YouGov BrandIndexhas named their Top 20 of the best perceived brands by the LGBT community. Coming in at number one on the list is YouTube (taking he place of the Android Operating System which slipped to number 15).

Nearly half of the brands in the Top 20 are in technology or entertainment, including YouTube, Netflix, Amazon.com, Samsung, Kindle, Google, Android, iPhone, PBS, HBO. Amazon, Google, HBO.

Falling out of the top 20 this year: iPad, Disneyland/Disney World, Apple, Advil, LG, Starbucks, Comedy Central, iPod, and Skype.

Capital One made the largest gains in perception by the LGBT community during the first half of this year with Coca Cola making the second biggest gains.

All 1,100+ brands in the YouGov BrandIndex brand universe were measured with the company’s buzz score, which asks respondents “If you've heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative?” All results were filtered for respondents who identified themselves as lesbian, gay, bi-sexual or transgender.

(YouGov BrandIndex)

This year marks the 60th anniversary of two companies with a passion for modern furniture. To celebrate their long-standing businesses, Circle Furniture will host Thayer Coggin’s Design Classics Roadshow. As part of their celebration, Thayer Coggin is sharing a collection of internationally acclaimed designer Milo Baughman’s furniture from the mid-century modern era.

“In celebration of our 60th anniversary, we are taking these design classics to furniture showrooms across the country,” said Mrs. Royale Coggin Wiggin, president of the company. “Milo Baughman and Thayer Coggin worked together to define a classical era of modern furniture in America. This road show will highlight the history of our company and spotlight our commitment to excellence and craftsmanship in making American contemporary furniture.”

“The Thayer Coggin event could not have come at a better time, since we ourselves are celebrating our 60th anniversary,” said Peggy Burns, co-owner of Circle Furniture. “60 years in business is an incredible accomplishment, and we are excited to share this milestone with Thayer Coggin and our beloved customers.”

The opening reception for this contemporary furniture trunk show will be on Thursday, May 30th at Circle Furniture’s downtown Boston showroom, 31 St. James Avenue. The display will be available May 25th through June 5th.

To benefit The One Fund Boston, Circle Furniture will auction off two Milo Baughman chairs that were generously donated by Thayer Coggin. For more information about the auction please visit www.circlefurniture.com.

One Million Moms (OMM) is demanding that Disney put a stop to the 23rd annual Gay Day at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom on Saturday, June 1.

OMM is an organization with less than 57,000 likes on Facebook. It is known for its call to boycott of JC Penney last year, after out gay talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres became a spokesperson for the retailer.

The group's latest targeted marketing calls on members to contact Disney's CEO to demand that he end Disney Gay Day.

Disney claims that they have no control over Gay Day or who enters the park on any given day.

Adding interest to the story, Instinct magazine points out that the new president of Disney World, George Kalogridis, is gay.

Here's from One Million Mom's statement:

June 1 Gay Pride Day at Disney

As soon as school lets out at the end of May, many families will plan to take their family vacation right away. Tens of thousands will make reservations in Orlando, Florida, for the first weekend in June. Warning! Not everyone there will be excited, innocent children anticipating a fun weekend at Disney World. The first Saturday in June, homosexuals, bisexuals and transvestites will be at the Magic Kingdom with an agenda and purpose different than what would be expected at Disney.

Homosexuals will be celebrating the 23rd anniversary of Gay Day wearing matching Gay Day merchandise, such as T-shirts. There will also be transvestites dressed in drag showing their support for the event. This event is planned with the intent to expose and desensitize children to this lifestyle by same-sex couples holding hands, hugging and kissing. In short, a Gay Day participant's main goal is to be seen versus seeing Disney World.

In past years when we have contacted Disney representatives about this same issue, their response was simply that they do not sponsor this event.

On June 1, unsuspecting families will witness a well-orchestrated event that Disney says they have no control over. Disney has taken no action to stop this, which leaves families stunned and offended. So instead of a normal day at this popular theme park, parents will be angry at the harm this causes families.

Disney has been irresponsible for far too long. Disney representatives and security need to maintain a family-friendly atmosphere and require proper conduct and dress code on a daily basis.

Parents who have already made travel plans to be in Orlando during this time should make arrangements to visit a park other than the Magic Kingdom on Saturday, June 1.

Take Action:

Please click on the following link to send your email to Disney's CEO and other Disney officials urging the park to no longer "go along" with Gay Day. Disney should monitor this day and event for public displays of affection and require proper conduct and appropriate attire. This should always be policed, but especially on Gay Day.

Bay Windows, a weekly newspaper serving the area’s lgbt community, has launched a new, non-traditional, model for increasing its revenue. The 30 year old weekly is turning to its readers.

In an article in this week’s edition a letter written by co-publishers Sue O’Connell and Jeff Coakley points out that “the dynamic of how newspapers make money has changed. While community newspapers like ours fight for ad dollars, readers demand more from our publication. Bay Windows is exploring additional revenue models to meet this demand.”

The letter goes on to state, “We (Bay Windows) request your financial support. We believe a viable model to bring the revenue needed to improve Bay Windows is a mix of advertising revenue and voluntary financial contributions from you, our readers.”

Bay Windows is distributed every Thursday and is free of charge. It has been a pillar in the lgbt community since 1983 and received national attention in the recent Presidential election for its coverage on Mitt Romney when Mr. Romney served as the Governor of Massachusetts.

According to the donation page supporters can donate anywhere from $25 - $1,000.

Read the full letter below:

Bay Windows has been proud to serve the New England LGBT community since 1983. Bay Windows has always been a free publication, and our online website has always been free.

For the past thirty years, our newspaper and website have been advertiser supported. How much news we can cover, how many pages we can print or post, how many papers and how many locations we can deliver, has been determined by the revenue from the advertisements that appeared in our publications.

The dynamic of how newspapers make money has changed. While community newspapers like ours fight for ad dollars, readers demand more from our publication. Bay Windows is exploring additional revenue models to meet this demand.

Some publications, including The New York Times and The Boston Globe are moving to a reader-funded models for their online content. Jeff and I never want to put any of our content behind a paywall—there should be as few barriers as possible between those in need and the information about our LGBT community.

We request your financial support. We believe a viable model to bring the revenue needed to improve Bay Windows is a mix of advertising revenue and voluntary financial contributions from you, our readers.

Bay Windows turns 31 this year. Will you pledge your support for the upcoming year by contributing funds? Your contribution will help us keep the website and paper free and improve our coverage.

Please, if you are able, we welcome your support and ask you to spread the word.
Please note - your contribution is not tax deductible.

On Wednesday this week Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, told investors that if they had a problem with the company’s decision to publicly support marriage equality they could sell their stock and go elsewhere.

The exchange took place at Starbucks’ annual meeting when a shareholder named Tom Strobar described Starbucks’ first-quarter performance as disappointing, and suggested the results were due, in part, to a boycott by the National Organization for Marriage.

“In the first full quarter after this boycott was announced, our sales and our earrings — shall we say politely — were a bit disappointing,” Strobhar said.

This prompted Schultz to reply that the company’s stance on marriage equality had nothing to do with earnings but were about “respecting diversity.” He went on to state, “If you feel, respectfully, that you can get a higher return than the 38 percent you got last year, it’s a free country. You can sell your shares of Starbucks and buy shares in another company. Thank you very much.” Schultz’s statement was met by loud applause from those in attendance.

For 2012, Starbucks delivered a 14 percent increase in net revenues over the prior year, reaching a record $13.3 billion. The company returned approximately $1.1 billion to shareholders through share repurchases and dividend payments.

In February, Starbucks joined nearly 300 other companies in filing a brief calling on theU.S. Supreme Court to overturn a section of the Defense of Marriage Act that denies federal benefits and recognition to same-sex couples.

According to a new report, fast food chain Chick-fil-A, who caused a stir in Boston last year when Mayor Menino took issue with the companys policy of donating to anti-gay groups, has not only continued to donate to these groups but in 2011 increased it’s donations over previous years.

Last summer Menino had threatened to stop the restaurant from opening a location in downtown Boston. In a letter to Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy Menino wrote, “I was angry to learn on the heels of your prejudiced statements about your search for a site to locate in Boston,” Menino wrote. “There is no place for discrimination on Boston’s Freedom Trail and no place for your company alongside it. I urge you to back out of your plans to locate in Boston.”

Menino later backed off that claim stating that he was simply using the “bully pulpit" of his office to call attention to Chik-fil-A policies.

According to a report by Think Progress, the restaurant chain nearly doubled its contributions to anti-gay groups from 2009 to 2011. According to Think Progress, the Winshape Foundation (the charitable arm of Chick-fil-A) gave $2,896,438 to the Marriage and Family Foundation in 2011, a massive increase over the $1,188,380 donated in 2010.

The Marriage and Family Foundation was founded in 2007 Dan Cathy and originally called the “Marriage and Family Legacy Fund.” Its purpose was to serve as the “implementation and funding” arm of Marriage CoMission, a group which promotes the “traditional family structure.”

Although a few reports came out last year stating that Chick-Fil-A would cease its policy of donating to anti-gay groups, those reports have proven to be erroneous. When asked about the company’s policy in an interview with the Baptist Press, Cathy said that Chick-fil-A was “guilty as charged” regarding its millions of dollars in contributions to established anti-gay organizations.

Grindr is an app that helps gay men connect with each other. But, because of its success, it is reshaping the way social media leaders think about how people meet up, according to a New York Times article about a new book that explores the popular application's implications.

"It is easy to write off Grindr — a location-based dating application for gay men — as a hookup application because, well, that is what it is," writes Jenna Wortham for the New York Times, but, she says:

… the company, which is approaching its fourth anniversary, has amassed more than five million users who spend on average 90 minutes each day using the application. Billions of messages fly across the service every year, and 76 percent of the company’s revenue comes from money generated by Grindr users who fork over cash for the service’s premium features.

The implications of that success are explored in a new book by Jaime Woo, called Meet Grindr: How One App Changed the Way We Connect. Woo spoke recently at a South By Southwest conference. According to the New York Times:

Suze Orman recently penned a column detailing the inequities between heterosexual couples and same-sex couples when it comes to federal benefits. Inequities that, hopefully, will be corrected when the Supreme Court hears cases related to DOMA this spring.

Speaking on her own relationship with her partner, Kathy Travis, Orman writes:

If the federal government recognized same-sex marriage, then when one of us dies our assets would seamlessly transfer free of tax to the survivor. That's a basic right that every heterosexual married couple has.

But because there is no federal recognition of same-sex marriage, if I die first, or vice versa, before either of us can inherit what is now jointly our assets, there would be a federal estate tax bill that one of us would currently have to pay. Again, to be clear: If we were a heterosexual married couple, there would be no estate tax regardless of the size of the estate or who died first.

Orman goes on to detail other issues, specifically with Social Security:

Married heterosexual couples can maximize their Social Security retirement benefits by taking advantage of the highest-earner's benefit. When both spouses are alive, the lower earner can opt to collect a monthly benefit check that is equal to 50% of his or her spouse's benefit. For many married couples, that 50% spousal benefit is often much higher than what the lower-wage-earning spouse could collect based on his or her own earnings record. Most important, when the high earner dies, the surviving spouse is allowed to collect 100% of the deceased's higher benefit.

Because same-sex marriages aren't recognized on the federal level, gay and lesbian couples are not eligible for Social Security spousal benefits. The lower earner cannot claim any benefits based on the higher earner's benefit. A heterosexual couple married for just a few months is able to collect a federal benefit that same-sex couples who have been together for decades can't.

And finally, on health insurance, Orman details that the current regulations are costing same-sex couples nearly $200 million in additional costs and employers nearly $60 million.

Health insurance is another area of severe federal financial discrimination against gay couples. I am so glad to see more employers extending health insurance benefits to same-sex partners. But because same-sex couples are not considered legally married under the eyes of the federal government, the dollar value of the health coverage is considered taxable income.

A 2007 study estimated that this gay health insurance penalty costs same-sex couples an aggregate $178 million ($1,069 per household), while employers paid an additional $57 million in payroll tax on that taxable income. No heterosexual married couple or their employers pay that penalty.

CLICK HERE to read the entire piece.

The Civil Rights Agenda (TCRA), Illinois’ largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights advocacy organization, has released a statement confirming that Chick-Fil-A will no longer give money to anti-gay organizations.

From the statement:

In a letter addressed to Chicago Alderman Joe Moreno and signed by Chick-fil-A’s Senior Director of Real Estate, it states, “The WinShape Foundations is now taking a much closer look at the organizations it considers helping, and in that process will remain true to its stated philosophy of not supporting organizations with political agendas.” In meetings the company executives clarified that they will no longer give to anti-gay organizations, such as Focus on the Family and the National Organization for Marriage.

Also, according to TCRA, senior management has sent an internal memo to franchisees and stakeholders that stated that, as a company, they will “treat every person with honor, dignity and respect-regardless of their beliefs, race, creed, sexual orientation and gender,” and that their “intent is not to engage in political or social debates.” This statement was placed into an official company document called “Chick-fil-A: Who We Are.”

“We are very pleased with this outcome and thank Alderman Moreno for his work on this issue,” said Anthony Martinez, executive director of The Civil Rights Agenda. “I think the most important part of this outcome is that Chick-fil-A has ceased their donations to anti-gay groups in 2011 and going forward. With some of the groups that they were donating to being classified as hate groups, and others actively trying to halt the movement toward full civil rights for LGBT people, Chick-fil-A has taken a big step forward. We are encouraged by their willingness to serve all people and ensure their profits are not used to fight against a minority community that is still trying to gain full and equal civil rights.”

“Although we are encouraged by their internal statement, we still would like for the company to adopt an anti-discrimination policy at the corporate level,” said Rick Garcia, policy advisor for The Civil Rights Agenda. “It is one thing for a company to say they respect everyone they serve and employ, it is quite another for them to put that into their policies and demand that all employees adhere to that behavior. As we have heard from gay employees that work for Chick-fil-A, there is a culture of discrimination within the company and we would like to ensure that employees can speak out and call attention to those practices without fear of reprisal. It takes time to change the culture of any institution and steps like a corporate policy ensure that progress is made.”

The 14th annual 2012 Reaching Out conference of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) graduate business school students is coming to Boston. The conference, which attracts more than 1000 students and industry professionals representing all sectors of the business community, from finance and marketing to government and the arts, provides a unique opportunity for LGBT students to network with Fortune 500 companies, business leaders and recruiters from across the globe. The 3 day event will be held at the Seaport Hotel World Trade Center in Boston October 18 – 20, 2012.

This year’s theme, “Together, Building Community” illustrates the conference’s mission to provide an inclusive environment for prospective and current LGBT MBA students to connect with LGBT professionals in a way that fosters personal and professional growth. This year’s keynote speaker is Dan Savage, founder of the “It Gets Better Campaign” a project that empowers members of the community to share stories on how and why life gets better to help prevent suicide among LGBT youth.

According to Kevin Smith, President of the Reaching Out LGBT MBA conference Board of Directors, the conference is a major catalyst in shaping the future of LGBT MBA students in the workplace. “Our organization is dedicated to promoting the acceptance and visibility of LGBT businesspeople and their interests in the work environment,” said Smith. “Through workshops, networking, social events, and career expos, we hope to further strengthen the LGBT network and engage leaders in discussions that will help us achieve full equality both in the US and abroad. Equality in the workplace begins in the classroom.”

The only student run MBA conference of its kind in the country, the Reaching Out LGBT MBA conference is organized by current LGBT MBA students from MIT Sloan, Yale School of Management, and Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. At this year’s conference more than 80 companies will be represented including Google, Southwest, Amazon Inc., McKinsey & Company, American Express, Boston Consulting Group, Ernst & Young, Fidelity, Johnson & Johnson, Proctor & Gamble, Target, Toyota and Wells Fargo. In addition, many top business schools will be attending including Harvard, Wharton, Kellogg, NYU Stern, Columbia, Yale and Georgetown. “There is no other opportunity or venue for LGBT MBA students to have this type of access to the top employers and graduate schools,” revealed Smith. “We are proud to be able to provide the resources and contacts that will help strengthen the vital LGBT business community.”

The Reaching Out LGBT MBA conference will be held October 18 – 20 at the Seaport Hotel World Trade Center, Boston, MA. For registration and information, visit www.reachingoutmba.org.

The Human Rights Campaign has released a statement supporting Boston Mayor Tom Menino’s stance against fast food chain Chick-Fil-A’s anti-LGBT “practices”. Recently, Mayor Menino sent a letter to Chick-Fil-A’s President Dan Cathy. In the letter Menino calls out Cathy for his “prejudiced statements” against same-sex marriage and said that having a branch of the restaurant chain across from City Hall “would be an insult.”

HRC Vice President of Communications and Marketing Fred Sainz released the following statement:

“We applaud Mayor Menino for calling out Chick-fil-A’s anti-LGBT practices. We have been asking people to make their own decisions about whether to continue supporting Chick-fil-A based on the facts available, and Mayor Menino has done just that. Mayor Menino’s rebuke of Chick-fil-A sends a strong messages that their habit of supporting hateful organizations that demonize LGBT Americans are out-of-step with not just Bostonians, but the majority of fair-minded Americans. Chick-fil-A is on the wrong side of history, and we look forward to seeing more and more elected officials and businesses speak out against their discriminatory practices.”

Massachusetts-based Eastern Bank named three prominent local LGBTs to its Boards of Trustees and Corporators on today, March 5.

President and CEO of AIDS Action Committee Rebecca Haag is now a member of Eastern Bank's Board of Trustees.

And Founder and Executive Director of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition Gunner Scott and Executive Director of MassEquality Kara Suffredini have joined the bank's Board of Corporators.

Monday's announcement follows last Wednesday's bestowal of a MassEquality Icon Award on Eastern Bank for its leadership in the LGBT community.

Founded in 1818, Eastern Bank has been making dramatic inroads with the LGBT community since its acquisition in 2010 of Wainwright Bank. Wainwright was widely recognized for its support of LGBT concerns and counted hundreds LGBT organizations as clients. The bank notably allowed the use of its conference room facilities for Boston Pride Committee meetings for many years.

Eastern Bank has continued Wainwright's LGBT outreach and furthered it with the addition of Haag, Scott, and Suffredini to its governance structure.