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."

UK host Jonathan Ross Under Fire for Homophobic Remark

Radio 2 host Jonathan Ross has been criticized for remarks he made during a show on Saturday when he made jokes about prizes in a Miley Cyrus 'Hannah Montana' contest.

Said Ross: "If your son asks for a Hannah Montana MP3 player, you might want to already think about putting him down for adoption before he brings his, erm, partner home."

The Press Association reports: "A spokeswoman for Ofcom was unable to say how many people had complained but said: 'We have had complaints. We are assessing those complaints against the broadcasting code.' ... A BBC spokeswoman said: 'The BBC has received four complaints about Jonathan's comments on Saturday's show. However, these off-the-cuff remarks were made purely in jest and were not intended to be offensive. Jonathan is not homophobic in any sense and never meant for his comments to be taken seriously.'"

News: Russia, Kylie Minogue, Kindle, Chris Pine, Nebraska

Lesbians to apply for same-sex marriage license in Russia: "Public relations worker Irina Fyet, 31, and her partner of the same age will apply for a marriage license at a register office on May 12 in Moscow, a city where mayor Yuri Luzhkov once described gay pride marches as 'satanic.' Gay rights activist Nikolai Alekseyev said it was the first time a gay couple would apply for a license."

Meet Chanel, the world's oldest dog: "She always wears a sweater or T-shirt when she goes out, even in summer, because she tends to get chilled easily. Chanel also has cataracts and has to wear goggles with tinted lenses to protect her eyes when she goes out."

Pets who teabag.

Staley and Sullivan: Obama asleep at the wheel on HIV? "Their apparent resistance to anything pro-gay - delaying repeal of DADT indefinitely, freezing with fear on anything to do with civil unions or marriage - is beginning to make the Clintonites in the primaries seem prescient; and those of us in the gay movement who backed Obama seem like fools."

EU bans seal products.

Kylie Minogue to launch U.S. tour.

Levi's launches campaign for Hetrick-Martin Institute.

Arlen Specter misspeak: "There's still time for the Minnesota courts to do justice and declare Norm Coleman the winner."

Prop 8 The Musical wins Webby Award.

Amazon's newest Kindle: first impressions: "Three newspapers — The New York Times, Washington Post and the Boston Globe — will offer a reduced price on the Kindle in exchange for a long-term subscription. The Times and Globe will be offered starting this summer in areas where home delivery is not available. No prices of that promotion were released. Amazon emphasized that the Kindle will exchange personal documents, all without the user having to look for a wireless hot spot."

Tim Gunn goes to Capitol Hill.

Deb Price: David Souter proves a gay rights surprise. "Using his intellectual gifts and good heart, Souter helped produce a warming trend, enabling the court to begin moving away from four decades of icy treatment of gay men and lesbians. Thanks to Souter, the court turned a major corner in 1995, when a unanimous opinion that he wrote for the court finally used the respectful term 'gay.'"

Chris Pine: The new Captain Kirk goes for a shirtless stroll.

Kirks collide: Pine meets Shatner.

Openly gay North Carolina state senator Julia Boseman advances bullying bill: "The measure now goes to the House, which passed a similar bill last year, according to the Greensboro News & Record. 'This is solely to protect kids and keep them safe at school,' Boseman said, but social conservatives vowed to fight the bill because it specifically includes sexual orientation."

Beast: Why do Kanye West's fashion choices bring out the homophobes?

El Al launches tourism campaign for gay Europeans.

Viewers await gay storyline in Southland...

The new guard: Lincoln High School students in Iowa battle back against the Phelps clan. "More than 200 students gathered at the northeast corner of Lincoln High School's campus Tuesday afternoon to counter a protest by about a half-dozen anti-gay pickets from a controversial Kansas church. Zach Toillion, a Lincoln senior, used the social networking Web site Facebook to urge students to protest across from the pickets, who stood along Southwest Ninth Street. The students carried signs that read 'God loves all' and 'unity' and cheered at honking cars."

Bradley Cooper to play The Green Lantern?

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #473

CARRIE PREJEAN: Keith Olbermann and Michael Musto discuss Miss California's breast implants.

LIVE OUT LOUD: Gay-about-town Mike Diamond makes a visit to the Live Out Loud Young Trailblazers Gala 2009.

TOM DELAY: Obama is going to bring the Democratic Party down (smiles).

NORMAN GENTLE: The former American Idol contestant interviewed on Better Connecticut.

For previous Guides to the Tube, click HERE.

Today's 'Day of Silence' Raises Awareness of Anti-LGBT Bullying

I haven't noticed as much publicity around the 'Day of Silence' this year, and I'm not sure why. It's a subject that has recently made the MSM with the bullycide of Carl Walker-Hoover. Today, according to his mother, would have been his 12th birthday.

Today, ABC News published a story on how tone-deaf teachers, like the ones complicit in Walker-Hoover and Eric Mohat's suicides, perpetuate the violence against LGBT youth.

Jason Mannino, writing in the Huffington Post, drew my attention to this video which I hadn't seen before, which will just make you sick to your stomach. According to the post on Metacafe, it's an anti-Day of Silence protest by some young fundies, posted a year ago:

"This was a protest at San Juan High School, Sacramento, California. Students came to school wearing T-shirts that had Bible Verses on them (1 Corinthians, 6:9-10) The verses say that Homosexuality is sin. About 40 students that wore those T-shirts got suspended. Those students who got suspended refused to take the star test until the administrators remove the suspensions and let them wore those shirts. This is a clip were they are in the library because the administrators made them sit for 5 hours..."

Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...

I'm from River Forest, Illinois

Writer Nathan Manske has started a blog called 'I'm from Driftwood' inspired by the story of Harvey Milk, and more specifically, the well-known photo of Milk riding in a San Francisco Gay Pride march carrying a sign that reads "I'm from Woodmere, NY".

Manske writes: "The sign was intended to show how far people came to attend the San Francisco rally, but it meant something more to me. It meant that there are gay people in every small town and every big city across America and the world. I was thinking about that photo in between assaults on the snooze button and I responded to Harvey’s sign. I’m from Driftwood. There are gay stories from every corner of the Earth and I think they should be told. But why? What does it mean?? To the gay teens struggling to come out and deal with their sexuality, who to this day still attempt suicide 4 times more than straight kids, it says 'you are not alone.' Other people have dealt with similar situations, families, communities and churches, and have overcome and are now living happy lives. It can happen for you, too. It gets soooo much better, I promise."

To that end, "I'm from Driftwood" features submitted stories (accompanied by satellite photos of the writer's location) written by gay people from all over in the hopes that struggling teens won't feel so alone.

I'm from Driftwood [official site]

*note - the headline is where I grew up, though I haven't quite had the time to pen a story.