Pres. Obama endorses national safe schools and nondiscrimination laws; the shrinking antigay base; and other recent LGBTQ news selected by Sara Boesser in Juneau, Alaska.

1) President Wants a National Safe Schools Act
Advocate, April 20, 2012

Following a White House screening of the documentary Bully, President Obama endorsed both the Safe Schools Improvement Act and the Student Non-Discrimination Act.

The president made the announcement on Friday, the 17th annual Day of Silence, where LGBT students and allies sustain a vow of non-verbal communication to call attention to the silencing effect of anti-LGBT bullying and harassment in schools.

Further news at Metro Weekly.

2) Saudi Arabia bans ‘gays, tom-boys’ from schools
Emirates 24/7, April 16, 2012 April 16, 2012

Saudi Arabia has decided to bar “gays and tom-boys” from its government schools and universities within a crackdown against the spread of this phenomenon in the conservative Moslem Gulf Kingdom, a newspaper said on Monday.

3) Alabama civil rights museum exhibiting lesbian photos
Birmingham, Alabama, Associated Press, March 29, 2012

Founded to teach about human rights and the fight for equality during the days of racial segregation, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is introducing a new topic: Lesbian awareness in the South.

The museum opens a new exhibit Friday night featuring photographs of lesbian couples and families living in the Deep South.

4) Hunger Games Star Is Youngest-Ever GLAAD Vanguard Honoree
Advocate, April 16, 2012

The Hunger Games‘ Josh Hutcherson, 19, will be presented with Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation’s Vanguard Award, making the longtime equality advocate the youngest recipient of that award in the organization’s history.

5) The Anti-Gay Base Is Shrinking
New York Times, April 16, 2012

Last summer, Freedom to Marry hosted a National Press Club briefing to showcase a message to candidates of both parties from lead pollsters for President Obama and George W. Bush. The pollsters agreed: the political equation has shifted dramatically – with accelerating momentum and growing intensity in favor of the freedom to marry.

Since then, the center of gravity has continued to shift toward support. According to the March 2012 NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, voters are more likely to vote for a candidate who supports the freedom to marry than a candidate who opposes, with a full 79 percent saying that they prefer a candidate who supports marriage or that they would not care whether a candidate supported it.

6) Catholic pastor applauded for shunning anti-gay marriage drive
Seattle, Seattle PI, April 17, 2012

The congregation at Seattle’s Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church gave the Rev. Tim Clark a standing ovation Sunday when he announced that the parish would not gather signatures for a referendum to repeal same-sex marriage.

The parish became the sixth in Seattle to opt out of the petition drive for Referendum 74 that has been endorsed and foisted on parishes by Archbishop J. Peter Sartain.

7) Same-sex marriage a civil-rights issue, [N.C. NAACP’s] Barber says
Winston -Salem, N.C., Winston-Salem Journal, April 18, 2012

There is no need to change the state constitution to bar same-sex marriage, the president of the [North Carolina] chapter of the NAACP said Tuesday during a rally at Winston-Salem State University.

Doing so, the Rev. William Barber told a crowd of about 120 people, would open the door to other forms of discrimination.

8) Dani Shay on ‘The Glee Project’ and Androgyny – Watch
SheWired, April 18, 2012

Earlier this month the Season 2 cast of The Glee Project was revealed, and one of the 14 contestants is Dani Shay, the androgynous 24-year-old Orlando-based singer-songwriter from America’s Got Talent.

9) The State of Gay and Transgender Communities of Color in 2012
Center for American Progress, April 13, 2012

[G]ay and transgender people of color face high rates of unemployment or underemployment, overall lower rates of pay, higher rates of poverty, and a greater likelihood of being uninsured. The youth in these communities also experience lower educational attainment and higher rates of homelessness than their peers.

10) Jewish movement in Israel OKs gay rabbis
Jerusalem, Israel, Associated Press, April 20, 2012

The Conservative Jewish seminary in Israel says it will allow gays and lesbians to become rabbis, overcoming years of opposition by many of its own leaders and setting up a new point of contention between the movement and Israel’s Orthodox establishment.