Kyle Hawkins made headlines when he came out earlier this year. With his announcement, Hawkins became one of the first openly gay coaches in the United States. Though some of his team objected to Hawkins' sexuality - or, rather, his decision to make it public - the University seemed to support the 32-year old homo-jocko. They at least supported him enough to renew his contract. But that was then and this is now and now Hawkins is out of a job.

Hawkins found out about his termination back in May, when school administrators listed at least eight reasons why they decided not to invite him back. MSNBC reports:

Hawkins said he learned of the decision May 4 in a meeting with team leaders, an assistant coach, faculty advisers and a university official. Hawkins said the group offered eight reasons not to renew his annual contract, which expires May 31.

Among the concerns: dissatisfaction with his practice regimen and the coach’s negative reputation outside the school.

“Those are laughable,” Hawkins said. “A week and a half before the meeting, they had sat in front of the ESPN cameras and said what a great coach I was.”

His young charges agree that Hawkins performed his duties well, but still aren't convinced he's the right man for the job.

CONTINUED »

Officials from a New Jersey school may face detention. Or, at least, a stiff fine.

State officials ruled a bisexual student can pursue a case against the Jackson Township school district after administrators and teachers did nothing to stop anti-queer harassment. Speaking on the matter, civil rights activist J. Frank Vespa-Papaleo said: D

espite repeatedly calling it to the attention of school authorities, the complainant in this case appears to have been exposed to a harassing environment that was, over a period of years, both severe and persuasive

The anonymous youth first brought the bullying up back in 2005, when he asked for a class transfer. Then, in 2006, the student told teachers that another student had threatened his life. Yet, nothing was done. Though there will be no judged trial, there will be a conciliation process. If found guilty, the school may be fined $10,000. Officials, however, have pledged to fight the case.

School May Have Allowed Bullying Of Bisexual Teen [CBS]

Five students at India's Christian St Joseph's College of Communications have been expelled after producing a short film with gay themes. The fearsome five made the film for an inter-college film festival, but school officials found the exploration of gay woe to be indecent. One teacher notes, "We teach modern technology and so we are generally open to new ideas. But this film was outrageously indecent."

The students defended their actions on grounds of artistic expression, including the partial nudity. "The film was targeted at the festival crowd. At festivals, only creativity matters and issues of morality are swept aside." Apparently not.

The move comes just weeks after three Indian states banned sex education. The legacy of Section 377 lives on...

Five expelled for gay film [New India Press]

"Yale Gluttony," read the flag on Yale's campus. Not "Yale Pride," as the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Cooperative had started with.

The flag, hung on a gate in the university's Cross Campus to celebrate Pride Week, used duct tape to spell out the words. But by Saturday night, the duct tape had been reassembled to send a much different message.

The incident, of course, comes on the heels of last October's fracas during National Coming Out Day, where a fictional "National Organization to Gain Acceptance for Your Sins," or "NO GAYS," sent out an email calling homosexuality a sin. Thus far, the organization has yet to determine what course of action, if any, it will take.

Paint, instead of duct tape, might be a start.

Co-op gay pride flag vandalized [Yale Daily News]

What is evil? According to some teachers in India, sex. Three Indian states have barred sex education from their schools, insisting that children don't need to learn such frivolous skills as self-protection. One headmaster, NN Nayer told the BBC:

Our endeavor is to make children aware of these evils such as drug addiction, alcoholism and other dangerous things.

I am of the opinion that sex education by itself is not important, what is important is a holistic approach to the issue of social evils.

Murder, thievery, safe sex... Yup, all horrid social evils that must be abolished. Especially in India, where an estimated five million people live with HIV/AIDS. Fuck, it sounds like the teachers at this school need some sex education themselves.

Is this another one of colonialism's ugly legacies?

Sex education banned in India in face of rising infections [Pink News UK]

Statistics have never been our thing. They're so easily skewed and, thus, are so rarely straight. But, they're especially bent in Carnegie Mellon professor Michele DiPietro's gay statistics class.

The openly gay teacher turned heads when he introduced the class, which, he says, he hopes puts a human - not to mention timely - face on the often perplexing subject.

As a gay man, I already had a lot of knowledge [of studies] that were being done in the U.S. on gays. So, I tried to come up with a class on that. I was inspired to kind of take my own challenge and make my own classes as diverse as possible.

It can tell us more things about societal issues.

Certainly an interesting concept, but one can't help but wonder whether it will have the desired impact. Consider student Ellen Parkhurst's comments:

The statistics [were] very interesting, because I was able to read academic papers regarding the topic of homosexuality.

Because there are gay people, black people, Jewish people, disabled people, etc., there needs to be a way for students to learn about these populations so they can gauge how they will respond when they meet someone of a different background.

Or you could just treat everyone equally, regardless of their place on a pie chart. That would be better. And that's a fact, Jack (said fact not statistically sound).

Professor integrates gay culture into statistics course [Daily Free Press]

April 18th marks the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network's 11th annual "Day of Silence", when thousands of students, teachers and parents shut their traps to raise awareness of anti-gay oppression. Participants are meant to carry a card explaining their muteness with a note asking readers, "What are you going to do to break the silence?"

Conservative groups, however, aren't having it. And, in fact, can't seem to shut their own traps about how much they oppose the idea. One coalition, NotOurKids, has planned a counter protest in which they'll keep their children at home, lest they be subjected to the silent sissie scourge. One concerned parent's comments, however, make us wonder if they actually thought their action through.

Founder of the California-based Mission America and NotOurKids participant, Linda says she's keeping her spawn home because "Teenagers deserve an opportunity to study... without being subjected to pro-homosexual proselytizing sanctioned by school authorities". Proselytizing? Interesting choice of words coming from a woman whose organization dedicated to spreading the word of Christ, but okay...

CONTINUED »

Michigan has won tremendous battle in the protracted war against anti-gay bullying. The Wolverine State's Democratic House of Representatives voted 59-50 to pass Matt's Safe School Law. Named after Matt Epling - a 14-year old who killed himself after enduring years of harassment - the bill specifically protects queer students from schoolyard jerks.

You may recall from a recent Happy Endings, conservatives had objected to the move, depleting pro-gay activist's momentum. A representative from the state's Triangle Foundation asked us to post something on it in hopes that it would make a difference. Apparently it did. Following the vote, that same representative sent us a note:

We've made it more than halfway - yesterday the Michigan House passed Matt's Safe Schools Law by a 59-50 vote! Now we're on to the Michigan Senate, which is still Republican-led thanks to gerrymandering. However, if we can get it through the Senate we're guaranteed the governor's signature.

I'll deeply appreciate anything you can do to help us keep a spotlight on this.

We only deserve a small thank you. Anyone out there who heeded their call deserves the big "Thank You"! Note the capitals - yeah, it's serious.

CONTINUED »

• British passport authorities refused four-month old Eden Lurie's picture because her hair was deemed "too spiky". To curb the problem, the gave her a digital trim. How thoughtful.

• Meanwhile, another set of British passport authorities have admitted to issuing nine passports to al Qaeda operative, Dhiren Barot. Not only did Barot want to set off a dirty bomb, he also had big dreams of blowing up parking garages with gasoline packed limos. What a chap.

• Another teacher falls prey to anti-gay assaults on free speech. Amy Sorrell of Fort Wayne, Indiana, has been suspended with pay after she allowed students to print a controversial op-ed that included such horrid homo propaganda as: "I can only imagine how hard it would be to come out as homosexual in today’s society. I think it is so wrong to look down on those people, or to make fun of them, just because they have a different sexuality than you."

• Police have finally found the body of Dr Joaquin Leal Bermudez. The Spanish hematologist went missing in Norway back in January. Police soon arrested a suspect found driving Bermudez's blood stained car, but he ain't talking.

• The Russian Orthodox Church still isn't down with gays. The deputy Patriarchate of Moscow says, "The authorities should be acting depending on public opinion which I find quite clear - open propaganda of a gay way of life is rejected by our public, arousing protests and antagonism."

• If Andy Warhol were still alive, he'd be a rich motherfucker. One of the artist's famous Marilyn's (the "Lemon Marilyn", to be specific) may be auctioned for $15 million. It's current owner bought it for $250. Shit, we need to start buying more art...

• Current Swedish law requires all transsexuals be sterilized. Now lawmakers are debating whether to let them freeze their eggs and sperm. Hooray!

• From a reader: "[HX Media owned] In Newsweekly in Boston has informed all of their freelance writers that they will not be paying them for pieces that have already been written and published in the paper. At least one writer immediately removed their column from the paper. They also dumped Q Syndicate which is where they used to get a ton of their freelance material." Note to young homo-journos: look elsewhere for work.

If there's a problem, yo, money will solve it. And that's exactly what's happened with the case of Professor Julie Nemecek (formerly John_ and the Christian leaning Spring Arbor University.

Nemecek got sacked after she started dressing as a woman. Upon hearing of this "non-Christian" behavior, SAU informed Nemecek that her contract would not be renewed. Further, school officials barred her from donning dresses on campus. When Nemecek showed up as Julie, SAU broke her contract and gave her the boot. Nemecek then filed a suit through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Fearing a protracted legal battle (and more student protests), both sides have come to some sort of undisclosed agreement. Of her forced freedom, Nemecek says:

I'm looking for other employment. I may do some consulting work. I'm definitely going to do advocacy for transgender issues.

It seems she already has...

It's been a few months since we heard from our favorite insane twat, Madeline Crabb (pictured, looking as outdated as her arguments). We were beginning to get worried, actually, for her haterific, nonsensical rants had become our favorite part the Alan Keyes-endorsed conservative website, Renew America.

We were just about to send out a search party when we found an article in which old Crabbie takes on the so-called 'sexualization" of America: an insidious homo plot being hatched in our blessed nation's public schools, where parents have been butting heads with administrators over whether or not kids need to know the facts of gay life.

Not surprisingly, Crabb thinks not. And, what's more, it's time to fight back. Lucky us...

CONTINUED »

• Gerard Butler. Naked. 'Nuff said. [!! omg blog !!]

• It sure is hard being gay in suburbia. Especially when you can't find a whore to settled down with you. [Daily Herald]

• It's alright to be gay in Latin America. Just remember not to try to be too normal. [The Economist]

• Stephen Colbert on 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'. [PageOneQ]

• The Roxy's closing on Saturday. Get you glitter, glow sticks and shitty club mixes and live it up. [NY Observer]

• South African flick Black Beaulahs takes a look at the lives of three gay men in Soweto. Did you know that "beaulah" is South African slang for beautiful man? Well, now you do... [Mamba Online]

• The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force sez, "Porn stars are just like us!" [AmericaBlog]

• A Forrest Gump sequel? Vomit. [Ain't It Cool?]

• Maryland's Montgomery County School says fuck you to haters and vows to keep teaching about homosexuality. [Washington Times]