Demi Lovato brought Danica Roem, America’s first openly transgender state legislator, as her guest to the American Music Awards on Sunday, as part of the pop star’s message against bullying.
Lovato attended the AMAs to sing “Sorry Not Sorry,” a song directed to the people who bullied her in school. When she heard about Roem’s victory over Del. Robert Marshall, a longtime opponent of the LGBTQ community, in Virginia’s elections earlier this month, she was so inspired by Roem’s story that she asked her to attend the awards with her.
“My story with ‘Sorry Not Sorry’ is about bullying, and I wanted to have her in the audience with me tonight because I feel like we have been through some of the same things, and now we get to share this experience together,” Lovato told E! in an interview on the red carpet.
Roem took to Twitter to announce her attendance at the awards show, which she said was a “super last-minute request.”
“So I’m m on a plane for a super last-minute request to talk about inclusion & bullying prevention at the AMAs. I spent 16 months working to make our schools more inclusive, so I’m happy to take it up,” she tweeted, adding that she’d be back in Virginia in time for a school board meeting at 7:30 a.m. on Monday morning.
Despite some stops and stutters along the way, the county’s school board eventually approved the policy, which prevents discrimination against LGBTQ students, teachers, and other school district employees.
When asked about her coming inauguration as a member of the House of Delegates on January 10, Roem told E! she was overwhelmed by the support from Lovato and others.
“I’m also really grateful that Demi has spent her career advocating for people who need a voice when they feel voiceless,” Roem said, “and that she understands that no matter what you look like, where you come from, how you worship, or who you love, you should be welcomed and celebrated because of who you are, not despite it.”
Lovato was also asked about being named as one of People Magazine’s “25 Women Changing the World,” which she said was “amazing and incredible,” though she added that she thought Roem should be added to the list as well.
“I just want to be a good delegate,” Roem responded, getting in a plug for her signature campaign issue, adding, “I just want to fix Route 28, not gonna lie.”
A Pennsylvania school board reversed the cancellation of an anti-bullying assembly at a local middle school after being accused of discriminating against the guest speaker, actor and author Maulik Pancholy, who is gay.
The Cumberland Valley School District school board voted 5 to 4 to allow the assembly at Mountain View Middle School in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, to proceed as originally scheduled.
Students whose parents object to the presentation's content will be allowed to opt out of the assembly.
Pancholy, nationally known for his role as Jonathan on NBC's hit TV show 30 Rock, is the author of two award-winning novels for young adults.
A local educational advisory body in Manhattan has adopted a non-binding resolution calling on New York City Public Schools to prevent transgender female students from playing on sports teams matching their gender identity.
On March 20, Community Education Council 2, which covers a swath stretching from Lower Manhattan to the Upper East Side, approved a resolution urging New York City Public Schools to form a review committee to propose changes to the department's current gender guidelines.
Since 2019, the city has allowed transgender athletes to compete on sports teams that align with their gender identity. Critics of the current transgender participation policy argue that key stakeholders -- female cisgender athletes, coaches, parents, medical professionals, and evolutionary biology experts -- were either ignored or not consulted about the potential ramifications of such a policy.
A Pennsylvania school board canceled an appearance by Maulik Pancholy at a local middle school's anti-bullying assembly due to concerns over his "lifestyle."
The Cumberland Valley School District school board voted unanimously to cancel the gay actor's scheduled May 22 appearance at Mountain View Middle School in Mechanicsburg, a town of 9,000 people in the state's center, just 10 miles outside Harrisburg.
Pancholy, who played Jonathan on the hit TV show 30 Rock, Sanjay in Weeds, and voiced the character of Baljeet for Disney's Phineas & Ferb, is also an author of novels for young adults, including The Best at It, the story of a gay Indian-American boy and his experience dealing with bullying in a small Midwestern town, and Nikhil Out Loud, about a group of eighth-grade theater kids rising up against homophobia in their community.
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