Shocking that Conan O'Brien got the story behind the story:

"Use me till you use... me... up."

What ever happened to sock hops, basketball games of 21, after-school Nintendo, dipping into your parents' liquor cabinet and filling the bottles with water.... I didn't really have that kind of teenage experience either, but a girl can dream, right? Even if you aren't on the overt, fist-in-the-face end of the bullying stick, there are other things that queer kids face. Harassment and taunting in class from teachers for not acting manly enough (Grade 7 for me). I still remember not making the rowing team in Grade 9 or 10, something I think was attributed to me being effeminate and introverted, despite passing the physical and boat requirements in the tryouts.

There are a couple of big-name and LGBT players taking a stand and encouraging queer teens to hang in there so they can make it to the best and rest of their lives.

Dan Savage has launched a massive viral YouTube campaign (thanks Jen Wood for flagging it for me) called the It Gets Better Project and LGBT across North America have responded. Check out his and his partner's video here. 

Gay.com Daily has also launched a letter-writing campaign for National Coming Out Day, asking people to write a letter to themselves a year before they came out. I submitted one last night and will post here when it comes live. You can read the letters to date here.

Turns out a local tour company (Destination Tours/Destination Snow) has stepped up and is trying out an LGBT tour package for 2011 WinterPride (Feb 4-6) in Whistler, specifically targeting queer UBC students. I've gone the last two years and had some of the best winter fun of my life. I can only imagine what it would be like with a bus full of university students. Call me!

Why am I posting this in October? Well, I can't plan my way out of a paper bag, so here's my attempt at helping you help yourself. Or something. I also went on an Okanagan tour with this company this past summer and had a blast.   

So I've missed half the festival and waited unsuccessfully in line to see All Boys last night. But I'm still bitching itching to see some films, and tonight's screening of Kareem Mortimer's Children of God seems like a good place to start.

Who doesn't like a good gay drama? Especially when it's set in the Bahamas.

Here's the trailer:

For a plot summary and venue information, click here. 

Happy screening! 

If you haven't heard already, the first round of Hot Gay DJ ended in a tie - popular vote went to DJ Kristen C. and DJ Christoker (my original pre-performance commentary here). If I remember from the last edition of Gay Top Model, second place ended up in a three-way tie. Cruel coincidence? Tough to say. Anything can happen with a Terry Costa production and here's a heads up after two years of being involved in these shenanigans: who you expect should win almost never does.

In other news, what does this: 

And this:

And this:

have in common? Gaga's new Alejandro video came out today! Watch and find out: