NEWSLGBT MEDIA

More than 7,000 people have signed Illinois-resident Lair Scott’s Change.org petition calling on Sesame Street to marry Bert and Ernie.

“I started this Change.org petition because I believe we need more media representation of gay and lesbian people in children’s programming,” said Scott. “There are currently no LGBT characters on Sesame Street, nor in any children’s television program.”

Scott sees the campaign as about more than just LGBT characters as individuals, but as family units. According to 2010 U.S. Census data, it is estimated that one quarter of all same gender couples are raising children, and same gender couples are raising children in 96% of the counties in the United States.

“Thousands of kids are growing up in homes with two moms and two dads,” he said. “They need to see families like their own on television.”

Three groups are taking action against a Spanish-language television talk show, José Luis Sin Censura, that has a history of obscene, violent, anti-gay, and sexist segments purposely used to whip up homophobic and misogynistic sentiments.

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the National Hispanic Media Coalition, and the Women's Media Center are all joining together to call attention to José Luis Sin Censura, and to urge the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to investigate the show for violating broadcast television standards. A complaint with the FCC was filed by GLAAD and the National Hispanic Media Coalition, with the Women's Media Center joining the organizations for an online action calling on Julius Genachowski, Chair of the FCC, to investigate José Luis Sin Censura.

The Kids Are All Right may be one of the most successful films of 2010, garnering a number of Academy Award nominations, critical acclaim, and robust profits. But in Singapore, here's what members of the Board of Film Censors think about the flick: it promotes and normalizes a "homosexual lifestyle," and should therefore be restricted.

And that's exactly what the country has done, giving the film a rating of R21, which puts it in the category of, say, pornography. The country has also stopped the release of the film save for one single print.

The censorship has managed to galvanize Singapore's film community, with a number of filmmakers and media professionals lambasting the government's decision -- which came down from a Board of Film Censors under the country's Media Development Authority -- to clamp down on The Kids Are All Right.

Ah, high school journalism programs. They offer a venue for budding young writers to get their feet wet in the world of reporting. They also offer ample opportunities to stick a big, wet, ginormous foot in your mouth.

Case in point, in my junior year of high school, I tried to argue that the Red Hot Chili Peppers were a better band than The Beatles. Perhaps I might have misjudged just how much pop culture influence the Chili Peppers would have on this world. But whatever, I've tried to put that article "Under the Bridge." (Heyoo!)

But it's not like I wrote an article that suggested it would be moral to execute an entire population of students. Yet that's exactly what happened in Wichita East High School in Kansas, where a student got the green light to author an editorial, and have it published in the school's newspaper (The Messenger), that said same-sex relationships were not normal, and then quoted from a Leviticus translation that says men who lie with other men should get the death penalty.

UPDATE: After several dozen Change.org members wrote Pandora, taking the company to task for a series of heteronormative advertisements that failed to be inclusive of LGBT users, the company wrote an email response to share with Change.org members: "Our marketing communications will be gender neutral moving forward. The message has been heard loud and clear from our end and we deeply regret the error and any offense we may have caused."

Valentine’s Day is here, and I’m sure everyone has been inundated with advertisements. Unfortunately, many of these advertisements aren’t inclusive of LGBT shoppers -- even though plenty of LGBT people celebrate Valentine’s day with their partners.

Pandora, a popular online radio service, sent out an email advertisement that was geared toward those in heterosexual relationships. Since users are required to specify their gender when they register for Pandora, it has a database of all its users’ gender. It does not, however, have any information on users’ sexual orientation. But that didn’t stop them from making assumptions.

Several House Republicans have proposed eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as other essential programs.

Arts funding has long been the bane of many a conservative politician's existence, and with the new majority in the House, some Republicans sense an opportunity to eliminate the federal agency once and for all. By eliminating the NEA from the budget under the guise of budget restraint, they hope to end funding for an agency that doesn’t regularly promote a conservative religious world view.

The NEA has historically been ahead of the curve on LGBT issues. By backing Robert Mapplethorpe’s Project X in the 1980s, which was decried for its homoerotic undertones, the NEA took a stand for artistic expression and the value that a queer perspective can bring to art. And thus began a long crusade by the right wing to curb artistic expression, in the name of family values. Sen. Jesse Helms authored amendments meant to curb any HIV/AIDS awareness and prevent funding for art that he considered “homoerotic” and “religiously offensive.” In the 1990s Rep. Peter Hoekstra decried Cheryl Dunye’s Watermelon Woman as an offensive waste of taxpayer money. Even today, LGBT-themed art makes conservatives uncomfortable.

America’s investment in the arts has been under attack for the better part of a century. When the Federal Theatre Project was a part of FDR’s New Deal, his political opponents worked tirelessly until it was dismantled. Artists have been blacklisted, plays and books have been banned, hearings have been held  even since Hallie Flannagan was questioned by the House Un-American Activities Committee where one Congressman went so far as to question whether or not 16th century playwright Christopher Marlow was a communist. In the 1990s, Congress had epic battles with President Clinton over the NEA. And even in the recent stimulus bill, Sen. Tom Coburn included a provision that prohibited any arts organization from receiving stimulus funding. Conservatives simply don’t like arts funding, because the arts tend to be socially progressive.

The current budget for the NEA is $167.5 million (coincidentally, the same approximate amount as under Reagan’s last budget). That’s approximately 53 cents per person in the United States. Though opponents claim scuttling the agency is a way to reduce the national debt, which stands at over $14 trillion, the NEA’s budget is a drop in the bucket. The elimination of the NEA has as much, if not more, to do with conservative religious distrust of the arts than it has to do with the debt or deficit spending.

Arts funding is vital to society. Arts centers and projects create a sense of community, keep kids off the streets, allow people outlets to express their thoughts and even create jobs. And investing in these things are important for the well-being of society. When we think about past eras and cultures, we define them using the art they created: when we think of Ancient Greece, we think or architecture and theater; when we think of the Renaissance, we think of Italian painting; when we think of cave men, we think of wall paintings. Today, if the NEA were funding Michelangelo’s David, you can bet a conservative would object to the public funding of a nude male sculpture.

The NEA has supported the queer community and given voice to some of the most important queer artists. For a vibrant society, we must continue supporting this often neglected agency. Congress needs to know that we fully support the National Endowment for the Arts. Be sure to tell them that they need to find their budget cuts somewhere else.

Photo credit: National Endowment for the Arts

Here's the setup for an innovative awareness campaign: various celebrities, advocates, allies, and other supporters sharing their thoughts and feelings via YouTube videos. They talk of being different, of stigma, of discrimination. They urge togetherness and hope. All who are involved share the belief that their words may touch another person feeling vulnerable and hopeless. They believe their messages will inspire change, and they are.

This sounds exactly like the It Gets Better campaign, right? Actually it's the format of another influential, yet less known video campaign entitled I Talk Because... which strives to raise awareness around HIV/AIDS.

I Talk Because... was started on World AIDS Day, December 1, 2009 and is spearheaded by New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. Several NYC-based HIV/AIDS organizations collaborated with this effort, including AIDS Community Research Initiative of America (ACRIA), Gay Men's Health Crisis, and Harlem United.

The mission of this campaign is simple: to get us all talking about HIV/AIDS.

Here's a riddle: when is a wedding not considered a real wedding?

Answer: When it's in the Dallas Morning News.

As we noted a few months ago, a gay Dallas couple, Mark Reed-Walkup and Dante Walkup, have been trying like heck to get their paid same-sex wedding announcement into the Weddings section of the Dallas Morning News, the city's largest paper and one of the bigger dailies in the country. But the paper won't allow it. Why?

Because according to the paper's official policy, since the state of Texas doesn't recognize gay marriage, there's no reason for the Dallas Morning News to recognize same-sex weddings as legitimate either. What a shame, and what a missed opportunity for such a respectable paper to set a precedent for other publications around the country.

Sunday night’s Golden Globe awards were a great example of progress in the LGBT community. In addition to Chris Colfer’s win, as Kurt in “Glee,” Annette Benning won for portraying a lesbian mother in The Kids Are All Right, as well as fellow Glee actor Jane Lynch, an outspoken gay rights proponent who made sure to thank her wife.

But it’s Colfer, who won the award for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series, Miniseries or Made for Television Movie, whose timely speech and important character stands as both a symbol of how far we’ve come and the direction we should be headed.

Minorities have historically used media as an outlet to gain mainstream acceptance, and the LGBT community has made great strides over the past few decades in major part due to exposure in television and film. Early films like Longtime Companion paved the way for Brokeback Mountain. Pedro Zamora’s presence on The Real World was essential to a mainstream understanding of HIV/AIDS. These and many other productions led the way for Will and Grace to attain popular mainstream status, with gay characters in the lead and driving the action.

But Colfer’s win stands out as inspiring for his symbolic place, representing the bullied children of our society.

Where would we LGBT folks be without our straight supporters? From Hollywood stars who refuse to get married until everyone can (thank you, Brangelina) to politicians who buck the trend and do the right thing even when it’s not popular, we’ve had some outstanding heroes in the past few years. Here’s my list of nominees for the Hall of Fame.

Daniel Radcliffe

Who would have expected Harry Potter to be so concerned about gay issues? Daniel Radcliffe, who certainly carries some weight among kids and teens, has recorded PSAs and spoken out repeatedly about the Trevor Project and to publicize the crisis of LGBT youth suicide. While adults may get all tied up in knots debating JK Rowling's announcement that Dumbledore is gay, Radcliffe has avoided getting mired in controversy and instead spoken directly to those who need support and help most.

Keith Olbermann

In November 2008, MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann set aside several minutes of his nightly show to speak out about the tragedy of Prop 8’s passage. He had no friends who were directly affected by the proposition, but the very thought of denying gay people the right to marry struck him as so horrible and pointless that he could not remain silent. His passion was undeniable, and his message could not have been more on-target. By bringing the gay marriage argument sensitively and respectfully to both the mainstream media and the heterosexual world, Keith Olbermann gave us a huge and enduring gift.