Author: Brett

Tyler Clementi’s Love Testifies He Saw Webcam

Brett

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/clementi-lover-testifies-webcam-article-1.1031865

TYLER CLEMENTI’S mystery man — in his first public words since a Rutgers freshman leaped to his death — recalled glancing over his shoulder and seeing a Webcam pointing right at him.

“It was faced towards the direction of the bed and I just thought it was kind of strange,” the 32-year-old testified Friday.

“You know, being in a compromising situation and seeing a camera lens, I guess it just stuck out to me,” he explained. “If you were sitting at a desk using a computer, that camera wouldn’t be facing that direction.”

The man said he didn’t see a light on the Webcam and “there were no thoughts that somebody might be watching me.”

It wasn’t until days later, after Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge, that he knew the truth: his young lover’s roommate had used the Webcam to spy on their tryst.

Cutthroat Cooks: How Culinary Contests Are Heating Up Ratings

Brett

http://www.scrippsnetworks.com/newsitem.aspx?id=665

There’s heat in the kitchen, but no one wants to get out.
More than ever before, cooking shows — more precisely, competitive cooking shows — are burning up the ratings chart these days, with viewers devouring the cutthroat culinary competition in droves.
Shows such as Food Network’s Chopped and Cupcake Wars, Bravo’s Emmy-winning series Top Chef and TLC’s The Great Baker are driving ratings for cable networks, not as much for the education as for the entertainment of watching kitchen meltdowns.

Yahoo! Starts Its First Season of Scripted Comedy Programming

Brett

LIKE any network executive Erin McPherson spent the winter half-crazed over content decisions. She sifted through pitches, sat through pilots, took conference calls over the Christmas holiday from a bedroom in her parents’ Colorado home.

But Ms. McPherson doesn’t work at a television network. She is the head of video programming and originals at Yahoo, the Internet search engine turned news and multimedia portal that on Monday will unveil its first season of scripted comedy programming.

An Internet brand putting funny videos online: that’s nothing new. What sets Yahoo’s endeavor apart is a model that is strikingly reminiscent of Hollywood. Before a single short ever went up, talent deals were secured, and programming schedules were puzzled over. A pseudo-upfront — like the events actual networks hold to give advertisers peeks at their coming shows — was held at Carolines comedy club in Manhattan last month, complete with open bar and talent.

It’s Getting Better

Brett

http://www.economist.com/node/21548961

LIFE often looks bleak for gay teens. Reports in the newspapers and from government and gay-rights outfits suggest homophobic bullying is rife. A large and growing collection of mostly American online videos, known as the “It Gets Better” project, reassures young gays that their lives will improve after they leave school. Yet a new study suggests things are already getting dramatically better.

Mark McCormack, a sociologist at Brunel University, spent a year with 16- to 18-year-old students in three schools—an ordinary comprehensive, a tough college dominated by working-class youth, and a religious school. His new book, “The Declining Significance of Homophobia”, describes an atmosphere of affection between male students both gay and straight, who no longer feel they need to act like sport-mad brutes to be accepted by their peers. He meets a bisexual boy named Harry who comes to school dressed in make-up and women’s scarves without worrying about being beaten up.

Leeds Students Tell Kids ‘It Gets Better’

Brett

Leeds students tell kids ‘it gets better’

We’ve seen lots of It Gets Better videos – the project which tells vulnerable, depressed or suicidal LGBT kids via YouTube to stick with it as the future is brighter.

But however many you see, they can still inspire, charm and make you laugh or even cry (you know, in a good way).

Step forward the students at Leeds University – the gay heart of north east England: Lauren, Shane, Tim, Mason, Pippa, Nathan, Anna, Sophie, Harry, Richard and all the rest.

Babes of NPR, the Photos

Brett

http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2012/02/babes_of_npr_the_photos.php

The blogger at Babes of NPR on Tumblr doesn’t require that the photo subjects actually work for NPR. Any association with public radio will do. But it’s a fairly deep collection of shots, if you’re so inclined. Click the pic to see this collage bigger, and look after the jump below to see who’s who.

Clockwise from top left: Shereen Marisol Meraji of KPCC, Ari Shapiro of NPR, Lakshmi Singh of NPR, Kai Ryssdal of “Marketplace.”

Babes of NPR Tumblr:

http://babesofnpr.tumblr.com/

 

Ebbin Elected to State Senate in Virginia

Brett

http://metroweekly.com/poliglot/2011/11/ebbin-elected-to-state-senate.html

Del. Adam Ebbin (D-Arlington) was elected as Virginia’s first openly gay senator in the state’s Nov. 8 elections, even as other politicians who oppose LGBT equality won victories and Democrats likely effectively lost control of the upper chamber.

With 88 of precincts reporting, Ebbin, who will replace retiring State Sen. Patsy Ticer (D-Alexandria) in a district that includes parts of Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax counties, led his opponent, Republican Tim McGhee, 67-33, according to results from the Virginia Board of Elections.

“It feels wonderful,” Ebbin said of his victory. “It’s been almost 11 months of planning and campaigning, so it’s a relief to see that come to fruition. The margin and the confidence of the people of the 30th District is amazing.”

Family formation and raising children among same-sex couples

Brett

The weekly adventures of gay couple Mitchell and Cameron and their baby on the popular television program Modern Family highlight a common contemporary media image of gay parenting: wealthy, urban, and White gay men raising an adopted child. An analysis of broadcast media by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (2007) found that this demographic dominates media images of the entire lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Within scholarly research, Biblarz and Stacey (2010) observe that contemporary studies of parenting by same-sex couples have focused largely on lesbian couples who are raising adopted children or children that they conceived via artificial insemination or some form of reproductive technology.

– Greg*

http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Gates-Badgett-NCFR-LGBT-Families-December-2011.pdf

*See Brett’s posting below, “For Same-Sex Couples, a Tale of Two Paths to Parenting” for a Huffington Post article by the same author on the same material–less science-y, but lacks the visuals.

WA Family Policy Institute promotes claim that gay parents molest their children, turn kids gay

Brett

One of the most prominent anti-gay groups currently working to defeat proposed marriage equality legislation in the state of Washington is the Family Policy Institute of Washington (FPIW). Led by Joseph Backholm, FPIW has played a central role in organizing anti-gay efforts in the state over the past several years, including opposing efforts in 2009 to expand domestic partnerships to include same-sex couples.

Last week, Backholm testified before a Washington Senate sub-committee, urging senators to put the issue of marriage equality to a referendum and have voters to decide if “moms and dads do matter.”

– Greg

http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2012/02/wa-family-policy-institute-promotes-claim-that-gay-parents-molest-their-children-turn-kids-gay/

A rainbow of fun for LGBT families

Brett

Nate Hall, 27, founded the Roy G. Biv Project almost two years ago when she couldn’t find a social outlet where she and her daughter, now 7, could “meet other families like ours.”

Named after the acronym for the colors in the rainbow, the non-profit launched in April 2010. It has grown to host multiple social events for parents and kids, as well as a lively Facebook page with almost 5,000 friends.

– Greg

http://www.thegavoice.com/community/31-ga-spotlight/4255-a-rainbow-of-fun-for-lgbt-families