A Republican Missouri House member who previously served in the U.S. Air Force publicly announced Wednesday that he is gay and called upon GOP leaders in the state Legislature to withdraw a bill that would limit discussion of sexual orientation in public schools.
"It's hypocritical for (Major League Baseball) to film 'It Gets Better' videos and continue with the antigay baiting of the"Kiss Cam'," Oakland A's pitcher Brandon McCarthy said.
Thirty-nine years later, retired teacher James Atteberry received an apology from an old student who says he transferred out of Atteberry's class because the teacher was gay. Atteberry is now living in Astoria and says rarely a week goes by that he doesn't get a letter from an old student.
The anti-bullying movement known as "It Gets Better" has become a success on the Internet, drawing support from President Obama, professional athletes and Hollywood celebrities. Now the project is spawning a live touring show that will travel the nation and feature members of the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles.
The Iowa student whose impassioned pro-gay marriage speech to Iowa legislators became the most-watched political clip of 2011 on YouTube after going viral twice last year will soon take his message to the national level. Zach Wahls will serve as co-chair for "The Outspoken Generation," the Family Equality Council's national youth advocacy initiative involving the young adult children of LGBT parents.
Kris Allen makes his contribution to the anti-bullying movement with the video for his self-empowerment single “The Vision Of Love”.
Alabama's Tuscaloosa County School System will allow its lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students to attend prom with same-sex dates. The school district also has recognized the right of students to wear clothing with slogans expressing acceptance of LGBT people.
Over the last year, the American Civil Liberties Union has asked officials from hundreds of school districts around the country to make changes in their Internet screening systems to eliminate bias, said Anthony Rothert, a civil liberties lawyer based in St. Louis. All have agreed to, he said, except Camdenton, which the A.C.L.U. sued last summer. Last month, Nanette K. Laughrey, a United States district judge in Jefferson City, Mo., issued a preliminary injunction ordering Camdenton to discontinue “its Internet filter system as currently configured.” She wrote that “any new system selected must not discriminate against Web sites expressing a positive viewpoint toward LGBT individuals.”
The It Gets Better Project has been featured in several episodes of the hit Telemundo novella, "Relaciones Peligrosas". It Gets Better has been featured in the storyline surrounding Alejandro “Ale” Portillo (played by Puerto Rican actor Kevin Aponte). The frequent target of bullying, Ale begins to come to terms with his sexuality with the help of It Gets Better. In a recent episode, Ale made an It Gets Better video in which he said: “The struggle against your bullies ends the moment you accept yourself for who you are, because you get to be at peace with yourself.”
Hundreds of Texas educators, politicians and LGBT activists attended the White House LGBT Conference on Safe Schools and Communities to hear about the Obama administration’s efforts to fight bullying and prevent hate crimes and to discuss local progress. (During his speech), Attorney General Eric Holder said the “It Gets Better” campaign is more than a slogan, but something the administration is backing up with “robust action,” like the five-year settlement with the Anoka-Hennepin school district reached March 5. Holder called the settlement, which brought resolve for six students for the harassment they had endured for years, “a blueprint for sustainable reform.”
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