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he Scale +67 MCCA WEIGHS IN ON THE NEWS


Washington Gay Marriage Bill Signed into Law Governor Chris Gregoire signed into law a measure that legalizes same-sex marriage in Washington state, making it the seventh in the nation to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed. T e law takes eff ect June 7, but opponents are preparing to fi ght. If they collect more than 120,577 valid voter signatures by June 6, the law will be put on hold pending the outcome of a November vote. T e House passed the bill on a 55-43 vote. Washington state has had domestic partnership laws since 2007, and in 2009 passed an “everything but marriage” expansion of that law, which was ultimately upheld by voters after a referendum challenge. Gay marriage is already legal in New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Washington, D.C. +2


New York Fashion Week Is the Most Diverse in Ages


50


T e fashion industry continues to have a strange relationship with racial diversity. It is acceptable to hire or fi re a model based solely on looks. Sometimes skin color is viewed as a fashion trend in itself. T e 2012 fashion show was the most diverse it has ever been. Models of color fi nally topped 20 percent of all models booked for fashion week shows. In the 141 shows and presentations designers presented 4,561 individual outfi ts. Of those 4,561 opportunities to use a model, 3,641 went to white models, and 920—or 20.1 percent—went to models of color. T e largest single ethnic category, after whites, was Asians. Asian models were used for 402 outfi ts, or 8.8 percent of the time. Black models were close behind, at 367 outfi ts, or 8 percent. Non-white Latina models were used 110 times, or 2.4 percent of the time. Models of other races were used 41 times, or 0.9 percent of the time. +1


Asian American Performers Aim for Paradigm Shift


T e Asian American Performers Action Coalition was formed to discover how many actors of their ethnic background were actually being cast in New York. In the report “Ethnic Representation on New York City Stages,” AAPAC states that Asian Americans received only 3 percent of all available roles in the nonprofi t sector, and only 1.5 percent of all available roles on Broadway in the past fi ve years. Whereas African Americans and Latino actors saw their roles increase since 2007, Asian Americans were the only minority group to see their numbers go down from levels set fi ve years ago. It also discovered that only 9 percent of all available roles citywide had been cast “non-traditionally” when Asian Americans make up almost 13 percent of New York City’s population. -2


THIS ISSUE’S READING: +5 LAST ISSUE: 62 DIVERSITY & THE BAR® MARCH/APRIL 2012


Jeremy Lin Adds Diversity to the NBA


Jeremy Lin is the fi rst American player in the National Basketball Association to be of Chinese or Taiwanese descent. Basketball, long associated with African American players fi rst and white players second, has not had a high-profi le Asian player since Chinese citizen Yao Ming played for the Houston Rockets. T e undrafted Harvard graduate won his fi rst six games for the New York Knicks after being cut by the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets. T e lanky point guard serves as a role model for Asian American basketball players in a way that was not possible before his high-profi le ascent. +3


Facebook IPO Sheds Light on Lack of


Boardroom Diversity Facebook’s $5 billion IPO is bringing attention to the lack of boardroom diversity. Facebook has not appointed a woman to its seven-person board of directors. Women represent the majority of social media users and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg helped turn the company around in 2008. She helped grow its 70 million user base into over 750 million users and also helped mon- etize the company. Sandberg has been a vocal proponent of empowering women, particularly in the underrepresented technology industry. More women need to have the infl uence she does. +1


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Send diversity related news articles to joshshields@mcca.com.


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