Digital Queeries.Trouble in paradise The first two weeks of February were rife with embarrassment followed by redemption for online powerhouses Yahoo! and Microsoft. Both companies were linked--Yahoo! through two advertisers and Microsoft on its Expedia travel site--to online promotions awarding vacations at a Sandals resort in Jamaica. The trouble came in the fine print, which said, "Sandals Luxury Resorts policies require male/female couples only." Online advocacy group Wired Strategies, tipped off to the homophobia homophobia Psychology An irrationally negative attitude toward those with homosexual orientation, or toward becoming homosexual. See Closet, Gay-bashing, Heterosexism. Cf Gay, Homosexual, Phobia. by Atlanta resident Kirby Frank, issued a press release. Subsequently, Yahoo! and Microsoft--at risk of alienating al·ien·ate tr.v. al·ien·at·ed, al·ien·at·ing, al·ien·ates 1. To cause to become unfriendly or hostile; estrange: alienate a friend; alienate potential supporters by taking extreme positions. a $17-billion-a-year international gay travel market--said they knew nothing of Sandals' policy and severed sev·er v. sev·ered, sev·er·ing, sev·ers v.tr. 1. To set or keep apart; divide or separate. 2. To cut off (a part) from a whole. 3. all ties to the resort. Digital Queeries made a quick call to (800) SANDALS to see if the resort had reconsidered its policy but was told by a reservations clerk that the exclusion of same-sex couples A same-sex couple is a pair of people of the same gender who pursue a romantic or sexual relationship together. The term "same-sex relationship" may be used when the sexual orientation of participants in a same-sex relationship is not known. "has always been our policy, and it will always be our policy." Interestingly, Web portal See portal. Excite, which in late January was purchased by @Home, also ran a promotion with Sandals but was unscathed by bad press--until now. http://www.wiredstrateqies.com http://www.onlinevacationmall.com/ http://www.yahoo.com http://www.sandals.com/ http://www.excite.com Abortion: both sides now Regardless of your stand on abortion rights, you may want to visit the Pro-Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians Pro-Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians (PLAGAL) is an interest group of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered Americans and their straight allies. PLAGAL supports the pro-life position that life begins at conception and thus abortion is unjust lifetaking that should be . The site offers issue-related news and op-ed pieces, information on regional chapters, and links to a variety of sites, including those discussing gay and lesbian adoption. http://www.plagal.org/ Hot Web site Classic Dykes is a "cyber-network for lesbians in midlife mid·life n. See middle age. adj. Of, relating to, or characteristic of middle age. and beyond." Here visitors can view the Classic Dyke of the month, post musings on the popular message board, view or create personals, and read first-person accounts by women who came out at age 40 or later. http://www.geocities.com/~classicdykes/ --Compiled by Eric Haeberli. Send tips and URLs to queeries@advocate.com |
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