Discuss: Degrassi Does Transgender

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The much-loved series Degrassi is introducing their first ever transgender character this season, Season 10 by the way, which has started now. The character of Adam (shown in the above pictured) is played by Jordan Todosey, who is most notably known for playing little sister Lizzie on Life With Derek. Adam was physically born a girl but identifies as male...and even has a homophobic stepbrother named Drew who is sure to make things interesting for Adam.

Personally, I watch Degrassi off and on. It's not because I don't like the show...but rather I didn't always have the channel that plays the show so I've missed random bits through the Next Generation. (I really need to get the DVD's). Anyway, I think it's great they are finally having a transgender character, which will hopefully raise more awareness and understanding. After all, they've already focused on girls and boys that are gay, lesbian, and bi. This is the next step and I think if anyone can make it work, it would be Degrassi. I  can't wait to see Jordan in her new role.

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One of the ways Degrassi has been promoting the new season is through these carnival themed commercials. There are two seperate ones that showcase some old and new characters, giving you a look into what might be happening with them this season. If you watch the one below, you will see the character of Adam, dressed as a boy, but seeing a girl in all the carnival mirrors. I think it's very interesting and a fun promo. Also, this video is the full promo...so it's both commercials together.

Discuss: Do you watch or will you start watching Degrassi? What are your thoughts about a transgender character? Comment as you will!




Written by: Lauren

The Reason Behind the Name

                                         Why I Co-Founded This Site by Lee Bantle

I hate being tolerated! It's so flat. No emotion. No joy. I don't want the world to tolerate LGBT people. I want us to be loved. For all our creativity, our style, our panache'.

And, Hello! Because we're part of the human tapestry.

Which explains the name of this website. Let's Get Beyond Tolerance. We don't want to be tolerated. We want more. We want to be embraced!

The way we're going to work on that is to celebrate LGBT people, the books and plays they write, the music they make, the shows they star in. This is a rich vein to draw from.

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Let's be honest. Without gay contributors, human culture would be impoverished. Sappho, Walt Whitman, Steven Sondheim, Rita Mae Brown, Ian McKellan, Ellen DeGeneres. Can you imagine a world without them? Or the multitude of other gay artists?

On this site we're going to celebrate all kinds of LGBT artistry. Music from Queer Urban Orchestra to George Michael. Authors from Christopher Marlowe to Jacqueline Woodson, from James Baldwin to Malinda Lo. Movies from Patrik, Age 1.5 to My Beautiful Laundrette. New authors, new plays, new music. But also the classics.

This is gonna be a fun, hip site to watch. And it's gonna be so gay.

If you like that, sign up. Write us. We LOVE comments.

Above all, embrace us. Help us get beyond tolerance!

Who Are We and What Is This?

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Welcome to Let's Get Beyond Tolerance! Maybe you noticed already, but the title is based around the acronym LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bi, and Transgender (aka Let's Get Beyond Tolerance). The title was created by author Lee Bantle after I shared another LGBT title I'd come up with. I loved his much better and it became the official name of this blog.

So what is this blog?

It's an entertainment blog for Young Adults (and that simply means, we will focus on things that are appropriate for YA and up) with LGBT themes. I know there are other sites out there similar to this one for Adults...but none that I know of that is for the Young Adult set. So I figured...why not create one? Instead of complaining about the lack of something, I'd rather fill the void as best as I could.

So what's up with the Official Author thing on the side?

Well, I love Catherine Ryan Hyde and Lee Bantle's work, especially because they are filling the LGBT YA void in their own way. Therefore, they are the official authors of the site. Other books and authors will be featured and promoted...but these two will always have their work featured on this site and they will even contribute as well! You can expect to find their thoughts in guest posts, reviews, and perhaps even in questions for other people. Fun, right? Right! So go and click those links over there to buy their work if it interests you.  You gotta support and allow them to continue writing amazing books!

So what now?

Now you should-

1. Follow!

2. Spread the word for others to follow!

Super easy and we'd appreciate you very much if you did!! There won't be that many posts at the moment. You'll probably find some highlight posts and links in the sidebars as we continue setting everything up...but you want to follow now because we're planning a COMING OUT PARTY!

And that means?

We want to kick this blog off right with some fun interviews, guest posts, reviews, and of course...giveaways! But you need to start following and get others to follow as well so it can be the best party ever.  There will be all sorts of fun posts to come which will probably last for about a month...just so you can see the types of things we'll continue to do in the future. So it's worth it to follow and keep following!

Come Out With Us and Let's Get Beyond Tolerance.

Sincerely yours,

Lauren from Shooting Stars Mag