TV: The American Revolution

In March 1994, America freaked out when two women kissed on prime-time television. After word leaked that Roseanne would include a scene in which a lesbian, played by Mariel Hemingway, planted a lip lock on the titular character, conservative groups protested, advertisers balked, and ABC decided not to air the episode. It took an angry Roseanne Barr threatening to take the show to another network to make ABC relent, although it felt the need to precede the episode with a stern parental advisory.

In March 2016, few people even noticed that ABC had two shows in its lineup focused on the lives of gay teenagers: The Real O’Neals, a sitcom about a Catholic family’s response to 16-year-old Kenny O’Neal’s coming out, and the drama American Crime, which in its second season showed the devastating psychological damage familial and peer-group homophobia can inflict on gay high schoolers. The transformation of American attitudes toward homosexuality over the past 22 years is encapsulated in those contrasting reactions..

An overview of American stuff in The Advocate.

You may also enjoy, A Timeline Of (Nearly) Every LGBT Couple In TV History, Out.

Pink Project: The Kids Are Alright

This is a few weeks old - but anyway...
1,500 kids from eleven schools in north America stand up for their gay classmates.
Managed to make even an old cynic like me get over my deep loathing of both Lady Gaga and flashmobs. 
Oh dear, I think I've got something in my eye...
I still hate pukey YouTube videos of gay wedding dances, mind.

Jonah Mowry: "I'm Tired Of Being Torn Down"

PS This went viral after Perez Hilton posted it.
There was some bitchtalk that it was in some way "fake" - that Jonah was acting up and putting it on for the camera. It appears it's real - here's Jonah's mom.

Spirit Day: Purple Lame

Yesterday every celebrity and queer person in the universe wore purple to show how much they support LGBT youth. Meanwhile, two Senate bills that would have actually helped stop bullying died quietly without much fanfare. Sorta ironic.
On Thursday the Senate Health, Education, Education & Pensions (HELP) Committee passed a massive education bill known as Elementary & Secondary Education Act with a bi-partisan vote of 15-7. However, the committee did not vote on whether to include Senator Al Franken’s Student Non-Discrimination Act nor Senator Bob Casey’s Safe Schools Improvement Act.

The Student Non-Discrimination Act would have been a comprehensive federal prohibition of discrimination in public schools against any students regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or any instance of bullying. The Safe Schools Improvement Act would have implemented nationwide strategies to help schools identify, prevent, promptly address, and keep stats on bullying.

The bills could have gotten out of committee with the twelve votes necessary. But both men left their sponsored acts out of the bill when they realized that neither would get the 60 bipartisan votes needed to overcome a Republican filibuster.

Makes you wonder if all that purple spirit would have been better expended shaming Republicans into preventing the next wave of teen bullycides.

Great piece by Daniel Villarreal on Queerty.

Glee: Smashing

I loved this cover so much
and thought it was such a great sign of the times
I got one sent from America.

I spent ages looking for the right frame.
Found this amazing faux antique one
Just trod on it and smashed it.
Luckily it wasn't real glass
and came from Poundland.

The Daily Mail: Loves Gay Teenage Boys Who Rule The School

A rather strange piece in The Daily Mail today;
'Glee becomes reality: Male prom queens are the real deal as three schools in the U.S. give the tiara to teenage boys'
It's strange for several reasons.
Not least as it's so not written in the Mail's house-style and is credited to 'Daily Mail Reporter'.
That's normally code for a lifted story.
There have been many stories about "this sort of thing" in the American media recently, but who wrote this?
The quotes are attributed to various local US media; WDBJ7 and The Sun Sentinel.
Odd.
But what the hey - it's a cute piece;
"Most young girls dream of the day they will be crowned prom queen.
"And it seems some young boys have the same dream and are not going to let the small matter of their sex get in the way of realising that dream.
"No sooner did Glee's gay teenager Kurt Hummel get crowned prom queen on a recent episode of the hit TV show, than similar events were happening in high schools across America.
"Blacksburg High School student Jake Boyer, from Virginia, has added being his year's prom queen to a list of accolades which already include senior class secretary, choir member and editor of his magazine..."
For once Fagburn praises the Daily Mail...

For Dominic Crouch: His Dad Speaks

Dominic Crouch, a 15 year-old kid from Cheltenham, committed suicide after being bullied and teased at school cause people thought he was gay.
Here's the eulogy his dad, Roger, gave at his funeral.
More tributes here.

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• This video was made by Manchester's LGFoundation, here's a link to their Enough Is Enough! campaign.

David Cameron: "No Call For Gay Kiss Ban"

David Cameron has indicated he will not support any calls to ban gay kissing on TV before 9pm.
It follows newspaper claims that the prime minister didn't want images of same sex kissing shown before the watershed.
Last year the government asked the chief executive of the Mothers' Union, Reg Bailey, to carry out a review into the way children were 'sexualised' by things like TV shows, music videos, clothing and adverts.
The review is due to be published later this month.
Some newspaper reports claimed it could call for a ban on same sex kissing on TV in the early evening, leading to criticism from soap stars.
Coronation street actor Anthony Cotton, who plays gay father Sean Tully, said David Cameron was "not in touch with people" after reports he would support the review's recommendations.
But a spokesman for the prime minister has told Newsbeat: "Those suggesting that the PM is looking at a ban are both wrong and being irresponsible."
He said the review's remit "doesn't include making recommendations as to what should or shouldn't be shown on TV".
However the Department for Education's website says Reg Bailey's review will be looking into how parents can tell broadcasters about the "things they are unhappy about".
Earlier this month, Mr Bailey tweeted: "Don't believe everything you read in the press. Brookside kiss has never been mentioned in anything the review has looked at."

Newsbeat, BBC Radio 1.
Please let this be the end of this ridiculous Daily Mail-invented fairy tale.
Oy vey!

Thought For The Day: Dan Savage

“I think it’s gotten worse for gay teenagers. One of the advantages I enjoyed at school 30 years ago that you could fly under the radar.
“I was a weird kid with no interest in girls, I liked musicals and I liked to bake and I like to read and people did not automatically assume I was gay.
“Nowadays, there’s an awareness… that an interest in musicals, an interest in baking and a disinterest in girls if you’re a boy - case closed, you’re a fag.”

Dan Savage, the writer and activist behind the It Gets Better Project, quoted on Australia's News.com.au

(He's right of course - what Fagburn finds interesting is how often you see things like this now where homosexuality is defined not in sexual, but cultural terms...)

Stand Up! Don't Stand For Homophobic Bullying

Belongto Youth Service have made this video for Ireland's Stand Up! LGBT Awareness Week.
It's brilliant.

TES: "If You Are Gay You Are Just Bad"

This week's Times Educational Supplement Magazine looks at homophobia in schools.
Timely.
Or do I mean; "About bloody time!"?
"While British society as a whole may have become less prejudiced in its attitude to gay people, schools remain a stronghold of homophobia. Pupils are the perpetrators, but are teachers to blame for turning a blind eye?"
Lead article; 'If You Are Gay You Are Just Bad'
TES Connect online also features links to a Guide For Gay Rights In Schools, Homophobic Bullying Resources, and an archive of a few related articles.

• Thanks to David H for the tip-off.

Things We Learned Today: Banged Up

"Last year boys aged between 15 and 17 at a young offenders’ institute in Wetherby, West Yorkshire, were handed 1,728 free ­condoms and 75 sachets of lubricant.
"A Freedom of Information request ­revealed that the condoms cost £105.32 and the lube £15.60."

The Daily Star.

Gay Teens: The Revolution Is Being Televised

Entertainment Weekly gives over its cover story to 'Gay Teens On TV - How a bold new class of young gay characters on shows like Glee is changing hearts and minds & Hollywood'
"Gay teens are suddenly popping up in major roles all over television, with Glee’s popular pairing of Kurt (Chris Colfer) and Blaine (Darren Criss) leading the way.
"How did gay teens go from marginalized outcasts and goofy sidekicks to some of the highest profile — and most beloved — characters on the likes of 90210, Pretty Little Liars, and Skins? And more importantly, how is this affecting real-life teens still facing the daily high-school realities of bullying, discrimination, and ignorance?
"The new issue of Entertainment Weekly investigates the history of gay teens on TV — from the angsty Rickie on My So-Called Life to sensitive-soul Jack on Dawson’s Creek to the slew of groundbreaking characters on Degrassi. We talk to the producers who fought for such progress, the actors who held the career-defining roles, and the activists who cheer recent advances — but are still pushing for more..."
This very subject inspired the first ever post on Fagburn in April last year, First Post, Last Betty, incidentally.
I don't think anything else shows so clearly the profound cultural shift that we are witnessing.
I've said it before and I'll say it again; Fagburn looks forward to the day when we'll look back at this and wonder what all the fuss was about.
And isn't that EW cover shot of Kurt and Blaine just adorable?

Chris Colfer: Doing It For The Kids

Chris Colfer dedicates his Golden Globe Award to the kids;
"Most importantly to all the amazing kids that watch our show, the kids that our show celebrates too, who are constantly told 'no' by the people in their environments, by bullies in their school, that they can't be who they are or have what they want because of who they are. Well, screw that, kids!"
Adorable.
Watch it here.

Glee: "Kurt Saved My Life"

Chris Colfer (Kurt Hummel) has unequivocally become the heart of the series and, amid a recent flare-up in gay-teen bullying and suicides across the country, one of the most socially important characters on television. Says Colfer: “With all due respect to my castmates, they don’t get the letters like I get — the letters that not only say ‘I’m your biggest fan’ but also ‘Kurt saved my life’ and ‘Kurt doesn’t make me feel alone’ from 7-year-olds in Nebraska. When I was growing up, there wasn’t a character like this. I think what makes Kurt so special is he’s finding himself in front of our eyes.”

Entertainment Weekly pays tribute to the healing power of Chris Colfer, Kurt and Glee.
No link available, the interview continues in comments below...