Bravo chosen as gay-friendliest of them all

By Barry Garron

When it comes to gay-friendly companies, no one is gay-friendlier than Bravo, a part of NBC Universal.

That should hardly be a surprise considering how avidly the cable network courts gay viewers with such shows as "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," "Project Runway," "Workout" and so on.

Asked to indicate which companies are gay-friendly and which are not, 52% of all gay and lesbian respondents picked Bravo. (The poll was conducted by Clark, Martire & Bartolomeo for Prime Access and PlanetOut, Inc. Prime Access is the leading ad agency specializing in reaching lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender individuals.)

The two pay cable networks, Showtime and HBO, were the only other media outlets to be ranked among the most popular companies in the survey. Showtime earned a gay-friendly designation from 35%; HBO from 34%.

What other companies registered high as gay-friendly? Apple (39%), Absolut (33%), Levi's (33 percent), Starbucks (26%) and American Express (24%). Looks like those Ellen DeGeneres spots did not go unnoticed.

Among autos, the most gay-friendly were Saturn (21%) and Subaru (20%).

The survey also identified companies perceived as the least friendly to gays. At the top of that list were Cracker Barrel restaurants and Dunkin Donuts, each of which got a 3% approval rating.

Interestingly, no media company was listed among those viewed as least gay-friendly. In addition to Cracker Barrel and Dunkin Donuts, the survey results identified other companies as not particularly welcoming: WalMart, Frito-Lay, Samsung, Quaker, ExxonMobil, Sears, Kraft, Cadillac and Olive Garden (I guess not everyone feels that, when they're there, they're family.)

Not surprisingly, considering the influence right wing evangelicals have had over the GOP, the overwhelming majority of gays and lesbians said they were Democrats (69%) and only 9% identified themselves as Republicans. At this rate, the Log Cabin Republicans may go the way of log cabins.