Cameron is the VP of Brand Marketing for Levi Strauss, the presenting sponsor of this premiere, and he was kind enough to take me behind the scenes. The Hollywood red carpet premiere was two weeks ago, but this one was a thank you to the Castro and its many residents who appeared as extras in the film. Tickets were distributed to local community organizations, Castro merchants, and San Francisco city leaders.ABOVE: The evening started with a ceremonial cutting of the rainbow ribbon at the new Castro Levi's store. (L-R): Mark Breitbart (President, Levi's Retail), Alex Randolph (SF Mayor Gavin Newson's LGBT Liaison), Jose Cisneros (San Francisco City Treasurer), Dustin Lance Black (screenwriter of Milk), Bevan Dufty (SF Supervisor), Robert Hanson (President, Levi's Americas.ABOVE: After the ribbon cutting, LGBT liaison Alex Randolph presented the Levi's honchos with a certificate of honor for the company's contributions to San Francisco's LGBT community.ABOVE: Yours truly and Levi's VP Robert Cameron at the Castro Theater.ABOVE: These folks had something to do with the premiere. I'm not sure what, exactly, but who cares? They were fabulous.ABOVE: One of the grandest and gayest traditions in American theater is when the Mighty Wurlizter organ rises from beneath the Castro Theater for a pre-show performance. The set always closes with San Francisco (Open Your Golden Gate) and the audience always claps and sings along and I always tear up. Last night - no exception.

Afterwards, Levi's president Robert Hanson and SF Supervisor Bevan Dufty took the stage to list all the ways Levi's has supported the LGBT community: Over $35M donated to HIV/AIDS, the first Fortune 500 company to offer domestic partners benefits, supporting a trans-inclusive ENDA, and most interestingly, their being the only corporation to file an amicus brief on behalf of No On 8.

And No On 8 is what Milk is almost accidentally really about, as it tracks Harvey Milks rise to power and his fight against 1977's Proposition 6 (the Briggs Initiative), which was the attempt by Anita Bryant and her ilk to outlaw homosexuals from teaching in California's public schools. Here we are more than 30 years later and the parallels are vivid and heartbreaking. I'm not going to give away too much of the film, you know what it's about and how it ends, but I will say that I was surprised at how easily I bought Sean Penn as Harvey Milk - his is a masterful performance and certainly worthy of all the Oscar buzz we've been reading.ABOVE: Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black is interviewed by the local press after the screening. Black told me he was elated by the response of the Castro audience, moreso than the Hollywood premiere because the audience was so invested in the No On 8 campaign and was so struck by the similarities in Milk. The crowd was extremely responsive - hissing at Anita Bryant and Diane Feinstein and giving a standing ovation at the close of the movie. I was completely verklempt by the end and so very grateful to have seen it at Gay Ground Zero.ABOVE: After the film, we moved over to Lime for the afterparty, where SF Supervisor Bevan Dufty (who is a fucking riot) posed for me with two of the "Milk Men", James Williams (left) and Ron Shuman (right).ABOVE: At the afterparty I chatted with Paper Magazine editor-in-chief Kim Hastreiter and Levi's Executive Director of Overall Daddy Hotness Len Peltier. Len and I played the "you must know so-and-so" game for thirty minutes but never figured out where we'd met. Dammit.ABOVE: The fabulous Mark Martinez played disco diva Sylvester in the film. Mark attended the screening with his mother, who pointed at him and said to me, "That's MY son!" Well done, Mom. I got to tell Mark about the time that I met Sylvester at Fort Lauderdale's Marlin Beach Hotel in the early 80's. I'll have to blog that story sometime.ABOVE: It would a sin not to include this other pic of Milk man James Williams.