The Friendfactor blog may have been quiet this week, but the world of gay news certainly was not! (We promise, the radio silence will be worth it… keep an ear out in early October… ) Here’s your weekly cheat-sheet to catch you up for the weekend. In this edition: mostly stuff about TV. But lots of different kinds of TV!
Sports fans with gay friends can do a mighty big wave for this story: The NFL has added language to their anti-discrimination policy to protect folks from harassment based on sexual orientation! The league has made the move quietly, slipping the new protection in with the slew of other changes that came at the end of a collective bargaining marathon in the past few weeks. Homophobia in sports is, unfortunately, a pretty widespread problem. So we’re glad to see such an influential group taking steps to say it won’t be tolerated. Did you know there are currently no out, gay professional athletes in football, basketball, hockey or baseball in the US? Maybe this move will change things.
Want to know the freshest news your gay friends will be talking about this weekend? Look no further! You’re a few short blurbs away from seeming super tapped-in with the world in which your friends live. This week: the world doesn’t end when gay folks serve openly in the military, the freedom to marry receives bipartisan and overseas support, and SQUID. Yeah, that’s right, the octopus’s punchier cousin, right here with the other gay news for straight friends on the Friendfactor blog.
We see all too many stories of gay teen suicide cases in the news. This one is particularly horrifying. Jamey Rodemeyer was only 14 years old when he took his own life this week, after being relentlessly bullied for who he was. His story is all the more tragic because his struggle with this issue was so public: he wrote regularly on his blog about other students teasing him for having girls as friends, and even made a video for the It Gets Better Project (you can watch it here).
It feels like once these stories hit the news it’s too late to do anything; a life has been lost to bullying, and there’s no way to bring it back. But a bunch of big players are banding together to fight gay teen suicide. They’re calling it “The Stop Bullying: Speak Up Social Pledge App.” A bit of a mouthful, yes, but also a way to for you to join a movement to prevent more tragedies like losing Jamey:
The Stop Bullying: Speak Up Social Pledge App is an interactive tool that enables educators, parents and teachers to commit to end bullying by signing an online pledge and recruiting others to join them.
Leveraging the resources of [Facebook and Time Warner], the social pledge app will be promoted across multiple platforms, from Facebook to CNN, Cartoon Network, and magazines such as TIME and Sports Illustrated.
The app is meant to be a one-stop resource with practical information about bullying prevention, with recommendations on how to respond in specific situations along with opportunities to share personal experiences, and information from non-profits and government groups involved in the cause. The app also encourages the creation of school-based bullying prevention groups on Facebook.
While the hope is that young people will download the app, the online tool is also targeted at bystanders–those who witness an act of bullying.
Kudos to the celebs and companies who are throwing their efforts into this, and let’s hope it helps. Still, it’s going to take a lot more than a well-branded app to change hearts and minds across the country so kids like Jamey feel accepted. Ending gay teen suicide will take a massive effort from all of us; this could be the start of that effort, truly.
Take Action: “Like” the Facebook page for this app now, and keep an eye on the Friendfactor blog: we’ll keep you updated on this, and other initiatives to prevent gay teen suicide.
“Repeal Day” celebrations are being held across the country in honor of the U.S. lifting its ban on gay military service today, Tuesday September 20th, 2011.
The former policy, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” was originally intended as a compromise to allow gay citizens to serve, albeit from the closet (not a place I’d personally choose to fight a war from. You know, poor visibility and all). The result of the policy, however, was far from a victory for gay troops. Living in fear of being outed, these men and women selflessly serving their country were forced to hide their identities, despite their willingness to sacrifice so much.
There were also widespread allegations that DADT was used maliciously by service members who wanted peers or superiors kicked out for personal grievances — just the suggestion of being gay could ruin a military career. Count that as another big reason for straight friends to care about gay rights: legalized discrimination puts us all at risk.
After months of controversy over lifting the ban, reports from the military itself indicate the policy shift won’t be a disruption to operations:
Pentagon press secretary George Little said Monday that the military is adequately prepared for the end of the current policy… “No one should be left with the impression that we are unprepared. We are prepared for repeal,” Little said.
There are still 29 states where there is no legal protection if you’re fired for being gay. Luckily for Tommy R. Bennet, Illinois isn’t one of them.
Bennet, who worked for Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH coalition, is now suing the company, claiming he was fired for being gay. If these allegations are true (and there’s no reason to believe they aren’t: it takes a lot of energy and courage to file this sort of complaint, and people don’t do so lightly), this case would be particularly disturbing. Discrimination is always awful, but to be discriminated against when working for a civil rights leader is extra shameful.
Bennett claims he worked for PUSH starting in July 2007, and was both an organizer and Jackson’s travel assistant.
Bennett claims he received a letter in December 2009, in which he was told he was being laid off due to a “lack of funding.” But Bennett alleges someone else was then hired to replace him.
A spokesperson for the Rainbow PUSH Coalition could not be reached for comment Friday evening. When Bennett’s allegations first surfaced in April, a spokeswoman said his claims were false and intended to harm Rainbow PUSH.
The details of the alleged harassment are pretty galling too, but the most important point here is that Bennett has the right to seek justice for his claims. In 29 states, someone in an identical situation would not. For many of us who live in accepting environments or big cities, it can be hard to imagine discrimination taken to this kind of extreme. Especially in a bad economy, someone’s job can be everything, and to take it away simply on the basis of their sexual orientation should be criminal, as it is in the case of so many other types of discrimination. Spend a minute thinking about it: in 29 states, your friends could be fired for being gay. It’s terrifying.
Take Action: Share this story so more people know about the 29 states where their friends can be fired for being gay. The more we know, the more we can do about it.
Want to know the freshest news your gay friends will be talking about this weekend? Look no further! You’re five stories away from seeming super tapped-in with the world in which your friends live. This week: Don’t Ask, Don’t tell ends with a whisper (not a bang), hospital visitation rights, and Australian passports that let you choose the badass gender “X” instead of boring old M and F.
It’s hard to peg him as the comicbook king of controversy, but we’re about to see the third (third!) Archie wedding to make waves in recent news: the series’ gay character, Kevin, will be getting married after returning home as a war hero.
Interestingly, there hasn’t yet been any huge public outcry against the portrayal of a happy, healthy fictional gay character. Most of the news coverage seems to be hedging on the question of whether there will be controversy:
After a pair of straight weddings — both strangely involving Archie, though in his dreams — drew national attention, the publisher behind the popular stories has confirmed that it’s making room for someone else to walk down the aisle: Kevin Keller, the series’ first openly-gay character.
“Kevin followed in his father’s footsteps and is returning to Riverdale as a war hero, but that’s not all – It’s Kevin’s wedding day!” reads a news release from Archie Comic Publications, promoting an upcoming issue of “Life With Archie.”
In this offshoot series, which runs glimpse-into-the-future storylines based on the lives of Archie, Betty and Veronica, readers soon will be able to discover how Kevin met “Mr. Right.”
Archie holds a place of nostalgic Americana for many of us; I’ve seen both my mother and sixteen year-old sister reach for the latest double digest in the check-out line at the supermarket. Keeping in mind the changing attitudes of the country and growing acceptance of gay couples, it only makes sense to include this storyline in the wholesome series.
One could argue the gay character Kevin has a moral leg up on old Archie himself, who just can’t seem to settle down with one girl! Kevin’s will be one Archie wedding without the typical Maryanne/Ginger factious fighting — we can all get behind it. No controversy here, folks: look to every other Archie comic for that.
Take Action: Like this post as a reminder to buy the Archie wedding comic for someone you love! America supports Archie’s gay friend, just like all our other gay friends.
Words we never thought we’d read in the same sentence: Dick Cheney Gay Marriage Advocate. Perhaps this shouldn’t come as such a surprise; attitudes about gay rights are (to borrow a term from president Obama) “evolving” faster than any equal rights issue in the nation’s history, by some estimations. It was only a few months ago that support for marriage for gay couples inched over the line of becoming a majority position. A new AP Poll is now putting support at 53% across the U.S.
It’s not hard, with a little bit of empathy, to understand why marriage is so important to gay couples. The issue has been a political wedge for decades, but we’re seeing a heartening shift in the public dialogue: in the clip below, the Cheneys don’t talk about marriage in the abstract. They talk about their daughter, Mary, and her partner and children. As we continue to recognize that gay issues are really about the lives of gay people, more hearts and minds will change, paving the way for the legal equality we so desperately need.
What I see here are two loving parents and grandparents who have put politics aside because they see something more important happening. And what’s more, Cheney makes it clear that he hasn’t abandoned his ideology: for him, marriage equality is about the essential freedom all Americans are entitled to. A gesture like this has amazing potential to help this issue rise above partisan lines; if Dick Cheney can come out in support of marriage for gay couples, what’s preventing the rest of us?
Take Action: Share this post and video with your friends — let’s celebrate our culture changing to embrace marriage for all, and help the 44% still opposed see all we’re asking them to support is freedom and the gay people they already care about!
Want to know the freshest news your gay friends will be talking about this weekend? Look no further! You’re five stories away from seeming super tapped-in with the world in which your friends live. Without further ado, awesome students, celebrity wedding photos, and some much-needed glitter.
Because we can’t celebrate the victory for New York marriage enough: this week’s wedding to get excited about! Cheyenne Jackson, of “Glee,” “30 Rock,” and “Every Broadway Show Ever” fame, married his longtime boyfriend Mante Lapka on Saturday. The couple has been together 11 years, and were positively ecstatic to tie the knot in the Hamptons, where they continued their long-standing tradition of providing the public with photos of an exceptionally good-looking couple.
High school and college students are at an advantage if they want to support a gay friend: many of them can simply join a Gay-Straight Alliance. These clubs exist at educational institutions around the country (and the world) as safe-spaces where gay teens can mingle with each other, and with straight students who want to be affirming. In an age where gay teens are committing suicide at four times the rate of straight ones, it’s easy to see why having a Gay-Straight alliance could make a huge difference in students’ lives.
Despite the clear importance of these groups, a high school in Tennessee has threatened to expel students who are lobbying to form a GSA. The school itself is clearly a hostile environment for gay and trans teens, making it even worse that the administration is standing in the way of creating an oasis:
Carroll says he has been bullied and sexually harassed for being gay most of his life. He says there are a lot of misconceptions about the GSA.
“The Gay Straight Alliance is not a club to talk about sexual orientation,” he said. “It’s about sexual orientation, but it’s not talking about sex in general. It’s a support group. It’s where you can go and you can talk about how you feel.”
Carroll and the other students have approached school officials about starting the GSA, but have been told they cannot.
That is when they started to pass around a petition to get support.
“These students have been following policy and they approached the principal,” said Linda Sigler, who has two children involved in getting the alliance started. “They’ve done this petition and now the school is telling them if they continue with the petition, they will be suspended.”
This misconception, that a Gay-Straight Alliance is an excuse to talk about inappopriate sexual topics, is both dangerous and ignorant. While sexual orientation is sometimes a topic for discussion, mostly teens come together for support. The clubs don’t encourage deviant behavior, they give kids a place to talk about being different, a place where they can be among friends. By threatening to punish students for trying to create a safe space, the school is only reinforcing the negative messages gay teens are already receiving from their environemnt: that there’s something wrong with them, that they don’t deserve support.
Take Action: ”Like” this post if you were ever involved with a Gay-Straight Alliance — we’d love to hear your stories about how a club like this made a difference to you and your friends in the comments!
Sports fans with gay friends can do a mighty big wave for this story: The NFL has added language to their anti-discrimination policy to protect folks from harassment based on sexual orientation! The league has made the move quietly, slipping the new protection in with the slew of other changes that came at the end of a collective bargaining marathon in the past few weeks. Homophobia in sports is, unfortunately, a pretty widespread problem. So we’re glad to see such an influential group taking steps to say it won’t be tolerated. Did you know there are currently no out, gay professional athletes in football, basketball, hockey or baseball in the US? Maybe this move will change things.
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