Gay and lesbian homeowners are continuing to spend more than non-gay homeowners on home improvement projects despite the economic downturn. In fact, gay couples plan to spend 50 percent more on home improvement projects than non-gay couples over the next 12 months. These findings are part of a national consumer survey conducted in March of this year by the Chicago-based, online research agency, Socratic Technologies (www.Sotech.com), and Target 10 (www.target-10.com), a gay and lesbian marketing agency based in New York.

Over this past weekend, twenty-four influential donors, activists, and thinkers came together to discuss achieving full equality faster for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Americans. The result of the meeting was the production of a document known as 'The Dallas Principles.'

The Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism (MOTT) is proud to announce that Gay.com has awarded Provincetown, Massachusetts it's "Favorite Resort Town" for its 2009 Travel Award for the fifth year in a row, as a result of nearly 25,000 votes cast by the web site's gay and lesbian readers.

Data from Gaywheels.com shows that the majority of gay car shoppers are brand agnostic when searching for a new vehicle. The analysis examined how in-market gay car shoppers search for new car retailers, found that more than half (54%) of gay consumers allowed their purchasing decision to be driven by the proximity of a gay-friendly dealership rather than an allegiance to a specific make of vehicle.

If veteran newsman Dan Rather was gay, and happened to comment on today's stark economic picture, he might say that America's summer travel trends are flatter than Olympian Michael Phelps taut abs.

But he's not (gay, that is). And if we all take a closer look at a recent snapshot of travel behaviors and survey metrics, at least there is one brighter forecast for the industry: LGBT travelers.

The Advocate, the world's leading LGBT news source, is pleased to announce that Andrew Harmon has been named News Editor of the monthly publication and Advocate.com. Harmon will be based in The Advocate's Los Angeles office.

Owning a SeaMaster Cruises franchise is a rewarding home business- it also offers a product that is interesting, fun to sell, and provides many cruising opportunities. Backed by the travel industry leading The Travel Franchise Group, you will have the power and experience at hand to build and manage your cruise vacation business. At SeaMaster Cruises, we understand two things:

• Your Success Is Our Success
• In order for you to succeed, we need to provide you with the best tools and guidance possible

Known as "a lesbian paradise," the Highlands has 19 rooms in three buildings, and is located on 100 private acres in New Hampshire's premier vacation destination, the White Mountains. Named by PlanetOut as "one of the most romantic lesbian destinations on the planet," the lesbian-owned Highlands is one of very few resorts or inns that cater to a women-only clientele.

May 28-30, 2009 2009 NGLCC National Business & Leadership Conference: Out For Business, Seattle

June 4, 2009 The Opportunity of a Lifetime: 30 Years of Helping LGBTQ Youth

October 6-9, 2009 Out and Equal Workplace Summit

October 15-18, 2009 Reaching Out MBA

Send your GLBT Business Event listing to: info@echelonmagazine.com

The title of Tony Kushner's new play is inspired by two 19th-century thinkers and their works -- George Bernard Shaw's The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism and Mary Baker Eddy's Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. The play looks at the life of a 20th-century thinker, retired longshoreman Gus Marcantonio, who's feeling confused and defeated by the 21st century. In summer 2007, he invites his sister and his three children (who in turn bring along spouses, ex-spouses, lovers and more) to a most unusual family reunion in their Brooklyn brownstone. With humor and passion, the play examines the importance of connectedness and belonging - to a family, a community, a group, an ideology, a marriage - and what happens when those connections are lost.

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