Juan, you chose to position your hotels as HETEROFRIENDLY, a variation on the term ‘straight-friendly’ frequently used, what made you decide to choose this brand adjective as opposed to GAYFRIENDLY or simply GAY?

“The Axel hotel chain started with our Barcelona hotel which used to be a gay-only
hotel.  Typically our guests come from the US and Spain for the major part, followed
by the UK and France, and with the remainder coming from the rest of Europe.
Depending on the time of the year, the hotel has got a varying percentage of gay
people.  In the summer – July, August and September – 90% of our customers are
gay.  However, if you come during the winter months, the period when Barcelona
hosts various international fairs, the clientele tends to be a lot more mixed.” [...]

We want everybody to be welcome but we still want all
our potential customers to know that it is a hotel focusing on the gay community,
and if they are comfortable with it, that is excellent.  If they are not comfortable
being amongst gay people then they are not welcome here and should go to other
hotels. On average, throughout the year, the hotel is around 70% gay and lesbian
and 30% heterosexual.  We chose not to use the label ‘gay-friendly’ as we feel the
term has been overused. [...]

“We also chose not to position ourselves as a gay hotel because sometimes gay-only hotels
can be a little ‘too gay’ and some of our customers prefer when we are mixed.  We
are not and do not want to be a gay ghetto, we want everybody to feel welcome but we still want all our potential customers to know that it is a hotel focusing on the gay community.  We are a hetero-friendly hotel.” [...]

You initially used to be a gay hotel but then you decided to transition to heterofriendly, what did that entail?

“I believe that to position yourself as heterofriendly you have to open as a gay hotel
first and you have to be known and well-recognised in the gay community as a gay
brand or a gay product focusing on a gay clientele and then and only then you can
transition to heterofriendly product or brand.” [...]

“The danger comes when you start
welcoming girls and straight friends of gay men to a place, be it a bar or a club, the
place then starts becoming popular with these girls and their girl-friends, the ratio
has become a shrinking 70% gays, the remaining being 30% of straight girls.  Then
all of the sudden heterosexual men chasing after the girls start transforming the
place and really unbalancing the ratio. After a few months, you are not a gay bar or
a gay disco anymore, gay men have stopped coming and you cannot even pretend
to be gay friendly anymore.” [...]

Do you think that a HETEROFRIENDLY positioning will also appeal more to younger
gay people?

“The fact is that the older generations of gay men, those above 40, are typically more
used to the gay community and are not as open as the younger gays are now.  The
younger gay people like to mix when they go out, they like to be surrounded by
girls, boys, straights, gays, everyone together because they don’t care.  I guess the
fight for equal rights by the older gay generation has borne some fruits.  In the
same way as the young generation who seek such more mixed surroundings, we did
not want a hotel that would be catering for a ghettoised gay grown-up clientele, we
wanted to welcome everybody.  We realised that when our more grown-up guests
came to the hotel they liked to see younger people and that the younger people
wanted to see a mix of people.  The Sky Bar, the roof terrace bar of the Axel Barcelona is generally very mixed, except for the two specifically themed parties that we offer each week,  1 gay and 1 lesbian.  It is generally filled with 60% gay men and the 40% remaining is composed of straight men and women as well as lesbians.”

Was it difficult to get your family to support and invest in the hotel?

“The hardest part was not my family, it was the banks.  My background was not from
the hotel industry and nor was my family’s.  I have a marketing background and
studied economics and did an MBA.  However, I had been interested in the hotel
business ever since I was a child.  I eventually gained some experience working for
an international Spanish company, but always knew that I wanted to do something
for myself.  I was working on a Relais & Châteaux project for which I secured the
financing.  I realised then that there was a gap in the market with a niche for gay
hotels.  I researched and studied the opportunity and realised that the only gay
hotels in the world where usually in holiday destinations in the US or Europe, in
places like Fort Lauderdale, Key West, Provincetown, Sitges, Mykonos, etc.” [...]

“I realised that the niche opportunity was
to focus on the gay community and offer them very nice establishments in the
centres of large cosmopolitan cities that are favoured destinations of gay tourists.
Of course, I had to buy the building and I put all my money into it, and while my
family also took part in the investment, I still had to find a bank that would become
the biggest stakeholder.  I had to visit several banks and convince at least one of
them of the validity of my project.  You can imagine how some of the meetings
would go – you would have at least 10 men, all dressed in black or navy suits,
looking sternly at you while you tell them that you are gay, that you have a project
of opening a hotel that will focus on the gay community and that it will cost around
€12million.”

Did your bank manager provide the necessary financial support due solely to him
seeing a good business opportunity or was the bank itself actively engaging in
attracting gay businesses?

“I did not knock on the door of a particular bank because of a specific program to
support the gay community.  I just went to several of the major banks, and selected
this particular one because I got the best feeling.  The project financing was entirely
driven by this specific bank manager who could see that the project was good.  He
had an important position in the bank, I am not sure if he was gay or not, it should
and does not really matter, the key was that he was smart and that after a few
conversations he could see the great potential that my project offered, he liked my
business plan and looked at the pros and cons.  I was buying the building in 2000,
before real estate prices climbed to the 2007 peak level and before the 2008 crash
and therefore, this looked like a good opportunity for them.” [...]

“I do not think that today any bank in Spain – and I would venture even in Europe -
knows or has got any active successful program to capture the pink euro.  In 2000,
there definitely were none.  I know some Spanish banks have tried to do small
campaigns for supporting gay businesses but never with any real consistent
marketing strategy.  Generally, these are sporadic campaigns, very localised and
never part of a real strategy.  In some cases companies have tried to position
themselves as GAY- FRIENDLY, but frankly, in our day and age, in liberal societies
and in the environment in which I move, who is not gay-friendly?  You only need one
gay customer to be gay-friendly and you do not even have to treat them particularly
well – and the gay community has caught on to this.” [...]

What is your view on some of these large international hotel and resort groups’
strategy to open gay hotels?

“Some of these companies have indeed stated that they are looking to open gay
hotels and if you, for example, look at Thomson holidays they too are looking to
brand some of their hotels as gay or gay-friendly. Are they looking to offer a special
package-holiday for people going on a gay holiday? How many gays will there be at
the destination? Is it even a gay destination? Who decides whether their hotel is gay
or not?  As you can imagine, I know a lot of the hotels of Barcelona, the Axel hotel is
in the official tourist guide together with some other hotels that are supposed to be
gay-friendly.  Let me tell you, their owners and their management are not gay, and
some of them are as unfriendly to gays as if they were the bishop of Rome!!!  I do
not know how they can have the audacity to claim to be gay-friendly.  In truth most
gay-friendly hotels are really simply trying to widen their revenue sources and as
such will target the gay market.  They will of course treat gay customers in the same
way as they do all their other customers, however they will not make any efforts to
attract gay guests nor attempt to engage or support the local gay community, their
only aim is get a share of the pink wallet.” [...]

For the entire Interview click here

There were still some room for this special weekend. Are you going to stay at home can join? This offer includes:

• 20% discount on room rate
• Prosecco bottle

This offer will be available only for bookings made via mail (berlin@axelhotels.com) enclosing this newsletter until the 15th. June.

Subjected to availability

Valid until June 15

The administrators of the now-removed group had stated: “This page is for those of us against ALL gays, man and woman alike. Those of us who are tired of seeing them flaunt it like it is a badge of honor and acceptable. Spread it like wildfire. Suggest to all your friends.”

A comment in response to complaints from other Facebook users read: “And go ahead and report this page all you want. It attacks nobody directly and is in complete compliance with my rights as a citizen of the USA.”

Facebook’s Terms of Service state: “You will not post content that: is hateful, threatening, or pornographic; incites violence; or contains nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence.”

The New Anti-Gay Movement’s response to messages to the above effect as posted by pro-gay users was this: “By definition this page does not in any way or form count as ‘hate speech’. While there is a very thin line, this is on the proper side of it. It does not promote violence, intimidation, harassment or other misconducted sic actions. It exists solely as a point of view to be shared by others that share the same ideal. Our right to voice our feelings towards gays is no more in the wrong than your option to voice an opinion FOR it.”

The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender History Museum occupies a 1,600ft space in the Castro district.

Artefacts include sex toys, manuscripts and some of gay rights activist Harvey Milk’s belongings.

The museum is only the second globally, as there is a gay museum in Berlin, Germany.

Organisers have a five-year lease on the empty shop-front and hope to sustain the museum through donations and volunteering.

Paul Boneberg, executive director of the GLBT Historical Society, said: “The GLBT History Museum is in the heart of the Castro, a neighborhood visited not only by locals, but also by tens of thousands of tourists every year who come in search of queer culture.

“At our museum, they’ll discover treasures from our archives that reflect fascinating stories spanning nearly a century of GLBT life.

“We have gone all out to create a museum as rich, diverse and surprising as the GLBT community itself. Whether they are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or straight, visitors are sure to be moved, enlightened and entertained.”

From NPR:

While on the campaign trail, Barack Obama made hundreds of promises. And throughout the president’s first year in office, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Web site PolitiFact has tracked each one of those commitments.

Just before Obama took office, PolitiFact combed through campaign documents, speeches and debate transcripts to see what promises he had made. They found more than 500 individual promises and put each of them into a database to be monitored closely.

They found 91 promises have been fulfilled, 33 compromised on, 87 stalled and 14 broken. The remaining promises are designated as being “in the works.”

Source Text:

www.gaygenda.com

The 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards announced its nominees in a wide variety of categories today. The event, presented by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), honors outstanding entertainment programming and news about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues; among the year’s 116 nominees in 24 English-language categories and 36 Spanish-language nominees in eight categories are the series “Mad Men,” “Modern Family,” “Glee” and “Grey’s Anatomy”; the feature films “A Single Man,” “Precious” and “Everybody’s Fine”; recording artists Lady Gaga, Adam Lambert and Brandi Carlile; and publications Entertainment Weekly, The Advocate and the Los Angeles Times.

“Sex and the City” star Cynthia Nixon will also be feted with the Vito Russo Award, which pays tribute to an openly LGBT individual who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights in that community. The Broadway cast of “Hair” will also receive special recognition for bringing attention to the issue of marriage equality.

Source Text:

www.gayagenda.com

One would expect the likes of Fox News’ crew of anti-gay talking heads like Bill O’Reilly and others to make fun of, as they have, this Obama appointment, but for Letterman and his staff to come up with this sophomoric attempt at humor which only continues along the line of “I was tricked into thinking he was a she” which has been used as an excuse for assaulting, and in worse case scenario, murder of transgenders, just defies logic.

In many cases I have been able to find humor in “taking pot shots” at the LGBT community when others in the LGBT press and blogs become absolutely livid. But not this time. I can find no humor, a) making fun of an Obama appointee in such a manor and b) the way the skit is carried out which, whether intentional or not, sends out another stereotypical message against the transgender community.

You would think that with the bad press Letterman has gotten in the past year, he would be gun shy and steer clear of more bad press. Letterman has not just shot himself in the foot, this time he has shot himself squarely in the ass.

Woe be it to Letterman’s production company and CBS when the fallout starts with trans activists and others, who will no doubt start an aggressive campaign in making complaints to network advertisers of The David Letterman Show, and also local o/o’s and affiliate advertisers.

As the current economic times are, broadcasting outlets, both network and local can ill afford to lose ad revenue. And that could very well be the fallout for this dimwitted attempt at humor.

Dave, this time you may have bitten off quite a bit more than you can chew my friend.

January 6, 2010

David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman
1697 Broadway
New York, NY 10001

CC: Nina Tassler
President, CBS Entertainment
51 West 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019

Dear Mr. Letterman,

I am writing on behalf of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, to express my disappointment over the inappropriate and incendiary remarks made on The Late Show with David Letterman last night on the appointment of Amanda Simpson to a senior position in the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The decision to ignore the fact that Ms. Simpson is incredibly well-qualified for this vital national security position and focus instead on her gender identity reflects transphobia. Ms. Simpson’s appointment represents meaningful progress for the LGBT community and in particular transgender Americans who have faced significant and well-documented discrimination in the workplace and their communities.

You may not be aware that the punch line in your skit has been used as a defense in nearly every hate crime perpetrated against transgender people that has come to trial. For example, the “trans panic” defense was infamously used by Allen Ray Andrade, who was convicted in 2009 of beating 19-year-old Angie Zapata to death with a fire extinguisher after learning of her gender history. According to media reports, it has also been the main defense employed by Juan A. Martinez for the killing of Jorge Steven López Mercado, 19, in Puerto Rico last November.

Your skit affirmed and encouraged a prejudice against transgender Americans that keeps many from finding jobs, housing, and enjoying freedoms you and your writers take for granted every day. We ask that you apologize publicly to Ms. Simpson and the transgender community for this unfortunate episode.

Sincerely,

Allyson Robinson,
Associate Director of Diversity for Transgender Issues
Human Rights Campaign

Source Text:

www.gayagenda.com

I remember the process well and know first hand it takes a lot of strength and courage. When we come out in the workplace, we risk losing our income. When we come out to family, we risk losing them too. We risk being beaten or murdered. We set ourselves up for verbal and/or physical abuse. But, as one who has been fired for being gay, I know the ultimate outcome is well worth the trade-off.

But it’s not simply about being here and being queer, it really has more to do with other’s perceptions. When we do come out, we demonstrate the ‘normalcy’ of being LGBT. We allow people to see us as human, and we break the stereotypes which are reinforced by media and are so often detrimental to our equality.

But, just in case you don’t believe me let’s take a look at the facts. According to a post on the NY Times:

There are currently at least 445 openly gay and lesbian people holding elected office in the United States, up from 257 eight years ago, according to the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, a political group that supports gay candidates.

and…

The National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago has been polling people since 1973 about whether homosexual behavior is morally wrong. In 1973, 73 percent of the people polled described it as always wrong and only 11 percent as “not wrong.” By 2006, those saying homosexuality was “always wrong” had dropped to 56 percent, and 32 percent said it was not wrong.

Why the change in attitudes towards homosexuality…well as also stated in the post:

One reason for the shift in attitudes, some political scientists contend, is a rising number of gays acknowledging their sexual preference openly in various walks of life, from workers on factory floors to Hollywood stars.

“More and more people have been coming out,” said Sean Theriault, a political scientist at the University of Texas who tracks gay politics. “Ten years ago, you could talk to a lot of people who didn’t know a single gay person, and now, especially in the cities, you would be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t know anyone who is gay.”

And the importance of this:

Some political scientists say the rise in openly gay candidates’ winning public office is a better barometer of societal attitudes than are the high-profile fights over same-sex marriage.

This is why being out is so important. Tell your neighbors, tell you co-workers, tell the person that rings up your groceries every week at the store. The more people know of us, the less they will fear us, and the more they will accept us.

Will there be those who want to hit you over the head with the Bible…of course. That’s a battle you can choose to take or not. Will some people dislike you, yes! But those are not people you really want or need in your life anyway. But as long as you are matter of fact about it, you will be representing a movement toward equality.

I leave you with this for the ’straight’ people who don’t know you. Whether you know it or not, someone you love is gay. Whether you know them or not, someone gay is fighting for right from which we will all benefit!

Source Text:

www.gayagenda.com

Music can't get any gayer than this!

Choosing the greatest and gayest albums of all time is no easy task. Curtailing a brawl at Out magazine’s editorial headquarters, the magazine turned to 100 celebrities — including Boy George, Cyndi Lauper, and Rufus Wainwright — each of whom weighed in with the 10 albums that changed their lives.

With selections as diverse as the community itself, Out magazine proudly presents “Out’s 100 Greatest, Gayest Albums (of All Time).” Readers will no doubt have opinions on the selections and mention some titles they feel should have been included. That’s why in addition to this extensive list, Out is offering readers a chance to win the top 20 albums on the list! Simply leave a comment about the story stating a choice for “The Greatest, Gayest Album (of All Time)” and why that album is tops.

All entries must be in by midnight on December 25, 2009. Five random entries will be selected, and each winner will receive all 20 albums.

Find the complete list of the “100 Greatest, Gayest Albums (of All Time)” at: OUT.com!

Source Text:

www.gayagenda.com

Washington DC - there's hope!

Today, D.C.’s Council made it official and same-sex marriage is now legal in the district by a final vote of 11-2!

The victory for equal rights prompted public witnesses in the Council chambers to cheer and applaud.

The bill, which may be signed into law by D.C.’s mayor as early as tonight, will go before Congress for a review period of 30 legislative days before it becomes law.

Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) stated:

“Today is the final step in a long march toward equality.”

Source Text:

www.gayagenda.com