The Gay Nineties have nothing on 2008: From the “That’s So Gay” ads to the November H8 rallies to a rash of “who’s who and gay, too” self-reveals, truly, we’re wrapping up the gayest year ever (so far!) in pop culture.

Same-Sex Marriage Support With Star Power: Proposition 8 in California was a ballot amendment this November calling a halt to same-sex marriage, and it was a call to action for some big Hollywood names. Brad Pitt publicly donated $100,000 to fight the California ballot initiative, and other well-known contributors included Mary McCormack, Ellen DeGeneres, Bridget Fonda, Gus Van Sant, “The Real World” co-producer Jonathan Murray and George Takei. And when they weren’t donating their time or their performances, celebrities were talking to the media.

George Clooney said to E!’s Ted Casablanca, “At some point in our lifetime, gay marriage won’t be an issue, and everyone who stood against this civil right will look as outdated as George Wallace standing on the school steps keeping James Hood from entering the University of Alabama because he was black.”

When it was apparent that the right to same-sex marriage had been repealed, DeGeneres ran this statement on the official “Ellen” Web site: “I believe one day a ‘ban on gay marriage’ will sound totally ridiculous. In the meantime, I will continue to speak out for equality for all of us.”

Hilary Duff’s “That’s So Gay” PSA: OK, Hilary Duff is no George Clooney, but she does have quite the hard-core OMG! fan base. So, when she decided to take on the toxic topic of “gay” as a slur, tween (and other) eyebrows were raised. Although calling something “gay” as a synonym for “lame” (or worse) has long been the slur of choice for middle- and high-schoolers, Duff took it on.

She appeared in a public service announcement (PSA), created in partnership with the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), called “That’s So Gay,” which includes Duff overhearing and chastising two valleyesque teens in a clothing shop skit for using “that’s so gay” as a put-down.

Reaction, at least in the blogosphere, has been mixed (comments range from, “It’s about time!” to, you guessed it, “That video is ‘gay!’”). The bigger issue: When was the last time a squeaky clean, teen-focused pop star came out in defense of the gay and lesbian communities? Anyone?

Lindsay Lohan Kind of Comes Out: OK, so Lindsay Lohan hasn’t been considered a teen, or squeaky clean, or a star in a while. There has been rampant speculation about Lohan for years now, everything from whether her bustline was natural or enhanced to her ingestion of substances liquid, illegal or both, to whom she “dates.”

While Lohan’s career may not have had much of a surge in 2008, information about her private life certainly peaked when she (more or less, but mostly more) confirmed that her friendship with Sam Ronson was not exactly platonic. She stated in Harper’s Bazaar that she lives with, sleeps with and is in love with her girlfriend, Ronson, although, she adds, she would not call herself a “lesbian.”

Lance Bass on “Dancing With the Stars”: Ex-*NSYNC band member, actor and astronaut Lance Bass publicly revealed his sexual orientation in 2006, but his “gayness” made headlines in September 2008 when he was chosen to appear on “Dancing With the Stars,” as the show’s first openly gay celebrity or openly gay person, period, actually.

As Bass told E!, “I think it’s so important for me to do this. But my biggest concern is I just hope it doesn’t hurt the gay community in any way because, you know, we definitely can be scrutinized and picked apart. I definitely feel a responsibility of making sure I represent well.”

George Takei Gets Hitched: George Takei, of “Heroes” and “Star Trek” fame, married his longtime partner, Brad Altman, in an unapologetic display of joy and celebration never before seen in public — and footage was shown on entertainment channels around the world.

Takei, who came out of the closet in 2005, explained to Frontiers magazine, “It’s not really coming out, which suggests opening a door and stepping through. It’s more like a long, long walk through what began as a narrow corridor that starts to widen.”

Ellen and Portia Got Married: Emmy host, Academy Awards host, talk show host and pop culture icon Ellen DeGeneres tied the knot with actress Portia de Rossi in a private ceremony at their home; they released images to People magazine and other outlets after the fact. “She’s taught me lessons about myself, and I feel like I’ve taught her,” said DeGeneres of De Rossi in 2007. “We’ve both changed and grown, and we just feel like, ‘Oh, okay, this is completion.’

De Rossi and DeGeneres were married before a handful of guests, including both their mothers, several months after California lifted the ban on same-sex marriage — and two months before Proposition 8 passed, banning it again. DeGeneres came out on national television in 1997, during the run of her sitcom “Ellen.”

Clay Aiken and His Son, Parker: Second-season “American Idol” runner-up Clay Aiken and his best platonic gal pal, Jaymes, announced their pregnancy, and that freaked everyone out. And then they announced the birth, and that also freaked everyone out. And then, in September, Aiken announced his homosexuality on the cover of People magazine (”Yes, I’m gay”).

And oh, the Claymates! The freaking out! Those fans left their reactions, ranging from grief and denial to outrage, all over the blogosphere, but general public reaction to Aiken’s announcement was a universal shrugging with a side of “duh.”

Miley Cyrus and Disney, Going Gay?: In an interesting, if somewhat surreal “worlds collide” event, “Hannah Montana” star Miley Cyrus celebrated her Sweet 16 accompanied by 5,000 of her most rabid fans Oct. 5, which was the same day Disney hosted its annual (if unofficial) Gay Day, which attracted some 30,000 gays and lesbians.

A rep for Disneyland told Access Hollywood that both groups would be accommodated: The park would close at 5 p.m. to all guests not attending the Cyrus party, and Disney would accommodate Gay Days guests after 5 p.m. at its sister park, Disney’s California Adventure, with extended evening hours.

“I Kissed a Girl” — and Made Money! It was the biggest “I Kissed a Girl” song since, well, the last “I Kissed a Girl” song (in 1995, by Jill Sobule), and this “I Kissed a Girl” was a huge lead single for Katy Perry (from her 2008 album, “One of the Boys”). Perry stated that the song, which debuted in April and topped the Billboard Hot 100 in June, was “about the magical beauty of a woman.” Maybe.

Some critics found it anti-gay, but the lyrics, including, “You’re my experimental game,” utterly freaked out a number of people, specifically Perry’s parents. The evangelical Christian preachers stated that the whole concept was “shameful and disgraceful” and the lyrics promoted “sin.”

Wanda Sykes Gets Same-Sex Married: Wanda Sykes recently made a public service announcement (PSA) in which she (just like Hilary Duff) tells off some teenagers who fling around the disparaging term, “That’s so gay!” You know who is so gay? Wanda Sykes!

The first high-profile black American woman to announce her gayness made worldwide headlines. The actress/comedian Sykes was highly visible in the November Anti-Proposition 8 rallies, and then, without much fanfare, she announced her own married status — to a woman.

Neil Patrick Harris Is Music to Our Ears: Neil Patrick Harris came out in 2006. Here it is, two years later, and Harris’ star power has arguably never been brighter. He consistently gets great reviews for his work on “How I Met Your Mother” (and, for 2008, his second Emmy nomination) and his inspired stints in both the “Harold & Kumar” movies and “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.”

If you haven’t seen Dr. Horrible yet, you are, every minute that passes, bereft of writer/director Joss Whedon’s musical, one which Time magazine named No. 15 in its “Top 50 Inventions of 2008″ and so widely viewed through iTunes that, although it never actually appeared on television, it was listed for five weeks as the top downloaded TV series.

source: [msn]