The Imitation Game Releases New Trailer

The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley, has debuted a brand new trailer.

Denver Chosen to Host Early Rounds of NCAA Division I Basketball Men’s Road to the Final Four in 2016

For the fourth time in recent history, Denver was selected as one of eight cities to host the First and Second Rounds of the Division I Men’s Basketball Road to the Final Four Tournament in 2016. The games, scheduled for March 17 and 19, 2016, will be played in the Pepsi Center with the Mountain West Conference serving as the official host. A total of eight teams will play in four games on March 17, with four teams advancing to play in two games on March 19. Two teams will continue on after Denver, as part of the “Sweet 16” that ultimately advance to become the “Final Four.”

“From a purely economic standpoint, these regional games are great for cities because they bring in eight teams, coaches, bands, and fans from eight different areas,” said Richard Scharf, president & CEO of VISIT DENVER.

Denver Sports, a division of VISIT DENVER, the Pepsi Center team and Dan Butterly, senior associate commissioner with the Mountain West Conference were instrumental in submitting Denver’s winning bid. “We have hosted these preliminary rounds in 2004, 2008 and 2011, and based on past history, we will see all six games sell out, with a huge following of fans filling hotels and restaurants,” Scharf said. In addition, Scharf said, Denver will receive national television exposure.

The NCAA has also selected Denver to host two upcoming sporting events: the 2015 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Quarterfinals at Sports Authority Field, and the 2016 NCAA Division II (DII) Spring Sports Festival, a six day event that will be held in The Mile High City for the first time. The Spring Sports Festival includes six championships (Men’s Golf, Women’s Golf, Women’s Lacrosse, Men’s Tennis, Women’s Tennis, and Softball) rolled into one event. “The unique feature of this sporting event is that all teams stay for the entire six day festival, even if their team has been eliminated, thereby increasing the number of overnight stays and the economic impact,” said Joan McDermott, athletic director at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Scharf noted that Denver has always had a history of being a major sports destination, going back to the 1990 NCAA Men’s Final Four, and more recently the NBA, MLB and NHL All-Star games as well as the NCAA Frozen Four and NCAA Women’s Final Four in 2012. “Continuing to host world class events like the 2014 World Lacrosse Championships, the 2014 BMW Championship and the USA Pro Challenge bring economic development and major media attention. And, they are a lot of fun for residents to attend,” Scharf said. 

Major U.S. Companies Advance Critical Policies for Transgender Employees

The nation’s top companies and law firms are increasingly setting the standard for transgender inclusion in the workplace, according to a report issued today by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, the educational arm of the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization.

A record 366 businesses earned the Corporate Equality Index's top score of 100 percent this year. Those earning a perfect score include newcomers like Facebook and Yelp, as well as stalwarts such as Apple, Xerox, and other companies that have been leaders in LGBT equality in the workplace since the survey began in 2002.

“When it comes to LGBT equality, Corporate America is a leader, not a follower,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “At every turn, from advocating for marriage equality to providing vital support for transgender employees, this country's leading companies have asked, 'what more can we do?,' and they've worked tirelessly to achieve new progress. That kind of leadership changes countless lives around this country, and sets an important example to other companies around the globe."

Griffin cautions, however, that despite steady progress, LGBT workers still face major obstacles.

“Too many companies still don't guarantee these vital workplace protections, and too many LGBT people--transgender people in particular--face high rates of unemployment and discrimination in hiring, keeping them from ever getting a foot in the door in the first place," he said.

Through the Corporate Equality Index (CEI), which measures LGBT workplace inclusion, HRC has successfully propelled important progress by implementing increasingly stringent criteria for companies to follow. Many companies have consistently met that challenge, and the commitment from America’s top companies and law firms to provide an equal and inclusive workplace for transgender employees is reflected in the results of this year’s survey:

• 418 companies participating in this year’s CEI now offer transgender workers at least one health care plan that has transgender-inclusive coverage. That’s a 22  percent increase since 2012, when the CEI criteria first included trans-inclusive health care as a requisite for companies to receive a perfect score;
• One third of Fortune 500 companies now offer trans-inclusive health care, up from zero in 2002 when the CEI was first published;
• Gender identity is now part of non-discrimination policies at 66 percent of Fortune 500 companies, up from just 3 percent in 2002;
• And more than 290 major employers have adopted supportive inclusion guidelines for transgender workers who are transitioning.

Just as the CEI has successfully steered the country’s top corporations, law firms and their influential leaders toward breaking new ground in workplace equality -- from enacting LGBT non-discrimination policies to extending same-sex partner benefits -- it has also helped companies move toward full inclusion for their transgender employees.

“The results from this year’s Corporate Equality Index demonstrate that the nation’s leading companies see full LGBT inclusion as the standard for workplace equality,” said Deena Fidas, director of the HRC Foundation’s Workplace Equality Program.  “As we celebrate these results, we should not lose sight of the work ahead needed to ensure that these policies and benefits support a true culture of inclusion for LGBT employees--from the hiring process to every aspect of  their workday lives. The goal won’t be achieved until companies turn inclusive policies into everyday practice across their organizations.”

Progress is being felt far beyond the ranks of the Fortune 500. The purpose of the CEI, which this year had 781 companies actively participating, is also to encourage small- and medium-sized companies, as well as state and municipal governments, to increase workplace acceptance by extending similar inclusive benefits and protections to LGBT employees.

The CEI rates companies and top law firms on detailed criteria falling under five broad categories:

1. Non-discrimination policies
2. Employment benefits
3. Demonstrated organizational competency and accountability around LGBT diversity and inclusion
4. Public commitment to LGBT equality
5. Responsible citizenship

The full report is available online at www.hrc.org/cei.

American Airlines Soars for 13 Years with Perfect 100 Percent Score on Human Rights Campaign’s 2015 Corporate Equality Index

American Airlines has been honored once again by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) with the highest possible rating in the prestigious 2015 Corporate Equality Index (CEI). In 2002 with the launch of the Corporate Equality Index, American was the first airline to achieve the CEI’s perfect score, and one of only a handful of corporations to do so every year from the start.

The CEI is a nationally recognized benchmark that holds a mirror up to America’s top workplaces and their inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees and their allies. Companies like American that earn the top CEI score of 100 percent also are named the “Best Places to Work” in the U.S.

“We believe our commitment to inclusion and diversity is second to none,” said Cindy Fiedelman, American’s vice president – People & Diversity. “Achieving the highest mark from the Human Rights Campaign is a matter of pride and purpose for us, especially as we work to integrate two global airlines in 2015.”

This summer, American and US Airways aligned their workforce policies to ensure the airlines’ longstanding commitment to their LGBT workforce, and united their LGBT employee resource groups. The Gay Lesbian Employees of American (GLEAM), founded 20 years ago, has now joined forces with US Airways’ Spectrum – under a new and larger organization called Pride. Employees will continue to champion American’s LGBT travelers, as well as advocate for diversity, equality and respect within the airline as they have for decades.

The Human Rights Campaign is dedicated to promoting and ensuring public understanding of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues through innovative education and communication strategies. A complete list of Corporate Equality Index ratings is available at www.hrc.org.

For more information on American’s commitment to diversity, visit aa.com/diversity.

18th Annual DGLCC Awards Dinner This Weekend!

Only two more days to get your tickets for the 18th Annual DGLCC Awards Dinner!

Idina Menzel and Michael Buble - Baby It's Cold Outside

Idina Menzel and Michael Bublé have released a video for their duet "Baby It's Cold Outside."

The track is from Idina's brand new album Holiday Wishes, which is out now on Warner Bros. Records.

NOM CRATERS: Funding for Anti-LGBT National Organization For Marriage Drops by Over 50%

A white-hot spotlight focused on the issue of same-sex marriage over the last few years hasn’t translated into financial success for an organization whose self-proclaimed sole purpose is to “protect marriage and the faith communities that sustain it.” 

In a time when virtually every nightly newscast, political debate, even television series delves into discussions about marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples, the beleaguered National Organization for Marriage (NOM) can’t seem to raise enough money to cover its expenses. According to analysis of the organization’s 2013 tax filings done by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), NOM raised $5.1 million in 2013, dropping by over 50% since 2012. Just 2 donors accounted for more than half of the organization’s funding – further evidence that everyday Americans have little interest in furthering NOM’s extremist agenda. In addition, the NOM Education Fund also dropped by nearly $3.5 million in funding -- a drop of almost 70% since the previous year. NOM ended the year more than $2.5 million in debt.

“NOM should start figuring out that people aren’t willing to give their hard-earned money to an extremist agenda that's going nowhere,” said Fred Sainz, HRC Vice President of Communications. “If I were Brian Brown, I’d be worried that my two or three mega-donors are soon going to come to terms with the fact that they’d largely be better off flushing money down the toilet. Americans certainly aren’t buying what NOM is selling, and it’s only a matter of time before the trickle of money keeping the lights on at NOM HQ dries up.”

NOM made their 2013 990s available this morning after repeatedly refusing to make them public following their November 17 deadline – a direct violation of federal law. HRC first made an in-person request for the public financial documents on Monday morning and again Tuesday – both times, NOM was unable to produce the documents. Federal law requires organizations to publicly release their 990s the same day an in-person request is made. As a result, HRC filed a complaint with the IRS in order to compel NOM to abide by the law.

A virtually unending series of losses is at the heart of NOM’s financial woes. Since enduring a staggering defeat on Election Day 2012 when voters at the ballot enacted marriage equality in three states and defeated a discriminatory marriage ban in another, the defeats just keep on coming. Over the last year, nearly three-dozen federal court rulings – from judges appointed by both Democratic and Republican presidents – have struck down state bans on marriage equality, while only two federal courts have upheld the bans. In the year since NOM released its last annual financial report, the number of states where same-sex couples can legally marry has jumped from fifteen to thirty-three. Today, sixty-two percent of Americans live in states with marriage equality. And the Supreme Court of the United States has allowed federal court rulings granting marriage rights to same-sex couples to become the law of the land in eleven states over the last two years: California, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Kansas, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Indiana, Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Earlier this year, the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices voted unanimously to impose record civil penalties against NOM totaling $50,250. The Commission also directed NOM to file disclosure reports after a four-year investigation exposed “a significant violation of law” by the national anti-LGBT organization. The penalties are reportedly the largest ever imposed for a campaign finance violation in Maine history.

What’s more, recent poll results show that there is virtually no appetite for NOM’s radical and exclusionary brand of anti-LGBT rhetoric. An HRC survey of 1,200 registered voters conducted June 6-10, 2014 by Republican pollster Alex Lundry of TargetPoint Consulting found that the number of Americans strongly opposed to national marriage equality has dipped to twenty-eight percent. When asked what they would do if the U.S. Supreme Court struck down discriminatory marriage bans across the country, Americans opposed to marriage equality were subdued. “I will not like it, but I will do nothing,” one said. “I would be very disappointed, but I would accept the law,” said another. All in all, only three percent of opponents mentioned that they would protest the decision in any form.

NOM has been deviating from its core mission of “protecting marriage” and now advocates against any and all measure of legal or societal equality for LGBT people. NOM President Brian Brown recently traveled to Russia to support a bill – now law – banning the adoption of Russian children by same-sex couples or parents living in countries where marriage equality is legal; and he even sent out a transphobic e-mail lashing out against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, in which he referred to transgender Americans by saying “if a man feels like being a woman, he is; but if he later decides he’s a man again, he’s that.” June of this year, NOM hosted a march on the U.S. Supreme Court and a rally that featured remarks speakers who have compared homosexuality with bestiality, same-sex marriages with “Frankenstein creatures,” and LGBT advocates with Nazis.

And just last week NOM sank to a new low, this time advocating for a Wild West scenario, calling on Kansas Governor Sam Brownback to “reject the idea that Kansas must abandon marriage because out of control federal judges say so" and ignore a federal district court order requiring the state to allow same-sex couples to marry.

In 2012, NOM ended the year in the red with roughly a $2 million dollar deficit. Just three donors accounted for roughly two thirds of the organization’s funding. That year the National Organization for Marriage Education Fund, NOM’s 501(c)(3) charitable education arm, loaned NOM nearly $1.7 million. This raised questions over whether the Education Fund’s loans allowed NOM to engage in electoral or excessive lobbying activity that violates the Education Fund’s tax-exempt status. That loan still has not been paid back, according to this year’s tax filings.

HRC Celebrates Jason Collins’ Leadership

In an essay published today in The Players’ Tribune, Jason Collins, NBA player and the first openly gay athlete in a major American league to play in a game, announced his retirement from professional basketball. The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, responded to the news with deep gratitude for the leading role Collins has played in making professional sports more inclusive for LGBT athletes—and more inspiring to LGBT youth.

HRC President Chad Griffin released the following statement:

"The entire LGBT community is deeply grateful for Jason Collins' trailblazing courage. Retirement isn't the end for Jason - it's the beginning of a new journey as he continues to advocate for fairness and equality for all. Because of his courage, and the courage of other out athletes like Billie Jean King, Michael Sam, Fallon Fox, Martina Navratilova, Kye Allums and Brittney Griner, LGBT young people now have their own idols to look up to—athletes who prove that there is no limit to what an LGBT person can achieve through bravery and perseverance.”

The Human Rights Campaign is America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. HRC envisions a world where LGBT people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.

Lambda Literary Awarded Grant for LGBTQ Playwriting Workshop

Lambda Literary has announced that The Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation has awarded its Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices a $5000 grant per year for the next four years to establish a playwriting workshop at the popular summer residency. Legendary playwright, poet and essayist Cherríe Moraga will teach the new playwriting workshop.

The Retreat will be held June 22-29, 2015 at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. Applications are now open online.

"The Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation was established by one of the first out gay playwrights to portray gay life unapologetically," said Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation President, James Waller. "For the past twenty years, we've supported LGBT performing and media arts through our production grant program and annual playwriting competition. Now, by helping Lambda Literary establish a playwriting workshop at its Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices, we are making a commitment to the future of LGBT theater. Lambda Literary has long been our community's greatest advocate for a robust, diverse LGBT literature, and we are very, very happy to be able to support and expand its work."

Lambda Literary's Writers Retreat is a residency designed to offer intensive and sophisticated instruction to selected lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer emerging writers over a carefully designed one-week period. The Retreat provides open access to industry professionals and the opportunity for writing fellows to create an ongoing community of practice as they advance in their craft and careers. It is one of Lambda's most important initiatives: it represents the future of LGBTQ literature and theater.

In additional to the new playwriting workshop led by Moraga, other Retreat faculty include Justin Torres (Fiction workshop), Linda Villarosa (Nonfiction workshop), Kazim Ali (Poetry workshop), and Sara Ryan (Genre Fiction workshop-emphasis on Young Adult Fiction and Graphic Novels). Applications to the summer residency are open online through January 5, 2015 (with an extension of 2 weeks for the playwriting workshop only because it was added late).

Entering its 9th year, the Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices has gained an international reputation for nurturing our most talented writers and building a highly accomplished, diverse and engaged community of artists committed to advancing LGBTQ literary arts.

"We're grateful to The Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation for expanding our workshop offerings to include LGBTQ playwriting," said Executive Director, Tony Valenzuela. "To have the incredible Cherríe Moraga teach the first year is an additional gift to the program. I encourage LGBTQ writers to apply for this one-of-a-kind opportunity."

Progressive Muslim group supports LGBT community

An advocacy group called Muslims for Progressive Values is seeking to bring together a community of progressive Muslims and supporters of LGBT and gender equality. 

The group, founded in 2007 by Ani Zonneveld, also works to dispel notions that Islam should be used to justify human rights violations.

Justice Clarence Thomas critical of court's actions on same-sex marriage

Justice Clarence Thomas last week criticized the Supreme Court's refusal to review lower-court decisions in favor of marriage equality. In a statement attached to the denial of a stay of a lower-court decision, Thomas called the unlikeliness of at least four justices to review the case "unfortunate."

Botswana LGBT group can register with government, court rules

A Botswana court on Friday ruled that the government cannot refuse the registration of LEGABIBO, an LGBT advocacy organization in the southern African country. The group had been seeking the ability to register for 10 years.

Supreme Court receives petitions for marriage cases

The plaintiffs in marriage cases in Ohio and Tennessee on Friday asked the Supreme Court to take up their cases. The Supreme Court on Monday received similar petitions for cases out of Michigan and Kentucky. A federal appeals court earlier this month upheld marriage bans in all four of those states.

Court ruling voids 300 marriages in Mich., attorney general says

The attorney general of Michigan filed a court document last week arguing that a federal appeals court ruling upholding the state's marriage ban voids about 300 same-sex marriages. The plaintiffs in the marriage case that led to the ruling on Monday sought review from the Supreme Court.

Arguments heard in Miss. marriage equality case

A challenge to Mississippi's ban on same-sex marriage was heard in a federal court on Wednesday. The lawsuit seeks marriage recognition for two lesbian couples, one of whom is legally married in Maine. Mississippi officials are defending the ban, which was approved by voters in 2004 as a constitutional amendment.