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New Zealand radio station The Rock got a lot of flak for its plan to give away a divorce on Valentine's Day. But no criticism was as effective as what actually happened — a lesbian couple sabotaged the contest. More »
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Minnesota's Anoka-Hennepin school district has become infamous for its policy of "neutrality" regarding LGBT issues — teachers aren't supposed to tell students that gay people deserve equal rights, or that they're not. After two lawsuits and a cluster of student suicides, the district has finally changed the policy. But the new one isn't that much better. More »
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Today Washington Governor Chris Grigoire signed a bill allowing gay couples to marry in her state. They'll officially be able to marry starting June 7. Grigoire says, "I'm proud our same-sex couples will no longer be treated as separate but equal." Take that, Chris Christie. More »
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New Jersey's state Senate passed a bill legalizing gay marriage today. But don't worry, Gov. Chris Christie will protect the state's heterosexuals from the horrifying prospect of loving gay couples being allowed to legally wed. More »
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The newest "It Gets Better" video comes to us care of the San Francisco Police Department, the nation's first law enforcement agency to join the viral video campaign geared toward LGBT youth. In the video, officers in uniform open up about the struggles of coming out as a cop. "I was a police officer for four years and believed I was the only gay male police officer in the world," one admits. Others reassure viewers that leaving the closet can be easier than it seems: "I think it was harder for me to tell my mom than it was for my mom to hear what I had to say," a female officer says. More »
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An Oklahoma romance writers' group recently launched a contest for the best book in each of nine sub-categories (example: "Paranormal –- Single titles –- dark or light, futuristic, magic, alternative Earth, urban fantasy, vampire, werewolf, etc."). The problem: no gay romance allowed. More »
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A controversial new report claims that roughly 16 million Chinese women are married to gay men due to cultural pressure—that means that 9 out of every 10 gay men tie the knot with a woman. "Their wives are struggling to cope and their plight should be recognized," the professor behind the study told China Daily. His platform bothers some Chinese gay rights activists, who think the study oversimplifies the issue and perhaps even makes it worse. "To put gays' wives under the spotlight might cause more public misunderstanding or even hatred toward the gay population, which does not help defuse existing social discrimination against them," said Xiao Dong, a gay civil rights organizer. He added that the estimation is unsubstantiated and that he feels "it's pointless to research the issue." More »
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A trans woman says that when she was arrested for a minor subway violation, NYPD officers belittled her, called her names, asked about her genitals — and kept her chained to a fence for 28 hours. Now she's suing. And it turns out she's far from alone. More »
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When Megan Edwards and her fiancée Katie McTurk heard about a Valentine's Day contest for couples who met at their alma mater, St. Joseph's University, they were eager to enter. But then they found out the contest was for straight couples only. More »
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A German dad sounds like he needs a lesson from the princess boy's family — he's apparently threatening to put his 11-year-old daughter in a mental institution because she's transgender. More »
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There's no shortage of "best gay cities" lists, but it recently occurred to us that somebody really ought to make a list of America's Most Lesbionic Cities. So we gathered a bunch of data to put together this fantastic list which undoubtedly every soul on the planet will agree with 100%. The Advocate's criteria this year included things like Veronicas concerts and Nude Yoga classes and somehow Grand Rapids made the Top Ten. This might be slightly more accurate than that. More »
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Romance novels aren't typically bastions of gender diversity, but the new title Two Spirit Ranch does have an interesting premise: More »
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You know Christian conservatives don't believe in sex before marriage. You probably know they also tend to believe in having lots of sex after marriage. But a new argument is emerging: the sex isn't so much about making babies as it is about pleasure. Not pleasure for its own sake, however, but for the purpose of strengthening Christian marriages so that they can be bulwarks in the culture war against the gay menace. More »
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I punched someone on the street last night, which is a first for me. More »
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We may have a bit of good news regarding the seemingly never-ending case of 'Virginia vs. Homosexuals Adopting Babies Who Need Good Families, Gay Or Straight'. More »
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A depressing new study shows that homophobic bullying is common on elementary school campuses. And teachers aren't doing enough to stop it. More »
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You already know that allowing gay marriage turns ordinary nice people into lawless sodomites, but did you know it will also destroy the economy of the state of New Hampshire? Allow an economist to explain, using zero evidence. More »
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Once upon a time in Hollywood and Berlin, there was a New Woman running around. More »
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Jenelle Hutcherson, 26, and Mollie Thomas, 19, didn't win the Miss California USA competition this weekend, but they made history by being the first two openly gay contestants in the 60-year-old competition. Two years ago a certain Miss California caused a huge controversy when she advocated for "opposite marriage," and Keith Lewis, co-executive of the contest, excitedly declared that he intended this year's pageant be "bigger and reflect the progressive attitudes of the contestants." Both young women said they entered the pageant to promote LGBT acceptance. 22-year-old Natalie Pack took home the title, so unfortunately the Miss USA pageant won't feature Hutcherson in a tux or Thomas telling the audience she's "running for equality." More »
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When Mitt Romney talks about how much he loves "America the Beautiful," he probably doesn't know that the song was written by poet Katharine Lee Bates, a lesbian feminist who spoke out against greed. According to the Times, her original third verse was, More »
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New analysis was presented yesterday by the National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study regarding same-sex sexual activity amongst 17-year-olds. The NLLFS was comparing their numbers to numbers obtained from The U.S. National Survey of Family Growth to figure out if lesbian parents inspire their children to engage in excess homosexual romps, as the anti-gays so vehemently believe. Unsurprisingly enough, there was no significant difference in same-sex activity between the daughters of gay parents and the daughters of straight parents. More »
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Yesterday, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (pictured) signed into law a bill that would ban state employees from receiving domestic partner benefits. In an especially craven move, he cites financial concerns as a rationale for the ban. More »
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Plenty of comedies are based on the idea that there's inherent humor in men dressing up as women, from Some Like It Hot to Bosom Buddies. If you need proof that the entire concept is dated, look no further than the trailer for Work It, a new sitcom premiering on ABC in January. The 90-second clip is so unbearably unfunny that it almost seems like a parody of how idiotic sitcoms have become, and now several groups are slamming the series for being insensitive to the transgender community. More »
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The fact that there's a policy currently in place that discriminates against a significant chunk of Americans is the number one reason to legalize same-sex marriage, but there are plenty of other benefits to allowing gay people to marry. Studies have found that banning gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from marrying increases their stress levels, and now new research has discovered that allowing same-sex marriage seems to improve the health of gay men. (Which unfortunately, may not be a top concern of those who oppose marriage equality.) More »
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I enjoyed reading last week's "A Girl Who Likes Boys Who Like Boys: The Joy of Dating Gay Men." I know from my colleagues, students, and friends that "Feminist Dating Blogger" is hardly the only heterosexual woman with a penchant for pursuing gay men. But there's a male equivalent to this, and it's one I know all too well. I've fallen for more than my share of lesbians, including my second wife. More »
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A week ago, a Macy's employee spotted a transgender woman going into the women's dressing room, and decided to stop her and inform her that she wasn't really a woman. The company promptly fired her, but now the employee has enlisted the help of a hatemongering conservative organization and is claiming that Macy's discriminated against her religious beliefs by denying her the right to harass whichever customer she chooses. More »
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A Georgia trans woman was fired from her job as a legislative aide after she went public about her gender transition. Now, a court has ruled she should get her job back. More »
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Top Marine officer Gen. James F. Amos has admitted that, despite his fears, the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell has not caused the destruction of the Marines. More »
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The relationship between girls and gay bars (male-only crowd, for our purposes) is fraught at best. While treatment of queer women at such establishments is another article entirely, a gaggle of straight women in one of "our" spaces can provoke confusion and intolerance on both sides. More »
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Kelly Osbourne, who was recently slammed for comments she made to Glamour UK about her discovery that former fiance Luke Worrall had an affair with a transgender person, now says she will never use the word 'tranny' again. More »
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Most people agree that bullying is a big problem for schoolkids, and anti-bullying efforts have gotten a lot of lip service in the past year or so. But now, some kids are doing more than talk — one boy is working with the ACLU, while others recorded their bullies to catch them in the act. More »
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Hong Kong residents are already pretty color-happy, so when you think "Hong Kong Gay Pride Parade," you'd be silly not to want to go to there. More »
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Houston mayor Annise Parker is not only the first openly gay mayor of any major U.S. city, she was also re-elected two nights ago after having served for the past two years. That's no small feat in any city anywhere but in Houston, Texas that's pretty phenomenal. More »
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Jenelle Hutcherson is the first openly gay contestant in the Miss Southern California and Miss Long Beach pageant, and she looks poised to rock the house. In the video above, she details her plans to wear a tux to the formalwear competition. She also explains that she's entering the pageant as a statement in favor of diversity and against hate, saying, "I want to give true meaning to loving your neighbors." The pageant is this weekend, and Hutcherson says, "I believe this very well may be the craziest, most insane, life experience I have put myself through yet!" More »
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According to a new study, gay couples moving into an area can actually raise housing prices. But only if folks in that area are in favor of gay rights — if not, they have the opposite effect. More »
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Last week, Michigan finally passed anti-bullying legislation, but don't break out the party hats and start blaring the Lady Gaga music just yet. At the last minute, Republicans inserted a line into the legislation that exempts anyone who makes a comment based on their religious beliefs. Republicans say they're against seeing children get taunted, but felt it was important to protect the right to tell a gay kid that they're going to rot in hell. More »
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Christian groups advocating so-called reparative therapy used to claim all gay people could be "cured." But with the release of new research, one such group has been forced to admit that that's not always the case. More »
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Last week, in response to a widely-publicized survey, I cleared up some common misconceptions about dude-in-dude Gay Butt Sex. (Heretofore referred to as GBS.) That was just the tip of the brown iceberg. Today we're going to delve into some other aspects of the carnal canon. More »
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A newlywed couple went to a Florida DMV to get their names changed on their drivers' licenses. But because theirs was an out-of-state marriage from Connecticut, they say they were "humiliated" and ultimately denied. More »
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