Chicago Elementary School to March in Gay Pride Parade

In response to a few incidents of anti-gay bullying at Nettelhorst Elementary School in Chicago, parents and administrators have taken action:

"In May, [Lesbian parent Marcia] Festen and other parents collected hundreds of pieces of fabric -- strips in the rainbow colors of the gay pride flag -- and each Nettelhorst student tied a ribbon to the school's fence, creating a beautiful rainbow mosaic. A sign accompanies it, saying: 'Each Nettelhorst student has tied a piece of fabric to the fence as a tangible sign of his or her personal intention to create a better world.' They have also recruited families, mainly straight ones, to march in the Pride Parade later this month. Nettelhorst will be the only public school marching. And school administrators, who supported these efforts, agreed to start a parent diversity committee. They'll be tasked with finding ways to reflect the school's diversity in the curriculum and in the images in the school building. Their larger goals are ambitious but doable: to eliminate the stigma attached to kids from same-sex families, to normalize those families so there's less to tease about. Their aim is a school culture in which everyone feels offended by teasing, not just the victims."

The school has at least five students with same-sex parents.

"A few Nettelhorst parents balked at the parade and the fence project, and a group not affiliated with the school posted a hateful blog item. But the vast majority of Nettelhorst parents have embraced this effort. Straight parents helped with the fence project, signed up for the parade, volunteered for the diversity committee or simply offered an encouraging word. For the same-sex parents, this has been the most meaningful part."

Leaked Dutch Govt Memo Suggests Schools Can Ban Gay Teachers

A memo detailing recommendations from the Council of State of The Netherlands was leaked to Christian newspaper Nederlands Dagblad this week suggesting that schools there can ban gay teachers. The memo is the result of a study undertaken following the firing of a gay schoolteacher in the central Netherlands village of Emst

NRC Handelsblad reports: "The Council of State, the highest advisory body to the Dutch government, says religious schools can exclude gay teachers if they behave in ways that go against what the institution stands for, even if it’s outside the classroom. According to the advisory paper, schools are not allowed to discriminate, but they do have a right to make specific demands of their staff. European guidelines entitle schools to 'demand explicit loyalty from their staff' to pass on their values, the council says. Those demands have to be directly related to the foundations of the school or other religious institutions. The current anti-discrimination law in the Netherlands states that even religious schools are not allowed to let the "single fact" of someone's sexual preference, race or gender be a factor in the hiring or firing process. But the law leaves room for so-called "additional behaviour" to be factored in. A teacher could be dismissed for "a certain lifestyle" that goes against what the institution stands for; a relationship with someone of the same sex could be qualified as such."

News: Collegiate Gays, Ivri Lider, Brangelina, Raleigh, Joe Jonas

Reporters ejected from Meet in the Middle 4 Equality leadership summit.

STUDY: Gay male college students get better grades, study harder, party less than straight men. "According to the research, which is apparently the first of its kind, gay male undergraduates appear to be doing quite well: Their grade point average is about 2 percent higher than that of straight males at the same institution."

Jonas Brother is a Single Lady.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie SPLIT!?!

History is on Portland Mayor Sam Adams' side in recall attempt.

Immigration reform in trouble over gay partner language. Catholic bishops protest...

WhoSigned71: Washington state group to publicize names of people who sign Referendum 71, which would put the state's "Everything but Marriage" Domestic Partners bill on the fall ballot.

Björk is back.

Dan Savage's book The Kid: What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Go Get Pregnant to premiere as musical.

Former mayor of Raleigh, North Carolina Tom Fetzer sues radio host for forwarding email insinuating he is gay: "The suit comes in the middle of Fetzer's campaign against three other men to lead the state's Republican party, which will be decided at the state GOP convention June 12 - 14. The suit seeks damages of $10,000 or more from Curtis Wright...Wright is accused of forwarding an email that included allegations that Fetzer is gay, though Wright is not thought to be the author of the anonymous email, according to the lawsuit."

Project Natal: A first look at Microsoft's Wii killer?

New York Law Professor Arthur Leonard's research on Judge Sonia Sotomayor and gay rights.

Head of new gay Republican group GOProud Jimmy LaSalvia signs on to support filibuster of Sotomayor.

Gay Israeli pop star Ivri Lider hits NYC.

Chicago HIV study released: "A first-of-its-kind study looking at HIV infection rates found that half of gay men in Chicago who have HIV did not know they were infected, and two-thirds of infected black men were unaware. In addition, infection rates for black men were more than twice the rates for whites and Hispanics. The results of the Chicago Department of Public Health survey are sobering, officials say, but not unexpected."

Young Iranians looking for the change they can believe in?

Sequel to Heathers in the works.

Most homophobic hate crimes in Northern Ireland go unreported: "The survey of more than 1,000 people compiled by the Rainbow Project found that 64% of homophobic incidents in the last three years were not reported. The study was commissioned by the police and while gay rights campaigners recognised the efforts of officers to reach out to the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual (LGB) community, they said more work needed to be done."

Harvard to Endow First-Ever LGBT Studies Chair at U.S. College

While Gay and LGBT Studies programs have been part of the curriculum at some American colleges and universities for a while now, Harvard plans to endow a visiting professorship, and according to the NYT is the first such college to do so:

"The visiting professorship, which the university is planning to announce formally as part of commencement exercises on Thursday, was made possible by a gift of $1.5 million from the Harvard Gay and Lesbian Caucus. With the gift, Harvard said it would regularly invite 'eminent scholars studying issues related to sexuality or sexual minorities' to teach on campus for one semester, according to a draft of a university press release. The chair is being named for F.O. Matthiessen, a Harvard scholar and literary critic who 'stands out as an unusual example of a gay man who lived his sexuality as an ‘open secret’ in the mid-20th century,' according to the release. Professor Matthiessen, the release added, 'leapt to his death from the window of a Boston hotel room' in 1950, despondent, at least in part, over the death several years earlier of his partner, the artist Russell Cheney."

Harvard video announcement and endowment page.

Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden Speaks at GLSEN's 2009 Respect Awards

Dr. Jill Biden, wife of the Vice President, spoke at the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network's (GLSEN) 2009 Respect Awards in New York. After giving a shout-out to LGBT Pride Month, Biden, a lifelong educator, talked about bullying and the importance of making schools a safe place for LGBT youth. She also praised student leaders.

Said Biden: "Change is not easy, especially when it comes to ending bigotry and fear, but I am confident that together we will succeed. That is why I am proud to tell you that the Obama/Biden administration shares your commitment that every student has a safe school. Each child, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, deserves an education."

Biden also told the group (it was announced on May 19) that GLSEN founder Kevin Jennings would be joining the Obama administration, working alongside Education Secretary Arne Duncan as Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education. Jennings will head the safe and drug-free schools program.

Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...

The Prom Queen of Fairfax High

The L.A. Times reports:

"Garcia, 18, spent most of his years at Fairfax openly gay and wanted to be part of the Los Angeles school's prom court -- but not as prom king. He felt that vying for prom queen would better suit his personality, so he decided to seek that crown, running against a handful of female classmates. He said it started out as a bit of a stunt and challenge -- he wasn't sure the school would allow it. But his campaign for queen ended up being serious and sparking dialogue about gender roles on campus...The audience erupted in applause after his speech, and a group of his female friends spent the rest of the week wearing pink crowns and campaigning for him. On Saturday night at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, wearing a charcoal-gray tuxedo and a black bow tie, he was named prom queen. 'I felt invincible,' Garcia said."