positive effects

In a Sunday appearance on NBC's Meet the Press, Arizona senator John McCain cast doubt on the validity of the Pentagon’s "don't ask, don't tell" repeal study and said that any end to the policy will require further congressional hearings. Gregory pressed McCain on details of the Pentagon Working Group study leaked last week to the Washington Post, which found that more than 70% of service members who responded to a survey believe DADT repeal will have a positive, mixed or negligible effect on the armed forces.

Samantha Bremmer, a student at Mill Creek Middle School in Dexter, MI, is promoting anti-bullying among her classmates by sticking Post-Its with uplifting hand-written messages on their lockers.

Gen. Colin Powell issued a statement Wednesday supporting the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," changing his long-standing stance on the policy. The 17-year old policy encouraging the quieting of gays and lesbians in the military is up for a long overdue review. Powell announced that he will join Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert Gates in the effort to repeal DADT.

LGBT kids who participate in GSAs "have better mental health as young adults, are less likely to drop out of high school, and more likely to attend college," a new study found.

Bell Keller steps down as execitive editor of The Times and makes room for Jill Abramson. She is the first female to be appointed editor in the 160-year history of The New York Times.

A new partnership with YouTube means billions of people will now have access to Here TV's subscription programming.

Despite pressure to boycott the Miss Universe pageant in Russia, Miss Universe will proceed as planned.

Diana Cage posits that taking a cue from lesbians could possibly save the crumbling economy. 'Since the beginning of our current financial meltdown people have been speculating about what types of economic and social changes the recession might spur. Even a country as obstinate as ours can’t suffer an epic fail like this one and come through without some little spark of enlightenment, right?'

Patricia Velasquez discusses how Karl Lagerfeld inspired her, walking in one of Jean Paul Gaultier's biggest shows, and coming out to her family in Straight Walk.

In honor of National Coming Out Day, we're taking a #TBL (throwback lesbian) look at this past year.

Alison may be absent this week, but we get more of Rachel than ever