Christenfeld, who is also a Ph.D. candidate in political science at Columbia, was one of four participants in a Business School discussion last month on gay-friendly corporations--both those who target their products to lesbigay consumers and those who treat their lesbigay employees fairly. The other panelists were Richard Mayora, an account executive at HBO and leader of a 250-member Time-Warner lesbigay employees' group; Peter Fressola, the director of communications for Benetton; and Ed Mickens, author of the recently published guide, The 100 Best Companies for Gay Men and Lesbians.
Christenfeld said that companies such as Seagram's have realized that by underwriting gay events, contributing to gay charities and advertising in gay magazines, they can establish a presence that makes lesbigays more likely to purchase their products. But just sponsoring a float in a Pride parade, as Coors did last summer, is not enough to overcome problems caused by "homophobic hiring practices and reactionary political policies," he added.
A long-running international AIDS awareness campaign has given Benetton greater visibility among lesbigay consumers. Since 1991, when Benneton "set off a firestorm of controversy" with an ad featuring multi-colored condoms, the company has sought to "exploit AIDS in a way that is proactive and positive" while also creating brand awareness in the U.S. and abroad, according to Fressola. Over the years the United Colors of Benetton campaign has featured the final moments of a man dying of AIDS, a man with an "HIV positive" tattoo on one arm, and, most recently, a sea of faces with the word "AIDS" hovering specter-like among them.
"We're proud of these guerrilla tactics that got governments to acknowledge AIDS for the first time," Fressola said.
What makes for a gay-friendly company? Mayora jokingly suggested that having him around does. But, on a more serious note, Mickens, a General Studies graduate who specializes in lesbigay workplace issues, said that three factors are critical: safety, demonstrated by policies against discrimination and a commitment to enforcing them; full acceptance of lesbigay employees at every level of the company; and equality in employee benefits.
"Companies that do well on lesbian and gay issues are the companies that are going to do well," said Mickens, whose book is published by Pocket Books and retails for $12.
HBO, a division of the Time-Warner media empire, is one of the companies singled out by Mickens for its "excellent" track record as an employer. So is Columbia, which, like HBO, has a written policy against discrimination and an active lesbigay employees' group (GABLES-CU) and provides domestic partner benefits for same-sex unions.
The panel discussion, which attracted about 50 people, was sponsored by the Gay and Lesbian Business Association. Citing the B-School's lack of emphasis on diversity issues, Brad Joblung, the GBLA chairman, explained: "We want to get some better-educated MBA's out there."
- E. R. Shipp
Journalism School