Conservative social and political groups are vowing to fight the recent California ruling in which a republican-dominated court declared that sexual preference should not bar couples from legal marriage. In an Associated Press article, the court opinion is quoted as stating that "domestic partnerships that provide many of the rights and benefits of matrimony are not enough."

In pursuance of equal footing, gay, lesbian, and bisexual investors have been seeking and "outing" corporations with gay-friendly policies and have been backing those companies in a show of financial clout. An example of the application of this forward social dynamic would be Trillium Asset Management, which has at least once scored a "perfect 10" on the Gay and Lesbian Values Index (glvindex). With an investment focus called Socially Responsible Investing (SRI), this company seeks to provide investment returns in keeping with industry standards, while at the same time maintaining "unique focus on social research and advocacy."

Corporations that have taken careful strides to bring their standards up to date with regard to societal equality appear to be gaining in popularity with gay and gay-friendly investors, as evidenced by their placement on and recognition of the glvindex. SC Johnson acknowledged it's high ranking on the glvindex in a company press release that stated in part: "To us, diversity is about building the best, most talented workforce that mirrors the marketplace, and motivating them with an environment that enables people to be themselves and contribute freely and effectively."

PlanetOut (NASDAQ: LGBT)'s short history as a public company has been nothing short of a miserable failure. After going public at $10 per share in late 2004, the company's stock will, barring bad news, hit a new 52-week high sometime around October 1. The problem is that that will only be because of a 1-10 reverse split announced today. The stock is currently trading at $1.42.

PlanetOut is a media company focused exclusively on the lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgendered market, with such notable properties as The Advocate, Out, Gay.com, and RSVP Vacations. The company took on far too much debt to build its empire, and shareholders recently found themselves badly diluted when the company had to raise money through a private placement with investors including a hedge fund controlled by Bill Gates.

But don't worry too much. The company's insiders have still gotten rich, even if they've wiped out somewhere around $150 million of shareholder value. The insider transactions (very few lately... mostly when the stock was trading over $8 per share) tell the story.

Given the demographic trends that should be so favorable for an LGBT media company, there's only really one explanation for such weak performance: mismanagement. The company's CEO, Karen Magee, said as much on a recent conference call. And no, she won't be returning any of the money she's made.

But everything will be OK. Even if they can't make the company profitable, PlanetOut's management can slice the pie in different ways to raise the share price. What PlanetOut needs is not a stock-split. It needs new management.