I recommend checking out Queer Youth Mental Health blog. It’s written by a psychotherapist who has worked with queer youth for more than a decade.

I know some active duty soldiers who have stated that homophobic personnel are so uncomfortable with teammates who suspected of being gay, that they don’t cover those teammates in combat zones and end up putting the whole unit in danger. They literally would rather let their teammate die in a combat zone because s/he might be gay. Doesn’t sound like the kind of person who should be serving in the military, does it?

Some say that repealing DADT wouldn’t really change anything in the military – some troops have served openly for up to two years before being honorably discharged. It is estimated that 500 troops are currently serving openly.

Thoughts?

The Columbia Handbook on HIV and AIDS is a 116-page e-book that combines and updates two previous books: The Essential AIDS Fact Book and The Essential HIV Treatment Fact Book. This new handbook, nicknamed the “AIDS bible”, offers key information on transmission and prevention methods plus the basics of HIV treatment.

You will Adobe Reader to view the handbook. Download it for free here.

But when Sturgis — an honor student, trumpet player and goalie on the school’s soccer team — wanted her senior photograph in a tuxedo used in the 2009-10 yearbook, school officials balked. Traditionally, female students dress in drapes and males wear tuxedos.

Now, the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi has gotten involved, issuing a demand letter to Principal Ronald Greer to publish the picture of Sturgis in the tuxedo. The ACLU says it’s giving the school until Oct. 23 to respond before pursuing court action, said Kristy L. Bennett, the ACLU’s legal director.

A secretary for Greer referred questions to Copiah County Schools Superintendent Rickey Clopton, who declined to comment on Thursday.

Sturgis said she should get to decide how she looks in the senior photo.

“I feel like I’m not important, that the school is dismissing who I am as a gay student and that they don’t even care about me. All I want is to be able to be me, and to be included in the yearbook,” Sturgis said in a statement.

Veronica Rodriguez, 47, said school officials are trying to force her daughter — who doesn’t even own a dress — to appear more feminine.

Continue reading this story.

Has your school ever tried to make you wear “gender appropriate” clothing? Leave your story in the comments!

Photo credit

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge in San Francisco has refused to dismiss a lawsuit seeking to overturn California’s same-sex marriage ban.

U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker also signaled Wednesday that the measure’s sponsors will need to show that allowing gay couples to wed threatens traditional male-female unions.

Walker said significant questions remain about whether the voter-approved ban discriminates against gays and lesbians in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

Before ruling, Walker grilled a lawyer for the measure’s backers who asserted that Proposition 8 was legitimate because it fostered “naturally procreative relationships.”

The judge demanded to hear how that goal would be undermined if same-sex marriages were legal.

Read the story here.

Last week, a parent in the About.com Gay Life forum expressed her outrage at the behavior of her son’s pre-school teacher. The educator called the 3-year-old a “faggot” during conversation. Worse yet, the head teacher—the offending teacher’s boss—responded by saying she would pretend she didn’t hear it.

Read the complete story at About.com Gay Life.

RescueMarriage.org is the brain-child of concerned Christian and political activist John Marcotte, who felt strongly that Prop 8 did not go far enough in protecting traditional marriage. With the help of attorney’s and friends, Marcotte is attempting to ban divorce in the State of California.

This farce is John Marcotte’s way of saying that if gay marriage is bad for marriage, divorce must be even worse!

Jack Price remains in a medically induced coma. He is in serious but stable condition.

Police say the two suspects taunted Price and yelled anti-gay slurs while he was in the store early Friday. They attacked him outside, not far from his home in the middle-class Queens neighborhood of College Point.

Twenty-six-year-old Daniel Aleman was arrested Sunday and charged with assault and aggravated assault as a hate crime. The name of his attorney was not on record.

A second suspect is being sought. The police department’s Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating.

Read this story at WPIX.com.