Living: October 2010
The Scariest Holloween Sight
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | October 31, 2010 7:00 PM |Seen in Tuxedo, New York tonight:...Read More
Georgia Megachurch Pastor Jim Swilley Comes Out
Filed by Betty Greene Salwak | October 31, 2010 5:30 PM |Bishop Jim Swilley, pastor of the Georgia interdenominational megachurch Church In The Now has announced that he is gay. Swilley is a fourth generation pastor who says he has always been called to preach and has known since he was...Read More
Mean Boys, Mean Girls
Filed by Guest Blogger | October 31, 2010 2:30 PM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Victor Bumbalo is an award winning internationally produced playwright. He has also written for several popular television shows. Tyler Clementi. Our hearts break. His life is over because his roommate and a classmate thought it was...Read More
Mean Boys, Mean Girls
Filed by Guest Blogger | October 31, 2010 2:30 PM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Victor Bumbalo is an award winning internationally produced playwright. He has also written for several popular television shows. Tyler Clementi. Our hearts break. His life is over because his roommate and a classmate thought it was...Read More
My Halloween Birthday
Filed by Gloria Nieto | October 31, 2010 11:30 AM |Today is my birthday. With it comes cards, hopefully a cake and trick or treaters to the door. What it doesn't bring is the phone call I had every year with my friend, Gary, who shared the same birthday, even...Read More
Happy Halloween, my lovely friends
Filed by Gloria Brame, Ph.D. | October 30, 2010 4:00 PM |via cuteoverload.com Thought I'd spread a little puggish holiday cuteness and use this opportunity to tell readers (and editors and colleagues!) just how much I love you guys, and how very deeply honored I feel that I get to...Read More
Apple pulls PeekABooTranny app
Filed by Bil Browning | October 29, 2010 4:00 PM |Sometimes there's not an app for everything. It appears transphobia is once again an App Store taboo. Thanks to GLAAD and everyone who called Apple's public relations number yesterday, the technology behemoth has yanked PeekABooTranny from its online store. It...Read More
Gay Shame's "Emergency Kuarantine"
Filed by Guest Blogger | October 29, 2010 3:00 PM |Editors' note: Toshio Meronek is a writer and aspiring voiceover artist living in San Francisco. He blogs on disability news and pop culture at Where's Lulu. On October 15, the queer radicals of Gay Shame turned their lens on the...Read More
Homophobic schools don't have to exist
Filed by Alex Blaze | October 29, 2010 12:00 PM |This is as close to a policy statement as there's been in Europe on the subject of discrimination against gay teachers. Now we'll have to wait for a test case: The European Commission has said that Roman Catholic schools in...Read More
Vote For Health Care
Filed by Terrance Heath | October 29, 2010 9:30 AM |Still looking for a reason to vote? Here’s a three word answer: health care reform. I’m not sure why Democrats aren’t running on it, but it’s a big step towards "change we can believe in" — the kind that some...Read More
Peekaboo Tranny!
Filed by Bil Browning | October 28, 2010 5:00 PM |So there's this great new app on the iPhone that I'm sure Bilerico readers cannot live without... It's called "PeekabooTranny." Now what does this wonderful can't-live-without-it app do? You take a picture with it and -- wait for it --...Read More
LAPD Looking for Suspect in Brutal Beating of Transgender Woman In Hollywood
Filed by Karen Ocamb | October 28, 2010 4:00 PM |LAPD investigators are looking for five suspects who may have been involved with a brutal attack on a transgender woman in Hollywood. The 25-year-old victim left a bar frequented by gay Latinos near the intersection of La Brea and Melrose...Read More
Sweet and Silly Soldiers: 1930s photo
Filed by Gloria Brame, Ph.D. | October 28, 2010 11:30 AM |A delightful pre-World War two shot of a group of young German soldiers having fun with fig leaves....Read More
Sowing the Seeds of Love
Filed by Father Tony | October 28, 2010 10:30 AM |Dear Father Tony, I can feel my boyfriend is slipping away from me and my stomach is in knots. I have been through this before. This is my third boyfriend so I know this feeling when it happens. He's...Read More
Building a more tolerant & inclusive climate
Filed by Guest Blogger | October 28, 2010 9:30 AM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Peter Shumlin, the Vermont Senate President Pro Tempore. Senator Shumlin is currently running for Governor of Vermont and has been an incredible force in the fight for marriage equality. The struggle for equal rights for gay...Read More
My Next Steps
Filed by Marc Solomon | October 28, 2010 8:30 AM |Over the past year-and-a-half, I have headed up Equality California's efforts to win back the freedom to marry. During this time, I've had the chance to work with thousands of tremendous organizers, advocates, volunteers, donors, elected officials, and other leaders...Read More
Ever Wonder Why There's No AIDS Vaccine Yet?
Filed by Patricia Nell Warren | October 27, 2010 6:00 PM |As the global crisis deepens, a growing number of Americans are disturbed at how big government and big corporations can show a shocking callousness towards human need. The "bigs" spend a lot of money on TV advertising, trying to convince...Read More
Notorious Homophobe New Head Of Montana Tea Party Group
Filed by D Gregory Smith | October 27, 2010 4:00 PM |You heard me. KXLH News is reporting that: Tim Ravndal, who headed the Big Sky Tea Party until he was ousted following a controversial message he posted on Facebook, has been tapped for a leadership post in the Lewis &...Read More
GetEqual wins big in Indianapolis
Filed by Bil Browning | October 27, 2010 1:30 PM |GetEqual Indiana has pulled off a coup in Indianapolis. After meeting with the city this morning about sensitivity training for Indy police officers, the group not only walked out with the full support of the city for diversity training but...Read More
Wizard hats, frat boys, and gay undergrads at Emory University
Filed by Rev. Emily C. Heath | October 27, 2010 8:30 AM |I am a proud Emory alum. I have to start by saying that. From 1994 to 1998 I was an undergrad at the university, a place that has left an indelible mark on my life. I still stay officially connected...Read More
What I Can't Say
Filed by Diane Silver | October 26, 2010 6:00 PM |I'm in awe of my friend Jennifer Lawler, who writes so movingly about raising Jessica. I wish I had half of Jennifer's talent. But this morning in meditation I finally stopped picking at myself for spending the last few days...Read More
California helps LGBTQ youth in foster care
Filed by Nancy Polikoff | October 26, 2010 1:30 PM |The vast majority of states are officially silent on the issue of both LGBT foster parents and LGBT children in the foster care system. We've gotten so used to opposing the states that ban LGBT foster and adoptive parents that...Read More
How to fight homophobia in schools
Filed by Alex Blaze | October 26, 2010 12:30 PM |While I'm guessing there's a lot of hype behind this story of a school in North London that claims to have eliminated anti-gay bullying, they're going in one of the many right directions and I imagine American conservatives' heads would...Read More
Potosnak: We Must Do Better
Filed by Guest Blogger | October 26, 2010 8:30 AM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Ed Potosnak is running for Congress in New Jersey. Ed is one of a handful of openly gay candidates this season and could really use your support. National Stonewall Democrats have raised $838 for him as...Read More
NOM's Hate Bus To Tour Iowa
Filed by Joe Mirabella | October 25, 2010 10:00 AM |NOM is going for yet another bus tour despite embarrassing failures for the past bus tours. This one is their "Judge Bus Tour." Bleeding Heartland reports: On Monday, Family Research Council Action and the National Organization for Marriage will launch...Read More
Lovers or Goofballs? Vintage dancing men
Filed by Gloria Brame, Ph.D. | October 25, 2010 9:30 AM |I keep finding strange private shots of men dancing, which is lovely. What would be even lovelier if is if I had a clue about what's going on. Unfortunately, about 90% of the stuff I post on Bilerico comes out...Read More
Terry Branstad Tells Kids Their Family Does Not Matter
Filed by Joe Mirabella | October 24, 2010 4:00 PM |Iowans before you vote, please watch this video. More importantly please make sure all your Iowan friends and family watch this video. If I had my wish, everyone that reads Bilerico would share this video every day until November 2....Read More
A Gay Kiss In, Diversity Days, and Gigantic Gumby Jesus
Filed by Davina Kotulski | October 24, 2010 2:30 PM |Next week I'm going to Arkansas. Home of Bill Clinton, Wal-Mart, and some notorious crimes committed by Bonnie and Clyde. It's also home to the kid who refused to say the pledge of alliegance until gay people can legally marry...Read More
My religion is better for gays than yours
Filed by Alex Blaze | October 24, 2010 11:30 AM |Here's a story from earlier this week: Most Americans believe messages about homosexuality coming from religious institutions contribute to negative views of gays and lesbians, and higher rates of suicide among gay youths, a new poll reports. While split on...Read More
Lingerie Lady Love: Vintage lesbian fetish erotica
Filed by Gloria Brame, Ph.D. | October 23, 2010 4:00 PM |Possibly a little hardcore for the gentle Projectors, but so unusual I thought it had to be shared. Photo is from ca. 1930s, and part of a series of 1920s-1930s amateur porn photos I recently located, showing playful, frisky, happy...Read More
Gay student teacher gets his job back in Beaverton, Oregon
Filed by Alex Blaze | October 23, 2010 12:00 PM |Seth Stambaugh, who was removed from his student teaching job when he came out to a student, is allowed to go back to his position. The school released a statement: The Beaverton School District and Lewis & Clark Graduate School...Read More
Adding The Voices Of Our Elders
Filed by D Gregory Smith | October 22, 2010 11:30 AM |I've worked with, lived with and am proud to have friends who are my LGBT elders. I love their voices of experience, of self-knowledge and humor. I also love the stories of desperate survival in societies and situations well beyond...Read More
With Equality on the Line, Your Vote is Critical
Filed by Michael Emanuel Rajner | October 22, 2010 9:30 AM |Conservative right-wing extremists are working harder than ever to get elected and trample on the rights and hopes of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. While many of us may be angered and frustrated with the slow progress for...Read More
Andy Moreno on MTV
Filed by Alex Blaze | October 21, 2010 6:30 PM |I posted about Andy Moreno earlier, before she was officially disqualified from running for prom queen because she's trans. And now MTV did a report on her:...Read More
You Cannot Catch HIV Through A Trial Vaccine
Filed by Father Tony | October 21, 2010 10:30 AM |If I learned nothing else on a recent night in Harlem where my husband and I attended the screening and announcement of the winning Generation V videos sponsored by the New York City HIV Vaccine Trials Unit, I did get...Read More
Queer Family Romance
Filed by Paige Schilt | October 20, 2010 6:00 PM |On Wednesdays, I pick Waylon up from school at 2:45. I have fifteen minutes to walk him to the car, feed him a snack, hydrate him, and deliver him to his occupational therapy appointment a mile away. If all goes...Read More
Queer Family Romance
Filed by Paige Schilt | October 20, 2010 6:00 PM |On Wednesdays, I pick Waylon up from school at 2:45. I have fifteen minutes to walk him to the car, feed him a snack, hydrate him, and deliver him to his occupational therapy appointment a mile away. If all goes...Read More
Last gay Nazi survivor speaks
Filed by Bil Browning | October 20, 2010 12:30 PM |This is a fascinating bit of LGBT history. Rudolf Brazda, the last gay survivor of the Nazi concentration camps, spoke with reporters recently and gives a personal glimpse into what it was like to wear the pink triangle. For all...Read More
Unemployment Stats
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | October 20, 2010 11:30 AM |Today, in my Gender, Work and Family Class, we looked at employment stats, and discussed theories of why they look the way they do in terms of gender, race and class. Of course, we called them "theoretical frameworks," so I...Read More
Hillary Clinton: Don't just wait, get help now to make it better
Filed by Alex Blaze | October 20, 2010 9:30 AM |As Bil posted yesterday, GLAAD is asking people to wear purple today to support LGBT teens. If you're not currently dressed, consider it. Also, Hillary Clinton did an It Gets Better video, and she made sure to tell people to...Read More
Thirty years after my win on The Price is Right
Filed by Mark S. King | October 19, 2010 7:00 PM |When I was nineteen years old, I vacationed to Los Angeles with my boyfriend and won a car on "The Price is Right." It was a long time ago. Thirty years. I have a videotape of the entire episode and...Read More
Wear purple tomorrow to support LGBT youth!
Filed by Bil Browning | October 19, 2010 2:30 PM |Wednesday is Spirit Day! Teenager Brittany McMillan came up with the idea and it quickly took Facebook by storm as thousands of people signed up to wear purple tomorrow to honor the LGBT youth who've recently died after being bullied....Read More
High school chants "Powder blue faggots"
Filed by Alex Blaze | October 19, 2010 1:30 PM |I posted a video a high school student took at a football game of her classmates chanting "Powder blue faggots" at the opposing team. Here's more from the local news (written story at the link): Well, I didn't see the...Read More
Why Meghan McCain's Wrong About 'Nut Job' O'Donnell
Filed by Andrew Belonsky | October 19, 2010 12:30 PM |Meghan McCain may have sparked a Republican war yesterday when she said the Delaware Senatorial candidate Christine O'Donnell, the right wing's latest darling, comes off as a "nut job." McCain's word choice may be spot on, sure, but her argument...Read More
Who cares about queer youth?
Filed by Alex Blaze | October 19, 2010 10:30 AM |It's important to remember that it's not just in school that LGBT teens are bullied and made to feel that there's something wrong with them because of their sexuality or gender, but everywhere, including other social services for youth. Mother...Read More
A one-question interview with Sassafras Lowrey
Filed by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore | October 18, 2010 3:00 PM |Mattilda: You recently edited Kicked Out, an anthology of stories by current and formerly homeless queer youth (including yourself) -- one of the dominant themes in the book involves the chosen families that youth create in order to challenge, undo,...Read More
Trans and Mental Health: "But It Shouldn't Matter If I Was."
Filed by Mercedes Allen | October 18, 2010 1:00 PM |A guest post by Static Nonsense at Questioning Transphobia entitled Intersections of Disability and Transgenderism raises some important points that apply to the campaigns to remove GID from the DSM and ICD that govern mental health issues: But it sometimes...Read More
"It Gets Better" isn't perfect, but it will save lives
Filed by Austen Crowder | October 17, 2010 7:00 PM |I contributed my voice to the "It Gets Better" project. I know there's some guff coming toward this project from all comers - both inside and outside the community - but I think it's a worthy cause if for nothing...Read More
You Can Save an LGBT Youth from Suicide - I Did
Filed by Guest Blogger | October 17, 2010 1:00 PM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger John R. Selig is a gay dad, writer, photographer, podcaster and activist living in Dallas, Texas. Selig produces and his "John Selig Outspoken" podcast to provide role models to gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people. Though...Read More
Half a Spouse Is Better Than None
Filed by Guest Blogger | October 15, 2010 1:00 PM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Robyn Greenspan is a social media and executive careers expert and writer, but most importantly, happily and legally married. Friday nights are the hardest. After a long week in the office, it used to be the...Read More
I Heart The Ali Forney Center for Homeless Youth
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | October 15, 2010 12:00 PM |Last night I drove into NYC from my aerie in the countryside, in the midst of a nor'easter (it wasn't that bad), to meet with Bill Torres, the Director of Community Resources at the Ali Forney Center for homeless LGBT...Read More
Come party with us, Cupcake!
Filed by Bil Browning | October 15, 2010 8:30 AM |Tonight's the night! It's almost time for Bil & Becky's Birthday Bash! But before you can even get to the party, we've had a sponsor kick in to make the party even better. Hello Cupcake is baking dozens of cupcakes...Read More
Student protests bullying outside his school
Filed by Alex Blaze | October 14, 2010 7:00 PM |Notice how the journalist says that the school hasn't been helpful right after the interview with the administrator. It's not so hard to report the facts. I wish I had been that cool when I was in middle school....Read More
LGBT teachers still fear being fired for coming out
Filed by Alex Blaze | October 14, 2010 1:00 PM |I posted recently about Beaverton, Oregon, firing a student teacher because he came out when a student asked him why he wasn't married. I wrote: Stambaugh is just the tip of this iceberg, one of the few teachers willing to...Read More
Murderer of two elderly gay men convicted
Filed by Bil Browning | October 14, 2010 12:00 PM |The man accused of beating two elderly gay men to death in an Indianapolis suburb in late 2008 has been convicted of murder in both cases. Michael Brown "discovered" the bodies and called police in an attempt to mask his...Read More
An Open Letter To The Bishop Of Fresno
Filed by Father Tony | October 14, 2010 10:30 AM |Dear Bishop Steinbock, Because I count myself among the people of God, I thank you for writing to me about the fact that a judge has ruled that denying civil marriage to LGBT people is unjust. Your 10 point letter...Read More
Dinner with my Gay Grannies
Filed by Guest Blogger | October 14, 2010 8:30 AM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Jeff Lutes is a psychotherapist who lives with his husband and their three adopted children in Austin, Texas. He is the principal consultant for ContemporaryCouples.com, where he teaches online dating and relationship workshops to the LGBTQ...Read More
Anti-Gay Christians: Do They Still Embrace the Bible As Justification for Slavery Too?
Filed by Michael Hamar | October 13, 2010 4:00 PM |I have written before about the need of the LGBT community to confront anti-gay religious bigots and use their own rhetoric to expose their hypocrisy and intellectual dishonesty. This is particularly true when publications like the Washington Post give gay...Read More
The Positives of being Negative
Filed by Mark S. King | October 13, 2010 1:30 PM |HIV negative gay men hear a lot about what they should be doing (or not doing), but rarely about what they are doing well. They have had to plod along, making the best choices they could to remain negative, fearing...Read More
It's my birthday (party)!
Filed by Bil Browning | October 13, 2010 12:30 PM |Come help me and one of my best friends, Becky Dansky, celebrate our birthday! My birthday was last Friday and Becky's is October 27. If you came to last year's party you'll remember Becky as the lovely woman who held...Read More
Outing Homophobia and Transphobia
Filed by Guest Blogger | October 13, 2010 11:30 AM |Editors' note: Rebecca Haskell is a queer feminist and trans ally. She holds a master's degree in Criminology from Simon Fraser University. She currently works at the BC Society of Transition Houses. Brian Burtch is a Professor of Criminology and...Read More
Predators
Filed by D Gregory Smith | October 12, 2010 7:00 PM |I am filled with frustration, anger, sadness and pain with the rash of gay teen suicides, the hate speech being spewed by religious leaders, the hate institutionalized by organizations, the violence directed toward peaceful people, the silence by those who...Read More
The Playground is Often Anything but Playful
Filed by Lisa Weiner-Mahfuz | October 12, 2010 1:30 PM |Retard. Stupid. Uneducable. These were the words that were used to describe me and dozens of students with disabilities in my elementary school. Each morning, the "resource room" teacher would walk the hallways going from classroom to classroom calling out...Read More
Coming Out at Fourteen
Filed by Leone Kraus | October 12, 2010 10:30 AM |Chasing Girls As far back as I can remember I've always chased girls. I'd frequently buy my middle school "best friend" flowers and boxed chocolate with my $5 a week allowance. When I could, I'd slip my hand into hers...Read More
Accepted? Top colleges recruiting LGBT students
Filed by Guest Blogger | October 12, 2010 8:30 AM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Drew Cordes is a transgender woman from Albany, N.Y. She is a 2004 graduate of Vassar College. A recent story in Details magazine examines the hypercompetitive college-application process at the country's top schools, and asks whether...Read More
My first coming out day
Filed by Rev. Emily C. Heath | October 11, 2010 6:30 PM |The Reverend Sammy Clark had one of the thickest Georgia accents I had ever heard in my life. He was a United Methodist minister; a representative of a denomination that did not affirm LGBTQ people. He was already well into...Read More
My first coming out day
Filed by Rev. Emily C. Heath | October 11, 2010 6:30 PM |The Reverend Sammy Clark had one of the thickest Georgia accents I had ever heard in my life. He was a United Methodist minister; a representative of a denomination that did not affirm LGBTQ people. He was already well into...Read More
No Room at the Inn For Lord Jesus Christ III?
Filed by Mercedes Allen | October 11, 2010 4:30 PM |I haven't seen anyone remark on this yet, but even if someone in our community may seem colourful, that doesn't mean that their issues are less significant. MassLive reported that Lord Jesus Christ III was ejected from a Belchertown library...Read More
Can Coming Out in a Religious Context Help Bullied LGBTQ Youth?
Filed by Dana Rudolph | October 11, 2010 3:30 PM |There's been a lot written on the recent bullying-related suicides. I found this piece by Rabbi Victor Appell, "If Only Tyler Clementi Had Been to a Gay Synagogue," particularly moving. Too often religion and LGBT rights are set up as...Read More
Coming Out: The Agony And The Ecstasy
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | October 11, 2010 2:30 PM |She opened the door of the apartment where we had made a life together, her eyes steady, but ready to fill with tears. She knew that I had something to tell her, but I had refused to say what in...Read More
This Can't Happen Here: Suicide of Tyler Clementi, Rutgers University
Filed by Guest Blogger | October 11, 2010 12:30 PM |Editors' note: Jarad Ringer is a Coordinator of Hate Violence and Police Relations Programs at the New York City Anti Violence Project. As a Rutgers University alumnus, I was devastated to learn of the suicide of Tyler Clementi, an 18...Read More
This Can't Happen Here: Suicide of Tyler Clementi, Rutgers University
Filed by Guest Blogger | October 11, 2010 12:30 PM |Editors' note: Jarad Ringer is a Coordinator of Hate Violence and Police Relations Programs at the New York City Anti Violence Project. As a Rutgers University alumnus, I was devastated to learn of the suicide of Tyler Clementi, an 18...Read More
Another gay teen commits suicide
Filed by Alex Blaze | October 11, 2010 10:30 AM |From Oklahoma: An Oklahoma teen, Zach Harrington, 19, has committed suicide, barely one week after attending a local City Council meeting where a debate over whether or not the city would recognize October as LGBT History Month got "toxic," with...Read More
My Life Again in New York, cont.
Filed by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer | October 10, 2010 2:30 PM |The song "Somewhere" from West Side Story is constantly in my head now because the A train, which I take every day to wherever it is I might be going, as it approaches the station sings the first three notes....Read More
DC Starbucks bathrooms go gender free
Filed by Bil Browning | October 08, 2010 2:00 PM |I noticed this yesterday when I went into a Starbucks to grab my venti mocha with light whip and while it stuck out that there was something different, it didn't really register what the difference was. The DC Starbucks have...Read More
Campus Pride: Expel Two Rutgers Students for Invasion of Privacy Related to Tyler Clementi's Suicide
Filed by Karen Ocamb | October 08, 2010 1:00 PM |Campus Pride, the nation's leading organization of LGBT and ally college and university students, is calling for Rutgers University to "act decisively to expel both Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei for invasion of privacy of fellow student Tyler Clementi." On...Read More
A little known legacy in the LGBT community
Filed by Guest Blogger | October 08, 2010 8:30 AM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Andy Szekeres is a political consultant from Denver who specializes on LGBT ballot measures and progressive candidates and causes. Americans for Democratic Action has been one of the most powerful forces in all liberal politics. For...Read More
When will the homophobic bullying cease?
Filed by Rev Irene Monroe | October 07, 2010 7:00 PM |When Sirdeaner L. Walker of Springfield spoke at a press conference in Massachusetts last year calling for effective and comprehensive anti-bullying legislation to be passed in response to the tragic loss of her 11-year-old-son, Carl, I had hoped I would...Read More
Transgender student barred from running for homecoming queen
Filed by Alex Blaze | October 07, 2010 5:00 PM |Andy Moreno is awesome, standing up and fighting against one of the constant messages sent to LGBT students that there's something wrong with them. And the time the local news gave to this issue is impressive as well....Read More
Leaving a church and finding God's grace
Filed by Rev. Emily C. Heath | October 07, 2010 3:00 PM |In December of 2001, just a few months after my 25th birthday, I was ordained as a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA). My ordination was the end of a long process of discernment and formation that had begun a...Read More
HRC: Corporate Equality Index changes for better transgender health care
Filed by Guest Blogger | October 07, 2010 2:00 PM |Editors' note: Meghan Stabler is a nationally recognized spokesperson and activist for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. She also served on Senator and then President-Elect Obama's LGBT Policy Committee. There are many issues with regards to adequate access...Read More
Day of Silence counter-protest canceled
Filed by Alex Blaze | October 07, 2010 1:00 PM |Ya think? A day devoted to telling students to make LGBT teens feel ashamed, out of place, and hopeless might not be a good idea right now? "All the recent attention to bullying helped us realize that we need to...Read More
Top celebrity "It Gets Better" videos
Filed by Bil Browning | October 07, 2010 12:00 PM |I really struggled with the title with this post. First I considered, "Celebrities jump on the bandwagon stuffed with our dead kids' bodies," or "Celebrities get warm fuzzy publicity on our bullied youths' backs." Those seemed a little harsh, but...Read More
The Meticulous, Efficient and Perhaps Inevitable Murder of God by American Religion
Filed by Father Tony | October 07, 2010 10:30 AM |The obvious blood on the hands of American religious leaders is that of LGBT youngsters driven to despair by exclusion from salvation, from the consolation of the earthly flock, and from a place at the table of God in the...Read More
The context of bullying and how I was part of it
Filed by Susan Raffo | October 06, 2010 7:00 PM |She still feels shy about it. It doesn't matter how many times we tell her that she gets to make her own decisions; that it is not her responsibility to take care of or protect us, she still gets shy...Read More
Chicago Stands Up Against Anti-Gay Bullying & LGBT Suicide
Filed by Waymon Hudson | October 06, 2010 1:30 PM |It's been a hard month for many LGBT people and their allies. The news has been filled with horrific story after horrific story of bullied gay or questioning youth who have taken their own life. While LGBT bullying and the...Read More
KKK to rally for anti-gay counseling student
Filed by Bil Browning | October 06, 2010 12:30 PM |Jennifer Keeton, the Augusta State University student who filed suit against the school after she was expelled for refusing to attend diversity classes, has found some support from an appropriate group. The Ku Klux Klan has announced that they will...Read More
Trans guy calendar for sale
Filed by Alex Blaze | October 06, 2010 11:30 AM |A group of people got together to make a trans man calendar to raise money to help trans men with transition-related expenses. Check out their site....Read More
Churches That are Anti-Gay are not Holy
Filed by Joe Mirabella | October 06, 2010 10:30 AM |Spiritual bullying is deadly. Children are listening when religious leaders call gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people sinners. Children hear them when they shout "abomination" from the pulpit. "Thou shalt not!" they scream into our children's ears. There is no...Read More
Our anniversary: A dozen years
Filed by Bil Browning | October 06, 2010 9:30 AM |It seems crazy that it's been so long... Today is my and Jerame's anniversary. We've been together for 12 years now - a full dozen. We've had our ups and downs like any other couples, but we've also faced quite...Read More
Enough is Enough: Andrew Shirvell Creates Climate of Harm & Hostility
Filed by Guest Blogger | October 06, 2010 8:30 AM |Editors' Note: Shane Windmeyer is the executive director of Campus Pride, the only national organization for student leaders and campus organizations working to create a safer college environment for LGBT students. Warren J. Blumenfeld, Ed.D., is Associate Professor in the...Read More
It's back to school for LGBTQ people
Filed by Alex Blaze | October 05, 2010 7:00 PM |I'm hoping it's just the few people who I see on listserves and the few, better known gay and pro-gay people out there who think that DADT repeal and same-sex marriage would solve the problem of homophobic bullying in schools....Read More
New study finds lots of LGB's in the US
Filed by Alex Blaze | October 05, 2010 5:00 PM |After posting last week on the recently-released CDC study on HIV rates among MSM interviewed in 21 urban areas, one question someone asked in the comments if all studies were similarly "problematic." Whenever I see a study that states "X%...Read More
Suicides: Words Can Kill
Filed by Sara Whitman | October 05, 2010 9:30 AM |A rash of suicides last week and I am at a loss as to what to say. No words can console the people who lost their loved ones. It seems no words will wake up the world to the pain...Read More
I'm somebody's fetish!
Filed by Guest Blogger | October 05, 2010 8:30 AM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Drew Cordes is a transgender woman from Albany, N.Y. She is a 2004 graduate of Vassar College. When I started to address my gender issues and transition from male to female, I thought there was a...Read More
Sad. Mad. Glad.
Filed by Kate Clinton | October 04, 2010 7:00 PM |Those were my emotional flash card options when I first started therapy. I would tell stories about growing up and my therapist would ask me how I felt. I'd start, "Well I think..." That's when she started with the cards....Read More
The war on LGBT teachers is about controlling what kids think of themselves
Filed by Alex Blaze | October 04, 2010 6:00 PM |The solution to LGBT teen suicide, specifically death-by-bullying, should be about the students. There's a lot of attention being paid to gay teen suicide right now, and I hope that it doesn't get misdirected to other projects that people want...Read More
"It Gets Better" with Gay Brothers!
Filed by Mark S. King | October 04, 2010 1:00 PM |My brother Dick and I couldn't resist making a contribution to this campaign. Dick has often shown up on my video blog, "My Fabulous Disease," but never have we spent three more heartfelt minutes than these. Anyone with a video...Read More
Holy Smokes, She Got a Job
Filed by Sara Whitman | October 03, 2010 7:00 PM |Looking over my last year of posts, I realize I've been writing about shifting, change, new directions... I had no idea what was going to change or shift but I knew something was clearly on the horizon. Now I know....Read More
Don't Try Suicide Nobody's Worth It
Filed by Davina Kotulski | October 03, 2010 4:00 PM |"Suicide, suicide, suicide baby, don't do it, don't do it, don't it baby." --Queen Perhaps you remember Freddy Mercury, Gay Asian American rockstar and lead singer of the band QUEEN singing on the B side of the 45 of "Another...Read More
Moving Day - In Search of Lost Time
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | October 03, 2010 2:30 PM |I have moved so many times over the past 15 years, probably about 10 times, and it is always difficult. And I'm moving again, today. It's not just the packing and the boxes and the labor. It's Marcel Proust's "A...Read More
My Life Again in New York, continued
Filed by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer | October 03, 2010 1:00 PM |Last Wednesday I met a friend at the public library for an author talk with Justin Spring, whose book Secret Historian: The Life and Times of Samuel Steward, Professor, Tattoo Artist, and Sexual Renegade just came out. Spring gave a...Read More
Does It Really Get Better?: A Conscientious Critique
Filed by Jason Tseng | October 03, 2010 11:30 AM |Dan Savage recently launched the It Gets Better Project, a youtube testimonial campaign designed to remind queer teens that it gets better after high school. Savage and those joining the project attempt to address the uptick or at least an...Read More
Gay Teen Suicide, Homophobia, Bullying and the Elephant in the Room: Religious Bigotry
Filed by Michael Hamar | October 02, 2010 2:00 PM |In the aftermath of a cluster of gay teen suicides, there has been a great deal of commentary and discussion in the media, both LGBT and mainstream, about bullying and its destructiveness. A number of bloggers and commentators have skirted...Read More
School Bullying: A National Pandemic Disease
Filed by Patricia Nell Warren | October 02, 2010 12:00 PM |A lot of people are jarred by the recent explosion of LGBT school suicides. Five in the last three weeks -- notably the horrific bullying and bridge-jumping death of Tyler Clementi at Rutgers University. LGBT rallies and protests are happening....Read More
Tonight: Moment of Silence for 5 Youth Who've Died By Suicide
Filed by Guest Blogger | October 01, 2010 4:00 PM |Editor's Note: Charles Robbins is the Executive Director of The Trevor Project, the non-profit organization that operates the only nationwide, around-the-clock crisis and suicide prevention helpline for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth. Late last night, The Trevor Project...Read More
Tonight: Moment of Silence for 5 Youth Who've Died By Suicide
Filed by Guest Blogger | October 01, 2010 4:00 PM |Editor's Note: Charles Robbins is the Executive Director of The Trevor Project, the non-profit organization that operates the only nationwide, around-the-clock crisis and suicide prevention helpline for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth. Late last night, The Trevor Project...Read More
Tell Me Again: How Did I End Up Here?
Filed by Betty Greene Salwak | October 01, 2010 3:00 PM |I have just sat down on somewhat wobbly legs. I've had lunch and some caffeine, and now I'm coming down from all the adrenaline. From what? A taped debate about "Cupcakegate" with Micah Clark, executive director of the American Family...Read More
Bill introduced to eliminate abstinence-only education
Filed by Alex Blaze | October 01, 2010 1:00 PM |Lest we forget in the list of Incredibly Basic Things the Democrats Didn't Accomplish in Two Years, the federal government is still funding abstinence-only education. The Senate introduced a bill to stop that money, but I'm guessing it's too late...Read More
Michigan anti-gay stalker takes leave of absence from Attorney General's office
Filed by Bil Browning | October 01, 2010 11:00 AM |Michigan Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell has come under quite a bit of fire since his interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper aired earlier this week. While the story had simmered locally, the sudden exposure on national news hurried Shirvell's decline...Read More
Anti-gay bullying also targets girls
Filed by Alex Blaze | October 01, 2010 9:30 AM |Even though her mother says she's not gay, this is still homophobic bullying (transcript available at the link):...Read More
It Gets Better
Filed by Rev. Emily C. Heath | October 01, 2010 8:30 AM |I spent a lot of time contemplating the topic for my first Bilerico post. I wanted to write something uplifting and light in order to introduce myself to you. But the rash of suicides of gay youth this week have...Read More
It Gets Better
Filed by Rev. Emily C. Heath | October 01, 2010 8:30 AM |I spent a lot of time contemplating the topic for my first Bilerico post. I wanted to write something uplifting and light in order to introduce myself to you. But the rash of suicides of gay youth this week have...Read More
