Travel industry, I'm proud of you
Anyone interested in equal rights for gay people should check out the Human Rights Campaign's Buying for Equality 2008—it reports on which companies treat all their workers fairly, and which don't. I was flipping through a hard copy, pleasantly surprised by some companies (go Coors!) and discouraged by others (Exxon Mobil is never getting my gas money: When the two companies merged, Exxon took away the benefits that Mobil had been offering its gay workers.) When I got to the travel chapter, I felt proud to be associated with the industry: The number of travel companies scoring 80 or higher (out of 100 points) was huge, and included American Airlines, Carlson, Hyatt, Kimpton, Marriott, Starwood, Travelport, US Airways, Disney, Wyndham, Alaska Airlines, Hilton, Southwest Airlines, United, Delta, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Hotels.com, Northwest, Continental, and JetBlue. Two travel companies that didn't score as well were Avis Budget and Royal Caribbean, which is certainly something I'll be bearing in mind when I book my own travel. (I don't let my views affect what we cover in Budget Travel—that's a recipe for disaster—but on my own dime, you better believe I'm going to support the companies that would support me if I worked there.)