Washington Blade back on newsstands Friday

It’s Washington Blade. No, it’s DC Agenda [1]. No, it’s Washington Blade, again.

The Washington Blade, Washington, D.C.’s 40-year-old LGBT publication, will be returning to newsstands on Friday under its original name. In November, Windows Media, which owned the Blade and a host of other LGBT publications across the country, went belly up [2], declaring bankruptcy and unexpectedly telling employees the publications would cease.

Immediately, former staffers of the Blade created DC Agenda, an online LGBT news site.

[3]

This week, DC Agenda’s owners announced a win in bankruptcy court that included being awarded the Blade name, all trademarks and copyrights and the entire 40-year archive.

DC Agenda surveyed readers on whether to return to the Washington Blade name. The majority of respondents favored the move.

“The power, effectiveness and strength of the Washington Blade came from the spirit and intensity of those who wrote the stories and worked with the local community,” publisher Lynne Brown told DC Agenda [4]. “We now have the opportunity to both restore and refresh a powerful, venerable news gathering institution and to make the treasure trove of our vibrant gay rights and liberation movement history accessible to the public.

[1] http://www.dcagenda.com
[2] http://www.365gay.com/news/goodbye-washington-blade/
[3] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/news-washington-blade-top.jpg
[4] http://www.dcagenda.com/2010/04/26/washington-blade-returns-this-week/

DiversityMBA Magazine ranks Kaiser Permanente No. 1 on annual list for Diverse Managers

OAKLAND, Calif — Kaiser Permanente’s long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion has been recognized by DiversityMBA Magazine. The health care organization was ranked No. 1 in the publication’s fourth annual “50 Out Front for Diversity Leadership: Best Places for Diverse Managers to Work,” which will hit newsstands in April 2009.

“This award is a great acknowledgement of the priority Kaiser Permanente places on creating a workplace environment that is characterized by respect for the individual and a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere for our employees,” said Ronald Knox, senior vice president and chief diversity officer at Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc.

Published quarterly, DiversityMBA Magazine’s aim is to serve the needs of multicultural professionals in corporate America, business students and entrepreneurs. In selecting the 2009 “50 Out Front Companies” the publication’s selection team expanded its research evaluations to include companies that implement intentional strategies based on accountability, strong inclusion practices and ongoing evaluation of retention/recruitment activities that allow and encourage managers of diverse backgrounds to excel and develop into leadership roles.

Today, Kaiser Permanente’s 181,000 employee and physician workforce is composed of 74 percent women and 56 percent people of color, mirroring and exceeding the racial, ethnic and gender composition of its health plan membership and the communities it serves. The organization has been recognized in the past year for corporate diversity leadership by several organizations and publications, including:

– DiversityInc – Top 50 Companies for Diversity (2008; 2007; 2006) — Human Rights Campaign Foundation & the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association – Healthcare Equality Index — Black Collegian Magazine – Top 100 Diversity Employers — DiversityMBA Magazine – Top 50 Companies (2009; 2008) — Asian Enterprise Magazine – Best Companies for Asian Americans (2008; 2007) — Workforce Management Magazine – Optimas Award (Ethical Category) — Latina Style Magazine – LS 50 — Human Rights Campaign – Corporate Equality Index (2008; 2007; 2006; 2005) — The California Diversity Council – DiversityFIRST Award — Gay and Lesbian Medical Association in association with Pfizer – GLMA Achievement Award

Kaiser Permanente’s commitment to workforce diversity is grounded in its Board of Directors – mandated National Diversity Agenda which also includes a focus on multicultural marketing and culturally competent care delivery – health care that acknowledges cultural and linguistic diversity in the clinical setting, respects members’ cultural beliefs and practices, and fully integrates cultural skills, knowledge and considerations into the total healthcare experience of our members. Through its Institute for Culturally Competent Care and Linguistic Programs, Kaiser Permanente has established “Centers of Excellence,” innovative clinical models that respond to the health and language needs of specific populations.

“Diversity is a core value of Kaiser Permanente, and we are delighted to be recognized as the No. 1 place to work by DiversityMBA Magazine. Our commitment to creating a workplace environment that embraces and utilizes the unique cultural expertise and attributes of each employee and physician enables us to better meet the health needs of our increasingly diverse membership, and gives us a distinct edge in the marketplace,” said Knox.

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is America’s leading integrated health plan. Founded in 1945, the program is headquartered in Oakland, Calif. Kaiser Permanente serves 8.7 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Today it encompasses Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and their subsidiaries, and the Permanente Medical Groups. Nationwide, Kaiser Permanente includes approximately 167,000 technical, administrative and clerical employees and caregivers, and 14,000 physicians representing all specialties. The organization’s Labor Management Partnership is the largest such health care partnership in the United States. It governs how more than 130,000 workers, managers, physicians and dentists work together to make Kaiser Permanente the best place to receive care, and the best place to work. For more Kaiser Permanente news, visit the Kaiser Permanente News Center at: http://xnet.kp.org/newscenter* Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual

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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/03/diversitymba-…

Ricky Martin shows off his babies

From today’s Miami Herald People column:

Oh, Ricky, they’re so fine.

Twins Matteo and Valentino, we mean.

Born via surrogate in August, Ricky Martin‘s 4-month-olds make their mini debut in this week’s People and People en Español, on newsstands Friday.

The Puerto Rican singer, 36, opened up to the mag about the experience.

”Being a father feels amazing. This has been the most spiritual moment in my life,” says Martin, who doesn’t use a nanny.

“I’m the one who changes the diapers, the one that feeds them, the one that bathes them, the one that puts them to sleep.”

Why a surrogate mom?

”Adoption was one option, but it’s complicated and can take a long time.” Surrogacy was “intriguing and faster.”

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NEWSWEEK COVER: The Religious Case for Gay Marriage – “Religious Objections to Gay Marriage are Rooted Not in the Bible at All”

Newsweek Poll Shows Two-Thirds of People Who See Gay Marriage as a Religious Matter Oppose it

NEW YORK, NY — The latest Newsweek Poll shows growing public support for gay marriage and civil unions, with a number of factors playing a role in swaying people one way or the other. According to the poll, 62 percent of Americans say religious beliefs play an important role in shaping their views on gay marriage. “According to the survey, two-thirds of those who see marriage as primarily a legal matter support gay marriage. On the other hand, two-thirds of those who see it as mostly a religious matter (or equal parts religious and legal) oppose gay marriage.” Religion Editor Lisa Miller examines this issue in the December 15 cover, “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” (on newsstands Monday, December 8), and writes that “not since 1860, when the country’s pulpits were full of preachers pronouncing on slavery, pro and con, has one of our basic social (and economic) institutions been so subject to Biblical scrutiny … All the religious rhetoric, it seems, has been on the side of the gay-marriage opponents, who use Scripture as the foundation for their objections.” A mature view of scriptural authority requires the ability to move beyond literalism, as common practice changes and evolves over time. “Religious objections to gay marriage are rooted not in the Bible at all, then, but in custom and tradition,” Miller writes.

Miller writes that the argument against gay marriage involves the idea that the Bible and Jesus define marriage as between one man and one woman, and homosexuality is in opposition to Scripture. To which there are two obvious responses: First, neither the Bible nor Jesus says any such thing. And second, no sensible modern person wants marriage — theirs or anyone else’s — to look in its particulars anything like what the Bible describes. “‘Marriage’ in America refers to two separate things, a religious institution and a civil one, though it is most often enacted as a messy conflation of the two. As a civil institution, marriage offers practical benefits to both partners: contractual rights having to do with taxes; insurance; the care and custody of children; visitation rights; and inheritance. As a religious institution, marriage offers something else: a commitment of both partners before God to love, honor, cherish each other — in sickness and in health, for richer and poorer — in accordance with God’s will.” Miller argues that the Bible offers no reason why gays and lesbians should not be married, in both civil and religious terms — and a number of excellent reasons why they should.

“We cannot look to the Bible as a marriage manual, but we can read it for universal truths as we struggle toward a more just future,” Miller writes. “The Bible offers inspiration and warning on the subjects of love, marriage, family and community. It speaks eloquently of the crucial role of families in a fair society and the risks we incur to ourselves and our children should we cease trying to bind ourselves together in loving pairs.”

Also in the cover package, Senior Writer Lorraine Ali tells the story of a custody battle between two women who were joined in a Vermont civil union. Their relationship failed, one partner decided she was no longer gay and now they’re fighting for custody of the daughter they both love. The case, Miller v. Jenkins, has important implications for gay parents everywhere.