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Last September, Archie Comics introduced a new student in Riverdale High: Kevin Keller, the series’ first openly gay character. Kevin’s inclusion in the comics after Issue 202 proved popular with readers–so popular, in fact, that Kevin Keller is now getting his own spin-off.
The series, titled Kevin Keller, will follow a four-issue mini-series starring Kevin that began in July and has started filling out his background, including his relationship with his father, who serves in the military and is supportive of his son’s desire to follow in his footsteps. Like those for the other Archie characters, Kevin’s series will deal with his life in high school. “He’s going to be the class president,” said Dan Parent, the writer-artist who created Kevin. But it won’t all be a good time. “Even the most popular kids are not popular with everybody,” Mr. Parent said. “There’s some adversity he’ll have to deal with.”
Readers will also get a glimpse into Kevin’s adulthood thanks to a continuing married life story line in Life With Archie, which shows that famous redhead’s life on two paths: one in which he married Betty, the other in which he married Veronica. In early 2012 that story line will feature Kevin’s marriage. “We needed to figure out how to get Kevin into that book and, frankly, not sidestep the issue,” Mr. Goldwater said. “It deals with the fact that he’s a gay man and has gay relationships.” Mr. Goldwater said the overall reception to Kevin has been positive. “Out of all the people who subscribe to the Archie books, we only had seven total cancellations,” he said.
The New York Times via G.TDW | Image: Archie Comics
The ad for J. Crew features a mother and child having a good time painting her child's toenails hot pink. That may sound like a plain ho-hum ad, but the ad sparked a huge controversy in the blogosphere - you see, the kid in the ad is a boy:
It began when a photo of J. Crew's president and creative director Jenna Lyons painting the toenails of her son Beckett in an ad was sent to customers last week in a feature, "Saturday with Jenna."
"Lucky for me I ended up with a boy whose favorite color is pink," says the caption. "Toenail painting is way more fun in neon."
Social conservatives reacted with outrage. Fox News' Dr. Keith Ablow ran an opinion piece on the issue and Erin Brown of the right-leaning Media Research Center called the ad "blatant propaganda celebrating transgendered children."
"Not only is Beckett likely to change his favorite color as early as tomorrow, Jenna's indulgence (or encouragement) could make life hard for the boy in the future," Brown wrote. J. Crew, known for its tasteful and modest clothing, apparently does not mind exploiting Beckett behind the facade of liberal, transgendered identity politics."
Reaction to the reaction was appalled at the notion that the child was being "turned" gay or transgender.
Now let me ask you this: is painting a boy's toenail (pink, red, whatever color) harmful? Do you think that will "turn" him gay?
That’s what archaeologist Kamila Remisova Vesinova claimed. Her team has found evidence of a male skeleton buried in a way normally reserved only for women of the Corded Ware culture in the Copper Age:
The skeleton was found in a Prague suburb in the Czech Republic with its head pointing eastwards and surrounded by domestic jugs, rituals only previously seen in female graves.
"From history and ethnology, we know that people from this period took funeral rites very seriously so it is highly unlikely that this positioning was a mistake," said lead archaeologist Kamila Remisova Vesinova.
"Far more likely is that he was a man with a different sexual orientation, homosexual or transsexual," she added.
A Los Angeles based blogger by the name of Paul V. has created an interesting, sort of, online photo essay. The Born This Way Blog is a space where gay men and women are encouraged to post childhood photos and stories of themselves. The goal is to show that they were born this way.
“People need to realize that 20 and 30 years ago they were just awkward kids who were struggling in their junior high and high schools. Even if they didn’t know they were — quote — ‘gay’ at the time, they knew they were different,” he says.
Jennifer Smith of CNN has more: Link
This video shows a terrible and rather odd gaffe by newscaster Cynthia Izaguirre of KOAT-7 of Albuquerque. It dates back to at least 2006.
via reddit
Belarusian officials have requested tapes of Elton John’s past performances before his upcoming concert in Minsk. Their fear? That Elton John would convert concertgoers into homosexuals:
The Public Council for Morality is to study recordings of earlier performances by the British singer to make sure “they have no elements inconsistent with the law and morality,” the head of the organization said.
“We have requested the organizers of the concert to give us records of Elton John’s earlier performances,” he said.
Sexual minorities have become active in the country of late and “even attempted to hold a gay parade in Minsk,” Cherginets said. The attempted parade was broken up by police.
Cherginets said the Council had already prevented outbreaks of “immorality” during a May concert by German industrial metal band Rammstein in the Belarusian capital.
“If we had not interfered, there would have been sex on stage and the relief of physical needs right in front of the audience,” the official said.
(Photo: Wikipedia)
Mudslinging your political opponent is a time-honored practice, but this one has a bit of unexpected twist. In the hotly contested primary for Pennsylvania state legislative seat, Democrat Gregg Kravitz was "outed" by his primary opponent as straight:
Veteran Rep. Babette Josephs (D., Phila.) last Thursday accused her primary opponent, Gregg Kravitz, of pretending to be bisexual in order to pander to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender voters, a powerful bloc in the district.
"I outed him as a straight person," Josephs said during a fund-raiser at the Black Sheep Pub & Restaurant, as some in the audience gasped or laughed, "and now he goes around telling people, quote, ‘I swing both ways.’ That’s quite a respectful way to talk about sexuality. This guy’s a gem."
Kravitz, 29, said that he is sexually attracted to both men and women and called Josephs’ comments offensive.
"That kind of taunting is going to make it more difficult for closeted members of the LGBT community to be comfortable with themselves," Kravitz said. "It’s damaging."
But others said the remarkable quarrel itself was a sign of progress.
"We’ve hit a new high point when candidates are accused of pretending to be gay to win a seat," said Mark Segal, publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News and a pioneering civil rights advocate.
Just a hint for those of you who want costume ideas for Comic Con For more Bizarro goodness, visit Dan Piraro’s always excellent website and blog. And if you don’t understand the reference, then I claim Chewbacca Defense.
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The week before Thanksgiving, a woman named Michelle Deferio stood on a street corner on Syracuse University campus holding a sign proclaiming that homosexuality is a sin. That required a response, thought Chris Pesto, a junior drama major, who mounted a counterprotest of sorts:
Today (Wednesday, November 18th) I left my voice lesson and noticed two adults on campus holding signs that said “Homosexuality is a sin”. First, I would just like to say that I support people with their own opinions. I think that everyone is entitled to their right to think what they want. However, when someone comes on my campus, where I pay tuition to live, I don’t think it’s appropriate to rub such a hateful sign in someone’s face. I decided that because this woman thought it was okay to make me feel uncomfortable in my home, I would retaliate and make her feel just as uncomfortable, if not more.
This woman was wearing a ankle-length corduroy skirt, which, as we all know, is a fashion nono. So, in order to make her feel uncomfortable, I stood next to her and held a sign that said Corduroy skirts are a sin! I don’t think I have ever drawn so much attention in my life. SO many people asked to take a picture with me, I got laughs, high fives and there were the few that even cursed off the woman standing behind me.
fbomb blog has the story: Link - via Miss Cellania
You ought to wonder what a wind-blown skirt and cleavage have to do with shoeshine, but you know what was on the minds of the men who came up with this advertisement! See more hilarious and suggestive magazine ads from the 40′s-60′s at Divine Caroline.
From the Upcoming 
ueue, submitted by StigNordas.
It seems like no long term relationship is safe these days. First it’s Jon and Kate and now sadly it’s Harry and Pepper.
Harry and Pepper are a pair of adorable male Magellan penguins at the San Francisco Zoo. They have been together for the last 6 years and even adopted an egg together in 2008. All was going well in their relationship until a newly widowed female penguin entered the picture and poor old Pepper was left out in the cold.
Last year, the pair was allowed to incubate and hatch an egg another penguin had laid. “Of all of the parents that year, they were the best,” Brown said. “They took very good care of their chick. He ended up being the largest chick on the island.” One could say that all seemed to be going swimmingly with Harry and Pepper.
Enter the recently widowed Linda, who has long had a reputation of sorts, according to Brown.
Several years ago, she left her longtime companion and moved in with much older Fig just hours after Fig’s partner passed away, Brown said. “That was the fastest we’d ever seen penguins move on,” he said. “To be completely anthropomorphizing, Linda seems conniving. She’s got her plan. I don’t think she was wanting to be a single girl for too long.”
This year, within weeks of Fig passing away in winter, Harry was seen in Fig’s old burrow spending time with Linda, Brown said. Then one day, Harry and Linda approached Pepper’s pen and confronted Pepper. Harry began attacking Pepper violently and the three ultimately had to be separated, Brown said.
(Photo: Cindy Chew / The Examiner)
Cyndi Lauper is one of my heroes. I saw her a few years ago and even though she was around 45 at the time, she had the energy of a teenager. Her style has changed over the years, but it is as unique as ever. If you get the chance to see Cyndi live, do it. She’s an amazing performer with an excellent voice.
That being said, I was excited to write about Cyndi for the Music Tidbits today. It’s in a new format that should make it a bit more fun and readable. Hope you like it!
She Keeps it Real
Or at least, her name is real. Unlike other pop stars, Cyndi Lauper was born in New York in 1953 and was named Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper.
Cyndi Does it All
Image Via danorbit. [Flickr]
While she’s best known for singing, she can also play guitar, write lyrics and act. She started writing songs and playing guitar at only twelve years old. She’s acted in quite a few movies and tv shows, including Mad About You, the Ron Howard movie Vibes and Life With Mikey beside Michael J. Fox. Her role in Mad About You almost turned into a spin off, but network executives thought the show concept was too out there.
She’s always Been So Original
When she was only a middle-schooler, she was already dyeing her hair crazy colors and wearing her weird clothing styles she’s known for. Speaking of her wardrobe, it actually became a problem during the1985 taping of “We Are the World,” when a weird clacking noise showed up on the tape. Audio engineers finally tracked the noise down to her jewelry bonking against itself.
Doctors Said She’d Never Sing Again…Then She Did
In 1977, Cyndi severely damaged her vocal cords. Three different doctors told her she would never sing again. But she didn’t give up and started seeing vocal coach Katir Agresta, who helped Cyndi recover by teaching her a series of vocal exercises.
She’s Got High Standards
In 1978, she started a music group, Blue Angel, with saxaphonist John Turi, where they performed original music. When labels started showing interest in Cyndi’s vocal abilities (she can sing in four octaves and has perfect pitch), they wanted to sign her as a solo artist. She refused to sign with any labels until Polydor Records opted to take on all of Blue Angel.
Write On!
Photo Via t_a_i_s [Flickr]
When Cyndi signed as a solo artist with Portrait Records, the label wanted her to sing all only their pre-written pop songs. Cyndi changed most of these songs to suit her personality, which also let her claim co-writer credits and royalties later on. The most well-known song she did this to was “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” which was originally written for a male singer. Cyndi thought the original lyrics were a little misogynistic, as it was all about a woman pleasing a man.
Although the label didn’t trust her writing abilities, the record producer decided they needed one more song on her first album and convinced the label to let her write a song. She co-wrote Time After Time with Rob Hyman. The song ended up being the biggest single of 1985 and has since been covered by over 100 artists. The title came from a 1979 sci-fi movie starring Malcolm McDowell.
Girls Just Want to Have Trivia
Video Link
In the video for “Girls Just Want To Have Fun,” Cyndi’s mother was played by her actual mother. Also in the video was Cyndi’s dog and pro-wrestler Lou Albano. Cyndi’s famous red dress in the video was from the boutique she was working at between being signed for Blue Angel and her solo career. The video won the first ever award for Best Female Video at the MTV Music Awards. The album it was on was so popular that she became the first female artist to have four consecutive Top 5 hits from a single album.
The World Wrestling Foundation Loved Cyndi
And vice versa. Aside from having Lou Albano appear in her first video, Cyndi had frequent interactions with the stars of the WWF. Her video for the Goonies included a number of wrestling greats, including Andre The Giant and when she recieved her first Grammy Award, Hulk Hogan appeared with her, pretending to be her bodyguard. She also made quite a few appearances at WWF events, the most famous event was at the Inaugural WrestleMania event. She appeared as the manager of Wendi Richter and entered the area to “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.”
She Hates The Goonies
Or rather, the song she wrote for the album, “The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough.” It doesn’t have too much to do with the song itself, she was just traumatized by the physical exhaustion she suffered during the taping of the video. The director was too much of a perfectionist and ran the entire crew ragged. She left the song off of her best of album and only started singing it at concerts again back in 2003.
PeeWee’s Playhouse Lied To You
Cyndi wrote and performed the theme song for PeeWee’s Playhouse, but was credited as Ellen Shaw for some reason. When Cyndi was married, PeeWee (aka Paul Ruebens) was at her wedding, along with Little Richard, John Tuturo and other celebrities. Although Cyndi threatened to show up dressed as a Christmas tree, she wore a traditional white gown.
Cyndi Loves Guest Appearances
Throughout her recording career, Cyndi featured a number of guest stars on her albums, including Billy Joel, The Bangles, Rick Derringer, Bootsy Collins, Eric Clapton, Shaggy, Ani DiFranco, Jeff Beck, Paul Reubens (PeeWee Herman), Sarah McLachlan, The Hives and more. In her recent 2008 tour, she had appearances from Joan Jett, Rosie O’Donnell, The B52’s, Indigo Girls, Regina Spektor, Wanda Sykes, Sarah McLachlan and more. Lastly, although it may not count as a guest appearance, Julia Stiles, appeared as young Cyndi in the video for “Sally’s Pigeons” before she was a famous actress.
She’s Heterosexual, but Once Wished She Was Gay
Lauper is considered a gay icon, but she is heterosexual. Her sister and many of her close friends are gay and she has been performing at gay pride events since 1994. In fact, for a while, she thought herself to be a lesbian. She told The Times, “My sister was gay, my best friends were gay, so I figured I had to be gay. So I did everything they did. I tried kissing girls. But it didn’t feel right for me and eventually I was forced to come out as a heterosexual.”
Johanna Sigurdardottir, an Icelandic MP, was elected Prime Minister of Iceland this week. She is the first openly gay prime minister in world history.
The 66-year-old politician lives with her partner, Jonina Leosdottir, a journalist and playwright. The couple were joined in a civil ceremony in 2002. Don’t expect them to show up togetherfor photocalls, however – that’s not the Icelandic way. Though she is famous across the island, having been a top politician for years, her lesbian union was no big deal in this calmly progressive nation of only 300,000 people.
“Johanna is a very private person,” said an Icelandic government source. “A lot of people didn’t even know she was gay. When they learn about it people tend to shrug and say, ‘Oh’. That’s not to say they are not interested; they are interested in who she’s living with – but no more so than if she was a man living with a woman.”
Remember the gay penguins that got ejected from their colony because they were trying to steal eggs from other penguins? Well, the zookeepers gave the couple two eggs laid by an inexperienced penguin mom … and it turns out they became the best parents in the zoo!
‘We decided to give them two eggs from another couple whose hatching ability had been poor and they’ve turned out to be the best parents in the whole zoo,’ said one of the keepers.
‘It’s very encouraging and if this works out well we will try to arrange for them to become real parents themselves with artificial insemination.’
Wildlife experts at the park explain that despite being gay the three-year-old male birds are still driven by an urge to be fathers.
‘One of the responsibilities of being a male adult is looking after the eggs. Despite the fact that they can’t have eggs naturally, it does not take away their biological drive to be a parent,’ said one.
Here’s why you can never trust gay penguins …
Keepers have segregated the couple after they caught them trying to trick straight birds into parting with their offspring by placing round stones at their feet and then running off with an egg.
Experts at the Polarland Park in Harbin, north east China, say that despite being gay the three year old male birds are still driven by an urge to be dads.
Previously on Neatorama: Gay Penguins Say No Thanks to Females
