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Aiken and Cho Fight Against Harassment


GIVE A DAMN 4 X390 (SCREENGRAB) | ADVOCATE.COM

Clay Aiken and Margaret Cho are among the celebrities who appear in a new video that focuses on the verbal and physical harassment students face because of their sexual orientation and gender identity/expression. Others in the new video as part of the Give a Damn Campaign include Kelly Osbourne and True Blood’s newest cast member, Kevin Alejandro.

The Give a Damn Campaign, a project of Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors Fund, is a Web-based initiative that seeks to educate straight people about LGBT issues and engage them in the advancement of LGBT equality.

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Reader Comments
  • Name: Anna
    Date posted: 5/24/2010 11:06:25 AM
    Hometown: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Comment:

    Schools should be a safe place. It's about time we take a stand. Love and understanding is all it takes and it starts from home.

  • Name: Sooze
    Date posted: 5/22/2010 6:06:39 PM
    Hometown: Portland

    Comment:

    I came back here to put this article on my facebook page and what do I see? Someone calling another person names and having zero tolerance for their journey. I would say that is quite ironic, in a very hypocritical way. :) off to share, the message out there. Hopefully we can all make a difference.

  • Name: Ramses the Third
    Date posted: 5/22/2010 5:02:36 PM
    Hometown: Bergen, NJ

    Comment:

    It's so awesome how Clay Aiken has transformed himself into becoming Gayken, superhero champion of gay rights!

  • Name: Akos Kovacs
    Date posted: 5/22/2010 1:43:51 PM
    Hometown: Surrey

    Comment:

    I think its about damm time that Aiken gets credit for being one of the out celebrities who are active in the fight for equality. He may have taken time to be comfortable about coming out but he is making up for lost time. I would like to see him being featured in the Advocate in an interview soon.

  • Name: Don Charles
    Date posted: 5/22/2010 12:54:09 PM
    Hometown: Kansas City

    Comment:

    This is a good initiative, but I wonder if the participants are policing their own usage? I know that in the past, Margaret Cho has indulged in casual use of the word "queer". All the sex and gender slurs must go, with no exceptions. None of them are appropriate to use, not at work, not at school, not in the media.

  • Name: Sooze
    Date posted: 5/22/2010 10:23:33 AM
    Hometown: Portland

    Comment:

    The statistics are quite disturbing. Unfortunately, I don't see much changing until adults start changing. When the media thinks it's okay to harass and bully an individual simply because of their sexual orientation it sends the message to kids that it's okay. When teachers and administrators turn a blind eye, it sends the same message. As a society, all harassment should be unacceptable - whether it's based on sex, race, religion or sexual orientation. Once we can all be accepting of each other, once our children are seeing an example of tolerance, then I can see this changing. Where my son goes to school there is zero tolerance for bullying in any form - immediate suspension. The high schools have a week devoted to tolerance training. We ALL need to be more accepting of others. Even on the internet, where it seems so easy to be hateful under the veil of anonymity.

  • Name: Stan James
    Date posted: 5/22/2010 2:58:39 AM
    Hometown: Baltimore

    Comment:

    People are going to have to be hurt badly to end this harrassment. When principals and teachers are fired, then the subject will get attention it deserves. And its going to take a zero tolerance stand on the kids. Start harrassing gay kids, and you are tossed out of school, period. Kids have been murdered, and thousands of kids commit suicide because of this harrassment. Those who cause these problems are basically guilty of some type of murder. I'm all for tossing homophobic church pastors in jail, as is done in some other countries, eg Canada. If Germany had hate speech laws a hundred years ago Hitler would have spent his life in Jail. Freedom to use religion to hurt and cause death of others should be absolutely banned. Also think about 9/11and saudi arabia, and hate speech.

  • Name: Andrew
    Date posted: 5/21/2010 7:08:06 PM
    Hometown: Sacramento, CA

    Comment:

    BEWARE THE ASSMASTER!



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