[In May 2009, Jennings joined the Obama administration as Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education and director of the Office of Safe & Drug-Free Schools. The appointment, for which he is eminently qualified, sparked a series of hysterical and libelous attacks on him by conservative activists, abetted by irresponsible reporting from the Washington Times and the Fox News Network.

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Despite the viciousness of the attacks, Jennings was buoyed by the support he received from President Obama and Secretary Arne Duncan.

His partner told him, "You've spent your whole life fighting bullying. You're not going to give in to bullies now." So, rather than resigning in the face of the vicious attacks, Jennings pressed on with ambitious plans to help prevent bullying in the schools.

The urgency of this need was underlined in the fall of 2009 when a number of suicides by gay youth who had been bullied came to light. In response, he helped convene the first White House Conference on Bullying Prevention, headlined by the President and First Lady. He also worked with the national association of school bus drivers to help train drivers to prevent bullying on school buses and with advising local school boards on ways to provide safe schools for all students.

In 2011, he decided to resign his position in the Department of Education in order to head a new non-profit organization, "Be the Change," dedicated to addressing the growing problem of economic inequality in the country.

One of the advantages of the new job is that it will permit him to move back to his home in New York City to spend more time with Davis.

In an interview with Stephanie Mencimer soon after he announced his plans to leave the Department of Education, Jennings explained that he was comfortable leaving since "I felt like we had succeeded in mobilizing the resources of the administration to stop bullying. . . . My contribution was to galvanize [the anti-bullying] movement and now that movement can move on without me," he said.]

The ordinary sexual uncertainty and confusion confronted by all adolescents is compounded in glbtq adolescents by fears of being stigmatized and often by internalized homophobia.

In its first century of existence, gay male autobiography has become increasingly more open, frank, and unapologetic.

The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) is a national organization in the United States dedicated to creating safe school environments for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students.

Gay-straight alliances are youth-led, school- or community-based groups designed to assist glbtq students, children from glbtq families, and heterosexual students who want to be allies of their glbtq peers.

Violence perpetrated against people thought by their attackers to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered occurs with disturbing frequency in the United States and other countries.

Throughout the year, the glbtq community unites in pride and in protest, in recognition of a rich heritage and in hope for the future.

Homophobia was originally defined as a "dread of being in close quarters with homosexuals," but it is now sometimes used to describe any form of anti-gay bias.

The Southern Baptists have become the most intolerant of the major American religious denominations, especially (but not exclusively) for their opposition to equal rights for gay men and lesbians.

In a little more than thirty years, the number of glbtq student organizations has grown from a handful found at large universities to several thousand spread throughout the country to nearly all college campuses.

Historically, glbtq teachers have faced all manner of social pressures, including open hostiliy and expectations that they hide their sexuality; now, however, teacher groups and individuals are working to improve the climate for glbtq teachers.

Transgender people are becoming increasingly visible at secondary and post-secondary schools; if institutions are to be welcoming to people of all genders, issues of discrimination and equal access to facilities and health care need to be addressed.

The son of a homophobic psychoanalyst, Richard Socarides became the first openly gay man to serve in a prominent White House staff position.