Lance Bass of NSYNC talks about the importance of GLSEN’s National Day of Silence in this public service announcement, leading up to the Day of Silence on April 25, 2008 to address anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools.

This year’s event will be held in memory of Lawrence King, a California 8th-grader who was shot and killed Feb. 12 by a classmate because of his sexual orientation and gender expression. Hundreds of thousands of students will come together on April 25 to encourage schools and classmates to address the problem of anti-LGBT behavior. and get involved at http://www.dayofsilence.org/

The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. We brought you some excellent top 10 lists this week on art, technology, director Errol Morris, and naughty celebs who should rethink their eco-lifestyles. Don’t forget to catch up with some of our other most popular articles of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites.

Katie:

Bush’s War: PBS Frontline Brings the War to a Computer Near You

Inverted Areola, Asymmetrical Breasts, & the Miss Bimbo Game

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Nicole:

Where the Wild Things Are: Top 10 Art Blogs

Dark Water: Artist Explores Consequences of Three Gorges Dam Project

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Giulia:

A Pregnant Man?

Is the Lebron / Gisele Vogue Cover Racist?

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Gina:

Top 10 Technology Blogs

Errol Morris’ Top 10 Films

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Kerry:

Top 10 Celebrities Who Need a New Cause

Dead Bats Flying: Mysterious Fatal Illness Alarms Scientists

This month’s The Advocate Magazine features the story of Thomas Beatie, a transgender person who was a woman but is now legally male. With his surgery, Beatie was able to keep the reproductive organs he was born with and stopped getting the injections so he was able to get pregnant. Apparently Beatie was artificially inseminated and is now expecting a daughter.

However many are skeptical of Beatie’s claim as shown in this clip from Good Morning America.

Whether or not Beatie is indeed pregnant, this story draws attention to the transgender population in America, a population that is often misunderstood and discriminated against. For more on transgender rights and information, and visit The National Center for Transgender Equality.

The message of universal equality (and great music!) is at the heart of the True Colors Tour, which features a stellar line-up, including performances by Cyndi Lauper, The B-52s, Joan Jett, Rosie O’Donnell, Wanda Sykes, and others. The Tour hopes to bring about awareness to the discrimination that that LGBT community still faces today.

A portion of all ticket sales will be donated to True Colors’ non-profit partners to increase funding for organizations that are working toward furthering LGBT equality. Tickets went on sale last week, and performances will happen around the country throughout the month of June.

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Alternet reports that in a segment that aired Friday, talk show host Ellen DeGeneres spoke about the horrific murder of 15-year-old Lawrence King, who was killed by classmate Brandon McInerney for being gay. Students apparently often taunted King who didn’t even have a safe home to return to after school: he was living in a shelter for abused and troubled children.

Ellen said:

“A boy has been killed and a number of lives have been ruined. And, somewhere along the line the killer, Brandon, got the message that it’s so threatening, so awful, and so horrific that Larry would want to be his Valentine — that killing Larry seemed to be the right thing to do. And when the message out there is so horrible that to be gay, you can get killed for it, we need to change the message. Larry was not a second-class citizen. I am not a second-class citizen. It’s ok if you’re gay.”

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On my Google homepage one of my feeds links to wikihow.com for a new “how-to” each day.

Today’s how-to was how-to respect a transgender person. Which I thought was such an open-minded and necessary how-to.

To read this how-to visit: http://www.wikihow.com/Respect-a-Transgender-Person