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.

UC Berkeley Student Government Demands School Ban Salvation Army from Campus for its Bias Against Gays

The UC Berkeley Student Government has passed a resolution demanding that the school ban the Salvation Army from campus over its bias against gays, Campus Reform reports:

The resolution, cleared on November 14, accuses the charity of openly discriminating against gay individuals.

“Salvation Army church services, including charity services, are available only to people ‘who accept and abide by the Salvation Army’s doctrine and discipline,’ which excludes homosexuality,” reads the bill, SB 176.

In the resolution, the student body also demands school administrators revoke the Salvation Army’s permit, which currently allows them to collect donations on the Berkeley campus.

“Allowing the Salvation Army to collect donations on campus is a form of financial assistance that empowers the organization to spend the money it raises here in order to discriminate and advocate discrimination against queer people,” it adds.

The Salvation Army denies it is anti-gay:

"The notion that we require those we help to 'accept and abide by the Salvation Army's doctrine and discipline which excludes homosexuality' to receive assistance is totally false," wrote Kathy Lovin, a spokeswoman for the Salvation Army.

In fact, the Salvation Army's bias against gays is well documented, including statements by officials that homosexuality is "an unacceptable urge", its lobbying against same-sex marriage in the UK and Australia, its threat to stop serving NYC if it had to obey an equal benefits ordinance, and its statement by an official just this year that gays should be put to death.

News: Jovan Belcher, Hoverboard, Frank Bruni, Drones

Model Renato Seabra was found guilty of murdering and mutilating journalist Carlos Castro in January of 2011. He will be sentenced December 21.

A detailed review of Mattel's so-called hoverboard.

The New York Times' Frank Bruni to Bill Clinton: "...DOMA, which says that the federal government recognizes only marriages of a man and a woman, is one of the uglier blemishes on your record, an act of indisputable discrimination that codified unequal treatment of gay men and lesbians and, in doing so, validated the views of Americans who see us as lesser people. If our most committed, heartfelt relationships don’t measure up, then neither do we. If how we love is suspect, then so is who we are. No two ways to interpret that. No other conclusion to be drawn"

Watch Adam Lambert's performance from the Mnet Asian Music Awards.

Florida tossed out Christian Slater's vote because his signature didn't match the one they had on file.

Boy Meets World actress Danielle Fishel does Lindsay Lohan doing Elizabeth Taylor.

Tom Daley and his mama hit the town.

The Rabbinical Council of America has come out against "ex-gay" reparative therapy.

Get excited for Jonny Pierce from The Drums' solo album.

I got a chance to talk with Darren G. Davis about Lost Raven, the graphic novel he wrote about coming to terms with his HIV positive status. I'd love for you to read it.

Police confirm that Kansas City Chiefs' linebacker Jovan Belcher, 25, fatally shot his girlfriend and then, despite his coach and others' attempts to calm him down, he shot himself. "[His coach, general manager and others were] standing outside and appeared to be talking to him. It appeared they were talking to the suspect," said police. "The suspect began to walk in the opposite direction of the coaches and the officers and that's when they heard the gunshot. It appears he took his own life."

Despite some architectural activists' efforts, an apartment complex where JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald will be torn down. "We're not just losing a piece of fundamental history to Dallas related to the assassination, we're also losing a piece of fundamental architecture to this area," said the building's owner.

US drones keep crashing at civilian airports overseas. "A review of thousands of pages of unclassified Air Force investigation reports, obtained by The Washington Post under public-records requests, shows that drones flying from civilian airports have been plagued by setbacks. Among the problems repeatedly cited are pilot error, mechanical failure, software bugs in the 'brains' of the aircraft and poor coordination with civilian air-traffic controllers."

The Salvation Army continues to deny it endorses hateful anti-gay politics and rhetoric, despite evidence that says otherwise.

Hillary Clinton compares her ever-changing hairstyles to the "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers."

Sally Field spoke with Oprah about raising a gay son, our very own Sam Greisman.

Edie Windsor, 83, says she just wants to be alive when DOMA's overturned.

Stephanie Miller Apologizes After Gay Firestorm Following Interview with Salvation Army Official: VIDEO

Yesterday Stephanie Miller angered a lot of listeners to her radio show after allowing Major George Hood of the Salvation Army to blatantly lie after she asked him if the organization is anti-gay.

Listen to the announcement on her radio show, AFTER THE JUMP...

She also issued a statement:

Monday on my Current TV program Talking Liberally, broadcast simultaneously on my national radio program, The Stephanie Miller Show, I announced that my friend and colleague Bill Press and I were launching a three-week competition to raise money for the Salvation Army to help Americans in need.

This was in conjunction with an advertising buy by the Salvation Army on Current TV. We all thought that we were doing something positive in the spirit of the holiday season.

Where I screwed up was in not doing more research about the Salvation Army’s long and checkered history involving LGBTQ people and our issues. I sincerely apologize for that.

When I returned from the Thanksgiving holiday, I learned a lot more — much of of it from friends like John Aravosis at America Blog and Michelangelo Signorile at Sirius OutQ — and I decided that, effective immediately, Talking Liberally and The Stephanie Miller Show would no longer be a part of the Salvation Army’s Online Red Kettle Campaign.

Please understand that I do believe the Salvation Army does much good work in the world and I also believe in redemption. I sincerely hope they will change their mission statement and policies regarding the LGBTQ community and I am very willing to continue that dialogue with them.

Through yesterday, your generosity has raised $1,150 for the Salvation Army in the Stephanie Miller Red Kettle.

I am now going to personally match that amount with a donation to the Trevor Project, whose work and mission I can endorse without any reservation. The Trevor Project provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ youth.

As always, I am grateful to my viewers and listeners for holding me to the high standards that I always try to set for myself.

Love,

Stephanie

Listen (and watch), AFTER THE JUMP...

Current TV Host Stephanie Miller Allows Salvation Army Official to Lie About its Anti-Gay Positions: VIDEO

Current TV's Stephanie Miller's allowed Major George Hood of the Salvation Army to blatantly lie after she asked him if the organization is anti-gay.

Said Hood:

"Well it’s a great misunderstanding that’s spread across the country, and we’re doing everything we can to re-educate and help people understand that the very mission of the Salvation Army calls for meeting the needs of humans without discrimination…. So discrimination is not something that we would gladly carry the banner or pride over, we want to dispel the notion that we do discriminate when the fact is we’re working very hard not discriminating and it is a part of our mission."

Hood goes on to deny that the organization gives to anti-gay causes or refuses to hire gays.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

If you would like examples of the Salvation Army's stance over the years, John Aravosis at Americablog has posted a quite thorough list of them including its statement that homosexuality is "an unacceptable urge", its lobbying against same-sex marriage in the UK and Australia, its threat to stop serving NYC if it had to obey an equal benefits ordinance, and its statement by an official just this year that gays should be put to death.

Here's a timeline from The Week as well.

Australian Salvation Army Apologizes After Official Says Gays Should Be Put to Death

The Austalian Salvation Army is apologizing for an interview in which Major Andrew Craibe, Territorial Media Relations Director for the Southern Territory in Victoria told journalists Serena Ryan and Pete Dillon that gays deserve to be put to death, Truth Wins Out reports:

Ryan noted that the Salvation Army handbook cites Romans 1:18-32, a passage claiming that “God’s decree” is that homosexuals deserve death, and asked Craibe if the Salvation Army took that passage literally. Craibe replied in the affirmative, and continued to do so throughout the interview.

In response, Major Bruce Harmer, Salvation Army Communications and Public Relations Secretary for the Eastern Territory, issued a statement acknowledging that Craibe’s responses to Ryan and Dillon were a “miscommunication” that resulted in a misrepresentation of the group’s official teaching. The statement read, in part:

“The Salvation Army sincerely apologises to all members of the GLBT community and to all our clients, employees, volunteers and those who are part of our faith communities for the offence caused by this miscommunication.”

Read the full Salvation Army statement HERE.