I remember, back in the day in the early 80’s, when I first saw the picture of Patti Smith on the album cover for Horses. That narrow white face, that long dark hair—and the lanky body in boy’s clothes—Patti was breaking all the rules I’d grown up with and it simultaneously thrilled and scared me half to death.

I didn't think I was going to join the BlogHer Holiday Guide fun by contributing a "10 great gifts" list but here I am and I'm a wee bit nervous about it.

At an event earlier late last week at Carnegie Hall, author J.K. Rowling announced that Albus Dumbledore, Hogwart's famed headmaster in the Harry Potter series, is gay. The announcement was greeted with cheers by fans. And it quickly hit the news sites even though the last book was released this past summer. It was picked up by Newsweek and The Washington Post. The Globe and Mail called it "the biggest outing in the entertainment industry since Ellen DeGeneres". The New York Times' The Lede posted on the "Blogospheric Reaction of the Outed Wizard".

Definition of hate mail: correspondence that expresses the sender's animosity, disapproval, or prejudice, often in offensive language (source Free Dictionary.com). Definition of discrimination: unfair treatment of a person or group on the basis of prejudice (Princeton's WordNet). Take a Young Adult (YA) book site, mix it with an announcement that September is GLBT month on a teachers forum, and the result is both.