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  I've always loved their tagline I just heard yesterday that one of my favorite sources for national/international LGBT news, Queerty, ceased to exist with only the vaguest of explanations. This is what they say on their site:
After more than five years of serving the LGBT community with news and entertainment, Queerty has come to a close. The decision to shutter the site was not an easy one to make, and it is with great pain that we say goodbye to our loyal readership. From all of Queerty’s writers and contributors, from our first unto our last day, thank you for spending some time with us.
Today I found some explanation from 365’s Jennifer Vanasco, who reblogs from Queerty (and Jossip) founder David Hauslaib:
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 You can go ahead and mark this in the “duh” category but a new study, conducted in Oregon, suggests that gay youth are more likely to attempt suicide in homophobic environments.
 The study, in the journal Pediatrics, scored the social environment in 34 Oregon counties using five criteria, including the share of schools with anti-bullying programs and anti-discrimnation policies that cover sexual orientation. The findings suggest that expanding these programs to more schools could substantially reduce suicides and suicide attempts by young people.
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  More than 20,000 students are registered and hundreds of thousands more will participate at middle schools, high schools and colleges from every state in the country in GLSEN’s National Day of Silence on Friday April 15th by taking some form of a vow of silence to raise awareness about anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) name-calling, bullying and harassment.
This year marks the 15th anniversary of the first Day of Silence, held at the University of Virginia in 1996 by students who wanted to call attention to anti-LGBT bullying on campus. The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) became the official sponsor in 2001, and participation has grown to include students from more than 7,500 middle and high schools-10% of schools nationwide–last year and hundreds of colleges.
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  In the early days of internet at my high school Net Nanny programs handily blocked many of my tame searches for the likes of “gay pharoah” or “breast cancer” (yes, breast was blocked in the 90s). Not someone who regularly works with teenagers I don’t really know how restrictive today’s internet is in secondary schools. But one thing is becoming fairly clear, not all access is created equal.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has launched a project that asks public high school students to inform them if their school blocks access to pro-gay websites and doesn’t anti-gay websites.
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  "Gay caveman" ‘Transgender’ skeleton discovered– A 5000 year old skeleton identified as male by preliminary examination was buried in a manner usually reserved for females.
The skeleton, which dates back to about 2,500 to 2,800 B.C.,[was part of a culture that] was very finicky about grave rituals, reported Iranian news network Press TV, which visited the excavation site….Corded Ware males were usually buried on their right sides with their heads facing east [accompanied by weapons] This man, however, was buried on his left with his head facing west [accompanied by household items] — a traditionally female position.
Discussion still continues about news outlets calling it a ‘gay caveman.’
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  "Fitting In, Standing Out: Navigating the Social Challenges of High School to Get an Education" A new study out of the University of Texas at Austin has just released a study announcing that teens who “don’t fit in” are less likely to attend college. That made me somewhat of a “duh” conclusion, but what might be even more interesting that that two groups who are at particular risk are gay and overweight females. They found that girls who are obese are 78% less likely to attend college than non-obese girls, and those who are gay, are 50% less likely to attend.
“Kids who have social problems — often because they are overweight or gay are at greater risk of missing out on going to college simply because of the social problems they have and how it affects them emotionally,” says Robert Crosnoe, a Sociology Department professor and Population Research Center affiliate. “Not because of anything to do with intelligence or academic progress.”
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  Everyone knows that Apple is pretty picky when it comes to allowing apps in their tightly controlled marketplace. But though you won’t be able to see any racy gay sightseeing recommendations you can be cured of “the gay.” This has some folks hopping mad, including Truth Wins Out founder Wayne Besen, who recently wrote a piece for the Huffington Post condemning the app.
Exodus International, the notorious “ex-gay” organization, recently released an iPhone app that, according to its website, is “designed to be a useful resource for men, women, parents, students, and ministry leaders.” The Exodus website further boasts that its app received a 4+ rating from Apple, meaning that it contains “no objectionable content.”
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  The original Bash Back protest November 2008 in front of Mt Hope Church in in Delta Township, Mich. (Photo courtesy of Bash back! Lansing) I don’t know too much about this story but will expound as more details are revealed. In the meantime, this press release, which I accessed through Facebook, does a pretty good job of explaining the basics:
Portland, OR– On Wednesday, March 16th, Google will be forced to hand over the email accounts of two queer activists from Portland, Oliver Hayes and Kat Enyeart, to the evangelical Mt. Hope Church in Lansing, MI. This subpoena is a part of a civil suit against the queer organization Bash Back stemming from a non-violent protest and political theater action that disrupted a church service at Mt. Hope Church several years ago. Both Portlanders are subpoenaed because of their alleged ties to the organization. However no factual evidence has been produced to support such a relationship [emphasis mine] existing and both deny membership in the organization.
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 Channel 4 signs agreement to portray trans people "positively and realistically" from now on According to Pinknews.co.uk, Britain’s Channel 4, responsible for bringing such landmark shows as Queer As Folk and Skins (via it’s subsidiary E4) but also Too Fat To Walk (WTF? Oh, it’s been renamed “Too Big To Walk”, well, that changes everything) to the British public and henceforth the world, has now signed a sensitivity agreement, weightily titled “Trans Media Watch’s Memorandum of Understanding“.
In this progressive new step, Channel 4 is the first of any UK TV channel to publicly pledge it’s commitment to portraying trans people and their lives “positively and realistically”, while supporting trans employees and their families by treating them equally to cis-gendered people and their families.
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  Basic Rights Oregon recently produced a great ad campaign called “Marriage matters to me” featuring several Oregon couples both gay and straight. Four of these couples will get coverage on CNN this Valentines Day as part of Freedom to Marry‘s newest national campaign.
Via press release, BRO executive director Jeana Frazzini lauded the decision to show the ads on Valentine’s Day of all days.
“Valentine’s Day is a time to celebrate love and commitment, and that’s true for all couples, gay or straight,” said Frazzini. “We’re reaching out to Oregonians to talk about the reasons we all want to get married: we want to publicly affirm the commitment we’ve made to the person we love.”
You can see the video below and more at a statewide themed website Marriage Matters Oregon.
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