Reasons to Have Pride in 2012, Part 3

We came out, we saw ourselves in media, and we conquered hearts and minds in the last year. From major wins to small victories, here is the third of four parts of 181 reasons to feel proud of not being straight and narrow.

BY Advocate Contributors

May 17 2012 5:15 AM ET

Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles x633 | ADVOCATE.COM

Because we’re updating school assemblies

In some schools, when students are called to the auditorium for an assembly, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles is there waiting, hoping to change hearts and minds through music. The choral singers not only perform but also offer instruction and share their own stories of survival as gay people. LeAnn Rimes, Melissa Manchester, and Slash of Guns N’ Roses have all recorded PSAs promoting the chorus’s mission. The chorus’s version of Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors” is still a favorite It Gets Better video and has inspired a new educational program, a touring musical of the same name. Given enough fund-raising success it’ll come to a school near you.