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LGBTQ visibility on TV scored a win on 'Dancing with the Stars' this week.

It's about time, 'Dancing With the Stars.'

LGBTQ visibility on TV scored a win on 'Dancing with the Stars' this week.

Meet Nyle DiMarco. He likes being first at things.

Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images.

He was the first deaf contestant on "America's Next Top Model." And (spoiler alert) he ended up winning the 22nd and final season of the show.

Can you spot him? He's there, on the far left, alongside several other not-so-unattractive guys. Photo by Chelsea Lauren/Getty Images for NYLON.

Then DiMarco joined the cast of "Dancing With the Stars," where he became the first male contestant who is deaf.


So far, DiMarco's been killing it. With just five dance couples left as of mid-May, he remains in the running to snag "DWTS" gold. (Basically, if you need someone to win a reality show competition, bet on DiMarco.)

And on May 9, 2016, he got yet another "first" under his reality show belt.

DiMarco, along with fellow contestant Jodie Sweetin, performed the first "DWTS" same-sex dance routine on Monday night's show.

GIF via "Dancing With the Stars."

For the show's Team-Up Challenge week, DiMarco — who identifies as part of the LGBTQ community — swapped dance partners with Sweetin (who ended up being eliminated, to the dismay of "Fuller House" fans everywhere). DiMarco danced with Keo Motsepe and Sweetin snagged Peta Murgatroyd for part of the routine.

First of all, the crowd loved it.

GIF via "Dancing With the Stars."

"This is a 'Dancing With the Stars' first," DiMarco told cameras after the performance, Pink News reported.

"It’s a different experience," he noted about being lifted by a male partner. "Usually I’m lifting Peta but … should it only be for a woman? Maybe Peta can lift me at some stage?"

Second of all, it's especially cool to see "DWTS" embrace a same-sex routine considering the network hasn't always been so open to it.

Would a guy-guy or girl-girl primetime routine have flown on a major network five years ago? Probably not.

Even just last year, reports surfaced that ABC had put the kibosh on the prospects of a gay artist dancing hip to hip with another man on the show.

Photo by Angela Weiss/Getty Images for Caruso Affiliated.

DiMarco and Sweetin's same-sex routines put yet another dagger in the heart of mainstream TV homophobia, especially seeing as — knock on wood — there's been little to no backlash over the inclusive dance on the highly-rated, family-friendly show so far.

Real talk, though: While this is a big win for diversity and representation, there's still so much more work to get done when it comes to fair and accurate depictions of LGBTQ characters and storylines on TV. So this was one victorious battle in a very long war, you could say.

Hopefully the same-sex routines by DiMarco and Sweetin will be the first of many on "DWTS."

There's been one "DWTS" same-sex routine in the show's past 22 seasons. I say the producers start making up for lost time.

Watch DiMarco and Sweetin's routines below:

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A controversial post about couples splitting travel costs has folks debating love and money

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

It all started with an AITA ("Am I the Asshole?" for the uninitiated) on Reddit, in which a man explained how he and his rich family went on a ritzy vacation and invited his girlfriend along, expecting her to pay her share of it. He comes from a moneyed family and makes $150,000 a year. She's a teacher, making $45,000. She took a second job to be able to afford to go on the trip, but still had to duck out of some outings and meals because they were too pricey for her budget.

The man wanted to know if he was the a-hole because he was disappointed that she didn't just tell him she was struggling with the cost. As if it weren't obvious, and he couldn't have offered to cover what she couldn't. The whole story was wild, and his responses to people's comments were even wilder (as he came to the realization that he "deserved more" than her) so yeah, he was most definitely the a-hole in the situation.

But the post did prompt a lot of interesting conversation about what is actually reasonable to expect financially in a relationship between two people who make drastically different incomes.

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culture
popular

A controversial post about couples splitting travel costs has folks debating love and money

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

It all started with an AITA ("Am I the Asshole?" for the uninitiated) on Reddit, in which a man explained how he and his rich family went on a ritzy vacation and invited his girlfriend along, expecting her to pay her share of it. He comes from a moneyed family and makes $150,000 a year. She's a teacher, making $45,000. She took a second job to be able to afford to go on the trip, but still had to duck out of some outings and meals because they were too pricey for her budget.

The man wanted to know if he was the a-hole because he was disappointed that she didn't just tell him she was struggling with the cost. As if it weren't obvious, and he couldn't have offered to cover what she couldn't. The whole story was wild, and his responses to people's comments were even wilder (as he came to the realization that he "deserved more" than her) so yeah, he was most definitely the a-hole in the situation.

But the post did prompt a lot of interesting conversation about what is actually reasonable to expect financially in a relationship between two people who make drastically different incomes.

Keep Reading Show less
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The Elevate Prize
The Elevate Prize
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Want to be the change? Join an Elevate Giving Circle.

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If you've ever donated to a cause but worried that your contribution wasn't really enough to drive real change, you're not alone. As one person, it can be tough to feel like you're making a real difference, especially if you don't have a lot to donate or if times are tough (aka there's a worldwide pandemic going on.)

That's why, for years, the idea of philanthropy felt a little bit like a rich person's thing: if you had millions, you could donate and make change. The rest of us were just tossing pennies into a cup without really doing much.

But that's a problem: the priorities of a wealthy few don't represent the priorities of many, which means that good causes are often left underfunded, leading to a lack of meaningful action.

The thing is: it doesn't have to be like this. We can all make a difference, especially if we pool our money together.

Enter: Giving Circles. These are when groups of people with shared values come together to drive change. They do it by pooling their time and money together, then deciding as a circle where it should go. That way, they can cause a real targeted change in one place quickly in a very people-powered way by giving what they can, whether that's volunteer hours, money, or a mix of both. Best of all, Giving Circles are a social experience — you get to work together as a community to make sure you do the most good you can.

In other words, giving circles are a way to democratize philanthropy, making it more accessible regardless of your age, income, gender, or race.

That's why this year, The Elevate Prize, a nonprofit founded in 2019, is launching a new pop-up "Giving Circle" program so that problem solvers, budding philanthropists, and anyone that wants to do good can come together and drive real impact at a large scale. And you can do it all in just 90 minutes.

All you have to do is join one of the Elevate Giving Circles online. Learn about organizations doing good for the world, then pool your money together, and as a group, direct it where you think that donation could make the most difference.

But that's not all: every single donation made is matched by the Elevate Prize Foundation — basically guaranteeing that you double your impact for good. The theme for the first cycle is education, and Elevate Giving will match up to $75,000 in total donations for each cycle.

Ready to get involved? Elevate Giving experiences start June 26th, so sign up now for your spot to make a difference. There's no minimum fee to join either — so get involved no matter what you have to give. Now that's philanthropy for all.

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