A PROTEST,
NOT A PARADE

Alex Dean, 06/20/12

PR guru by day, hunting out top stories by night. Founder of We Exist: Lesbians With Disability to offer support and promote inclusion.

If you think that you have a tough time meeting women, just imagine what your life would be like if you had the added challenge of a disability. Some of us already have that extra obstacle to overcome. Contemplate this for a moment, how many lesbians with a disability do you actually know?

Stephanie Covington Armstrong, 06/20/12

Brooklyn native, writer, and speaker

I was looking at her sexuality shift as an opportunity to finally have the one thing I'd craved my entire life: a traditional mother.

Kergan Edwards-Stout, 06/20/12

Author, 'Songs for the New Depression', and an HRC 2011 Father of the Year

While many of us have posted fun or silly photos of ourselves on Facebook, few would ever think that one of those photos could actually get themselves fired, but such is the case of Mitch Stein.

George Heymont, 06/20/12

San Francisco-based arts critic

If there is one area of grave concern for any parent, it is the thought that their child is vulnerable to attack. But what happens when the child of your dreams -- the apple of your eye -- starts acting like a belligerent little bastard?

Wayne Anderson, 06/20/12

LGBT rights activist and gay veteran of the U.S. Army

Why is it that the Latino community receives bold executive actions from the president to allay their concerns on stagnant immigration reform, yet the LGBT community is left with little more than lip service from the president about marriage and workplace equality?

Tommy Allen, 06/20/12

Lifestyle editor, Rapid Growth Media

While Holland protects the civil rights of tall people and overweight people and Christians, people like myself are left in harm's way.

Michelangelo Signorile, 06/19/12

Editor-at-large, HuffPost Gay Voices; SiriusXM radio host

Gays are the scapegoat, blamed for the child-abuse scandal, despite the fact that the vast majority of pedophiles are heterosexual, and despite the fact that the church leadership shuffled around the criminal priests without bringing them to justice.

Jed Kolko, 06/19/12

Chief Economist, Trulia

In honor of Gay Pride month, we wanted to find the gayest neighborhoods across America. No surprise that San Francisco's Castro neighborhood is at the top of the list.

Yitz Jordan, 06/19/12

a.k.a. Y-Love, a social media developer, activist, and critically acclaimed ex-Hasidic Jewish hip-hop artist

After I converted to ultra-Orthodox Judaism, I began to take on an entirely new life. I moved 200 miles to Brooklyn, guided only by faith. I spoke Yiddish, my style of dress was distinct, my thought process was Talmudic. But I was still gay. And this would eat at me the entire time.

Dr. Peggy Drexler, 06/19/12

Author, Research Psychologist, Gender Scholar

Gone are the days when no one could take a joke about what might happen in a bed shared by two men or two women. These days, we know gay sex is just as funny, and sometimes tragic, as the other kind.

Jacob Combs, 06/19/12

Contributor, Prop8TrialTracker.com

The federalism claims that the DOMA cases make are relatively comfortable waters in which the Supreme Court's conservative justices can swim. Judge Reinhardt's Prop 8 analysis, on the other hand, however cautious it may be, is essentially a brand-new constitutional argument.

Marcus Urban, 06/19/12

Former East German soccer player; author, 'Hidden Player'

Soccer is a global sport with a global following -- and it's worth a lot of money. The pressure to perform -- and conform -- is huge. The cost of that pressure is simply too high. I know because I paid it.

Simi Singh Juneja, 06/19/12

Mother, dreamer, epiphany finder

President Obama celebrated Pride at the White House and my sister was there. I had to take a pause. Never in my lifetime would I ever have imagined that a sitting president would stand up and welcome her. Words can't express my pride in our president and our country's courage.

Bob Smith, 06/19/12

Author, Comedian

One night, a major talent manager had seen me kill. Afterward, he took me aside and said, "You're funny, but why do you have to do the gay stuff? They're never going to have a gay comedian on The Tonight Show."

Cathy Brooks, 06/19/12

Raconteur, rabble rouser, and genetically inclined connector

When 14-year-old Noah Hornik began seeing the rise in LGBT teen suicides last year, he had to do something. That something is It Gets Indie, a benefit concert taking place in San Francisco this weekend for the second year.

Rui Dai, 06/19/12

Student, Duke University

I go to church whenever I can. I believe that Christian institutions have the ability to do great good in the world. However, it's becoming harder and harder to watch the news and stand behind what I believe in at the same time.

Prerna Lal, 06/19/12

Co-Founder of DreamActivist.org, and a 3L at the George Washington University Law School

We have won a tiny victory -- a simple reprieve -- but the war is far from over. My own personal thoughts go out to everyone who has aged out, everyone the Obama administration has deported ruthlessly, everyone who has grown tired of waiting.