And I doubt I learned anything from Bilerico since I have no idea what that is. And I don’t belong to any yahoo groups so that can’t be it. Maybe I’m just the embodiment of evil all by myself.

How many other lies and cover-ups has that New York / Dallas activist circle influenced you to believe David. Remember, the truth eventually comes out in journalism.

OK, your argument is valid technically in that the CEI rating primarily focusses on corporate policy and not corporate culture, however what is the purpose of a diversity report if its “benchmarks” are proposed to them in advance ?? Shouldn’t truly “diverse” companies who advertise as such already have these benchmarks achieved and thus not need a report to tell the world that they put their money where their mouths are ???

And even so, how is it that these same companies who are large corporate sponsors of HRC always seem to achieve 100% ratings on the CEI index, yet when former GLBT employees who were treated horribly by them (despite their supposedly 100% policies) come forth in the public and in the media, those facts and stories get swept under the rug very carefully by the GLBT media.

So I stongly disagree with your assertion that:

“The rating only singles out companies discriminating based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”

The rating is a sales and marketing tool, plain and simple !! And being that HRC has adopted the “corporate” model in how it runs its organization (as with most non-profits these days) the aim is to predominantly help their corporate sponsor’s bottom line, and what better way for them to do that then to spread favorable word of mouth advertising via this CEI index, regardless of how the company treats its employees.

So, with this system, organizations like HRC win because they continue to get their sponsorship dollars, the corporations win because they have a huge leveraging tool to use in the marketing and advertising department (and oh let’s not forget, to ensure that corruption and discrimination gets covered-up) and last but not least, the corporate folks in the individual communities (in our case GLBT corporate executives) win because both HRC and their companies present them with accolades and promotions making out that those people were the instrument of change in the company…………The fact is, they are the few token executives who sold the rest of us out to corporate America and who companies love because they are the ones who dupe the public into thinking that their company is this “Diverse” place to work for GLBT employees………..It is “diverse” for them since they are on top, and since the companies know these “leaders” will keep this corrupt system well-run and protected. It is a win /win for everyone except of course for the employees who are discriminated against………………….

And yes John / Admin, many in the community have the GLBT journalists to thank for contributing to this problem, for refusing to report the REAL and FACTUAL story of what goes on behind the corporate / non-profit “diversity” scenes. Despite front page accolade headlines, floats at pride parades, protectionist cronies in the community and corporate logos adorning our non-profit advertisements, there is more to corporate diversity departments than you know or can comprehend.

So I say that until you spend a few months working with a corporate “diversity” department and see how corporate policy revision is REALLY undertaken (not what some corporate citizenship person wants you to believe) and the TRUE relationships between them and our powerful GLBT non-profits, then your argument would be considered valid. Until then it will just be business as usual with the above system well-rooted and with the employees who know the inside silenced by the GLBT media and the non-profits to protect the status quo and corporate perks………………

I am ashamed of you John / Admin that you would be so quick to stick your head into the sand with your former company who treated you poorly and then have the audacity to write favorable news articles about the very same GLBT organization who supports the company who treated you like crap……………….. Again, where is the influence coming from at the Dallas Voice ??

Quite frankly, the day when I ever see you all at the Dallas Voice report unfavorably (based upon factual evidence) on Dallas / Ft. Worth based companies besides Cinemark and others and have the journalistic bravado enough to go up against large companies who cover-up their corruption in our community (free corporate perks or no free corporate perks or pressure from the protectionist “activists” who cover-up for them), then will I ever believe that the Dallas Voice and the GLBT media as a whole is one which reports unbiased and truthful news.

And of course those ratings are official policies and benefits. Before coming back to work in the office at the Voice, I was working at a company that had a high rating with lots of partner benefits. And they treated their employees like crap. But they treated everyone like crap. The rating only singles out companies discriminating based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

And as far as advertisers in the Voice, I’ve written some very negative stories that involved one advertiser that I thought wasn’t doing what it did best without any editorial interference because of advertising concerns.

Also, your post fails to mention that Witeck / Combs is a consulting firm whose clients are the very companies that they endorse, so naturally they will want the community to support them financially. It would prove their GLBT marketing business model that they sell to companies.

Tell the whole story John, not the sales and marketing strategy that both HRC and corporate America want you to publish……………Oops, sorry, some of those corporations are advertisers of the Dallas Voice…….