The other day I went to a great screening hosted by Scenarios USA. Scenarios USA is a Brooklyn-based organization that creates films written by teens from around the country, and then has them directed and produced by professionals with Hollywood credentials.

At the event, three films were shown and the audience had a chance to talk to some of the teen writers, as well as to the director, David Koepp, who worked with the Scenarios film, All Falls Down.

Watching these films with a group of educators was a great reminder of just how important it is to include teen voices when discussing things like sexual orientation, sexuality, and even day-to-day life.

If you get a chance, make sure to check out some of the films. And if you are feeling inspired, consider entering one of their contests and submitting a script yourself.  You can also read my review here...

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Wouldn't it be nice if one year around this time I didn't have to write about some school's ridiculous treatment of a same sex couple at prom?

Well, this is not the year. Yet another school has made yet another big deal about the fact that some girls want to go to prom with other girls and some guys want to go to prom with other guys.

The school in question is a Catholic one based in Kentucky and their method of dealing with a lesbian couple was to turn them away from their prom at the doors. And while they legally had the right to prevent the girls from going to prom (public school's on the other hand don't), many of us would argue that they didn't have a moral right.

As one of the girls told her local paper:

"I would understand and respect the school's decision if they truly upheld church teachings. They didn't forbid the entrance of all the couples who've had premarital sex and all the kids who planned to get drunk after the prom."

But in a nice twist on what could have simply been another downer of a story, it seems that the girls got a lot of support from their classmates. After getting turned away at the doors the couple, along with many of their friends, held their own prom in the school's parking lot.

Have you gone to prom with a same sex date? How did it go?

Related

• Can I Bring My Same Sex Date to Prom?
• Not Held to Title IX, Private Schools Can Still Ban Same Sex Couples From Prom
• Positive News on GLBT Teen Prom Experiences

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Last night, I got to hear some pretty amazing writers read from the lovely new anthology, The Letter Q: Queer Writers' Notes to Their Younger Selves.

The book is made up of essays, presented as advice, that a wide range queer writers wish they had been able to give themselves as they were growing up.

All of the readers were great, at turns funny, moving, and serious, but a few stood out. For example, Brian Selznick enlisted his 13-year-old cousin to read in his teenage voice, Linda Villarosa shared an emotional piece about a terrible day that united her family, and a video reading by Tales of the City author, Armistead Maupin, ended with him sharing the cover of an old beefcake magazine from 40 years ago that inspired his essay.

Keep reading for my review of the book...

What a week, first North Carolina passes a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, then President Obama comes out supporting it!

In an interview yesterday, with journalist Robin Roberts, Obama said, "I think same-sex couples should be able to get married."

Now that might not sound like such a radical statement to you, but it is the first time that this president has clearly voiced his support for gay marriage.

This has been thrilling for a lot of us out there, but of course there are also people who are less than excited by this development. Not surprisingly one of these is the Catholic Cardinal Timothy Dolan who said,

"We cannot be silent in the face of words or actions that would undermine the institution of marriage, the very cornerstone of our society. The people of this country, especially our children, deserve better."

Really? Children deserve better than parents who are allowed to get married? Seems a little bit of a stretch to me.

I'd like to think that if the "children deserve better" argument is the best one folks can come up with, then we don't have much to worry about from gay marriage opposers. Sadly, that argument actually seems to resonate with far too many people.

But while I could spend a lot of time worrying about that, I'd rather just be happy today about what Obama has called his "evolution" on the matter.

What do you think of Obama's support for gay marriage?

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