Bisexual Teen Fights for Gay-Straight Alliance in Florida as Homophobic Parent Compares it to a Gang: VIDEO

14-year-old Bayli Silberstein is leading the charge to get a Gay-Straight Alliance in place at Carver middle School which she attends because she says anti-gay bullying is out of hand. The Lake County School Board had a meeting on Monday afternoon, the Orlando Sentinel reports:

More than 100 parents, students, residents and a few pastors showed up at a Lake County School Board meeting Monday afternoon, many wearing red shirts to show support for a proposed Gay-Straight Alliance club at Carver Middle School in Leesburg...

The American Civil Liberties Union is supporting Bayli, saying that under the federal Equal Access Act schools can not discriminate among clubs based on what they think students should or should not discuss. If a school allows any student group that's not directly related to school curriculum to meet, then it cannot deny other student groups the same access.

Others spoke out against the alliance, saying the real issue is bullying. Students, they said, would not find the support they need in a gay-straight group.

"It's like gangs," said Lori Pitner, a Tavares resident who spoke in opposition. "More kids in gangs end up killed than are not in gangs. I don't see this as any different."

Watch the Orlando Sentinel's interview with Silberstein, AFTER THE JUMP...

Gay Teen's Home Vandalized In Hate Crime

A gay Florida teen returned home with his boyfriend last week to find it covered in hate-filled red graffiti - both inside and outside of the house. The vandalism included a swastika on the ceiling of his living room. Police are investigating the incident, which targeted 18-year-old Jesse Jeffers, as a hate crime. 

The Pensacola News Journal reports:

The vandalism, which happened between when Jeffers left and returned to his home, was deemed a hate crime by the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, because it targets Jeffers’ lifestyle and sexual orientation. There are only a few hate-crime cases reported each year in Santa Rosa, Haines said, calling them a rare occurrence.

The vandals spray-painted a pair of women’s breasts on the trailer’s exterior. Near the door, several derogatory words were spelled out, along with the phrase “God don’t love you,” with a heart taking the place of the word “love.”

Inside, his drapes, fish tank and front room were also tagged, along with another large swastika painted on his ceiling.

No arrests have yet been made in the case.

News: Gay Pride Suppression, Hillary Clinton, Russia, JJ Abrams

A gay man in Boynton Beach, Florida, is being accused of trying to start abstract "trouble" after his neighborhood association nixed his pride flag. The man, Dave Armstrong, says his neighbors are just homophobic. "I said, 'Listen, everybody else has an American flag on the front of their property, so why can't I have my pride flag right out here?'"

An Atlanta man is suing Georgia after state rejects his three gay-themed vanity license plates, "4GayLib," "GayPwr" and "GayGuy:" "All three were denied because they were already on a list of more than 10,000 banned tags, the state's 'bad tag list'. 'There are some limits that are proper but none of this makes any sense,' [Attorney Cynthia] Counts said. 'It's completely contrary to any first amendment principals.'"

The Connecticut Senate approved the state's first openly gay Supreme Court justice.

MSNBC panels says Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was "at her very best" during yesterday's Benghazi hearings.

New rules from the Kremlin demand military officers inspect recruits' bodies, including their genitals, for tattoos that may indicate gang or gay affiliation. "The reason for getting tattoos could indicate a low cultural or educational level," the directive reads. "If an influence by external factors is determined, for example, persuasion or direct coercion, this indicates the malleability of the young man, his disposition to submit to another's will."

Scotland Yard says it has arrested three people suspected of being involved in a "Muslim street patrol" that recently assaulted a gay man in London.

More about corporations turning on the Boy Scouts for the Scouts' tenacious homophobia, including a chart on who's giving how much to the organization. (Click on image to expand.)

David Hall, the former Air Force sergeant booted under Don't Ask, Don't Tell, discusses his experience as a "citizen co-chair" during President Obama's second inauguration. "I think he tried to put us all at ease and talk to us as normal people," he said of the commander-in-chief's demeanor.

Rather than joining the momentum that will most likely usher in marriage equality in Rhode Island, and simultaneously going against his party peer, Gov. Lincoln Chafee, Democratic State Sen. Frank A. Ciccone III plans on introducing a bill that will put same-sex unions to a popular vote, rather than allowing lawmakers to decide.

Despite outcry from LGBT students, Chick-fil-A will stay put at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. The school, however, agreed to give them $1,500 to see if they can start an anti-bullying and general awareness campaign on such a small budget.

Stephen Dorff found some relief in the Roosevelt Hotel's bushes.

Here are the president's remarks on the Pentagon lifting the ban on women in combat: "Today, by moving to open more military positions—including ground combat units—to women, our armed forces have taken another historic step toward harnessing the talents and skills of all our citizens..."

Polish lawmakers begin debating civil unions.

Why didn't Sheryl Crow tell the world that former lover Lance Armstrong was doping?

David Beckham in a "fashionable dressing gown."

Is JJ Abrams going to direct the next Star Wars flick?

"Does lightning cause migraines?"

Bank Of America Settles With Lesbians Denied Mortgage

The Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced that Bank of America has settled a discrimination claim filed by a Florida lesbian couple denied a mortgage because they're not legally married, something they can't do in Florida.

This is the first time HUD's new rules prohibiting discrimination against LGBT people, particularly those who are unable to get married.

Details about the claim from HUD:

HUD claimed BOA denied a loan to a Florida couple seeking to obtain an FHA-insured mortgage because of their sexual orientation and marital status.  Because one partner was not employed, the applicant enlisted her partner’s mother as a co-applicant on the loan. The couple worked with BOA for several weeks to provide all of the necessary loan application documents and the couple was assured by BOA that they were likely to receive a mortgage.

One business day prior to closing, BOA denied the mortgage because it did not consider the loan applicant and the co-applicant directly related because the applicant and her partner were not married. As a result of BOA’s actions, the couple was not able to close on the loan.

BOA will pay HUD $7,500 for its violation and has agreed to inform all mortgage agents of the new rules.

HUD General Counsel Helen Kanovsky said the "agreement demonstrates that HUD will vigorously enforce its Equal Access rule and pursue lenders that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or marital status."

She went on, "By the same token, BOA should be commended for stepping up and taking immediate corrective action after HUD notified BOA of the violation."

150 Game Changing Wins that Made 2012 the Gayest Year Ever

A remarkably short four decades ago, the Stonewall Revolt of 1969 opened the flood gates for LGBT rights. The closet, so sturdy for so long, started being swept away in a rush of pride. Still, LGBT Americans lived in a culture of "tolerance," a popular euphemism for enduring.

There have been momentous years since then — both Barney Frank's 1987 coming out and the 2003 Supreme Court ruling overturning anti-sodomy laws come to mind — but when we look back in twenty years time or ten or even five, 2012 will be remembered as quantum leap for LGBT rights in the United States of America. It's the year that equality went from being a far-off dream to becoming an inevitable, immutable and irreversible reality. Even Newt Gingrich agrees!

This was the year of equality, the year the American dream came into sharper focus and the nation crossed from begrudgingly tolerating gays, and sometimes even acknowledging their relationships, to demanding our inclusion in the greater American family. Coming out is for the large part no longer a big deal, which is a big deal in and of itself.

There have never been as many out and proud elected officials; never before has Wall Street embraced us with such force; never before have so many conservatives admitted they need to shift gears on marriage equality and embrace change. This was a year of "never before" and "never again."

AFTER THE JUMP, 150 reasons why 2012 was a year of permanence for LGBT Americans, a year that the next wave of rights began its swoop across the purple mountain majesty and above the fruited plain.

And for more of our 2012 Year in Review, be sure to read "I'm Gay: 50 Most Powerful Comings Outs of 2012" HERE.

News: Gaseous Fed, Emory, Thom Bierdz, Rudolph

A group of Emory Students have apologized after their public access program suggested that people lynch students they think are on campus because of affirmative action.

Four firefighters were shot, two fatally, while responding to a blaze in Webster, New York. "An ex-con set a car and a house ablaze in his lakeside neighborhood to lure firefighters, then opened fire on them, killing two, engaging in a shootout with police and committing suicide while several houses burned. Authorities used an armored vehicle to evacuate the area."

CNN viewers voted President Obama 2012's most intriguing person.

The Episcopal-backed The University of the South will host same-sex marriages in its chapel: "The college itself isn't part of any one diocese. Its religious governing authority is the chancellor, a post that rotates among the bishops of the 28 owning dioceses. In the midst of this announcement, McCardell is calling on alumnus to give $250 to $300 million dollars in a campaign to ensure the university's future, a future that might be jeopardized by this action that many consider outside the bounds of Biblical faith even though culturally acceptable."

Florida's first openly gay lawmakers see equality as a priority. "I’ve done work on civil rights for a long time. But in the campaign, my focus was mostly on jobs, education and fairness and opportunity," said Rep. Joe Saunders, a former Florida Equality activist.

How Gwyneth travels.

Oh, Mariah...

Check out the new trailer for Mark Wahlberg's forthcoming flick Broken City.

Kellan Lutz is obviously someplace very warm.

Gay actor Thom Bierdz looks good naked and isn't afraid to show off. Check it out via this not-so work friendly link Oh, and he's single and looking for a boyfriend.

Hugh Jackman goes for a modestly-sized Christmas tree.

Rudolph's red nose explained.

NOM henchman Frank Schubert on failed GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich accepting the "reality" of marriage equality: "Sometimes good men say stupid things, and this is one of those times. Gingrich’s conclusion that gay 'marriage' is inevitable is ridiculous. His comments suggest the results of marriage races in Maine, Maryland and Washington, which allowed three deep-blue states to endorse redefining marriage means that it is inevitable."

Gay Avengers Hulkling And Wiccan share a kiss in Gay Times.

Federal employee chided for "disrupt[ing] the work floor by passing gas and releasing an unpleasant odor." Makes for a great bloated government joke.

Minnesota political analyst Larry Jacobs doesn't see marriage equality passing there next month, as some Democrats had hoped.

Dylan Smith, a 23-year old New Yorker who helped save neighbors' lives during Superstorm Sandy, died in a surfing accident in Puerto Rico over the weekend.