Has This Season Of Sesame Street Become Gay-Friendly?

The LA Times today published an interesting article on the seemingly more gay-friendly attitude of this season of Sesame Street. While a Sesame Street spokeswoman says that "the idea that anyone would interpret [this season] that way never crossed our minds," apparently some viewers think otherwise. 

From the LA Times article:

In its own subtle, perhaps unintentional way, the show's latest season feels more LGBT-friendly than ever. Lesbian comedian Wanda Sykes appeared on the show in October, following in the tradition of openly gay guest stars such as Neil Patrick Harris, who played ( cough, cough) "the shoe fairy" a few seasons back. A parody of "True Blood" — the HBO vampire drama that features several gay characters and draws many gay fans — aired in September. Recently, the Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am appeared on the show to sing "What I Am," a song about accepting who you really are, prompting much online debate about its underlying message. "Did Will.i.am just sing the next gay pride anthem on Sesame Street?" one commenter on AfterElton.com asked.

GLAAD weighs in on the discussion:

For Jarrett Barrios, president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), "Sesame Street" is simply reflecting its changing audience. "As more and more loving and committed gay and lesbian couples begin families, it's important that their children see representations of their families on their favorite shows," he says. "'Sesame Street' has a long history of teaching children about diversity and acceptance, and I don't expect that our community will be left out of that education.

The piece also makes note of this summer's cryptic "mo" tweet from Bert (did he or did he not come out?).

Watch the Will.i.am song and True Blood parody called true Mud, AFTER THE JUMP.

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Anderson Cooper and Lady Gaga Kick Back A Few In London

Anderson Cooper is in England interviewing Lady Gaga for 60 Minutes about her upcoming album "Born This Way." He tweeted this pic of the two wearing their best London pubwear. 

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News: NPR, Chris Colfer, Calvin Klein, Shark Attack, Finland

NPR on its recent canning of Juan Williams: “He had several times in the past violated our news code of ethics with things that he had said on other people’s air.”

For whatever reason, Glee's Chris Colfer doesn't come across as narcissistic with this statement: "If somebody had to be a role model, I think I'm a good candidate, in the sense that I really don't do anything obviously stupid or wrong, and I'm pretty smart with my judgments."

Rick Sanchez lives to tweet again.

The NY Times reports on why the creators of South Park plagiarized jokes on this week's episode: "When Mr. Parker and Mr. Stone could not find a movie theater showing 'Inception,' and were unable to get a DVD of the film (or find a watchable version on BitTorrent), they turned to other parodies of the film on the Web, and found the CollegeHumor video." Still sounds fishy to me.

A whole lotta green eggs and ham: The 19-page manuscript of a previously unpublished Dr. Seuss manuscript is sold at auction for a cool $34,000.

Prosecutors in Vancouver want a man accused of attacking a 62-year-old at a gay bar charged with a hate crime. The victim was left with permanent brain damage.

Anti-gay comments spark mass exodus from Finnish church: "The number leaving increased sharply on 12 October following the broadcast of a debate programme focused on gay rights on Network 2 of the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle). By Monday 18 October, more than 24,000 people had left Finland’s Evangelical-Lutheran and Orthodox Churches."

Weather forecast for some red states is a giant hovering red penis.

Katy Perry and Russell brand got hitched.

Calvin Kelin ads can't seem to stay away from controversy.

The video game Fable III is about to become very gay-friendly: "We don't require you to be of a certain type to get married," said Peter Molyneux, creative director at Microsoft Game Studios Europe. "You can be gay. You can be bisexual. You can get married as many times as you like. It's up to you. My fascination is with what that means to people. It means they can be who they are rather than who I require them to be."

The digital age has officially killed the Sony Walkman.

Shark attack that killed a 19-year-old in California was most likely involved a Great White.

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Watch: Nancy Pelosi's 'It Gets Better' Video

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's contribution to the "It Gets Better" campaign was released late yesterday, one day after President Obama's own video hit the Internet.

Her encouraging message: “To anyone who feels different, to those of you who feel lost or think you don’t fit in, to those who feel singled out because of who you are — I add my voice to the chorus of parents, friends, teachers, mentors and leaders in your neighborhoods and across the country to say, ‘It gets better.' You are not alone.”

Watch her video, AFTER THE JUMP.

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NH Paper: Marriage Is Between Men And Women

I'm sure you remember this couple, Greg and Aurelio, who tried unsuccessfully to have their wedding announcement published in the Union-Leader, the second-largest newspaper in New Hampshire. The two will marry in that state, where same-sex marriage became legal at the beginning of the year. The paper's publisher, Joseph W. McQuaid, has released a statement defending the decision to not print the wedding notice. McQuaid also claims that, though the Union-Leader, believes that marriage is between a man and a woman, that does not make the paper anti-gay.

The full statement:

"This newspaper has never published wedding or engagement announcements from homosexual couples. It would be hypocritical of us to do so, given our belief that marriage is and needs to remain a social and civil structure between men and women, and our opposition to the recent state law legalizing gay marriage.

That law was not subject to public referendum and the governor (John Lynch) who signed it was elected after telling voters that he was opposed to gay marriage. Indeed, in no state where the public has been allowed a direct vote on the subject has gay marriage prevailed.

We are not "anti-gay." We are for marriage remaining the important man-woman institution it has always been.
While the law sanctions gay marriage, it neither demands that churches perform them or that our First Amendment right to choose what we print be suspended. In accordance with that right, we continue our longstanding policy of printing letters to the editor from New Hampshire citizens, whether or not they agree with us."

Meanwhile, Greg and Aurelio will still marry today. Congratulations, guys!

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Gay Porn Actor Arrested For Choking Dog

What a strange and saddening story: gay Porn actor Shane Michael Thompson, who in the porn world goes by the stage name Jason Creed, has been arrested in Florida for animal cruelty after allegedly choking to death his own dog, a three-legged wolf-dog named Moonshine. Thompson brought the dead animal to an animal clinic for cremation and apparently told workers there that his dog had suffered a seizure. That's when a vet examining the dead animal discovered suspicious injuries.

NBC Miami reports:

Police said Thompson, of Boca Raton, had beaten the dog before he took it to an animal clinic earlier this month to have it cremated. A necropsy showed Moonshine had severe blunt force trauma and had died with food stuck in its throat. Creed allegedly told the clinic the dog may have died from a seizure. When a friend of Thompson's called animal control on Oct. 7 and told them he suspected Moonshine had been killed by Thompson, police began an investigation. Thompson's roommate and friends told police Moonshine had been physically abused by Thompson before.

Animal control had been called to Thompson's home in the past after complaints from neighbors but the dog was never taken away form his owner. Thompson refused to go in front of a judge yesterday but was scheduled to face one this morning.

Watch a safe for work interview with a seemingly righteous Thompson as his alter ego Jason Creed, AFTER THE JUMP.

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