BY ROB SALERNO -  As we prepare for the drunken bacchanalia that is New Year's Eve, let's pause and reflect on the videographed ephemera that filled out most of our work hours made 2011 so great. We started our countdown of 18 web videos that had queer people talking with the first six on Tuesday and six more yesterday. These next ones round out the year:

13) It's time - Get Up for Australian marriage equality

This moving video, chronicling a relationship through its meet-cute, dating, falling in love, fighting, moving in and finally proposing, was put together by Get Up, an Australian organization advocating for same-sex marriage. Gay marriage was a big deal in the continent/country this year, with state branches of the governing Labor Party each progressively calling on their federal cousins to enact marriage equality, only for Prime Minister Julia Gillard to rebuff the calls. Eventually, the Labor Party settled on allowing a free vote in Parliament next year. Because Labor holds only a minority and the opposition Liberals are opposed, the possibility of passage doesn't look promising. Still, the ad is getting people in Australia talking, and the actor, Julian Shaw, is quite a cutie.

14) Tie: Duelling It Gets Better videos

In the wake of the suicide of Ottawa teenager Jamie Hubley, several members of the Conservative Party of Canada created this rather lacklustre It Gets Better video. You may remember that we were not impressed with the MPs' robotic line readings, hypocritical statements and superficial engagement with the project. A few months later, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty released his own It Gets Better video. While it was clearly a political move, timed with the announcement of his party's anti-bullying legislation (with which we've made our problems known), we appreciated that this message was constructive, affirming and contrite where it needed to be.

15) Rick Mercer rants on teen suicide

Also in the wake of Hubley's suicide, Rick Mercer delivered an impassioned rant on the need for more out queer role models. While we agreed with the sentiment, it did leave me scratching my head over the fact that Mercer never mentions in the video that he is gay himself. 

16) Shit gay guys say

It started with the brilliant little clip "Shit Girls Say." Suddenly, videos and Twitter channels were being created for the shit being said by boys, black girls -- even a "Shit Everyone Says." The "Shit Gay Guys Say" video came about pretty quickly, and of course we all know/are people who sound exactly like this.

17) Lady Gaga's message to a Toronto high school student

Etobicoke School of the Arts high school student Jacques St-Pierre wrote to a bunch of celebrities asking them to send a message of support to bullied gay teens at his school and got this lovely message back from Lady Gaga congratulating him for his work. So he did what any teenager would do. He convened a school assembly and invited the media to hear Lady Gaga tell everyone how awesome he is. 

I kid. This is a fantastic example of a teenager working to make a positive difference in his school, and of a celebrity using her pulpit to help out.

18) Hillary Clinton's landmark speech to the UN Human Rights Council

Hillary Clinton's speech to the UN Human Rights Council about the importance of protecting the human rights of gays and lesbians worldwide was a huge surprise (she didn't want word to leak lest representatives from certain countries leave the room before her speech) and was a passionate but reasoned argument to accept gays and lesbians as equals in some of the most homophobic places on earth. There are already reports that some countries are reconsidering their anti-gay laws in the wake of her speech.

Honorable mentions: Dutch anti-bullying video

The Netherlands' children's ombudsman released this video to raise awareness of the problem of homophobic bullying. Again, while I appreciated the effort, I can't see how this would inspire someone who was being bullied.

Lady Gaga/Jim Carrey dumber face mashup

This video doesn't have anything to do with anything, but it continues to haunt my nightmares.

And that was 2011 in queer internet ephemera! See you in 2012!

BY ROB SALERNO - As we get ready to wave goodbye to 2011 and prepare for the coming Mayan apocalypse, we're taking a look back at the queer web videos that had people talking this year. Perhaps memories of this year's ephemera will keep you warm when the solar storms, earthquakes, magnetic pole reversal and super-volcanoes destroy the world around this time next year. Here are parts seven to 12 of my unranked countdown. Check out videos one to six here. 

7) The FCKH8 campaign

The FCKH8 campaign attempted to turn the gay rights movement into a trendy fashion statement with its cheeky videos full of sexy people in skimpy clothes with highlighter and metallic colours shouting ironic, profanity-laced gay rights slogans at us. They say they've raised lots of money for movements fighting for gay rights in the US, so good on them. This video drew attention to the fight against a constitutional ban on gay marriage in Minnesota.

8) Michigan senator Gretchen Whitmer responds to pro-bullying legislation

Michigan lawmakers grappled with the issue of bullying in schools and tried to pass "Matt's Safe Schools Act," an anti-bullying law named for Matt Epling, a 14-year-old who took his life in 2002 after being bullied. Unfortunately, Senate Republicans inserted language in the bill that explicitly gave students, teachers and school officials the right to bully students if they did so out of a "sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction," essentially creating a licence to bully. Senator Gretchen Whitmer gave an impassioned speech on the floor of the Senate denouncing her Republican colleagues. In a nice bit of holiday news, I'm happy to report that Whitmer's speech contributed to a massive public outcry that eventually got the Michigan Senate to pass a version of the bill that dropped the licence-to-bully language, and Matt's Safe Schools Act became law on Dec 6.  

[CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post inaccurately stated that Matt Epling was gay. We have been contacted by Matt's father, who wants us to know that he was not gay. He's also set up a website to distribute more information about his son and his anti-bullying campaign.]

9) Jonah Mowry's "What's Going On" videos

14-year-old Jonah Mowry created a stir when he released this teary, speechless monologue using flashcards to tell the story of his bullying, depression and self-harm before the start of the school year. At the end, he tells his bullies he's not going anywhere, because he's stronger than that. The video became a viral sensation and earned Mowry notes of encouragement from gay icons and celebrities like Perez Hilton and Lady Gaga as well as videos from everyday people. Months later, Mowry created a bigger uproar when he released a video saying that he was actually really popular at school and didn't need support anymore, which led some to call him a liar and even send him death threats. He later clarified that he meant he's become popular since releasing this video and coming out of the closet. Which, you know, is the best possible outcome. Were people really pissed because he wasn't getting the shit beaten out of him anymore and he no longer thought of killing himself? 

10) NMA TV takes on Toronto Zoo's gay penguins

The Toronto Zoo's gay penguins, Buddy and Pedro, inspired worldwide media attention, and while there are a lot of videos of the lovebirds out there -- and even more videos of late-night hosts riffing on them -- none match the inspired lunacy of NMA TV's animated news coverage of the brouhaha, which includes a fey Marcus Bachmann trying to pray the gay off them while they fuck to a clip of Lionel Ritchie singing "Hello."

11) US soldier comes out to his father

Randy, a gay soldier who had been posting videos and tweets about military life in the closet under the screen name AreYouSurprised, revealed his face and came out to his father in this surprising and heartwarming video the morning that Don't Ask, Don't Tell was officially scrapped. More than five million people have watched the YouTube video. It's a fitting tribute to the end of this discriminatory policy and hopefully is helping contribute to change for gay Americans. Randy has posted a whole series of videos talking about his journey out of the closet. It didn't go so well when he came out to his mother. He's also built like a tank:

12) Phil Villeneuve dancing on the subway

There's no giant message here. It's just fab Tunes columnist Phil Villeneuve dancing on the Toronto subway to Kylie Minogue's "Get Out of My Way." Back in March, it seemed like everyone was posting this on their Facebook walls, and it really is a fun video to watch. Villeneuve has since taken his moves to a No Frills store at the Dufferin Mall, the Royal Ontario Museum and the Eaton Centre.  

Come back tomorrow for the big finish!

BY ROB SALERNO - As we all come down from our tryptophan and sugar comas and prepare for the debauchery that should be New Year's Eve, I thought I'd bring back some of the best queer internet videos of the year. In no particular order, here are the six videos that had queer people talking in 2011. Check back tomorrow and Thursday for the other 12.

1) Unconditional love for queer Jamaicans

This brother and sister decided to fight the rampant homophobia in Jamaica with a public service announcement telling Jamaicans to love their queer friends and family. Unfortunately, Jamaican television stations refused to air it. In a nice bit of end-of-year news, the leader of Jamaica's main opposition party came out in support of gay rights -- like basic anti-discrimination and removing the sodomy law -- in the run-up to the national election Dec 29. Unfortunately, they're expected to lose.

2) Two lesbians raised a baby and this is what they got 

When Iowa's Republicans decided to reopen the issue of same-sex marriage with a proposed constitutional amendment to ban it in February, 19-year-old Zack Wahls made an impassioned and articulate speech before the legislature defending his family's value. The surprising power of the speech made Wahls an overnight celebrity and even got him an invitation to appear on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. It briefly returned to circulation in November when moveon.org decided to repost the video.

3) Pride Toronto's awful Pride Pump promo 

Well, we knew one of these videos would be embarrassing. This was one of Pride Toronto's rare flubs this year, a promo video that reinforced some awful stereotypes and made the event sound exclusionary. It's also about seven times longer than a silly promo video ought to be.

4) Weird Al Yankovic "Perform This Way" 

I'm not including any actual Lady Gaga videos here because we've all seen enough, but this one's got a nice story behind it. After Yankovic wrote this parody of "Born This Way," Gaga's people refused to give him her blessing to use it on his album. Yankovic retaliated by releasing the song to YouTube with a lyric video and a post explaining the whole back story. Lest she continue to look like a humourless Scrooge, Gaga made up with Yankovic and he released the song, with proceeds going to the Human Rights Campaign.  

5) Cazwell's "Get My Money Back" video

It's gay rapper Cazwell and a bunch of go-go dancers dressed as a gang of sexy bonobo monkeys. I never thought I would ever type the words "a gang of sexy bonobo monkeys" until this video came out in March.

6) Disappointing gay best friend

Disappointing gay best friend warmed the cockles of my heart with its short, pithy jokes mostly at the expense of Mikaela, the ridiculous fag hag who wants to kiss a drag queen on the lips and asks her friend if Lady Gaga ever makes him want to say "Girl, do you?" There's a whole series to watch.

Come back tomorrow and Thursday for parts two and three of the year in queer internet videos!  

Days before Jamaicans head to the polls, Portia Simpson-Miller, leader of the opposition People's National Party (PNP), dropped an election debate bombshell, saying she wouldn't have a problem with gays serving in her administration and would appoint someone gay if that person was right for the job.

"I do not have any intention of prying into the private business of anyone. I would appoint anyone with the ability, the capacity and the capability in my cabinet," the Gay Star News reports.

 The PNP believes that the human rights of all Jamaicans should be protected and that no one should be discriminated against based on their sexual orientation, she added. 

Simpson-Miller also raised the possibility of reviewing the island nation's buggery legislation, calling for a vote of conscience on the law by MPs, in consultation with their constituents.

She was rebutting the balancing-on-a-tight-rope answer the current prime minister, Andrew Holness, of the Jamaica Labour Party, gave to the preamble and question: "Jamaica has an international reputation for homophobia. What do you think of former prime minister [Bruce] Golding's statement that homosexuals were not welcome in his cabinet, and do you share that sentiment?"

Check out Holness's reply here:

Interestingly, Gay Star News notes that the PNP is fielding "a non-gender-conforming candidate" who has reportedly been the brunt of a homophobic campaign by the Jamaica Labour Party. It also reports that the PNP is running another rumoured-to-be-gay candidate in the tourist resort area of Montego Bay.

A recently concluded poll commissioned by The Jamaica Gleaner indicates that Holness has lost some of his lustre, even as most Jamaicans still think he would do the better job as prime minister.

Election day is Dec 29.

BY NATASHA BARSOTTI - In keeping with the seasonal tradition of goodwill to all, gay Minnesotans are waving the olive branch wildly and releasing peace doves at recently resigned Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch for making her break that commandment about adultery. Minnesota's gay community now gets why its selfish clamour for same-sex marriage sent Koch running into the arms of another man - a Senate staffer, by her own admission.

Amy Koch

"We are ashamed of ourselves for causing you to have what the media refers to as an 'illicit affair' with your staffer, and we also extend our deepest apologies to him and to his wife. These recent events have made it quite clear that our gay and lesbian tactics have gone too far, affecting even the most respectful of our society," the official apology, on behalf of gay and lesbian Minnesotans, states in part. "We apologize that our selfish requests to marry those we love has cheapened and degraded traditional marriage so much that we caused you to stray from your own holy union for something more cheap and tawdry."

And even more egregious on the whoops! scale -- they now acknowledge -- they dragged Koch away from her tireless efforts to add a constitutional amendment to a 2012 ballot aimed at defining marriage as a one-man, one-woman, one-time deal.

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Still to their credit, they offered this in their defence:

"As you know, we are not church-going people, so we are unable to fully appreciate that 'gay marriage' is incompatible with Christian values, despite the fact that those values carry a biblical tradition of adultery such as yours. We applaud you for keeping that tradition going." 

Those naughty Minnesota gays deserve a reprieve for their very public expression of remorse.

Whaddaya say, Kringle? Got marriage licences?