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Ellen's 'Haters Are Her Motivators,' Star Addresses Conservative Boycott Controversy

Posted 2/8/12 4:04 pm EST by in Celebrity, Gay Rights


Well, that settles that.

Ellen DeGeneres used her daytime talk show today to address the controversy that erupted after conservative group One Million Moms urged a boycott of J.C. Penny after it signed DeGeneres as its new celebrity face.

The good-time girls from One Million Moms are very upset that J.C. Penny went with Ellen. The group, a project of the American Family Association, which according to GLAAD has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, just doesn't know what to do with itself now that a lesbian, gasp, will represent their favorite mid-priced clothing purveyor.

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In a statement on its website, the group said it would urge people not to shop at the retailer because hiring DeGeneres revealed that it does not share the same "values." Yawn.

Ellen hit back, explaining that her own values included "honesty, equality, kindness, compassion, treating people they way you want to be treated and helping those in need."

"To me, those are traditional values," she added.

Related:
>>> Conservative Group Upset That Ellen DeGeneres Is New Face Of J.C. Penny
>>> What Are Your Thoughts On Schweddy Balls? One Conservative Group Doesn't Like Them One Bit

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Conservative Group Upset That Ellen DeGeneres Is New Face Of J.C. Penny

Posted 2/2/12 3:08 pm EST by in Activism, Gay Rights


Ellen

Ugh.

The good-time girls from the conservative group One Million Moms are very upset that Ellen DeGeneres, beloved talk show host and least offensive person on the planet, is the new face of J.C. Penny. The group, a project of the American Family Association, which according to GLAAD has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, just doesn't know what to do with itself now that a lesbian, gasp, will represent their favorite mid-priced clothing purveyor.

"Funny that JC Penney thinks hiring an open homosexual spokesperson will help their business when most of their customers are traditional families," reads a statement on One Million Moms' website. "DeGeneres is not a true representation of the type of families that shop at their store. The majority of JC Penney shoppers will be offended and choose to no longer shop there."

We're sure they will.

It's not really all that surprising that these kill joys are behind the anti-Ellen campaign. After all, they were clutching their pearls when Ben & Jerry's announced last year that they'd created a flavor called "Schweddy Ball," in honor of the famous "Saturday Night Live" skit featuring Alec Baldwin as Pete Schweddy, who makes up a fictional treat called "Schweddy Balls" for the ladies of the fictitious National Public Radio program "Delicious Dish."

Naturally, they tried to boycott the flavor. These people. Read on for more and to watch "SNL's" "Scweddy Balls" skit, you know, just because. Read More...

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Nick Jonas Talks Gay Marriage, Stage Nudity

Posted 1/19/12 12:15 pm EST by in Gay Rights, Jonas Brothers


As Nick Jonas prepares for his debut in “How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying,” he’s opening up to The Advocate about his history on Broadway, as well as his future on The Great White Way.

When asked if he’d ever consider going au natural on stage, like his “How To Succeed” predecessor, Daniel Radcliffe, he didn’t completely rule it out. “I love theater and I understand the difference between acting and who you are as a person. I don’t know that it’s something I would’ve done in the end, but I definitely would’ve considered it,” he said laughing. “You have to be open to everything.”

Nick does seem pretty open to a lot of stuff. He says that growing up in Broadway shows has always meant that he’s comfortable around gay people. While he clarifies that none of the JoBros are gay, he adds that they totally love their gay fans. “It was definitely cool when we realized that, because the more you can grow your audience, the more people you can impact. They’ve been incredible over the years,” he said. “My brothers and I totally look forward to meeting them, because they really respond to our style, and it’s cool to see how our influence has impacted what they’re wearing. They also give really good gifts at our meet-and-greets — hats, scarves, and other things. They always have good taste.” Read More...

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Lady Gaga Pays Tribute To Little Monster Jamey At Trevor Project Live in LA

Posted 12/5/11 2:06 pm EST by in Activism, Gay Rights, Lady Gaga


Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga was one of the many A-listers (if not the Mother Monster of A-listers) at the Trevor Project Live event over the weekend in Los Angeles.

At the event, she accepted her "Hero" award, telling the room, "I appreciate this award so much. But truthfully, I am not the hero. The hero is Jamey." Gaga accepted the award from the family of Jamey Rodemeyer, a Gaga fan who committed suicide 11 weeks ago. “I want my fans and people all over the world to know that there’s always somebody that’s listening," she added. "But I want them to know they’re listening before it gets too late."

During her speech on Sunday, Gaga touched on her wishes to someday make bullying a hate crime. The Born This Way foundation founder added, "I learned very long ago that my time here on this earth would not just be for pop singing because I was very blessed to have beautiful fans, like I have in Jamey, like I will always have in Jamey. Thank you so much this award tonight. This means more to me than any Grammy I could ever win."

Read More...

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GetUp! Action For Australia Campaigner Reveals Details Of Acclaimed 'It's Time' Viral Video

Posted 11/30/11 10:50 am EST by in Activism, Gay Rights


Getup Marriage Ad

By Damian Vaca

Over the weekend while many Americans enjoyed a tryptophan-induced nap and 5K turkey trots – our friends Down Under released a video that is on its way to getting worldwide attention. Late last week, the Australian non-profit organization Getup! Action for Australia, released the 2-minute video, which some are saying is hands down the greatest video supporting marriage equality that has ever been made. The clip, titled "It's Time," has already been viewed over 2.25 million times on YouTube.

Paul Mackay, Marriage Equality Campaigner for GetUp! Action for Australia, tells MTV News, "To say we’re surprised [by the attention this video is getting] is an understatement. When we were working on scripting, we knew the idea was good, and when we finished production we knew the video was good, but you never know how a piece of work will be received."

"We’re still aiming for a mention from Ellen and Gaga," he says, "but we’re pretty darn excited with what we’ve had so far."

"The scripting process started quite simply, by identifying key moments in any relationship: a meeting, a first date, sharing time with friends, moving in, meeting parents, obstacles and hardship and eventually, a proposal," Mackay says. "We were then able to draw those moments out, and since we were shooting on such a tight schedule and budget, had to make up a lot of it as we went. The end result meant that many of the most powerful reactions and scenes were unplanned, but simply the hard work of our director of photography and leading man identifying casual moments that could be captured as they arose. We ended up shooting the entire thing over a weekend then spending a similar amount of time picking out the best moments. And we couldn’t be more proud of the result."

Read on for more and watch the video here. Read More...

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Miley Cyrus And Our Other Favorite Celebrity NoH8-ers

Posted 11/29/11 9:52 am EST by in Activism, Gay Rights, Miley Cyrus


Miley Cyrus

Miley Cyrus is a girl with a cause (or nine)!

Yesterday, we gave Miley a little grief for her inability to stop her friends from recording her saying and doing silly things but perhaps we were a little too hard on the 19-year-old pop star because time and time again she steps up to prove her heart is always in the right place.

She recently unveiled a video for a remixed version of her track “Liberty Walk” to support the Occupy Wall Street movement, and now photographer Adam Bouska has posted a behind-the-scenes photo to his Facebook profile of Cyrus posing for the NoH8 campaign. NoH8 is a silent protest campaign that supports same-sex marriage equality.

Cyrus has been long been a vocal advocate for gay rights, going so far as to tattoo an equal sign on her middle finger in a showing of her support for marriage equality. After she posted a pic of her new ink on Twitter in late July, some of her followers criticized the political statement she was making but Cyrus did not back down, saying, “Where does it say in the bible to judge others? Oh right. It doesn't. GOD is the only judge honey. GOD is love.” Later, she added, “If u don’t stand 4 something you’ll fall for anything.”

Tell it, Miley!

The young pop star’s decision to further involve herself in the NoH8 movement got us thinking about a few of our other favorite stars who have taken a stand for LGBT equality. Read on for a few more and why we think their commitment goes above and beyond the rest. Read More...

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Conan O'Brien Officiates Same-Sex Wedding Ceremony On His Late Night Show

Posted 11/4/11 11:29 am EST by in Conan O'Brien, Gay Rights


In New York City for a week of shows, Conan O'Brien decided to do something he couldn't do in California, where his TBS show normally tapes. He performed a same-sex marriage ceremony for his show's costume designer Scott Cronick and his partner, David Gorshein.

O'Brien officiated the ceremony after getting ordained online by the Universal Life Church Monastery. The set was decorated in a fall-like fashion and Scott was escorted across the stage by his favorite celebrity, Bravo's "Watch What Happens Live" host Andy Cohen. The ceremony was brief but truly touching.

Check it out below and watch O'Brien's ordination process after the jump.

Read More...

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Less Gay Characters On Fall TV, GLAAD Says

Posted 9/28/11 10:14 am EST by in Gay Rights


The number of LGBT characters featured on TV for the 2011 season is down a full percent from where it was last year, but the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, in its 16th annual "Where We Are on TV" report, is happy with the prominent role many LGBT characters play on some major shows.

"While the number of LGBT characters is down, some of the most popular shows with critics and viewers, such as 'Glee,' 'True Blood' and 'The Good Wife,' weave storylines about gay and lesbian characters into the fabric of the show,” GLAAD acting president Mike Thompson said in a statement. “Whether it’s the growing household of Mitchell and Cameron on 'Modern Family' or the recent wedding of Callie and Arizona on 'Grey’s Anatomy,' Americans expect to see the diversity of our country represented in their favorite programs and that includes gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people."

For the first time in six years, ABC is not in the lead, having significantly dropped its percentage of regular LGBT characters, from 7.2 percent in 2010 to 3.4 percent for the upcoming season. That made room for FOX, led by "Glee," to be the major network with the most gay characters – 8, or 6.8 percent of its 117 series regulars. Read More...

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Celebrities Share Excitement Over Same-Sex Marriage In New York

Posted 7/25/11 3:00 pm EST by in Gay Rights


Ricky Martin

Yesterday, New York became the sixth and largest state in the country to recognize same-sex marriage. The first weddings took place just after midnight on July 24, just one month after the state passed marriage equality legislation. From Niagara Falls, where the first ceremony was performed, to Manhattan, where 659 couples picked up marriage licenses, it was a historic and celebratory day.

So it’s no surprise that entertainers like Ricky Martin and NKOTBSB’s Jonathan Knight took to Twitter to share their excitement over the newly enacted legislation. Martin and Knight both added GLAAD's “I Love New York” button to their Twitter photos in recognition of marriage equality.

Read More...

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Helping Michele Bachmann Find A Campaign Song

Posted 6/29/11 12:45 pm EST by in Gay Rights, Obama, Politics


Open-minded political figure Michele Bachmann, she of gay people being “part of Satan” and Medicaid being a form of socialism (despite her husband’s acceptance of $137,000 of it!) fame, is ruffling the feathers of yet another musician. This time around, it’s Tom Petty, whose management sent Bachmann’s campaign a cease-and-desist letter to halt their use of his song, “American Girl.”

This is the second time in two weeks that Bachmann’s camp has been asked to not use a song on the campaign trail. The Tea Party wonder entered the conservative RightOnline conference in Minneapolis, Minn., to Katy Perry’s “Firework” on June 18, prompting a big WTF from journos confused why the fervently anti-gay pol settled on one of the most mainstream pro-tolerance anthems in recent memory.

Now she’s harshing Petty’s buzz. The Minnesota rep played “American Girl” in Waterloo, Iowa, on Monday when she officially kicked off her presidential campaign and again following a speech in South Carolina last night. Not cool, Bachmann!

In light of her campaign’s inability to comprehend that almost no one wants to be associated with her politics, we have a few suggestions for Bachmann’s camp to find that perfect anthem. Read More...

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