WASHINGTON -- People For the American Way today urged schools to withstand pressure from the anti-gay American Family Association to drop out of an anti-bullying day organized by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The AFA has been pressuring schools to drop out of the Oct. 30 Mix It Up Day, in which children will be encouraged to sit with someone they don’t normally talk to at lunch, according to The New York Times. The AFA, which regularly pushes harmful anti-gay myths, claims that the anti-bullying day is meant to “promote the homosexual lifestyle in public schools.”

Melanie Laura Cabardo, who prefers to be called "Mel," is an enthusiastic member of San Diego's LGBT community who considers herself to be an ally.

At 26 years old, she has spent most of her life in San Diego, although she was away for about three years on two occasions in Twin Falls, Idaho for cosmetology school and to help her parents run their business.

(This post was originally published by SDGLN media partner GLAAD.)

Tonight catch the new documentary "American Transgender," Rachel and Kurt audition for NYADA on "Glee" and new episodes of "The Voice," "Private Practice," "The L.A. Complex" and "Fashion Star."

8 pm: American Transgender on National Geographic (1 hr) NEW

LOS ANGELES -- The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) will have a star-studded lineup of VIP guests at its 23rd annual Los Angeles Media Awards, to be held Saturday, April 21.

Ellen Degeneres, Betty White and Jesse Tyler Ferguson will be amongst the numerous celebrities, donors, and others movers and shakers who will come together at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites to raise money for the organization and celebrate its achievements over the last year.