Faggy Pillows

Video here

In the otherwise trite Gaga episode of Glee last week, Kurt's dad (the aptly named Burt) explains to Finn the destructive power of hate-speech. In addition to Burt's moving speech about unconditional love, I also really appreciated Kurt's argument here. Yes, he does spend most of the scene looking devastated, but he also gets angry and tells Finn to grow up.

Prom Queen

After coming out of the closet this, his senior year at Flanagan High, Omar Bonilla decided to take it a step further: run for prom queen.

He almost won -- Bonilla was among the top three vote-getters -- but in the past few days, it all unraveled.

Fearful that other students would try to beat up a prom-goer in drag, the school administration asked him to wear a tuxedo to Friday night's dance. And after two meetings with the school principal to plead for the right to wear a dress, Bonilla was slapped with a two-day suspension, the timing of which meant he couldn't go to the prom at all.

As students were racing off to prom, Bonilla was putting on his blue sequin dress -- but only to pose for a Miami Herald photographer.

Read the full article in the Palm Beach Post

Queer Riverdale

"Just when you thought gay life couldn't penetrate any deeper into the mainstream, Archie Comics announced there's a gay high schooler coming to the über-American town of Riverdale. That’s right, all you comic-loving kids. Archie, Veronica, Jughead, and Reggie will be joined this fall (in Veronica issue 202) by Kevin Keller, a handsome, sandy-haired, good-natured fella, and the object of Veronica’s affection (good luck, girl). Kevin is expected to pal around with the guys and be both proudly gay and as wholesome as the rest of Archie’s crew."

Full article here

M Sharkey: Queer Kids

“Kids are disclosing their homosexuality with unprecedented regularity -- and they are doing so much younger. The average gay person now comes out just before or after graduating high school. In 1997 there were approximately 100 gay-straight alliances (GSAs) -- clubs for gay and gay-friendly kids -- on U.S. high school campuses. Today there are at least 3,000 GSAs -- nearly 1 in 10 high schools has one. In the 2004-05 academic year, GSAs were established at U.S. schools at the rate of three per day.”

Read more about Sharkey's photography on Out.com and on his professional website

Burke Launches Antibullying Site

Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke broke down while addressing the media Monday in a press conference to launch a new website geared toward helping LGBT youths throughout Canada.

Burke, whose son Brendan was killed in a car crash last February just three months after making headlines when he came out of the closet, asked media representatives to turn off their cameras just before he broke down. Brian Burke was addressing gay rights and bullying in front of a crowd of parents, educators, and students.

“We have to get to a point where you can go to school free of fear,” Burke said at the launch at Sutton Place Hotel in Toronto. “Fear is a horrible emotion to feel and smaller kids get picked on and gay kids get picked on. It has got to stop.”

Full article from The Advocate

Kiss-Ins

Kiss-Ins are being held around the world to promote International Anti-Homophobia Day. Here's some smooching in front of the Eiffel Tower. Geez, why wasn't I there?

Anti-Homophobia in Williams Lake

Students at Columneetza High in Williams Lake, BC, attempted to organize several events for World Day Against Homophobia--including a video with students discussing discrimination, a gender-bending party, and an educational assembly. However, the school's administration nixed most of the events, either eliminating them or rescheduling them to make them redundant, after being pressured by parents.

Watch the BC News video here

GaGa Cover

Jesse Tyler Ferguson from Modern Family covers Lady GaGa's Alejandro.