NPR is reporting that the US Department of Justice is intervening in the case of a gay high school student who was beaten up for being effeminate.

(Listen to the four minutes All Things Considered story here.)

The case – and the DOJ – are focusing on the Title IX statute, which prohibits discrimination against students on the basis of gender. Most people think of Title IX as it relates to women and sports at universities.

In this case, 15-year-old Jacob, who lives in Mohawk in upstate New York, was harassed for being effeminate before he came out as gay at 14. The lawsuit alleges that his fellow students threw food at him and told him to get a sex change. But as I discuss in this essay, this case of gay bashing and bullying is not an isolated incident in this national climate of willful ignorance and bigotry in schools, the media and the US Supreme Court.

Here is a great idea that I hope you will take a moment to check out and help. Three important LGBT youth groups – GLSEN, the Matthew Shepard Foundation and The Trevor Project – are helping each other try to get the most votes on a Facebook/ Chase Community Giving project that awards the top vote-getter with $1 million.

With the economy still in a deep slump and charitable giving down in the dumps with it, this is a unique and refreshing way to help LGBT youth through these three terrific organizations. Please click inside to read their press release and how you can help.

This started out as a simple story about how the Harvey Milk bill is being attacked by Religious Right professionals. Not surprising. But then the story morphed into how former GLSEN head Kevin Jennings is being pilloried by the right wing, with the Family Research Council determined to bring him down. That reminded me of Project 10 founder Virginia Uribe who fought Rev Lou Sheldon in the mid-80s. And then I got an email defending Harry Hay’s part in all this. Huh? Well, click inside to see how it all fits together.

David Bohnett, chair of the David Bohnett Foundation, delivered a passionate speech last Friday accepting a Lifetime Achievement Award from GLSEN. Click inside to read an extended excerpt from the speech, a must-read especially in the context of the National Equality March and the fights in Maine and Washington.

Former GLSEN director and current Department of Education official Kevin Jennings is fast becoming a favorite fundraising tool of Religious Right professionals, akin to the outrageous “witch hunts” orchestrated against President Barack Obama and the Clintons.

In this most recent fundraising email newsletter, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council uses a photo of Kevin Jennings next to a story about hate crimes – which has nothing to do with Jennings. Doesn’t mention his name once. See for yourself.