by Gil Kaufman 6 mins ago

Texas teen Mel Gonzales was living as Melanie just four years ago, a “studious, chubby girl with an androgynous haircut.” But after starting the transition from female to male during his sophomore year, Mel made history as the first transgender homecoming king in the history of Texas high schools last month.

This year’s homecoming king at Stephen F. Austin High School began his transition in middle school when he got a buzz cut. That new, closely-cropped look is also how the 17-year-old came out as transgender to his parents, posting a selfie on Facebook the same night. By sophomore year, Mel had started hormone replacement therapy and during junior year, he legally changed his name and gender identifier.

Related: Click Here For More Information On The Upcoming MTV/Logo Special “Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word”

But it was when Mel started his school’s first Gay Straight Alliance chapter that things really began to change, and he started to feel more comfortable in his body.

“We were supposed to get a petition ratified to show that there were people on campus [who] would be interested in joining,” Gonzales told New York magazine. “Our goal was 200, and we had, like, over 500 signatures — so many people were receptive to the idea.” This all happened in one of the 32 states where you can still get fired from your job for being openly transgender, or for being gay or lesbian.

That said, Gonzales has blazed paths in one of the Houston-area’s most ...

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by Gil Kaufman 10 mins ago

When it comes to updates on his new music, videos or graffiti, Chris Brown is a great source of information. But… if you’re looking for reliable, timely news on the Ebola epidemic, Breezy is not really your guy. See, on Monday (October 13), amid news that a second person in the U.S. had tested positive for the deadly virus after coming into contact with the nation’s first patient, who is now deceased, CB took to Twitter to spout his conspiracy theory on the spread of the disease that has killed thousands in Africa.

Related: Should We Be Scared About Ebola In The U.S.?

Perhaps he was following up on an idea that controversial Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan floated last month when he called the spread of Ebola a plot to attack black Americans?

Wherever he got his inspiration, not long after suggesting that the arrival of Ebola on U.S. shores was a conspiracy, it seems like Brown had a change of heart.

Ebola is spread through direct contact with a sick person’s bodily fluids or exposure to contaminated objects. Ebola sufferers are not contagious until symptoms appear.

For reliable, timely information the origins of Ebola, as well as updates and tips on signs and symptoms, visit the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention.

by Gil Kaufman 25 mins ago

While maybe/maybe not boyfriend Justin Bieber stayed busy searching for the perfect pasta dish in Italy with his dad, Selena Gomez spent Wednesday putting some smiles on the faces of sick kids.

“Rudderless” star Gomez, 22, visited Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles and posted some pictures with her biggest fans, including one cutie she dubbed “princess.”

“Selena took the time to stop and visit with each one, hear their stories, give hugs, share laughs and provide encouragement,” the hospital told E! News in a statement. “It was a much-needed lift for these children and their families during an incredibly difficult time.”

While she was there, Gomez put on a “Team Connor” bracelet in honor of one of the hospitalized children and the hospital totally appreciated her visit.

by Gil Kaufman 4 mins ago

Their sounds defined the 1990s and gave voice to an entire generation of burnt-out, fed-up, terminally bored teens looking for a soundtrack to their lives. And even though their music was about rebellion, angst, smashing the system and rejecting the mainstream, now they seem like shoo-ins to make it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on the first ballot.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Green Day and Nine Inch Nails have been nominated for induction into the Rock Hall as part of the class of 2015, which also includes L.A. gangsta rap crew N.W.A., legendary 1980s mope rockers the Smiths, punk godfather Lou Reed and former Police bassist and solo superstar Sting. They join a list of previous nominees up for induction again that ranges from electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Chic and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band to the Marvelettes, the Spinners, Stevie Ray Vaughan, War and Bill Withers.

From ‘Dookie’ To Domination

FilmMagic/Carley Margolis

Though they started out as snot-nosed teens playing all-ages shows at underground punk venues in Berkeley, California, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool rose to worldwide domination in the 1990s. They’ve sold 75 million albums on the back of such massive hits as “Longview,” “Basket Case,” “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life),” “Holiday,” “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and countless others, not to mention spawning a Broadway musical, “American Idiot.” They’ve won Grammys, created some of the greatest music videos of all ...

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by Gil Kaufman 21 mins ago

The Sayreville War Memorial High School Bombers football team were a major bright spot in their New Jersey town in the tough years after the devastation of 2012′s Superstorm Sandy. Three sectional titles over four years, for example, gave locals lots to cheer about.

But on Monday, the team had its entire season suspended after allegations surfaced about hazing, bullying, teasing and intimidation among players on the squad. The announcement was made Tuesday night during a meeting with players’ parents, according to ESPN.com. The decision came a week after the district canceled and forfeited a game with South Brunswick amid news that the Middlesex County prosecutor’s office was investigating the bullying allegations.

What is the Sayreville War Memorial High School football team accused of?
“There was enough evidence that there were incidents of harassment (including sexual), of intimidation and bullying that took place on a pervasive level, on a wide-scale level and at a level at which the players knew, tolerated and generally accepted,” Superintendent Richard Labbe said on Monday night without going into specifics. “Based upon what has been substantiated to have occurred, we have canceled the remainder of the football season.” That decision put an end to a string of 20 straight playoff appearances.

Was the punishment set for the Bombers football team too harsh?
The prosecutor’s office has declined to discuss the details of its investigation and Labbe said he could not reveal the focus of the probe.

“We can set the standard right now for all kids for all ...

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by Gil Kaufman 4 mins ago

Did Taylor Swift just have her double rainbow moment? In Paris, no less.

After all the unforgettable experiences TSwift has had in her career, it was an amazing rainbow moment on Wednesday morning (October 8) that blew her mind so hard she lost every ounce of her chill. “When we left Paris, this rainbow showed up and I could not find my chill. #nofilter,” she wrote of the unforgettable ‘bowment.

by Gil Kaufman 27 mins ago

We’ve already seen their booking pictures, but now we’re dying to know just how (or if) 5 Seconds of Summer end up in a women’s prison in their “Good Girls” video.

The documentary-style teaser clip for the song that will appear on the group’s upcoming EP (available for pre-order in the U.S. on October 10), consists of harsh images of a women’s lock-up, complete with a guard banging his baton on the bars and a poster with some words of wisdom for the detainees.

“Bad Girls Can Become Good Girls” says the poster, credited to the Reform School For Bad Girls.

Capitol Records

Though the boys don’t make an appearance in the teaser, something tells us there might be a jailbreak in the offing for Daisy and Charlotte.

by Gil Kaufman 52 mins ago

Sarah Silverman is mad. Like, seriously pissed off. Why? Because in 2014, the average woman in the workplace still makes only 78 cents to a man’s dollar. Over the course of a career, that’s nearly $500,000 in lost wages.

So, because she cares, Silverman is going to close the gap… literally. As part of a fundraising campaign from the Equal Payback Project seeking to crowdfund $29,811,746,430,000 — the equivalent of the wages lost to the gap by the 69 million women in the workplace — Silverman has released a (totally NSFW) PSA about her decision to undergo a sex change operation and see what it’s like to be a fully-paid man in the workplace. (Warning: NSFW for very realistic-looking penises.)

OK, so the Project isn’t really looking to raise $30 billion. (And Sarah’s not giving up her lady parts for real… we think.) But what it is doing is donating any funds to the National Women’s Law Center, a non-profit group fighting for equal pay through legislation, education and advocacy, to help them fight to get the Paycheck Fairness Act back into debate in the Senate and keep pregnant women from being forced out of the workplace.

How much should you give? Check out this handy chart from the Project for examples.

Equal Payback Project

by Gil Kaufman 28 mins ago

TV and movie actress Sarah Goldberg, best known for playing Sarah Glass Camden on TV drama “7th Heaven,” as well as roles in “House,” “Judging Amy” and “Jurassic Park III,” died of natural causes in her family’s Wisconsin home on September 27 at the age of 40.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, an autopsy was performed, but was unable to determine a specific cause of death. The actresses’ mother, Judy, said that a heart ailment may have been the culprit. “She went to sleep and didn’t wake up,” her mother told the paper.

Goldberg got her break in 1997 when she helped arrange the table linens for a scene in the Julia Roberts-Dermot Mulroney movie “My Best Friend’s Wedding” and was spotted by someone on the shoot who suggested she appear as an extra in the film. Her first major movie role came four years later when she appeared in the third “Jurassic Park” film. She later appeared as a college junkie in the Denzel Washington crime drama “Training Day.”

She was best known, however, for her recurring gig as medical student Sarah Glass Camden on the long-running TV drama “7th Heaven.” On the show, her character — the daughter of a rabbi played by comedian Richard Lewis — fell for Matt Camden (actor Barry Watson), the son of a Christian pastor and father of 7 portrayed by Stephen Collins. (Collins was reportedly fired this week from the film “Ted 2″ after allegations surfaced that he had molested a ...

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by Gil Kaufman 27 mins ago

In Russia, gay men and women are “hunted like animals.” That’s the chilling message in HBO’s new documentary about the war against LGBT Russians, “Hunted: The War Against Gays in Russia.”

Though homosexuality was legalized 20 years ago in Russia, homophobic violence is on the rise in the country, and according to the documentary, it might be a plot by the government to distract Russians from the nation’s many problems. The situation is so bad that it’s thought only one percent of gay and lesbian Russians live openly.

The film chronicles the intimidation, fear and harassment faced by gay and lesbian Russians on a daily basis. Here are the 6 most chilling scenes “Hunted”:

1. A Father’s Film Festival Attack
In the movie, we meet Timor, a married father and jewelry designer who runs the “traditional family values” group Parents of Russia. We watch as he and a friend, Dmitri, plot to disrupt a gay film festival by handing out gift bags with soap and a rope and the message, “kill yourself and cleanse the earth of your wickedness.”

“This is Russia. This is hell for homosexuals,” a satisfied Timor says after a bomb threat is called in to the festival. In Russia, there are no such thing as a gay hate crime.

HBO

2. Vigilante Groups On The Hunt
In a disturbing trend, homophobic vigilante groups have started to hunt gay men and attack them for “fun,” posting their trophy videos online. The clips, viewed by thousands, depict brutal attacks ...

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