Um… I wasn’t going to post anything about this. Because, you know, the It Gets Better Project isn’t a contest, TIME, and it’s not about us. But a Korean pop star is kicking our asses. Now I can think of worse things than having my ass kicked by Rain but… um… I’m having a hard time imagining a better thing. Anyway, the HICBIA isn’t having it. So go and vote us up. Right now we only need, oh, about a quarter of a million votes to catch up with Rain.

57 replies on “Under the Influence”

  1. That lamestream media, they got your age wrong. Dan, I believe you when you say you’re only 35. I know you would never lie about something so inconsequential.

    I voted up you and Terry.

  2. Is it just my computer, or is there something missing from the html coding?

    Anyhoo, will go over and vote, of course. Terry needs his own posse of Flying Monkeys at his disposal, I think…

  4. @3 Oh, thanks! (Just spent 8 hours getting a virus off my computer, thought it was me…)

    Sweet Mary’s afterbirth, forget “Rain,” you’re getting beat by Susan Boyle…doh. This cannot happen…

  7. Done. Voted from my laptop and my phone. I bet this poll will prove almost as accurate and binding as a Slog poll in the end: they may be behind “Fukushima Power Plant Workers” and Julian Assange but look how far ahead Dan and Terry are than either Obama…than Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert…and than Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi.

    In fact, at the very least Dan and Terry will wind up the most influential of the MTV (er, Viacom) employees nominated by TimeWarner. That’d be worth a commemorative plate, or at least a slogan T…

  8. No The IGBP is not a contest, but it wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for you and Terry, and you deserve recognition for that. Writing my IGB essay was one of the best things I’ve ever done, I’m proud to have helped in small way, and I was happy to vote for you guys. You deserve all the credit you can get.

  11. @2 we are community property in Canada, I’m willing to honor that. In my home town Prop 8 failed 56% to 44%. Still more morons around this town than I would have guessed though.

  12. Rain is a major nemesis of Stephen Colbert as well. Maybe you can form an alliance.

    Hard to believe that Terry Miller is 40. It definitely keeps getting better for him.

  13. That is a really annoying UI on that website… also, I am quite sad about the current state of the poll. Susan Boyle is number three at the moment – really? I mean, sure, she sang surprisingly well, but is she really more *influential* than Putin? Or Stephen Hawking?

  22. On a serious note, Dan: regardless of the voting, the influence of you two and the IGB Project will still be felt years after people forget half the names on this list and half the remainder are Jeopardy! questions. Because every one of the lives that’s saved (either literally, or figuratively in the case of those emboldened not to settle for pretending to be something they’re not) is a life that will go on to enrich the world, mostly in ways we can’t begin to imagine.

  24. Maybe I’m reading a little too much into syntax, but…

    Looking at Time’s header on the poll, it seems to say there will be one winner chosen through this process. It also doesn’t say that they’re going to put that person first, only that they’ll include them.

    So, 99 people will “lose” the poll and still get included in the Top 100 by the editors, and presumably in any order they wish.

    By the way, look at the concerted effort by the Chinese government to suppress the vote for Ai Weiwei.

  25. Hmm, it appears you can vote as many times as you want simply by reloading the page over & over again, and it only asks you for the captcha the first time. Maybe Rain’s PR people figured this out & wrote her an auto-voter 😛

  29. Dan, I was at your appearance at Webster University. I was very disappointed that you failed to even refer to DADT (Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell) as a form of institutionalized bullying. As a gay veteran, I was compelled to vote NO on the Time’s influential poll, since you apparently failed to influence me on any level.

  30. I voted for you, and I’d just like to add that every time I see a picture of you and Terry all I can think is that you are such a cute couple.

  31. Oooooooohhh (smacks head) I only just worked out what HICBIA stands for.

    According to Time Dan’s the same age as Stephen Colbert (and according to the poll, twice as influential)

  33. Done. I’m just glad we weren’t ordered to vote everybody else down. I guess that kind of strategy is for when the stakes are higher, like when cat litter is involved.

    Rhymeswithblindmonkey

  35. I think its pitiful that the lust and idolization of pop stars is considered influence for this poll. I think they should have a poll for the most positively influential people and one for the most negatively influential people. @29 I spent the mid 80’s-mid 90’s in the military. I agree it should be open completely. During that time, DADT basically meant upon entrance. No one within the command structure that I experienced was so petty as to persecute anyone whom was openly gay. Perhaps you weren’t as fortunate. I don’t think this gives you any reason to ignore what Dan HAS contributed to society. By the way I’m straight.

  36. Dan is one of my absolute all time favorite people I don’t actually know but the real hero here is Terry… The man has been famous for staying out of the spotlight for as long as he and Dan have been together and I can only assume that this was not an easy thing for him to do. I will absolutely join his flying monkey squad. So this vote is for Terry!

    Question though: last I heard they refuse to say they are married till it is legal and instead refer to each other as boyfriends. Did the article get that wrong or am I out of date?

  37. Dan is one of my absolute all time favorite people I don’t actually know but the real hero here is Terry… The man has been famous for staying out of the spotlight for as long as he and Dan have been together and I can only assume that this was not an easy thing for him to do. I will absolutely join his flying monkey squad. So this vote is for Terry!

    Question though: last I heard they refuse to say they are married till it is legal and instead refer to each other as boyfriends. Did the article get that wrong or am I out of date?

  38. Losing to rain is one thing, but at the moment you’re also losing to Susan Boyle!!! Wtf?

    We need to at least vote you past her…

  40. @36: They’re married in Canada. Until Washington State gives them and other LGBT’s their full civil rights, they’re only legally recognized as “boyfriends” in their home state.

    I voted Dan up, but I refuse to vote Rain down. My preference for Asians prevents me from down-voting one of the most beautiful men ever. Ummm, I need to go look at those pictures some more…

  41. Oh, and for the record, I say “Preference” because I know how culturally loaded the term “Asian Fetish” (or… “Yellow Fever”) is when a white person is said to have it. I have no cultural expectations when hooking up with asians, I don’t expect asian women to act subservient, I don’t expect asian men to be bottoms (in fact I’d prefer if they weren’t). It’s just a generalized (non exclusionary) preference based on some physical traits, no different than the fact that if someone declared they have a “thing” for blondes, they are restricting themselves to those of northern european racial features.

    Phew! I just hate when people get the wrong idea.

    Now I’m off to go back to looking at pictures of Rain.

  42. TIME really needs to split this up into “most influential” bs “most beloved.” I mean, how has the world changed because of most of these pop stars. GaGa kinda gets a pass ’cause she’s vocal and politically involved, but the others…

    Voted you two (& a few others) up, voted Rain (& a bunch of others) down. Sent link to like-minded friends.

  43. Dan, I voted yesterday, but it looks like I can also vote today.

    If you want lots of votes, ask PZ Meyers to plug you on his blog and Pharyngulate the poll.

  44. +1 vote from me – up to #18 now!

    @41 My husband is half Japanese, but since I had haven’t heard of Rain, I was very tempted to vote down.

  45. @44: Watch “Ninja Assassin” (it could even be on mute if you aren’t bothered with the plot) and wait for the many scenes of Rain with his shirt off. Oh my god, his body could not be more perfect.

    Feel free to vote him down, in fact it’s probably somewhat honest if you haven’t heard of him (if you haven’t heard of him how could you think he’s “influential”?) But I didn’t down-vote because he and Gong Li are the two halves of my bisexual asian preference heaven.

  46. Voted. And I noticed that Chris Colfer (“Glee”) is currently higher in the standings, yet Time has unofficially tied him directly to Dan and Terry — PROVING their powerful influence:
    “Playing the openly gay teen Kurt Hummel has not only earned Colfer (who’s openly gay himself) a huge fan base, but it’s also earned him awards. And it was during his acceptance of the latter that he was able to give a shout-out to the former. After receiving the 2011 Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a series, miniseries or TV film, Colfer gave his own personal It Gets Better message to his fans, who like him, faced bullying because of who they were; he held up his award in their honor.”

  47. Voted. Boy, this is a straight-up global popularity contest, ain’t it??
    But I found this interesting… Chris Colfer (“Glee”) is currently higher in the rankings, but Time unofficially (inadvertently?) tied him directly to Dan and Terry and IGB — thereby PROVING their influence:
    “Playing the openly gay teen Kurt Hummel has not only earned Colfer (who’s openly gay himself) a huge fan base, but it’s also earned him awards. And it was during his acceptance of the latter that he was able to give a shout-out to the former. After receiving the 2011 Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a series, miniseries or TV film, Colfer gave his own personal It Gets Better message to his fans, who like him, faced bullying because of who they were; he held up his award in their honor.”

  50. Who is ‘Rain?’ Oh – looked it up, never mind. As far as I can tell, the only thing this poll establishes is that South Koreans are good at mobilizing to vote up a garden variety pop star in an internet poll such as this…

    Dan, I would tell Terry that it seriously does not matter what the results of a poll like this may be. At least you are not losing to Oprah.

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