With the passing of Proposition 8, 2008 has left a bad taste in a lot of our mouths. But it would be sad to let a year full of PR triumphs for one of the hardest working and most outspoken communities slip by without acknowledging all the honors and milestones that have been achieved! So, forget the h8terade, from the death of “don’t ask, don’t tell” to the first openly gay prime time news anchor, there were a lot of wins to be proud of—just take a look at the long list of Great Gay Headlines In 2008!
January 23rd: Two studies published in the January issue of Developmental Psychology found same sex civil unions are identical to hetero marriages—except that gay couples typically get along better.
January 24th: The term “gayelle,” meaning a woman who is gay, enters the lexicon.
February 11th: “Transamerican Love Story”, the first reality dating show to feature a transgender woman, the gorgeous Southern belle, Calpurnia Addams, premieres on Logo.
March 6th: “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” has her first comic lesbian experience is Issue #12.
May 14th: RuPaul announces he will host the first Drag Queen television competition, called “Drag Off.” The show premieres on Logo on February 9, 2009.
May 15th : Just in time for wedding season, the California State Supreme Court overturned the Defense of Marriage Act, thus allowing gay couples to tie the knot!
May 23rd: The U.S. military’s infamous “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy gets thrown out of court. Thanks to Maj. Margaret Witt, a decorated Air Force nurse, no one can be fired solely because they’re gay.
June 16th: Straight-ish pop star Katy Perry’s hit, “I Kissed A Girl (And I Liked It),” is the #1 single on the Billboard Charts, officially making it the song of the summer.
June 17th: After 55 years together, gay activists Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin are the first same sex couple to get legally married in the State of California.
June 20th: Batwoman makes a comeback and gets her first comic book series since 1979. But this time around, she’s a super-lesbian!
July 2nd: Ashlee Simpson’s husband, Pete Wentz, tells Out magazine that he’s a “fag” and likes to make out with guys too.
July 7th: Lindsay Lohan comes out and admits she’s in love with Samantha Ronson.
July 15th: South Carolina goes for the gold of gay tourism and launches this ad slogan, “South Carolina Is So Gay.”
July 22nd: After some homophobic residents of the Greek Isle of Lesbos petitioned to have one of the accepted definitions of the term “lesbian” revoked from use by gay women, they were basically laughed out of court. The ladies who love ladies won the legal right to call themselves whatever they want—which, if you’re hip, is “gayelle!” (See above.)
August 17th: “As The World Turns” cute and committed gay couple shares the first homosexual kiss on daytime television.
August 19th: People puts Ellen and Portia’s wedding photo on the cover.
August 28th : Melissa Etheridge plays the Democratic National Convention.
September 7th: After having some gay bashing problems backstage in 2007, Grey’s Anatomy featured a homosexual military couple kissing on camera. Now that turn around is McDreamy!
September 8th: Rachel Maddow becomes the first openly gay primetime news anchor when her show debuts on MSNBC.
September 15th: “Star Trek” star George Takai boldly goes and gets married to his longtime partner.
September 16th: “Transformers” omni-sexual star Megan Fox talks openly about her ex-girlfriend in GQ.
September 17th:Ellen DeGeneres is named the new face of Covergirl cosmetics.
September 18th: Brad Pitt generously donates $100,000 to stop Proposition 8 from passing.
September 23rd: GLAAD announces that this past year, the number of homosexual characters on network TV more than doubled to 16!
September 24th: On the cover of People, holding his new baby boy, Clay Aiken admits, “Yes, I am gay!”
October 8th: Teeny bopper titan Hilary Duff does a PSA about the derogatory, yet popularly colloquial, misuse of the word “gay.”
October 23rd: Dr. Hahn and Callie make sweet lesbo love on “Grey’s Anatomy”!
November 6th: Melissa Etheridge stands up for gay rights and says, in an open letter, that she will refuse to pay taxes since gays are being treated like second class citizens.
November 8th: Gay marriage supporter, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger tells the homosexual community, “Don’t give up!” His support is helping us take the case to the Supreme Court!
November 10th: Hetero politico Keith Olbermann gives a moving speech about gay marriage and everyone’s right to love on his MSNBC show.
November 14th: Wanda Sykes Comes Out
November 15th: In response to the passing of Proposition 8, in every state of the union and around the world, hundreds of thousands of people came out to Join The Impact and protest.
November 19th:The Supreme Court of the State of California agrees to hear arguments against the legality of Prop 8. Yay! The civil rights hearings are expected to start in Spring ‘09.
November 20th: The bigots at eHarmony excluded gays from being able to register on their site. But now, thanks to a settlement with New Jersey’s Civil Rights Division, the matchmakers are forced to create a site for homosexual dating.
November 26th: “Milk,” the Gus Van Zant biopic about the assassinated gay rights activist and the first openly queer person to hold public office, Harvey Milk, opens. It features a cast of straight actors: Sean Penn, James Franco, Diego Luna, and Emile Hirsch.
December 3rd: With a star-studded cast, “Prop 8 the Musical” fights the H8 with a song and dance routine.
December 10th: A Day Without A Gay is a nationwide success. Later that night, on “The Daily Show,” Jon Stewart ripped former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee a new one over his homophobic position on gay marriage.
December 15th:Tom Ford gave Details his rules of style and for his final tip suggests everyone go gay or straight, at least once!
December 20th (tomorrow!): Light Up the Night aims to shed some light on gay issues with rallies around the country.
Original by Simcha
