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Fortune 500 Look to
Gay Buying Power
by T.J. DEGROAT

Corporate America’s marketing executives have aggressively targeted African
Americans, Latinos and Asian Americans, but until recently one lucrative segment
has been ignored: gays and lesbians.
"There has been a lot of noise during the past year and a half about this emerging
market, so companies identify that there is an opportunity," said Jeff Garber, co-founder
of OpusCommGroup Inc., a communications and marketing firm. "But they’re not quite
sure if their product is going to appeal to the gay/lesbian segment and if so, how to market
the product."
Garber and co-founder Dan Fedrizzi have helped clients ranging from Fortune 500
companies to non-profits tap into the gay community’s buying power, which surpassed
$340 billion in 1999 and is expected to hit $444 billion by 2004, according to a study by
MarketResearch.com.
The Syracuse, N.Y. company has served mainstream clients for more than 15 years and
now aims to act as a liaison between the gay community and the heterosexual-dominated
business world.
OpusCommGroup’s main goal is to devise online and offline campaigns that will help
companies that haven’t been able to effectively target the gay segment.
"The new challenge is to demonstrate to a major player like an American Express how
to approach this unique market effectively and have substantial impact on their bottom
line," Garber said. "If corporate America hears only about gay-oriented products being
target marketed we are guilty of perpetuating the marketing stereotype that if you don't
have a gay-specific product you don't advertise to them."
Corporate America can create brand loyalty without marketing a gay-specific product,
Garber said.
"Arm and Hammer Baking Soda has reinvented multiple uses for the product, but the
product has remained the same," he said. "They came up with new applications for the
same product. That is the key."
Most gays and lesbians will go out of their way to buy products that advertise to their
niche, Garber said.
A 1999 Anheuser-Busch ad showing two men holding hands received some backlash, but
spurred interest among the gay community.
Ninety-three percent of gays surveyed by market researcher Greenfield Online said they
were more likely to purchase the product. More than 75 percent of gays said they prefer
to buy products from companies that advertise directly to their segment.
Talk of an economic slowdown should make the market even more attractive, he said.
"All companies need to diversify if there’s an economic slowdown," he said. "The gay and
lesbian community, the majority of which doesn’t have children to support, is a great group
to target."
The lack of concrete numbers about the market has posed a challenge for companies such as
OpusCommGroup, but Garber and partner Dan Fedrizzi are considering working with a major
university and other companies to commission an exhaustive study that addresses gay buying
habits, they said.
Estimates of gay buying power range from $300 to $500 billion, with population estimates falling
from three to 10 percent of the U.S. population.
To tap into that buying power, companies must do more than advertise in gay mainstays, such as
The Advocate.
"By seeing gay creative in mainstream media, it is a symbol that the company is not embarrassed
to show their support," Garber said. "Companies never ran the risk of embarrassment of running
in The Advocate because straight America would never see it."
OpusCommGroup, which has worked with Time Warner Cable, Syracuse University and Lockeed
Martin, created a sensitive campaign for an AIDS resource organization serving upstate New York.
The campaign, titled "What are the odds?" attracted mainstream support for a cause many people
firmly attach to the gay community by asking about the odds of contracting HIV among people
ranging from suburban women to rural farmers, Garber said.

Gay Mag Runs Raunchy EMINEM Parody

Rapper wildman EMINEM is fuming - after a
gay magazine printed pictures of a raunchy naked
lookalike.
Readers of Europe-wide gay mag EUROBOY
are big fans of the controversial rapper's looks
and physique, despite his well-known homophobic
lyrics - but knew they could never persuade the
star to strip off for them.
After a lengthy search, the publication found
18-year-old MATTHEW, who jumped at
the chance to peel off his clothes and dress up
as his hero.
Matthew says, "Even my mum thinks I look
like Eminem - I love his music, his lyrics, in fact
I love everything about him and I really felt like
I was Eminem."

But a source close to the SLIM SHADY star says, "After all the trauma of his court
case this is all he needs. He's distressed about the whole affair and worried what effect
it will have on his girlfriends if it travels to the States."

Study: Children in gay households
differ from those in straight households

A study by two professors at the University of Southern California concludes
that the emotional health of children raised by gay parents is largely the same
but does differ from that of children raised in heterosexual households, the Los
Angeles Times reports. The professors examined 21 studies dating to 1980 and
concluded that while the emotional health of the children in either household was
the same, the children of gay and lesbian parents are more likely to depart from
traditional gender roles. The paper, published in the American Sociological Review,
says children with gay parents are more open to same-sex relationships. Teen boys
in gay households are more sexually restrained than teen boys in heterosexual
households, while teen girls show the opposite trend.
Authors Judith Stacey and Timothy J. Biblarz suggest the differences have been
glossed over because of the controversy that still surrounds gay parenting. In the
past gay activists have used interpretations of the studies to argue that there is
no difference in children raised in gay households. Stacey, a sociology professor
who holds an endowed chair in gender studies, says that the interpretations were
understandable but had stifled an open discussion of the issue. University of
Virginia psychology professor Charlotte J. Patterson, whose work is among the
studies examined in the paper, said she thinks Stacey and Biblarz came to more
dramatic conclusions of the differences than she would have but said that their
work is valid. “It’s a real contribution to the discussion. I think it’s important to
raise these issues,” Patterson said. “It will help to generate further research,
which we need in this area.” Stacey and Biblarz worked with studies that primarily
examined the children of lesbians, and the fact that children were raised in an
all-female household may be an important factor in the results. Other findings
by the USC professors:
Daughters of lesbians frequently dress, play, and behave in ways that don’t
conform to gender-typed cultural norms, compared with daughters of
heterosexual mothers. Lesbians’ daughters have higher aspirations
to professions that are not traditionally female.
Sons of lesbians are more likely to be nurturing and affectionate than boys
in heterosexual households.
Teen and young adult girls of lesbian mothers appear to be more sexually
adventurous than daughters of heterosexual mothers. Sons of lesbians are
more chaste than boys raised by heterosexuals.
“These studies find no significant differences between children of lesbian and
heterosexual mothers in anxiety, depression, self-esteem, and numerous other
measures of social and psychological adjustment,” Stacey and Biblarz wrote.
Stacey said that in lesbian parenting, both partners tend to be highly involved
in their children’s lives and in greater agreement on parenting choices than
heterosexual couples.

This Gay House: Finished at
Last by Wright Design

	Welcome to the FINAL episode of “This Gay House.” These past two weeks of love, sweat, and tension have really brought everything together. Everything looks great with a wonderful flow, a bit of whimsy, and a touch of Zen. Now you can take a good look at it all together as Daniel takes you on a tour of the house. You will also see photographs of the finished project and of people that helped to make this house what it is. This project has been an incredible experience. Mid-century is not the only style that Wright Design does, but it was definitely fun to turn this house into a showplace. We created “This Gay House” as a Design Showcase to be sold after its premiere.
As you will see when you view the home in its entirety, each detail has been addressed and everything was done for a reason -- even the exact placement of the furniture. You can lounge on any bed and gaze out the window at the spectacular mountain views. There is a sense of peace, harmony and joy that completely overwhelms you.	-
The home does have that sleek, mid-century design and many of our design decisions enhanced that look. I can promise, you will find nothing comparable to this on the market. We are very proud to say our design team has created an incredibly unique property. All the

frustration, hard work, and lost sleep has paid off.

Gaywired.com

Employee fired
for anti-gay slur

An Arby's fast food restaurant employee in Woodbridge, Va., was fired in February for
allegedly calling two customers "faggots." The incident took place after one of the customers,
Duff Eakes, said he had been given the wrong order. Eakes and Gregory Eaheart said they
were stunned when the employee called them anti-gay names, and told them to leave if
they disliked how they were being treated.
Eakes and Eaheart said they complained to the manager, and were told to call the general
manager, whom they immediately called using a cell phone. Eaheart said the general manager
apologized, and said action would be taken.Within a week of the incident, Eakes and Eaheart
received a letter from the Arby's director of operations in the Woodbridge area which included
an apology, free meal coupons, and notification that the employee had been fired.

- The Washington Blade

International Perspective
News From Around the World

Belgium: Following the example of the Netherlands, Belgium is now considering legalizing
same-sex marriage. The proposal was made by the Green Algalev Party, which is the smallest
member of the governing coalition. If adopted, same-sex marriage could become a reality in
Belgium by 2002.
Canada: A plan by a Toronto high school math teacher to sabotage the career of a fellow teacher
by outing the educator has seriously backfired. The offending teacher, Stig Korjus--who showed
photographs of Richard Villeneuve at a gay pride festival to parents, students and staff--said that
Villeneuve "wouldn't be accepted." He has, instead, found himself suspended for four months and
forced to take a course on homophobia. Ah, karma can work quickly!
Canada: An Alberta man, Brent Johnson, has succeeded in challenging a law that prevented him
from inheriting his partner's estate (as opposed to his partner's family and offspring inheriting the estate).
Ironically, Johnson cannot actually inherit his partner's estate--at least for nine months. That is how long
it is expected to take to rewrite all the laws that use the word "spouse" in Alberta. The judge ruled that
the law did indeed violate Brent Johnson's "equality before the law" and would thus have to be rewritten,
as would about a dozen other laws.
Dubai: "Fluff Night," Dubai's first-ever gay nightclub, proved to be a little too much for the authorities.
Shortly after the club widely publicized the upcoming appearance of a transgender DJ from England,
the club was shut down by the emirate's Crown Prince.
England: An Anglican chaplain at Hull and East Yorkshire hospitals has resigned in protest of the
fact that a gay colleague (also a chaplain) is not a "nonpracticing homosexual." The chaplain, Rev.
Mark Pickering, had complained about his gay colleague, but was not backed in his criticism of
Rev. Stephen Smith, so he felt it necessary to quit. Smith declined to comment.
France: While the international press has concentrated on the fact that the new mayor of Paris,
Betrand Delanoe, is gay, Parisians appear more interested in bread and butter issues and shrug
off discussions of sexuality. So far, his priorities have included a massive expansion of the city's
already impressive public transport system; boosting the number of women in positions of power
by appointing women to about half of his key staff positions; and finally--the issue that won him
the race--a pledge to accept no "hedging" or "ambiguity" from his team. Translated, that means
anyone with a whiff of corruption gets the boot, as it was such corruption that led to the ouster
the previous mayor, Jean Tiberi.
Japan: A respected Tokyo doctor who recommended the use of unheated blood products for
hemophiliacs--despite knowing that such use put them at risk for HIV infection--was acquitted
on charges of professional negligence. An estimated 1,400 Japanese hemophiliacs were exposed
to HIV as a result and more than 500 are believed to have died, according to Reuters. Prosecutors
(who had been demanding a three-year sentence) and activists alike were stunned at the acquittal,
particularly since three executives in a related blood contamination scandal were convicted of
professional negligence.
Netherlands: April 1 was "tying the knot" day in Amsterdam. At midnight, one lesbian and three
gay couples were officially married mere moments after a Dutch law recognizing same-sex marriage
came into effect. The marriages garnered worldwide attention and the mayor of Amsterdam who
officiated at the ceremony--told the couples, "You are writing history." The city's chief registrar
expects to see about 10,000 same-sex weddings a year, 10 percent of the average annual
marriage total.
Namibia: Doth he protest too much? President Sam Nujoma appears to have truly blown a fuse over
the issue of queers. Reacting to the legalization of same-sex marriage in the Netherlands, Nujoma now
says that any gays or lesbians who enter the country will be immediately deported. "If they arrive at the
Hosea Kutako Airport, we'll send them back with the same aircraft," said Nujoma in The Namibian
newspaper, holding up pictures of the Dutch wedding ceremony. "If they are couples or found to be
homosexuals, definitely it's against God's will. It is the devil at work." The spleen-venting president
continued: "In Namibia we don't allow lesbianism or homosexuality. They must keep it in Europe. Which
God is responsible for these homosexuals? Is it the God of the Africans or the God of the Europeans?"
The president recently started his vendetta against gays and lesbians by calling for their arrest and
imprisonment in the Southwest African nation. Those statements caused the Rainbow Project, a local
queer rights group, to tartly inquire if "the president has made arrangements with the prison authorities
to accommodate some 10 percent of the population?"
New Zealand: Will she croak or not, that is the question. According to rumors permeating the Xena-phile
world, in the final, last, ultimate, conclusive episode of "Xena: Warrior Princess," Xena will either come
out in a truly obvious fashion (about her relationship with Gabrielle) or will die horribly at the hands of
samurai warriors. Lucy Lawless, now the richest woman in the island nation, is keeping mum about her
character's fate and allegedly says even she does not know what fate the script has in store.
United States, South Africa, France: Medecins sans Frontières (MSF) is urging individuals to sign
onto their online global petition demanding that 39 of the world's largest pharmaceutical manufacturers
drop their lawsuit against the South African government's attempts to provide inexpensive AIDS treatments
to their citizens. Those wanting to sign onto the "Drop the Case" petition can do so at www.msf.org .

DON'T CALL ME BABY!
by NANETTE DEVAUEX
photos by DAVE BAILEY

How many times have you witnessed this at
your local pick-up spot: A gorgeous man,
dressed in the best a designer outlet store
has to offer, with the right ratio of shoulder
width and package length, chatting it up at
the bar with some tragic woman. You
know the type: she's got a bad perm, clothes
reminiscent of Three's Company's Janet, bad
uses of terry cloth and a perpetual look of
longing at that very special homo whom she
's known since his days of sneaking in blow
jobs after marching band practice.
Well, that woman, affectionately called a 'fag
hag,' is a major problem for self-respecting
women like me who also enjoy the
company of queers. You see, the 'fag hag'
moniker only applies to the badly-dressed
army of hetero women who enjoy the
gayest of lifestyles. But after the bars and clubs
close, these sisters begin praying that one day
dear Steve or Armand or Todd will turn over

a new, straight leaf and finally bed them, ending a five-year dry spell.
Are fag hags born or made? Is it nature or nurture? The only thing I know is that hagdom begins in
college when the poor soul tries to sleep with that cute, sensitive and really artistic guy in her Intro to
Women's Studies class. When she fails to seduce him, he reveals that he might be gay, and regales her
with stories of Boy Scout camps and fraternity hazing. Most straight girls enter 'hagdom' when they
secretly vow that fateful night that he can be hers with just a little perseverance and lots of hanging out.
Memo to all the fag hags of the world: It will never happen.

I, on the other hand, am not and will never be
a fag hag. Yes, I can be spotted at Manbar or
The Loading Zone on occasion, a pride parade
or on Fire Island once a year, but when I do it
I am not hagging it. Broads like me are merely
girlfriends sans the naked parts. Considering
the high levels of maintenance necessary for
your average gay boy living in a major
metropolitan area, being a girlfriend throws
you up a notch to a new category: the super
girlfriend, or simply, the SGF. I coined the
term SGF a few years ago because I felt fag
hag wasn't doing justice to the scores of
intelligent, independent and really, really
hot women like myself who also like kickin'
it with the fags.What's the difference?
Honey, there is an ocean of difference
between your run-of- the-mill fag hag and
an SGF. An SGF is a dangerous combination
of Lil' Kim and Diana Ross-an explosive
mixture of vulgarity and sassiness-which no
fag hag dares to explore. We don't do bad

dye jobs, and we wouldn't dream of doing a gay boy; we're too busy doing everyone else.
No offense, homos, but we don't want you, we don't 'accidentally' rub up against you on the dance
floor, and you come to us to learn how to be a better bottom. We don't hold your drinks at parties,
we encourage threesomes, but we never invite ourselves to yours.
I dream of the day when SGFs can form a united front against the fag hags of the world and settle
the score once and for all. Last time I was at a club, a group of fag hags on wheels came up to me,
and the leader of the pack turned to me and sighed, 'Isn't it the worst how all the good ones are
gay? What are we supposed to do?'
Well, if you are a self-respecting straight girl wondering where you fit in, take this quiz and see
for yourself:

ARE YOU A FAG HAG?
1) When your best friend told you he was indeed playing for the homo team, you:
a) cried.
b) smiled, then collected the cash from the pool you started about when he would finally come the hell out.
c) cried like a little baby and tried to fool him into sleeping with you by asking him to prove it.
2) On Thursday evening, you can be found:
a) watching Will & Grace with five of your closest boys, of course.
b) yawning as you watch a tape of last week's Queer As Folk, and thinking to yourself, Who writes all this G-rated gay crap?
c) Watching Will & Grace while composing a weekly fan letter to the cast inviting them to hang out next time they're in town.
3) You most admire:
a) Madonna. She gets paid to hang out with gay men-how fun!
b) Madonna. She rips off homo culture and gets gay men to pay her for it-how brilliant!
c) Rikki Lake. She survived falling in love with a gay man and one day, you can too.
4) Your theme song is:
a) 'It's Raining Men.' You can count on it every weekend at the bars.
b) 'Touch It.' Monifah basically stole that song from you.
c) 'Didn't We Almost Have It All?' You can really feel the sadness in Whitney's voice.
5) Your fashion guru is:
a) Your boys.
b) Lil' Kim, although she dresses a bit on the conservative side.
c) It doesn't matter; men never notice me anyway.

If you answered mostly 'a,' you have some hope of leaving the fag-hag lifestyle and standing on your own two
feet. Get rid of all the disco CDs and limit yourself to one cocksucker club per month. If you answered mostly
'b,' you are an SGF and have absolutely nothing to worry about. You may want to take your life on the road,
educating and reforming those less fortunate females.
If you answered mostly 'c,' I see some restraining orders in your future. Lose a few pounds, sleep around for a
while and start drinking to drown out the pain.

Kinksters and Pervs:
The Words We Use and
The Messages We Send
By Steve Lenius

Words are powerful things. The words
we use to refer to ourselves and our community
send strong and sometimes unintentional messages
about how we see ourselves. In addition to sending
those messages to everyone else, we reinforce them
in ourselves.
With that in mind, here's a quick word-association
test. You don't need to grab a pencil, and you needn't
write anything down. Just look at the words that make
up the question mark. Take the first one you see and
make a note of the first word, image or feeling that
comes to mind.
Who is my audience for this column? Do we call
ourselves the "leather" or the "leather/SM" or the
"leather/BDSM" community? These are simple
statements about what we're attracted to or what

we like to do. Or do we refer to our collective selves as the "kink" or "fetish" community and,
with a wink and a nod, to our individual selves as "kinksters" and "perverts"? These are loaded
terms implying that there's something wrong with what we're attracted to--and therefore that
there's something wrong with us.
Here's one way Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (10th ed.) defines the word kinky:
"relating to, having, or appealing to unconventional tastes esp. in sex; also : sexually deviant.
"And here's one definition that dictionary offers for perversion: "a perverted form; esp. : an
aberrant sexual practice esp. when habitual and preferred to normal coitus."
Dictionaries are such stimulating reading, don't you think? Those definitions seem so matter-
of-fact on the page. But in real life, things can grow ugly. Being labeled "sexually deviant"
often brings intense disapproval from society, and some people believe "perverts"
deserve to be hated, demonized, harassed, bashed, and killed.
I realize that bringing up this line of discussion risks wading into the same territory that the
word in my little quiz, queer, brings up. (Ethnic minorities can also have these kinds of discussions
about racial slurs that have been used against them over the years.) For years, words like "queer"
and "faggot" were slams and insults; they were yelled in anger, and their intention was to hurt us.
But when we consciously use these words to describe ourselves (seen on a T-shirt: "That's Mr. Faggot
to you!"), the words supposedly lose their power to hurt, as if to say, "Yeah, you're right--I'm queer.
So what?"
The fact that I personally still don't feel comfortable describing myself as queer--I prefer to call myself a gay
man--tells you I don't entirely buy that argument. (And since this seems to some extent to be agenerational
thing, it also tells you I'm over 40.)
In much the same way, when I use the terms kinky or pervert ironically or sarcastically, even if I use them
only when I'm with other like-minded community members, I'm still using someone else's value judgments
instead of my own to define myself. If I don't agree with the value judgments, why should I first call
attention to them before saying I don't agree with them? Why should I even let them occupy valuable
real estate in my mind?
Words like queer and kinky and perverted simply don't resonate with me. Being sexually attracted to another
man comes as naturally to me as breathing--there's nothing "queer" to me about it. I like the look of black leather
or a nice, masculine uniform on a man; to me, that's natural and normal, not a "fetish." To me, it's not "kinky,"
it's just the way it is. For me to engage in what Merriam-Webster defines as coitus--now, that would be strange.
I've heard things like this from other people, too: "Oh, you write that leather column? Well, I'm not into
leather..." (or, "I'm not kinky..."), "but...." And then they reveal they like getting their nipples played with,
or their ass paddled, or that handcuffs excite them. But to them, it's not "kinky"; it's just the way it is.
One important feature of the leather/BDSM community's code of ethics is being nonjudgmental of other people's
interests and attractions. Stop and think about the hanky code, and what a wonderful social institution it is:
Different colored hankies stand for different sexual appetites, and no judgment of the rightness or wrongness
of those activities is necessary. You can flag whatever color you want, and even if that's not the color I'm
looking for, I will still defend your right to flag it.
The leather/BDSM community takes nonjudgmentalism so seriously that it has evolved an acronym for the act
of being judgmental: YKINOK, which stands for "Your Kink Is Not Okay." This is not something one wants to
be found guilty of in leather/BDSM circles; instead of making the value judgment of YKINOK, it's more proper
to express YKINMK, or "Your Kink Is Not My Kink." We don't all have to agree with one another, and to
each his or her own.
Gee, I wish the rest of the world were more like that.
By the way, in the above example, you may have noticed I'm still using a form of the word kinky. Henceforth,
when I want to refer to something that's kinky, I'll use Merriam-Webster's third definition for the noun form
of that word, kink: "a clever unusual way of doing something."