Yesterday Google posted this year in review video, which opens with the royal baby, immediately cuts to a gay wedding, and later features Jason Collins' coming out. (See 52 other notable comings out.) Last week, Facebook posted their 2013 roundup, which is gayer, with more marriages and more pride, but much uglier.
Also yesterday, Richard Socarides posted his half-smart, half-suckup Top 10 Gay Rights Heroes of 2013 on The New Yorker blog and Buzzfeed listed 100 Moments To Be Proud.
I'm astonished by the queer lists' omission of the Boy Scouts' announcement to lift their ban on gay youth. This was a decades-long battle of far-reaching cultural importance. James Dale took his case to the Supreme Court in 2000, and his defeat triggered an increase in debates nationwide as schools, churches, and municipalities reconsidered their association with the discriminatory organization. More recently, people signed petitions, pop stars canceled BSA concerts, Eagle Scouts returned their badges, and more and more major sponsors cut off support... and still in the summer of 2012, after a two-year internal study, the BSA refused to change their policy. This May the BSA board finally voted to change their policy on gay scouts, though they left the ban on gay leaders. As in church schisms, reactionary parents have broken off and formed a new outdoor group called Trail Life USA just to continue being antigay.
Yet again, in their year's summary video the Onion's razor humor captures uncomfortable truths if not literal facts ("In science news, NASA announced we will have a mass shooting on the moon by 2055"). Viewers who factcheck satire will object to their pro-gay coverage of marriage equality in which they claim all nine Supreme Court Justices agreed. Also, Ruth Ginsburg didn't actually say, "For fuck's sake. Yes!"
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