Tag: Straight But Not Narrow

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Hunger Games star Josh Hutcherson launches new POWER ON initiative to help connect LGBTQ youth


 Hunger Games star Josh Hutcherson hosted on Friday the third annual Celebrity Basketball Game Benefiting Straight But Not Narrow. SBNN is an ally organization that prepares and trains young adults on how to become allies of their LGBTQ peers.

At the event, Hutcherson noted not only the progress made in recent years but the ground yet to be covered:

“There’ve been some great stepping stones and we’re moving in the right direction, but [the battle] is definitely not won.  I mean, marriage equality is great, but it doesn’t help a lot of people, especially young people who are in school. They can’t even get married yet. So those are the ones who are dealing with [bullying] and at such a formidable age well.”

Hutcherson also announced a new campaign – Power On – in conjunction with Straight But Not Narrow, The Trevor Project, and human I-T.

Noting that more than half of LGBTQ youth who were not out in person had used the internet to connect with other queer people and like minded individuals, the program will encourage teens to donate their unused laptops, tablets, and smartphones to be refurbished and distributed to LGBTQ resource centers across the United States.

Those interested in donating to the initiative can find instructions at human-i-t.org/ally. The organization will collect and refurbish all donated devices free of charge.

(via OUT)

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Josh Hutcherson: “I would list myself as mostly straight”

OUT has a disarmingly honest and self-assured  interview with LGBT ally and movie star Josh Hutcherson.

Just a bit of what Josh shares over a lunch with OUT:

We’ve barely started lunch, and I’m nowhere near my usual open-ended sexuality question, when Josh Hutcherson offers this: “I would probably list myself as mostly straight.”

That “mostly” is what makes Hutcherson winningly uninhibited, but also typical of his generation. New research published in The New York Times in 2010 shows that an increasing number of guys his age identify as “mostly straight,” and Hutcherson’s ease in embracing ambiguity over neat and secure boxes speaks to his self-assurance.

“Maybe I could say right now I’m 100% straight,” he says. “But who knows? In a fucking year, I could meet a guy and be like, Whoa, I’m attracted to this person.”

Hutcherson seems delighted by the complicated nature of human sexuality, but he doesn’t take sex too seriously—“Sometimes the rhythm isn’t right or you’re trying to make a new position work and it really doesn’t, and you have to laugh”—and isn’t allergic to oversharing. Of nude photos it’s rumored he posted to a dating site, he shrugs off any comment except to say, “I find it so shocking still that nakedness is so shocking.”

He definitely doesn’t understand judgmental attitudes toward gay people, which is why he cofounded Straight But Not Narrow, a youth organization that focuses on arming allied kids with the confidence and tools they need to speak out against homophobia. “Sometimes it’s frustrating to comprehend how people are not OK with it. If you can try to tell me how it’s hurting you, you’re crazy. You’re absolutely crazy. Like, what do you mean it’s not natural? Even if—even if, which, I disagree, but even if—why the fuck do you care?”

Read more of the interview at OUT

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Cory Monteith New Face Of ‘Straight But Not Narrow’

It was just announced that Glee star Cory Monteith, will be the new spokesperson for Straight But Not Narrow and will be starring in their latest PSA.

Straight But Not Narrow is a new and different campaign aiming to help support gay youth with a special message to straight males.

From the website: There have been a number of great campaigns and charities that have recently emerged to show support to gay youth & teens. However, we noticed one significant niche missing in the efforts…. the message to the young, straight male. It’s an unfortunate reality that most of the bullying and harassment that gay teens face comes from them. It is for this reason that we are building a campaign that is primarily directed to the young, straight male by using comedy and their peers to positively influence their views on LGBT teens.

So, whether you like girls, you like guys, you like both, you like neither (well, you get the idea)…. what difference does it really make? There’s a whole lot more to a person than who they date. And yeah, we’re all different. But we believe that it’s those differences that make us interesting. Why would we all want to be exactly the same? Where’s the excitement in that?

Just be you. Cause that’s good enough for us.