Communications Major

How did a tool that was meant to facilitate conversation become the prime example of the gay community's -- like the rest of humanity's -- worst tendencies, like racism, sexism, misogyny, ageism, ableism, fat shaming, elitism, transphobia, homophobia...

Leave it to Jodie Foster, the venerable 50-year-old star with the 47-year career, to unbalance the Twitterverse in a way the social network has not quite experienced yet.

Sure, the hijinks and hoo-has of thousands of public figures have lit up Twitter, the online stream-of-consciousness of social media about once a week over the past half decade. But Foster kicked things up a notch with a rambling, off-kilter, pop culty, coming out speech at last Sunday night's Golden Globe awards that made for an instant tweet-up.

Foster, who was being honored with a lifetime achievement award, took the opportunity to touch on topics that are obviously near and dear to her - her need for privacy and her need to confirm an aspect of her private life that has long been, in pre-social media parlance, an "open secret."

Some will see this photo of Palin, making its way around the interwebs, as giving a thumbs up for freedom of religion and speech. Others see it as a thumbs up for bigotry and discrimination. Take your pick. Either way the glass is half empty.

Why not? With DOMA dead and LGBT rights continuing to make strides around the world a little history is a good thing. It may also help to raise awareness about the struggles the LGBT community has overcome and help unite forces to combat current oppression in Russia, the Middle East and some African countries that have harsh anti-gay laws that threaten the very livelihood of LGBT people.