Op-ed: What to Do If Your Child Is Bullied at School
Just in time for back to school, this attorney, parent, and advocate wants to arm you and your loved ones with a legal guide to fighting for your children’s right to be safe at school.
Adele Kimmel
www.advocate.com/commentary/2015/08/27/op-ed-what-do-if-your-child-bullied-school
Professional trans networking group celebrates first birthday in City of London
Around 200 people gathered at the office of Deloitte in High Holborn, London, last night to help Trans*formation – the professional networking group for trans employees and allies – celebrate its first birthday.
Speaking to Gay Star Business, one of Trans*formations co-chairs explained why the group was launched last year.
‘There was a need to bring together trans professionals and supportive organizations,’ said Kimberley Bird, who works for Lloyds Banking Group in IT. ‘Many large organizations are not anti-trans but they are ignorant of the what trans people need to succeed.
‘I wanted to show organizations that they can use the un-tapped potential of trans colleagues and customers. At the end of the day I wanted to make a difference for the trans community, however small that may be.’
Her sentiment was echoed by fellow co-chair Emma Cusdin, who works in HR for Thomson Reuters: ‘We felt that traditional LGBT networks tended not to focus on trans issues with typically only a few trans people attending LGBT events.
‘As a trans woman, working in the corporate world, I know that feeling of being alone so I personally got involved with trans*formation to bring trans people together so that we can have a stronger voice.’
Bird said that the response to the group’s launch had been ‘overwhelming’.
‘The varied nature of people on the trans spectrum is so encouraging including non-binary and gender fluid people; I personally have learnt so much.
‘I have been delighted to see people come to our events who have never met another trans person before but who now know it is possible to be trans and a professional.’
‘It’s wonderful to see our numbers grow and I’m absolutely delighted that we are now seeing large organizations positively wanting to engage with us,’ added Cusdin.
The event was hosted by Kate Sweeney, Deloitte consulting partner, and GLOBE, the firm’s LGBT network.
‘Deloitte is delighted to have hosted the first birthday celebrations for trans*formation,’ said Sweeney in a statement afterwards. ‘Respect is fundamental to the values of our firm and developing an increased understanding of the challenges trans people face in the workplace is an important part of creating an inclusive environment for all.’
The evening included welcoming drinks and an auditorium panel discussion with Nicholas Cresswell, Vice President, Performance & Talent Management, Thomson Reuters, and Marc Reace-Coles, Inclusion Manager (LGBT Lead), RBS.
Cresswell talked about a Transgender employee guidebook that Thomson Reuters had produced for internal use to help support trans and gender fluid staff, while Reace-Coles talked about steps RBS had taken to help trans people, such as the introduction of the Mx prefix option, and the removal of gender questions from forms that did not require such information.
This was followed by a spirited Q&A session, with members of the audience asking the panel whether they considered Caitlyn Jenner to be a positive role model and what the organization was doing to help further the cause of the non-binary and gender fluid.
There was also concern expressed about the number of workplace insurers still unwilling to cover health expenses for trans people – sometimes dismissing such claims as the result of a ‘lifestyle choice’.
Another of the group’s co-chairs, Patrick Osborne, Head of Strategic Insight & Reporting at QVC, talked about his own journey to become to a trans ally, and the importance of allies in changing corporate attitudes towards trans and non-binary individuals.
‘Challenge your own personal views and be honest,’ he advised the cisgender in the audience. ‘Find out about trans people’s experiences because there are still a lot of misconceptions; it’s important we become comfortable talking about trans issues.’
For more information about Trans*formation, check its official website and Twitter: @TFormUK
The post Professional trans networking group celebrates first birthday in City of London appeared first on Gay Star News.
David Hudson
Hack Reveals Ashley Madison Almost Built Sex Empire With $70 Million Grindr Buy
If you were (keyword, were) a major hetero hookup site pulling in millions in annual revenue, what would you do to expand?
The answer is terribly simple: the gays! The gays!
Well in emails leaked by hackers calling themselves The Impact Team, an interesting timeline emerges revealing Ashley Madison had hot hands for acquiring Grindr.
Forbes reports that contact between Avid Life Media, owner of Ashley Madison, and Grindr dates back to 2012, when respective founders Noel Biderman and Joel Simkhai discussed how they could advertise one another’s services on each platform.
This year, Biderman and “major Avid Life Media shareholders” got serious about what it would take to fold Grindr into the ‘sex sells’ family.
Biderman sought details about his own company’s finances and those of Grindr.
“In previously undisclosed data, Grindr’s 2014 revenues were said to be $31 million with its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), a measure of profitability, at $14 million. It had 4 million active monthly users and 2 million looking for some fun on the app every day. There were 250,000 paid subscribers in 2014 too.
In a separate management presentation document, Grindr estimated its revenue for 2015 would rise to $38.1 million with EBITDA of $16.5 million. It also claimed to have 324,000 paying subscribers this year.”
But advisors thought Simkhai wouldn’t part with a significant share of Grindr for less than $100 million, well above Biderman’s limit.
Later, Ashley Madison’s biggest shareholder, Jason DeZwirek, and another board member believed by Forbes to be Leonard Latchman of LDL Corp, revised the expected sale to be between $60-70 million for a 51 per cent stake in the company.
In the end, even that number proved too challenging for Ashley Madison, and the lusty merger never managed to climax.
In light of recent events, we don’t expect it to be up for discussion again any time soon.
Dan Tracer
Atlanta-Area Family Terrorized With Repeated Hate Crime Attacks
An arsonist has destroyed a Georgia family’s car, just one month after they hung a rainbow flag outside their home.
Bil Browning
www.advocate.com/georgia/2015/08/27/atlanta-area-family-terrorized-repeated-hate-crime-attacks
Leaked documents show Grindr expects nearly $40 million in revenue for 2015
Documents leaked as part of the Ashley Madison hacking scandal have revealed the state of gay dating app company Grindr’s finances, showing projected revenues of $38 million for the year 2015.
Emails from Ashley Madison CEO Noel Biderman show that parent company Avid Life Media was considering acquiring Grindr and the financial documents, marked ‘private and confidential,’ appear to be part of a presentation to spruik the deal.
According to the documents Grindr had revenues of close to $16 million in 2012, growing to $24 million the following year and the company is projecting revenue growth of around $10 million per year.
The company’s projections go as far as 2018 when Grindr expects to be raking in as much as $77 million in combined revenue from member subscription fees and advertising.
An accompanying graph estimates the time Grindr users spend on social networks – claiming they spend as much as 54 minutes a day on the app – compared to 42 minutes for Facebook users.
Users of the closest ranked dating app, Tinder, only spent around 15 minutes per day on the app.
The app continues to have its largest user base in the United States, with close to 1.3 million monthly active users.
Other top Grindr using countries included the United Kingdom, Brazil and France in that order.
The documents say Grindr has around 10.5 million users worldwide with 3.8 of those using the app at least once a month.
It is unknown whether Avid Life Media is still interested in Grindr or whether it is still in a position to acquire it following the hacking scandal that saw the personal details of more than 30 million users of the infidelity dating site Ashley Madison leaked online.
Grindr is yet to address the leak of the documents via its website or social media accounts.
The post Leaked documents show Grindr expects nearly $40 million in revenue for 2015 appeared first on Gay Star News.
Andrew Potts
Cruz, Santorum, Jindal and Carson sign NOM pledge to repeal gay marriage
Four US presidential candidates have signed a pledge to overturn the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on gay marriage if elected in 2016.
Ted Cruz, Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal and Ben Carson all signed the National Organization for Marriage’s pledge.
In doing so, the four Republicans vowed to amend the constitution to ban gay marriage and reverse the US Supreme Court’s ‘illegitimate’ decision in the Obergefell case.
They also promised to ban the promotion of the ‘redefined version of marriage’ in schools, and direct the justice department to investigate cases where anti-gay marriage activists have been ‘harassed or threatened,’ proposing new protections if needed.
‘NOM has invited every candidate for president to sign our pledge, and we encourage those who have not yet signed to do so as soon as possible,’ the group’s president, Brian Brown, said in a statement.
‘While many of the GOP candidates talk the talk about supporting marriage, these four candidates have distinguished themselves as true champions, having pledged to the American people to take very specific actions to advance the cause of marriage.’
The post Cruz, Santorum, Jindal and Carson sign NOM pledge to repeal gay marriage appeared first on Gay Star News.
Darren Wee
www.gaystarnews.com/article/cruz-santorum-jindal-and-carson-sign-nom-pledge-to-repeal-gay-marriage/
Ricky Martin Blasts Donald Trump for 'Racist, Absurd' Comments
The singer lambastes Trump for his anti-Latino rhetoric, capped by his ejection of Univision anchor Jorge Ramos from a campaign event Tuesday.
Trudy Ring
www.advocate.com/politics/2015/08/26/ricky-martin-blasts-donald-trump-racist-absurd-comments
Chris Christie Opposes Anti-LGBT Discrimination Disguised as 'Religious Liberty'
The Republican governor of New Jersey broke ranks with his fellow presidential candidates, saying he does not believe LGBT people should be denied service.
Sunnivie Brydum
What Josh Duggar, Sam Rader and Adam and Eve Have in Common
According to the Bible, the first sinful moment resulted in a realization of nakedness. Instead of Adam and Eve high-fiving each other upon the awesome discovery of their genitals, they hid in shame. This is how the Christian story begins. It starts with sexual shame and repression, and this thread of self-hatred over one’s naughty bits runs through the whole religion.
I know from personal experience. I was a teenage fundamentalist Christian.
Sometimes people ask me when was the moment I knew I was gay. Honestly, I have no idea. When I was coming of age during the late 80s in small town Indiana, there was nothing more horrifically taboo than homosexuality. Absurd philosophies often came from the pulpit on Sunday mornings about how the mythical gay creature came to be. I remember an actual printed pamphlet that circulated my megachurch. In the pamphlet, there were insane calculations of how much poop a gay man might unintentionally eat in his lifetime or how much pressure a colon can take before it ruptures. (Supposedly, it’s just one penis-worth of pressure.) What was the sense in such bizarrely specific speculation? Why was my pastor obsessed with why two dudes might want to bang each other? Why was a great deal of youth group conversation about resisting masturbation? Welcome to the minds of the sexually repressed.
I can’t really pinpoint the moment when I knew I was gay because it was such a gradual unveiling due to constant repression. As soon as puberty unleashed its first rush of hormones, my fantasies were of men. Full-on gay. It’s like my glands were wearing daisy dukes and rollerblading though my body waving glow sticks. Still somehow I was able to convince myself that I was attracted to women while spanking it to the men’s underwear section of the JC Penny Catalog.
My teens were a phase of silent torture. Of falling in “love” with my best friends and trying to cop a feel during sleepovers. Then of course crying to Jesus about it the next day. Go ahead and throw in some “pray away the gay” therapy at now defunct Exodus Ministries. Sexual repression really does a number on a human. It took years before I was finally able to even let the words “I’m gay” into my brain.
Thank God I was eventually found out and essentially ousted. I was poised to marry the preacher’s daughter and had I managed to get away with it, I have no doubt I would currently be a sad liar of a man caught up in my own personal Ashley Madison scandal.
It doesn’t really surprise anyone that Josh Duggar and Christian Youtuber Sam Rader are exposed as sexual hypocrites. Not to misplace blame, but they were screwed from the beginning. If your response to human sexuality is to hide it behind a fig leaf, it’s going to take you to unhealthy and even potentially criminal places.
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WATCH: Rentboy CEO Defends Embattled Business
After the feds arrested him and six other employees Tuesday, Jeffrey Hurrant argued his company is legitimate.
Neal Broverman
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