California teen EricJames Borges, a Trevor Project intern, killed himself this week after a lifetime of relentless assaults on his physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health that included an attack in school, an exorcism by his mother, and an expulsion from his home.

American culture and the people in his life failed EricJames. Words fail me.

[h/t Towleroad]

Anti-gay bigots accuse LGBT people of “indoctrinating” kids when we simply work to educate society on the reality of who we are, and when we try to fight for all kids. Anti-gay bigots simply want to be free to indoctrinate their children into medieval, backwards, hateful views of minorities, like they’ve always done before, because it’s “tradition.”

Yeah, we still have the moral high ground here.

Andy brings us the story of Diversity Role Models, a group which works to educate kids about LGBT people in the UK. Here’s a description of the following video:

“The final lesson of a unit on stereotyping, homophobic bullying and different families. This is a year 6 class in a multi-cultural, typical inner-city London school.”

The video is so very cool.

This came across the wires yesterday, but I didn’t get to it. Lady Gaga and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, have just launched the Born This Way Foundation:

“My mother and I have initiated a passion project. We call it the Born This Way Foundation,” Gaga said in a statement about the foundation, which takes its name from her hit single and album. “Together we hope to establish a standard of Bravery and Kindness, as well as a community worldwide that protects and nurtures others in the face of bullying and abandonment.”

The foundation will work with a number of partners, including the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the California Endowment and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. According to the statement, the foundation will focus on “youth empowerment and equality by addressing issues like self-confidence, well-being, anti-bullying, mentoring and career development and will utilize digital mobilization as one of the means to create positive change.”

Lady Gaga has already made her voice heard on bullying, and it’s awesome to see her mother and her going even further to lead in this fight. Their website is here and you can follow them on Twitter here.

But not for the made-up reasons the Religious Right likes to use as talking points.  No, Tom Minnery of Focus on the Family testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the legislation to repeal DOMA:

Senator Al Franken, a Democrat from Minnesota, called DOMA an “immoral law.”

“Same sex couples pay $1,069 more in health coverage annually than opposite sex couples,” Franken said.

Another senator added: “We can’t judge Americans for who they love. I’m sick of kids growing up in a country where government tells them discrimination is ok. We have bigger problems in this country than denying rights to Americans.”

Leahy, co-sponsor of the legislation to repeal DOMA, grilled DOMA advocate Thomas Minnery, senior vice president for Public Policy Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, Colo.

“Are those children (of same sex couples) at a disadvantage under the current laws?” Leahy asked repeatedly.

After many minutes, Minnery simply said, “Yes.”

Perhaps the headline should be “Focus on the Family Spokesperson Tells Truth.” It’s always useful to remind people that when these “pro-family” types ramble on about how they’re trying to protect children from the imaginary calamities that come with marriage equality, that their very actions and beliefs hurt the children of same-sex couples.  We know that 98% of the fundamentalist Christian worldview is based on a denial of reality; it’s one thing when they’re trying to tell you that Jesus jousted with dinosaurs or whatever it is they believe, but it’s another entirely when they lie by omission by suggesting that our children don’t exist and therefore aren’t worthy of equal protection.

But we will!

This news comes from Chris Sanders of the Tennessee Equality Project.  When a member of one of TEP’s divisions submitted this letter to the Herald-Citizen out of Cookeville, Tennessee, he was told that they wouldn’t publish it because they are a “family values newspaper.”  You see, in small Tennessee towns like Cookeville, LGBT youth are simply not part of families.  This is evidenced, of course, by the number of gay teens in Tennessee and nationwide who become homeless when their parents kick them out like discarded trash.  Out of sight, out of mind — it’s the Southern Christian way, ain’t it, y’all?  Here is Shayne Bilbrey’s letter:

It’s okay to be Gay

High school graduation is just around the corner, and well over a thousand Putnam County students will be graduating this year. Most of them had the normal teenage years, goingto prom with the person they love, getting that first kiss, or getting their driver’s license at sixteen. Yet for some kids that dream was a long shot, because some of this year’s graduates are Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual. Most of these students couldn’t have that dream life, because they were usually the primary targets for bullying. The bullying would vary from daily taunting such as being called a “fag” or a “queer.” The students usually behind the bullying would often cite the bible, or what their preacher told them. This is very troubling for that, in a society that values individualism, we can’t honor these kids fundamental right to let them be whoever they want to be and to be with. I know that when I came out, during my senior year in high school, I was faced with some backlash, but even before that I was called many names, and felt at times that I was worthless, which is similar to how some of these students feel. It hurts to be bullied at school, but to be bullied in your own home is incomprehensible. Thankfully, I have a family who loves me for who I am, and for which I am blessed for. Yet, it saddens me when I hear of some of my friends, which have come out to their parents, have had to face ridicule from their own parents. Some parents go as far as to disowning their own child, calling them a failure, and sending them to a gay to straight camp. I don’t understand why a parent would do such a thing, but sadly it happens a lot. Well I‘m here to say that, things will and do get better, granted they’re still some that disagree, but it does get better. We should all be able to value ourselves, love others, and be able to accept all for whom they are. We are all God’s children, and he loves us all in the same way. So if you are Gay, Lesbian, Transsexual, and bisexual, it’s okay to be you, and be proud of who you are, and will become. Love, cherish, and embrace thy own self.

If you’d like to [respectfully] let the editor of the Herald-Citizen know that you are gay, were once or are now a teen, and that you are indeed part of a family, especially if you hail from the South, that e-mail address is editor@herald-citizen.com.  Or you can visit their Facebook page.  Either.  Both.

God, Tennessee, get with it.

It always sneaks up on me because down South, so many of our Pride celebrations have been moved to the month of October, due to the fact that the heat becomes overwhelming by June, which leads many of us to not want to do anything outside that doesn’t involve a swimming pool.  But it is June, which means that it’s time for Pride!

We have a lot of things to celebrate this year.  The tide has truly turned, as for the first time, a majority of the American people, in multiple polls, support true equal rights for gays and lesbians, all the way up to marriage.  People are starting to speak up and speak out like never before on behalf of gay kids, due to things like the “It Gets Better” project.  Celebrities and other well-known figures are coming out of the closet in areas once considered “The Final Frontier,” and even professional athletes are starting to express their support for the LGBT community.

But there remains much work to be done.  Teddy Partridge has an important piece up at FireDogLake which reminds us that, while we’re celebrating, we must remember that in certain very important ways, we still have disadvantages in this society that we must fight to fix.  For one thing, despite myths to the contrary, the LGBT community, on average, makes less money than the greater population.  Teddy points to an APA report on the socioeconomic status of the gay community:

Gay men earn up to 32 percent less than similarly qualified heterosexual men.

Up to 64 percent of transgender people report incomes below $25,000.

While 5.9 percent of the general population makes less than $10,000, 14 percent of LGBT individuals are within this income bracket.

Moreover, it sort of depends on where we live. In Tennessee, bigots just passed a big government bill designed to hurt the gay community, prohibiting cities from establishing their own nondiscrimination policies. And these problems still exist in many places across the country:

Termination of an employee based on sexual orientation remains legal in 31 American states.

Termination of an employee based on gender identity remains legal in 39 American states.

Up to 68 percent of individuals identifying as LGBT report experiencing employment discrimination.

Those are big numbers. And while there are many of us who are mobile enough to look at those numbers and say “screw it, I’ll move to a real state where we aren’t treated like crap,” many more of us simply don’t have that option.

This is without even getting into the differences that exist for LGBT youth, and the fact that, according to the same report, twenty-six percent of youth that come out to their parents are kicked out of their homes. ["Pro-family" parents are amazing, aren't they?]

Go read Teddy’s piece, and this month, as you are celebrating, however you are celebrating, if you are celebrating, keep in mind the good and the bad, the jobs finished and those yet to be tackled.

Wow:

The San Francisco Giants told SF Weekly today that the team will make an iconic “It Gets Better” video to encourage LGBT youth across the nation. The Giants will be the first professional sports team to join the spirited campaign aimed at curbing LGBT bullying and teen suicides.

According to Staci Slaughter, spokeswoman for the Giants, the team was already considering creating a video even before the change.org petition circulated last week, which requested that the Giants be the first sports team to join the campaign. More than 6,500 people have signed the petition. The It Gets Better Project started in 2010 after a slew of LGBT suicides across the nation. Since then, thousands of ordinary people, celebrities, and politicians have made videos.

I’m already a baseball fan, and the Giants just went way up in my book. When the current World Series champions are gearing up to loudly tell LGBT kids that It Gets Better, I’d say things have changed, people. Things have changed.

[h/t Dan Savage]

Oh, golly, it’s not just the gay kids:

Suicide attempts by gay teens — and even straight kids — are more common in politically conservative areas where schools don’t have programs supporting gay rights, a study involving nearly 32,000 high school students found.

Those factors raised the odds and were a substantial influence on suicide attempts even when known risk contributors like depression and being bullied were considered, said study author Mark Hatzenbuehler, a Columbia University psychologist and researcher.

His study found a higher rate of suicide attempts even among kids who weren’t bullied or depressed when they lived in counties less supportive of gays and with relatively few Democrats. A high proportion of Democrats was a measure used as a proxy for a more liberal environment.

[...]

“Is it surprising? No. Is it important? Yes,” said Dr. Robert Blum of Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health.

A dirty little secret about the Religious Right’s opposition to inclusive anti-bullying policies, and gay rights in general, is that they’re not just hurting gay kids, which is their goal, but also straight kids. We’ve said it many times, but when gay rights groups push for laws and policies which respect all students equally, we’re trying to protect all kids, but, quite frankly, it’s not our kids that need protecting as much. It’s kids who are trapped in social conservative hinterlands, gay or straight, who need our help, because they’re not getting it from their own communities. Climates that foster support and respect for gay kids are naturally also climates that foster support for everyone. Of course, many TWO readers will see this story and say, “Duh.” But it’s nice to have a solid study to back up what we all intuitively know.

Every now and again we highlight “ex-gay” activists who disappear from the scene. One such individual is Mike Ensley, who was laid off from Exodus in 2008. For those who do not remember, Ensley was the group’s “Youth Analyst”, with the insidious role of brainwashing young people.

He has now reinvented himself as an Orlando-area photographer named “Philip Michael” with a penchant for homoerotic art house photos — particularly focusing on tanned musclemen. (Ensley Photo below)

Here is what he said in his bio:

“I’m a freelance artist living in Central Florida. I discovered my passion for photography several years ago on a road trip across the United States. Since then the train has never stopped rolling.”

No words in the bio about the youth preyed on and harmed by telling them that they were sick, sinful, and could pray away the gay?

I called Ensley to ask how he was doing and to see if he was still pretending to be straight. He began stuttering and said, “I have nothing to say to you” before he hung up the telephone.I had hoped to get an update on his lifestyle, but I guess he had no interest in discussing the good ole’ days at Exodus.

In any case, Mike, when you are ready to come out of your closet, we are here to help you. A picture may be worth a thousand words. Perhaps, a hot homoerotic photo is worth 2,500 words. But, true freedom as an openly gay person is priceless.

Apparently, Mr. Ensley’s into playing make believe.  First Exodus International, and now this. It seems someone likes living in a fantasy world.

This is why I get fed up with naive gay activists who feel like there is dialogue or common ground to be found with rancid bigots like Matt Barber. There is no common ground, for people like this do not experience love in a human way:

Blood’s still on your hands, dude.

[h/t David Badash]