This really IS "so gay" ... and I mean that as a compliment.

The Advertising Council, a group that has been creating public service ad campaigns since 1942, is launching today the first campaign in its history to speak out against defamatory speech against gays and lesbians.

The campaign specifically tackles the troublingly popular phrase "That's so gay", which has become a common slang for "That's stupid" or "That sucks". The campaign has been produced to support GLSEN (The Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network) to combat the bullying of gay teens.

There are radio, television, and print ads in the campaign featuring celebs including teen queen Hilary Duff and comic Wanda Sykes, both of whom tell teenagers using the phrase "That's so gay" in a derogatory fashion to "Knock it off!"

And the campaign's website, ThinkB4YouSpeak, features video and interactive tools to teach kids about what the homophobic words they're using actually mean. And really, when pop songs like Katy Perry's "UR So Gay" are encouraging 10-year-old girls to run around calling people "gay" for no reason other than it's apparently "funny" or "edgy" (and somehow with the support of the gay media, which boggles my mind), we need all the help we can get.

To read more about the campaign and the council, check out this story in the NY Times. And after the break, check out one of the campaign's more eye-catching ads. 

In the wake of the tragic murder of Lawrence King, the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and LOGO (AfterELton.com's parent company) have enlisted the support of a number of celebrities to film a PSA urging people to "stop the hate" and ensure the safety of ALL students in our schools.

Participating in the public service announcement are T.R. Knight, Portia de Rossi, Janet Jackson and many others. Let's hope the loss of Lawrence leads to the prevention of this happening again.

Shaun Robinson, co-anchor of Access Hollywood, is the latest celebrity to join GLAAD in saying homophobia is bad! Very, very bad! Stop it or no cookies for you!

Okay, that isn't exactly what Shaun says, but you get the idea. And Shaun is doing the PSA in February to commemorate Black History Month. I'm not entirely sure I get that connection, but whatever. The spot will premiere tonight during Access Hollywood. I'm sure I'll be watching. Oh, look! The latest episode of Torchwood just showed up in the mail! Maybe I'll just TIVO AH instead. But kudos to Shaun and Access Hollywood for promoting tolerance!

GLAAD will be launching a series of new public service announcements starting today. They are a part of an ongoing campaign called “Be an Ally and a Friend” and feature a number of gay or gay-friendly celebrities asking straight people to be “allies” of the gay community.

The list of talent recruited for this campaign is pretty impressive. It includes the likes of Rachel Griffiths (Brothers & Sisters), Michael Urie (Ugly Betty), T.R. Knight, Sara Ramirez and Kate Walsh (Grey’s Anatomy). What, no Isaiah Washington? Didn’t he tape a PSA for GLAAD awhile back? I guess his segment didn't quite make the cut.

No matter. You can view the first of the new crop of PSA’s on GLAAD’s website. That one includes Jerry O’Connell, T.R. Knight, Marlee Matlin, and John Amaechi. Coming in the next few weeks is PSA from the cast of Ugly Betty.

Of note: One of the first “Be An Ally and a Friend” PSAs (from back in 2006) featured As The World Turns actors Van Hansis (Luke Snyder) and Martha Byrne (Lily). You can watch their PSA here.