The Boy Scouts of America is considering a proposal that would no longer deny membership to gay youths, but the organization would maintain its ban on openly gay adult leaders. The BSA was in the spotlight last October when it admitted that it failed to protect children from abusers.
Have you been seeing red equal sign symbols popping up in your Newsfeed this week? Facebook did the math and estimates more than 2.7 million US users changed their profile pictures in support of gay marriage equality. (Some users even showed their support through equality strips of bacon, sideways cats, and red velvet cake.)
Above: Facebook’s marriage equality map
(via All Things D)
“It isn’t often that I inject my own life into the narrative of a column I write or a point I make on TV, but now that the quest for equality has come to the Supreme Court, there is no better time…I realized that my own story is as woven into this national debate on marriage as hundreds of thousands of others are and will continue to be. And I won’t be shy about making it so.”
–SKDKnickerbocker managing director Hilary Rosen in an op-ed for The Washington Post as the Supreme Court hears arguments today in landmark cases on same-sex marriage.
— Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz at the company’s annual meeting defending its support of same-sex marriage to a shareholder who questioned the company’s value after taking its stand. Last year, Starbucks endorsed Washington state’s gay marriage legislation, which led to the National Organization for Marriage launching a campaign called Dump Starbucks that urged consumers to boycott the coffee giant.
— The Presidential Inaugural Committee rejects Pastor Giglio’s anti-gay views in a statement.
(via think-progress)
Web companies are going purple today in honor of GLAAD’s #SpiritDay to speak out against bullying and show support for LGBT youth. The organization is encouraging individuals and companies to wear purple or add purple to social media profiles.
Amtrak’s new print ads feature same-sex families.
This follows a growing number of companies releasing campaigns featuring same-sex couples.
First, enjoy the Muppets’ rendition of “Forget You.”
Then, read about how the Muppets abandoned Chick-fil-A due to its anti-gay policies.
The Jim Henson Company said it is ending its partnership with Chick-fil-A over the restaurant chain’s anti-gay marriage stance. The company behind The Muppets characters had been offering its “Creature Puppet” toys in the fast food chain’s kids meals. Jim Henson’s move follows other severed ties with Chick-fil-A, such as Boston mayor Thomas Menino, who has vowed to stop Chick-fil-A from opening restaurants in the city, and The Office star Ed Helms, who tweeted that the chain had “lost a loyal fan.”
Google is firmly planting its rainbow flag with the launch of its “Legalize Love” campaign to promote safer working conditions—both inside and outside the office—for its LGBT employees worldwide. The initiative will focus on countries such as Singapore, where certain homosexual activities are illegal, and Poland, where there is no legal recognition of same-sex couples. A Google spokesperson says the focus is less on same-sex marriage legalization and more on employee rights and anti-discrimination.
— CNN’s Anderson Cooper announces he is gay in an email to blogger Andrew Sullivan.
