I love the idea of crowd funding.

Websites like Indiegogo and Kickstarter are great ways for people to get much-needed funds for their projects from untraditional sources or even directly from fans of their previous work. 

Case in point: Veronica Mars, the cancelled TV series about its eponymous character, is looking to be made into a movie, so its producers went to Kickstarter. Well, it is now the fastest campaign to reach the $1 million mark, and then the $2 million mark. Even The Atlantic got in on the story, but in their case, praising the show for its depiction of the life of a rape survivor. 

Former Kickstarter user Malcolm Ingram is now finally screening his film Continental, about the impact that New York's Continental Baths had on gay life during the 1970s on everything from sex to drugs to music and more. Check out his interview on Queerty.

As for a contemporary campaign, Alfredo's Fire is looking to tell the story of an Italian writer who kills himself by self-immolation. His reason: to protest the Vatican's views on homosexuality.

For today's edition of Gay Voices in The Huffington Post, the artist known as Homo Riot penned an essay/manifesto detailing how he and his work came to be.

Homo Riot in Halifax

My belief was, and still is, that that vote to take away the option of marriage for gays and lesbians was mostly a reaction to fear -- fear that if homos were allowed to legally marry and have their marriages recognized by the state as equal to those of straight people, then all manner of depravity would follow. Drag queens would parade outside churches, leather-clad men in chaps would fondle each other in front of Walmarts, and tattooed dykes with strap-ons would aggressively seek to convert teenagers to the "homosexual lifestyle." So I told myself that if that's what they were scared of, then I would bring it to them.

Until recently, street art has generally been a site- and city-specific form of expression. Although there have been instances of certain street-based art becoming global phenoms -- Andre the Giant has a posse comes to mind -- the speed at which Homo Riot spread outside Los Angeles is rather remarkable. I wrote about Homo Riot one year ago, and his work has continued to spread around the world. A quick look at his Tumblr will give viewers a look as to how much his work has resonated with so many people in so many places around the globe.  

Near the end of his essay, he states:

With my own street art, I had no idea of the impact it would have on people. In the same way that the Mormons and Orange County Republicans who financed the Prop 8 campaign couldn't have imagined that their hate and ignorance would spawn Homo Riot, I had no clue that my anger-fueled work would communicate positivity and pride.

I would argue that Homo Riot's work communicates more than positivity and pride. It also communicates a desire to be heard, in as many places and in as many ways as possible. It is how democracy and art and the free expression of ideas is spread in the 21st century.

Anderson Cooper decided to throw in his own two cents on the recent Halifax mayoral run. Mr Cooper's choice: Tuxedo Stan, a cat (unofficially) running for the Tuxedo party, on a platform to have stray cats spayed and neutered. In his piece on the Ridiculist, Cooper states that he wishes he was invited to a dinner party in Canada, where the topic of a cat running for mayor becomes a good idea. I have a better idea, Mr Cooper. Come to dinner at my house, we can discuss the issues in Halifax's mayoral race, and then you can host a debate between the candidates.

Let's do it.

On Monday, July 2, a glass closet was quietly shattered.

Yesterday, Andrew Sullivan published a letter he received from Anderson Cooper, in which he writes, "The fact is, I'm gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn’t be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud."

In the hours that have since passed, Cooper's discussion of his private life has become newsworthy. Here are some of the more interesting takes on the matter.

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Over at Gawker, a timeline of Cooper's "open secret." The guys at Gawker are kind of obsessed with Cooper. Their former writer Brian Moylan touches on the subject. 

Michael Musto chimes in, considering he had somewhat "outed" Cooper a few years ago.

The HuffPo has an interesting op-ed on why Cooper's coming out is a big deal, while the National Post says, "Nah."

Oh, and a conservative writer decided to make an interesting joke of the whole thing.

Speaking of jokes, those crazy kids at Next Media Animation even took it on.

And perhaps most interesting of all, Kathy Griffin speaks up about why she never outed her New Year's Eve co-host.

There is something to be said for Next Media Animation's media/news pieces.

The Taiwanese cartoons are not only funny, but often provide a different perspective on the news. It can vary from left to right depending on the story, but it's always pretty damn tongue-in-cheek.

Perfect example: Dan Savage attacking the GOProud for their endorsement of Mitt Romney.

I have to admit, the use of DTMFA is pretty awesome.