the critic

School is now back in session. And children’s minds are impressionable vessels. We trust their teachers to take precious care of them. Now, with far-right activists, with a Glen Beck tilt pushing for more Jesus and less Darwin, working to reshape the academic landscape in schools, colleges and universities across the country we will soon know without having to wonder “Why Johnny Can’t Think Critically.” But the resistance to shift from the millennia–long opuses of dead white heterosexual men to a multicultural perspective including the scholarship of women, gays and lesbians, and people of color is viewed, by many, as a “dumbing-down” effect of America’s educational curriculum.

CNN contributor Sally Kohn took it in stride when a Republican politician said she resembled Justin Bieber.

After speaking Friday to CNN about a Missouri 5-year-old who dressed as Scooby-Doo's Daphne for Halloween, psychologist Jeff Gardere has apologized for saying it's a parent's "worst nightmare" to have a gay child.

See the contenders in a variety of film and TV categories, including both the typical and the unusual, such as Campy Flick of the Year.

The Academy Awards may not have shown Carol the love it deserves, but the Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Awards did!

Country music superstar Carrie Underwood says she answered a recent question about LGBT equality the best way she could and tries to avoid controversy, in an interview with The Associated Press.

Kenyan L. Jones has been charged with second-degree murder for the Christmas Eve shooting of Dee Dee Pearson, a transgender woman in Kansas City, Mo.

The Rosie Show debuted on Oprah Winfrey Network with a totally fresh approach to talk and the critics take notice. O’Donnell’s NBC talk show was a hit for years and her time on The View was controversial and calculated, but The Rosie Show exists outside the regular programming box from start to finish. And while it may take some getting used to, critics are finding her live, crazy formula fun.

Actress Natasha Richardson suffered traumatic brain injury during a skiing accident in Canada. Richardson, who comes from the Redgrave acting dynasty that includes her mother Vanessa Redgrave, her aunt Lynn Redgrave and her sister, Nip / Tuck star Joely Richardson, is reported in critical condition in a Montreal hospital,