Argentine Gay Marriage Halted, California Gay Marriage Activists Debate The Date, World AIDS Day, AIDS Denialists

An Argentine judge Monday ordered what was to be the country’s first same sex marriage be blocked until the Supreme Court considers the issue. Judge Marta Gomez Alsina made the decision, but the couple, Alex Freyre and Jose Maria Di Bello, apparently intend to proceed with the marriage scheduled to occur Tuesday, according to Maria Rachid, the president of the Argentine Federation for Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Transsexuals, adding that the two “are shocked and saddened by the news, but still have hopes that the wedding will go forth as planned.”

Meanwhile, in California, gay marriage proponents persist in debating whether to vote in 2010 or 2012 to overturn Proposition 8.

December 1st is World AIDS Day, a day meant to underline the struggles an estimated 33.2 million people worldwide living with disease face each day. A photographic series highlighting the work of Pela Vidda, a Brazilian organization that supports teenagers living with HIV/AID, a reminder that despite the country’s successes in controlling the rates of new infections and in securing access to treatment and prevention, the fight to end the discrimination and stigma surrounding the disease is far from over.

Why does the campaign to deny a connection between AIDS and HIV continue?

A Portrait Of Matthew Mitcham As A Young Hero

Matthew Mitcham has been immortalized, his portrait hung in Australia’s National Portrait Gallery, as envisioned by artist Ross Watson. The painting, Untitled #21/09, which imagines Mitcham as a mythic hero, will tour throughout early 2010 in both Melbourne and Sydney, before it is installed in the National Portrait Gallery. Watson says the work is homage to Italian painter Sebastiano Ricci and specifically his 1700 work Fall of Phaeton.

Uganda Determined To Cleanse Country Of Homosexuals, Rick Warren Lies, Christian Loses Appeal, Portugal Gay Marriage, China Opens Gay Bar

The government of Uganda has responded to international criticisms regarding a proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill, saying that the process of the bill becoming law would continue unabated, necessary according to Speaker Edward Sekandi, “to do whatever we can to stop” the spread of homosexual unions in the country, Sekandi adding “we don’t support that practice.”

Meanwhile, mounting proof continues to become evident that American ultra conservative Christian evangelicals are the architects behind the African anti-gay movement, with Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren chiefly among them, Warren instrumental in the implementation of government sanctioned sexuality cleansings in Uganda.

A British relationship councilor, 47 year old Gary MacFarlane, who was fired after refusing to assist gay couples because he said doing so would contradict his Christian beliefs, has lost his appeal. MacFarlane had been employed by Relate, whose spokesperson, Claire Tyler, responded to the Employment Appeal Tribunal’s ruling, saying it “validates Relate’s commitment to equality of access to our services,” adding that they rely “on making sure that all members of society, regardless of their gender, age, race, religion, sexual orientation or relationship status, are able to access respectful and professional counseling and sex therapy. We cannot allow anything to damage our clients, or to undermine the principle of trust that underpins our work.”

According to reports, gay marriage is likely to be legalized in Portugal as early as the New Year.

Government officials in China in an effort to combat HIV/AIDS have opened and will operate a gay bar in Dali, one of the cities in China most affected by the disease. The bar is being staffed by volunteers of non-government funded AIDS prevention group, and is intended to offer education and support for gay men, in addition to afforded them a safe space.

Glenn Mills Suicide, HIV Stigma Surge, Morrissey On Suicide, French Nude Rugby Player Calendar

Glenn Mills, the 40 year old HIV positive Auckland, New Zealand man held in custody since May on charges he deliberately infected at least twenty-eight other men, was found dead in his cell early Monday morning. He had taken his own life. The Auckland area gay community has set up emergency counseling, especially for those who had hoped the case would go to trial.

A report to be read to the British Parliament Monday suggests that the levels of stigma faced by people with HIV in that country has increased substantially, and it is leading to calls for the Gordon Brown led government to create a strategy to battle discrimination. The report – titled The People Living With HIV Stigma Index – a two year research project found that the public was more ignorant about HIV than ten years ago, Lisa Power of the Terrence Higgins Trust, said “this research is really important because it’s about people’s perception of the prejudice they face.”

Morrissey tells BBC Radio 4 that he once considered suicide and that “self-destruction is honorable.”

Another French rugby calendar for charity, another montage of twelve months of hot men, this one from ESC Lille, a business school, and as a warning it is NSFW.

Stephen Harper Privately Warns Uganda, Rick Warren Won’t Take Sides, Rupert Everett Still Hates You, Jesus Lutz Purports To Be His Own Man, Nike Rugby

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Sunday that he spoke privately to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and warned him against passing a proposed law that would allow prosecutors to apply the death penalty to homosexuals in the country. It has been thought that at a Commonwealth country summit held over the weekend, countries like Canada would publicly admonish Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill, but there appeared to be only private condemnations. “It was not discussed multilaterally,” said Harper, “however I did raise it directly with the president of Uganda and indicated Canada’s deep concern, strong opposition and the fact we deplore these kinds of measures. We find them inconsistent with frankly, I think any reasonable understanding of human rights.”

Despite continual evidence that he, and other American conservative extreme evangelicals are co-authors of the anti-homosexual movement in Uganda, Rick Warren, pastor for the pro-Proposition 8 Saddleback Church, said Sunday that he and his ministry is not working with Ugandan legislators, although Warren would not – or could not – condemn the bill that at the very least chronically contradicts Christianity.

Rupert Everett continues to offer a master class in how to age rather disgracefully, telling tall tales fuelled by anger and a brutal bitterness.

Meet Jesus Lutz.

Nike has a new commercial airing in France for its Nike Pro Combat line, featuring one smoking sexy rugby star Imanol Harinordoquy.

Uganda Determined To Pass Anti-Homosexuality Bill, Battling The Brethren, Argentina Gay Marriage, Liverpool Bashing, Transgender Police, Gay Bookstore

Despite condemnation by both Britain and Canada, Uganda appears defiant and determined to proceed with the passing of the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill, that bill’s sponsor, Member of Parliament David Bahati, saying that Uganda will not retreat from enacting the bill that proposes the death penalty for acts of “aggravated homosexuality,” insisting that Ugandans “believe that homosexuality is not a common value for the commonwealth. There is no amount of pressure or intimidation that can deter us from defending our traditional family ser up.”

The rather remarkable tale of Craig Hoyle, a 20 year old gay man who defied the instructions of the Exclusive Brethren, a religious sect, often deemed a extremist cult, that forbids homosexuality, and who was finally ex-communicated after resisting attempts to cure him of being gay by a forced round of hormonal suppressant drugs.

This Tuesday, Alex Freyre and Jose Maria Di Bello, together for three years, will make history, becoming the first the gay couple in Argentina to legally marry. And it would be folly to suggest that the formal ceremony to take place in the country’s capital city of Buenos Aires is not bigger than both men, generating a conversation of social change in a county whose Catholicism and tradition creates a climate less than welcoming to change of any kind.

Police in Liverpool, England have released a videotape that shows some of the teenage boys wanted in connection to vicious attack on a 19 year old gay man Wednesday November 18, that I previously posted about. The young man, a Liverpool community college student who suffered substantial injuries in the attack, has just arrived in the city in the early evening when he was set upon by the group, who punched him from behind, and continued to assault him while yelling anti-gay slurs.

The story, so far, of 42 year old Kerry Bell, a police officer with the Bountiful, Utah force for fourteen years, born female, who began transitioning to male a year and a half ago.

Out Word Bound, the only gay and lesbian bookstore in Indianapolis, Indiana, is closing, the two owners, Mary Byrne and Tammara Tracy writing an email to customers Wednesday, relaying the news, saying “it has been a good run." The store, which has been a focal point of the city’s homosexual community, opened in 1998, and according to Byrne and Tracy continues to be successful, but they say they each lack the time needed to own and operate a small business.

Grady Sizemore Semi-Nude Pictures Leaked

Cleveland Indians center fielder Grady Sizemore, an All Star whose 2009 season was marred by injuries, found success off the field, posing in various states of undress – though, not sadly, fully undressed – for his former girlfriend, who leaked them today, which is all so classy and thoroughly thoughtful, no? Although no concrete proof is yet available, Mr. Sizemore appears to live up to his name, and then some. The pictures, as a warning, are vaguely NSFW, the site itself seriously NSFW.

Brilliant Veteran Los Angeles Times Transsexual Sports Columnist Dies

A sad story, with news breaking that veteran Los Angeles Times sports columnist Mike Penner, who in 2007 announced via his column that he was a transsexual, and began to write under the byline Christine Daniels, has died. According to the Times’ his body was found at his Los Angeles home, and authorities suspected suicide was the cause of death. He was 52. The paper also reports that in 2008 Penner requested in 2008 that his Christine Daniels bylines be changed. Penner was an excellent sports journalist, whose insight and intelligence in covering the NFL was a joy to read, and that he appears to have died in moment of great confusion is a true tragedy. I will have more details once they become available.

Brendan Burke On The Response To Coming Out, Harvey Milk Hall Of Fame Induction, Continual Commonwealth Condemnation Of Uganda Anti-Gay Hate

Brendan Burke says that the response to his coming out has been “100 percent supportive,” the twenty year old thrust into the role of hero, announcing publically that he is gay, the former goaltender now a manger for the men’s hockey team at the University of Miami, at Ohio, adding that he realizes “for some people it’s going to be an issue. I mean, there are some people who aren’t going to get over this and will still hold this against me.” Burke, whose father Brian is currently the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, contends the day will soon come that a high profile active professional player will come out, Burke saying “Canada is a great place that has always been very accepting and as a country in general it’s pretty gay-friendly … So that’s a good base to start from. As far as the NHL goes, what we’d need is for a former player to come out and talk about what his experiences were and what challenges he faced, and having that discussion and that player talk about it would be a good place for a current place to come out.”

Yesterday, November 27th, marked the 31st anniversary of Harvey Milk’s assassination, the gay rights leader and politician’s life ended far too soon, taken in a moment of great hate. However, this Tuesday, December 1st, in a moment of great importance, Mr. Milk will be inducted into the California Hall of Fame, presented posthumously with the Spirit of California medal by Governor Schwarzenegger and first lady Maria Shriver. Tennis legend Billie Jean King will also be inducted.

At a meeting of Commonwealth countries in Trinidad, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is reported to have told Uganda President Yowen Museveni that he is opposed to the proposed legislation that would carry a penalty of death for acts of aggravated homosexuality. Brown’s stance is similar to the one shared by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who, through a spokesperson, said that “if adopted, a bill further criminalizing homosexuality would constitute a significant step backwards for the protection of human rights.” Some gay rights activists, however, accuse the Commonwealth leaders like Britain and Canada of failing to condemn the continued climate of homophobic discrimination and violence, underlining that of the 53 Commonwealth member states, over 40 still hold laws that criminalize homosexuality, those laws in some cases dating back to the 19th century when there were imposed by the British government under colonial rule.

The Swedish development minister said that the country was prepared to cut back assistance to Uganda if that country approves an Anti-Homosexual Bill. Gunilla Carlsson said she is “doubly disappointed, party because Uganda is a country with which we have had long-term relations and where I thought and hoped we had started to share common values and understanding,” adding that “the law itself is wretched, but it’s also offensive to see how the Ugandans choose to look at how we see things, and the kind of reception we get when we bring up these issues.

British Study Reveals HIV Late Diagnosis Rise, Defending Adam Lambert, Prosecuting Adam Lambert, Male Model Hotness, Cristiano Ronaldo Shirtless

A report released today in the United Kingdom by the Health Protection Agency says that the number of HIV cases rose by some 8 percent between 2007 and 2008, but more alarming is the study concludes that 22,000 of the 83,000 people with HIV remains unaware that they are infected. The Agency also suggests that late diagnosis is increasingly becoming more and more of a problem, with 32 percent of adults in 2008 tested positive for HIV past the point at which treatments should have already been initiated.

The Adam Lambert American Music Award man on man action – forever to be known as “The Kiss” - continues to cultivate controversary, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation stating that CBS’ decision to blur an image of Lambert kissing his male keyboard player, while showing an un-blurred image of Madonna kissing Britney Spears creates an obvious double standard. “I would have hope CBS would provide the same treatment for images of gay and lesbian people,” said president Jarrett Barrios, “and not create an unfair double standard that treats our community differently. CBS regular shows kisses throughout its daytime programming. The kiss was not blurred on ABC nor in news coverage on other networks.”

An opinion, meanwhile, that suggests Adam Lambert’s carefully calculated award show shock and awe caused a good deal of harm to the movement for complete and equal rights for gays and lesbian, arguing that mainstream America is worried about extending equality to homosexuals “because they think gay life is exactly what [Lambert] portrayed on the American Music Awards: focused on the kind of sex turns people into animals (almost literally, in this case, with crawling dancer leading you on leashes), geared towards enticing children (ABC is a network owned by Disney, for heaven’s sake), degrading, rapacious, empty.”

Meet male model Romulo Arantes.

Say hello to Cristiano Ronaldo, who returned to form Wednesday after an extended absence owing to an ankle injury, the stunningly sexy star playing for nearly twenty-one minutes in a game won by Real Madrid 2-1 over Zurich.

Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado Murderer’s Confession Called Into Question, Why Are New Jersey Democrats Doing Nothing About Gay Marriage Legislation?

There is mounting concern that the confession made by the suspect held in custody for the murder of 19 year old Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado is meant to deliberately disguise the truth. 26 year old Juan Martinez Matos, who was arrested three days after the badly dismembered body of Mercado had been discovered along an isolated road, said that he met Mercado in an area known for prostitution, that Mercado was dressed like a woman, and that he killed Mercado only after discovering that he was in fact a man, and after Mercado had demanded money.

However, according to Pedro Julio Serrano, who spoke to Gay City News, and who is Puerto Rico’s most visible gay activist and the current communications manager for the New York City based National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the details distort the true Mercado. “None of Jorge Steven’s friends,” said Serrano, “and I’ve spoke to many of them, knew anything about his ever having engaged in sex work, not his family, not his friends, and not the police.” Serrano added that Jorge Steven was not “known as a cross-dresser. He identified and lived as a proud gay man, he was very genuine and authentic. He was just very fashion-orientated and what you could call a gender-bender, but not in a transgendered way.” Perhaps most confusing and of concern are the claims that Mercado was wearing a dress, since, again according to Serrano, “we do not know if the murder’s claim that Jorge Steven was wearing a dress is true or not, because the body had been so dismembered, its legs and torso strewn in different locations, and it had been also been burned along with the clothes he was wearing.”

The New York Times editorial of Thursday that lambasts that feeble political gait of the New Jersey Democrats, who hold a majority, and who keep delaying any and all action enacting legislation that would afford gay and lesbian the right to marry, the Times’ expressing frustration, suggesting that “inaction is not an acceptable option,” and wondering “if the Democratic majorities in New Jersey’s Legislature are unwilling to stand up for a fundamental civil right that a majority of voters would accept, when exactly would they stand up?”

Australia Gay Civil Unions Allowed, San Juan Vigil For Jorge Mercado, Turkish Gay Honor Killings, Vallejo Mayor Under Attack For Anti-Gay Remarks

There are reports Thursday that the Australian commonwealth government has now conceded and will allow the country’s Central Territory to continue permitting same sex couples to hold legally binding civil ceremonies, the two governments having attained a compromise that will likely led to a to national reform on gay marriage.

Thousands of people marched Wednesday in San Juan, the capital city of Puerto Rico, a vigil for Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado, murdered, his burned, mutilated body found along a deserted road on November 13th. According to the Associated Press, the crowd moved towards the Department of Justice building, demanding that the killing be investigated as a hate crime.

The New York Times reports on the murder of 26 year old Ahmet Yildiz, shot five times outside the door of his Istanbul apartment building in July of 2008 by his father, who is wanted and is believed to be hiding in Iraq. His trial, begun in absentia, is the first gay honor killing in Turkey to be publically tried, and reveals a country whose contradictions between the traditional and the modern fuels a brutal and grotesque form of homophobia.

Vallejo, California Mayor Osby Davis is under attack for comments he made regarding his religious beliefs and homosexuality. The mayor told a newspaper “they’re committing sin and that sin will keep them out of heaven,” adding that “you don’t hate the person. You hate the sin that they commit.” The remarks were made in a New York Times article that appeared Friday on the city and the divide between the city’s evangelical population and the homosexual population, the piece titled "Faith and Tolerance Collide in Vallejo," and the mayor has since apologized, saying his comments were taken out of context. A demonstration is being planned, led by Lou Bordisso, an openly gay priest, who says that Mayor Obsy’s homophobic remarks give “a sense of legitimacy to hate crimes.”

Canada Condemns Uganda, Jorge Mercado Murder Investigated As Hate Crime, CBS Explains Adam Lambert Blurring, Cockfight, Military Fetishism

Canada continues to condemn Uganda and that country’s proposed Anti-Homosexual Bill, Peter Kent, the minister of state for foreign affairs calling the legislation “reprehensible, vile and hateful,” adding that for a commonwealth democracy to consider such a law is “appalling.” Canada’s contingent to the Commonwealth summit set to start Friday, is likely to convey the message to the Ugandan government that passing such a measure would be an “unacceptable and a gross infringement of human rights in Uganda.”

After a meeting with the Puerto Rico American Civil Liberties Union, the Department of Justice agreed to investigate the horrific murder of 19 year old Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado as a hate crime. It will be the first time prosecutors in Puerto Rico have tried a case as a hate crime.

The CBS Early Show Wednesday morning, while interviewing Adam Lambert, blurred the image of the American Idol runner up kissing a male band member from the American Music Awards Sunday night, while showing an image of Madonna kissing Britney Spears from the opening of the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, causing most to wonder whether Lambert is correct to suggest that an obvious double standard exists. CBS offered an awkward excuse late today, saying that the network “gave this some real thought. The Madonna image is very familiar and appeared countless times, including many time on morning television. The Adam Lambert image is a subject of great controversy, has not been nearly as widely disseminated and, for all we know, may still lead to legal consequences.”

A new online magazine VFOLD Zine features a photographic series titled Cockfight, which while not a literal interpretation, is curiously sexy.

Brazilian magazine FFW captures the erotic fetishism of military life with spectacularly results.

German Army Gay Discrimination Abounds, Charleston Civil Rights, Dallas LGBT Youth Center, Jude Law Assistant, Glee, SNL, Taylor Lautner’s Boyfriend

Despite a decision in 1990 that lifted a ban on gay men no longer being regarded ‘emotionally vulnerable” and therefore no longer considered “compromising” to the engagement of the military, Germany ended a policy against homosexuals serving openly, but the ruling, meant to end discrimination, appears to have inadvertantly created an open climate of hatred and hostility towards homosexuals.

On Tuesday, the Charleston, South Carolina City Council approved anti-discrimination ordinances, expanding city regulations to prevent discrimination in accommodations, housing, and services based on sexual orientation or gender identity, including an addition to the city code of a section that reads in part that “no person shall be discriminated against in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, familial status, disability, or sexual orientation.”

A report Wednesday on Youth First Texas, located in Dallas, the center celebrating its tenth year serving gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, and questioning youth in north Texas,

Jude Law was out and about along the sidewalks of New York City Tuesday afternoon accompanied by a seriously smoking sexy assistant.

Get ready for Glee withdrawal, Fox announcing Wednesday that the show will take a four month hiatus after December, the next new episode not airing until April 13th, 2010.

Saturday Night Live announced that the three December hosts are Blake Lively, Taylor Lautner, and James Franco.

Lautner, meanwhile, rumors rampant that he is gay, is reportedly dating this man.

Brendan Burke, Gay Athletes, And The Failure Of Sports Journalists

Yesterday, in an awkward ESPN article, Brendan Burke, the son of Stanley Cup winning and current Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke, came out. Brendan, a former goalie, it was reported, came out to his father in late 2007, and his dad has and continues to be an ardent supporter. Brian, whose steering to date of the Leafs has been anything but smooth, suggested that he hoped that one day stories such as the one shared by son would no longer be stories as well as mentioned that it would be idiocy not to realize that there were gay NHL players, coaches, etc. Unfortunately, it is a story, at least in late 2009, and it is one that is being handled with typical ineptitude by the very media whose role it is to cover professional sports, and more specifically hockey.

As evidence – an incredibly insulting article Wednesday in the Globe and Mail by one Dave Shoalts, that is a feeble failure all around, Shoalts (or his editor) committing numerous journalism transgressions, and fuelling an already lit fire that the timing of the announcement by brave Brendan is a small part of a larger orchestration meant to “humanize” Brian Burke. Shoalts, without any apparent evidence, suggests that members of the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Tampa Lightening “were clearly uncomfortable yesterday when they were asked about how a fellow athlete would be accepted if he were openly gay,” except that none of the players actually ever said that; well, according to Shoalts, 19 year old Steve Stamkos “blushed” when asked about an athlete coming out. Yes, that’s right; he “blushed.” Ugh!

Elsewhere, there has been plenty of lame discussion of the culture of sports, of an environment that breeds homophobia, which is an often too easy and rarely evidenced excuse. The arena of sports is homophobic? Wait, what? When did that occur? I am beginning to believe that it is not the athletes themselves who are homophobic, who stand in the way of inclusive progress, but those whose careers are dependant on the marketing of athletics – journalists, agents, etc. – all of whom seem to contend that the arena of athletics is a rabidly heterosexual one, you know, where no one blushes.

Commonwealth May Revoke Ugandan Membership Over Anti-Gay Bill, Adam Lambert, Mike Huckabee Compares Gay Marriage To Polygamy, Australian Gay First

A Commonwealth country summit scheduled to being Friday chaired by Ugandan President and noted anti-gay hater Yowen Museveni, is likely the first of many showdowns over the proposed Anti-Homosexual Bill in Uganda, the issue likely to be raised not only because Museveni is the chair, but because the grotesque abuse of basic human rights masquerading as government policy is being roundly condemned by most countries, including Canada, whose Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, said Tuesday that “if adopted, a bill further criminalizing homosexuality would constitute a significant step backwards for the protection of human rights in Uganda,” adding that Canada calls upon “states to take all necessary measures to ensure that sexual orientation and gender identity may under no circumstances be the basis for criminal penalties, in particular executions, arrests, or detention.”

Adam Lambert appeared on CBS’s The Early Show Wednesday morning and said the reaction to his supposed shocking performance Sunday onstage at the American Music Awards comes from a double standard applied to gay males, saying “If it had been a female performer … I don’t think there’d be near as much of an outrage at all.”

Mike Huckabee, failed Republican presidential candidate, tells Katie Couric that when the definition of marriage is altered to allow gay men and women to legally wed “then there is really no limit” to how it will continue to be defined, comparing same sex marriage rights to an endorsement of polygamy.

Chris Rumble and Warren McGaw, a committed couple since 1989 Wednesday became the first Australian gay couple to legally wed, at a civil ceremony in Canberra, after legislation took effect last Thursday in the Australian Central Territory.

Anti-Gay Cleric Cancelled, Lawsuit Filed Over Botched Atlanta Eagle Raid, Alex Pettyfer, Daniel Radcliffe, Scott Evans, Adam Lambert Reactions

Abu Usamah, an anti-gay cleric, who suggested that gays be “thrown off a mountain, was scheduled to speak next week at University College London, but that appearance has now been cancelled.

A federal lawsuit was filed Tuesday against the Atlanta Police Department over a raid that occurred on September 10th at the city’s Eagle Bar. The suit, filed by the gay rights advocacy group Lambda Legal, alleges that nineteen of the bar’s patron that night were forcibly searched and detained. Court documents state that “during the raid, patrons were made to lie facedown on the floor while background checks were run on everyone. Eagle bar patrons heard anti-gay slurs, were forced to lay in spilled beer and broken glass … these actions were taken without particularized reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe that any individual patron, let alone every person at the establishment, was involved in criminal activity whatsoever.” No patrons were ever charged.

More from Hedi Slimane shoot featuring the beyond pretty Alex Pettyfer.

A new book by photographer Tim Hailand titled One Day in the Life of Daniel Radcliffe, a document of a day in the life of the hotness while rehearsing his role in the Broadway revival of Equus. There is, thankfully, a lovely look at Daniel post-shower, highlighting Radcliffe’s ridiculously sexy treasure trail. A proceed of the book’s profits go towards Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Talented and terribly cute Scott Evans graces the cover of the December Instinct magazine.

A number of former American Idol contestants consider Adam Lambert supposedly shocking set Sunday at the American Music Awards, including the openly gay Jim Verraros who said that “we need this, and we need him. We need to have him out there … he’s a gay pop singer from America. “Verraros added that he was “torn, I just don’t know if I would have done that kind of performance for my first nationally televised show.”

Brave Brendan Burke Comes Out, Novak Djokovic, Ryan Succop, Adam Lambert Appearing On Early Show, Matt Bomer, Ryan Phillippe Shirtless

Brendan Burke, the son of Brian Burke, general manager of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, has come out. According to the story, which is, unfortunately, not very well written, he came out to his father at the end of December, 2007. Brian says that he would have preferred “Brendan hadn’t decided to discuss this issue in this very public manner. There will be a great deal of reaction, and I fear a large portion will be negative. But this takes guts, and I admire Brendan greatly, and happily march arm in arm with him on this.” Brian added that “there are gay men in professional hockey. We would be fools to think otherwise. And it’s sad that they feel the need to conceal this. I understand why they do so, however.”

Novak Djokovic, who never met an item he would not take off in public, and Nikolay Davydenko, in London, England, post-match at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, share a shirtless, sweaty embrace.

Ryan Succop, though not gay (at least that I know) is terribly talented and more than cute, and his field goal in overtime Sunday lifted the once hapless Kansas City Chiefs to an upset victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-24. The 22 year old was selected last in the 2009 draft, which inadvertently earned him the title Mr. Irrelevant. Since dumping anti-gay hate filled running back Larry Johnson, the Chiefs have won two straight.




After ABC’s Good Morning America cancelled an appearance by Adam Lambert – it thought the singer too controversial for morning television – CBS’s The Early Show booked him for Wednesday morning, where he will perform as well as discuss the supposed shocking performance he gave Sunday night on the American Music Awards. He also appears Wednesday evening on The Late Show with David Letterman.

Matt Bomer, star of White Collar, on the USA network, in New York City Monday night at the 37th Annual International Emmy Awards, looking as beautiful as ever.



The most beautiful man alive Ryan Phillippe hikes through Laurel Canyon Monday, shirtless and sexy, and that is more than enough.

ABC Cancels Adam Lambert Concert, Taylor Lautner, Southern Voice Heard Again, Straight Couple Challenges Gay Law, Kevin Rudd Veto ACT Bill

According to reports, ABC’s Good Morning America has cancelled a scheduled performance Adam Lambert was to give Wednesday, November 25th, as a part of the show’s Fall Concert Series. A spokesperson said “given his controversial American Music Awards performance, we were concerned about airing a similar concert so early in the morning.” There are reports that ABC has received thousands of complaint since the live airing of that award’s show Sunday night on the network, where Lambert feigned fellatio as well as kissed his male keyboard player.

Taylor Lautner appears on the cover of the Rolling Stone magazine. He is, as an aside, almost 18 years old. Almost

The Southern Voice, the Atlanta based gay newspaper that was forced to fold after twenty-one years on Monday, after its publisher, Windows Media filed for bankruptcy, is getting a new lease on life, a 12,000 dollar matching donation made to the new publication Tuesday morning by the Lloyd E. Russell Foundation, Russell an activist and businessman, openly gay, the nonprofit formed in 1990.

A British heterosexual couple, Tom Freeman and Katherine Doyle, who were denied a request Monday to obtain a civil partnership, says they will launch a legal challenge. In England, civil partnerships are available only to homosexual couples, and marriages are available only to heterosexual couples. Freeman, who, like Doyle, is a civil servant, said that “in a democratic society, all institutions should be open to all people regardless of their sexuality.”

The Australian Kevin Rudd led Federal Government is likely to veto a just passed bill in the country’s Central Territory or ACT, that affords same sex couples the right to recognize their relationships in legally binding ceremonies. The law came into effect last Thursday.

Tom Ford Says Single Man NOT A GAY FILM, 1,500 Complain About Adam Lambert, AIDS And Homophobia, No Homo Homecoming, Colt McCoy

Why is Tom Ford acting like an apologist for the gay content of his directorial debut A Single Man? Ford tells the Wall Street Journal’s Speakeasy that “I wasn’t trying to make Terminator 12. But this is not a gay film. I don’t even think about that. There are so many gay characters on TV that it’s almost become a cliché.” Um, a cliché?

Sadly, but not surprisingly, ABC reports it has received upwards of 1,500 complaints about the live performance Sunday evening of American Idol runner up Adam Lambert at the American Music Awards, a performance that seemed so carefully crafted so as to shock, including a male on male kiss that Lambert left out of rehearsals. Lambert, whose ambiguous sexual orientation – he is gay, but not too gay – continues to be a source of criticism, appeared to want to deliberately confront those in the gay community who see him as less than a hero and also to announce to middle-America that he is indeed a homosexual. Graphic, shocking, and vulgar, um, well, not so much, given that the AMA’s tend to traffic in vulgarity.



Since being created in 2003, the United State’s President Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief has distributed an estimated 50 billion dollars worldwide, but should the program, created by former President George W. Bush – now the largest public health program in history – continue to inadvertently promote homophobia in countries like Uganda, a nation whose proposed Anti-Homosexual Bill would in effect supply the death penalty to homosexuals convicted of certain offenses?

Students at the University of North Texas voted against a Student Senate sponsored referendum that would have allowed same sex couples to be eligible for the school’s Homecoming titles, the results revealed late Monday.

University of Texas Longhorns’ quarterback cuteness Colt McCoy, seen in action Saturday against the Kansas Jayhawks, the Longhorn’s winning 51 – 20 to remain unbeaten with just one regular season game remaining.

Canada Customs Seize Three Gay Themed Films, Hate Crimes Rose Slightly In America, Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado Memorial

On Thursday, Canada Customs Officials seized copies of three films that were scheduled to be shown Saturday evening as a part of the Inside Out Film Festival at the National Gallery in Ottawa, Ontario. All three films, gay themed, have been previously shown in various cities throughout the country, and agents offered no reason as to why they suddenly stopped at the border. Patrik 1.5, a Swedish film about a gay couple who want to adopt, I Can’t Think Straight, a British film about two women who fall in love under unusual circumstances, and Clapham Junction, a British film that document 36 hours in the lives of 8 gay Londoners did not clear customs. The Saturday screenings were sponsored by Jer’s Vision, a national organization based in Ottawa that supports and encourages the works of youth in addressing discrimination in their communities and schools.

The number of hate crimes rose slightly in the United States in the year 2008, that according to a report released today by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In 2007, there were 7,624 criminal incidents reported, with 9,006 offenses, and in 2008 there were 7,783 criminal incidents with 9,168 offenses. Of the hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation, gay men were the majority, with 58 percent of the criminal incidents committed homosexuals. It is important to remember that these statistics are based solely on the number of hate crimes both reported and subsequently prosecuted.

The family and friends of Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado have created an online memorial tribute to the slain 19 year old, a poignant reminder of a life lived beyond the gruesome, tragic headlines of the gay man’s death.

Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado New York City Vigil

Thousands gathered in New York City Sunday, along Pier 45, near Christopher Street, there to march and mark the murder of 19 year old Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado. The Puerto Rican native was murdered a little over a week ago, decapitated, dismembered, and burned, his body left alongside an isolated road, 26 year old Juan Martinez Matos is in custody, having confessed to the killing. Although Mercado was admittedly killed because he was gay, the case is not yet being charged as a hate crime. New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, openly gay, attended the vigil and she said “the attack against an American because of their sexual orientation or gender identity is unacceptable, and will be prosecuted to the highest and fullest extent of the law.”

Hundreds Gather In Liverpool Marching Against Homophobia, Nicholas Hoult, Anderson Cooper, Neil Patrick Harris

Hundreds gathered Sunday in Liverpool, England, to march against homophobia, the city the site of recent gay bashing including one that left 22 year old police officer James Parkes in critical care for days in hospital and one that took the life of 18 year old Michael Causer. Causer was killed in the summer of 2008, his body left in the streets by his killers, who were found guilty, but who were not prosecuted for committing a hate crime. Michael’s mother Marie was on hand Sunday at the march, and she said that they protest participants were there “to get the message across that enough is enough and that homophobia isn’t acceptable, not here, not anywhere.”

Nicholas Hoult, who stars in Tom Ford’s directorial debut A Single Man, was seen on the streets of New York City for an upcoming feature in American Vogue, Hoult having grown into something sexy from his appearance in About A Boy.

Anderson Cooper, in Los Angeles, California Saturday at the third annual CNN Heroes Awards.



Also at the event, one Mr. Neil Patrick Harris, decidedly dashing and debonair

Message From Mother Of Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado, Another Liverpool Gay Bashing, DADT Hearings Suspended, Endorsing Annise Parker

There a number of rallies planned Sunday to protest the brutal, horrific hate killing of 19 year old Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado – a schedule of the vigils available here – as well as message from the young gay man’s mother, Miriam, who says that “when my son told me he was gay, I told him, ‘Now I love you more.’ I want to tell the world that hatred is not born with human beings, it is a seed that is planted by adults and is fostered creating a climate of intolerance and violence. We must change our ways and understand that anyone could have been my son.”

A 19 year old Wirral man reports that Wednesday he was attacked by a group of youths in Liverpool, beaten badly, his nose broken, while the group of 12 – 14 year olds yelling anti-gay slurs. The announcement of the attack comes the day before a massive march against homophobia is scheduled for Sunday in Liverpool, the aftermath of a previous gay bashing that left 22 year old police officer James Parkes in hospital.

On Friday, a spokesperson for the United States Senate Armed Services Committee announced that a hearing to consider ending the military ban on gays serving openly will be postponed indefinitely. The Committee was addressing Afghanistan and the aftermath of the Fort Hood, Texas military base, but as late as October said that a hearing was definite for November and had hoped to find a means to repeal the policy. Democrat Carl Levin, the Committee Chair, indicated that the time was required to concentrate on the Fort Hood shootings.

The Houston Chronicle Sunday, endorsed Annise Parker for mayor, the openly gay candidate who has been the victim of a campaign of hate and misinformation, the Chronicle writing in an editorial Sunday that “in both her public and personal life, Parker has maintained high ethical standards and decorum in her years as an elected official. No scandals have occurred on her watch. As mayor she will present the city’s best face to the world, one of tolerance, diversity and compassion for all our citizens.”

The Complete Levi Johnston Playgirl Photographs

The remainder of the Levi Johnston Playgirl photo shoot has leaked, Levi holding off showing the Johnston, but offers a rather spectacular rear view, and well, being curiously cute as always. As a warning, the link is very NSFW.

Leaked Levi Johnston, Catholics Pursue Anglicans,Christians Compare Gay Marriage To Incest, Caster Semenya, Longhorn Rally, Bash Back Denial, Tom Ford

They are not rather revealing, but Playgirl has leaked two more images from the Levi Johnston photo shoot, nonetheless it is Levi and he is curiously cute.

The presumptive heads of both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England met Saturday in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI and Archbishop Rowan Williams meeting briefly for the Vatican deemed “cordial discussions” the two talking for the first time since the Pope announced that the Catholic Church was willing to make the transition easier for conservative Anglicans dissatisfied with their Church’s decision to ordain openly gay clergy and women as bishops. The Archbishop expressed concern that the announcement was perceived by several to signal an attempt by the Catholic Church to poach Anglicans.

The meeting comes one day after one hundred and fifty American Christian leaders, mostly Catholics and evangelicals, issued a joint manifest – The Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience - was released. The pompously titled 4,700 page document detailed the leaders’ opposition to gay marriage and to abortion, and an alarm that religious freedoms needed to be protected. The declaration states that legalizing gay marriage would sanction “polyamorous partnerships, polygamous households, even adult brothers, sisters, or brother and sisters living in incestuous relationships.”

Caster Semenya, the 18 year old South African runner, gave an exhaustive interview to the Guardian, revealing an athlete bewildered and bothered by the notoriety she gained after gender verification tests were ordered by the track and field governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federation, the day before she won the women’s 800 meter, setting a world record. “People want to stare at me now,” says Semenya, “They want to touch me. I’m supposed to be famous but I don’t think I like it so much.”

A rally was held Thursday at the University of Texas by faculty and students in support of domestic partnership benefits for faculty and staff, one of the faculty members, Karen Landolt said that not having full and equal benefits for same sex couples “hurts the university’s credibility, it hurts our ability to recruit the brightest and the best, and to retain staff as well. The university completes on all levels for both faculty and staff, against institutions that provide better benefits and better opportunities.”

Contrary to reports earlier in the week, the radical queer liberation group Bash Back! says it was not responsible for vandalizing a National Coming Out Day billboard in Memphis, Tennessee, that was sponsored by the Memphis Gay and Lesbian Center.

Tom ford, whose directorial debut, the highly anticipated A Single Man is released December 11th, answers sixteen questions.

Levi Johnston Cut

This picture of Levi Johnston, that was leaked from the Playgirl photo shoot, of Levi standing mournfully in his Nike Pro boxer briefs , lovingly contemplating what to do next, might be the best glimpse of the goods and conclusive proof that young Mr. Johnston is circumcised.

Mercado Murder Suspect Held On Bail, Rally For Mercado, San Diego Mayor To Testify For Gays, Jamie Dornan Nude, Trevor Donavan, Bruce Weber

The Associated Press is reporting the suspect in custody for the horrific hate motivated murder of 18 year old Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado is being held on bail set at four million dollars. Authorities charged 26 year old Juan Martinez Matos Wednesday with murder, but have yet to determine whether the case will be the first one outside the territory of the United States to be tried under the newly expanded hate crimes act. Martinez Matos confessed t o the killing of Mercado – who was decapitated, dismembered, burned, the body left alongside an isolated road – but he invoked a plea of homosexual defence when arranged.

Meanwhile CNN International reports that hundreds gathered in Puerto Rico Thursday to protest Mercado’s murder, and the Village Voice reports that a rally is planned for this Sunday in New York City, along Christopher Street.

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, a Republican, who reversed his position on gay marriage two years ago amidst the battle over Proposition 8, revealing that his daughter was gay, is scheduled to testify against the constitutional amendment that bans same sex marriage in the state at a federal trial to begin January 11th, 2010, in San Francisco.

Jamie Dornan nude, and yes, there is nothing to add.

Trevor Donavan, meanwhile, nearly nude on the beach along the shores of the Pacific Ocean, and that is more than enough.

Famed photographer Bruce Weber set to publish a new book December 20th, the result of a three year collaboration with dancer extraordinaire Roberto Bolle, simply titled Roberto Bolle: An Athlete in Tights.

American Lesbian Soldier Wins Deportation Stay In Canada, Lesbian Soldier Says DADT Is Not The Issue

An American soldier, who says she was refused a discharge under the military policy of gays serving openly, has won a reprieve from a Federal Court in Canada who ruled that the Immigration and Refugee Board reconsider her denied asylum claim. Bethany Smith, who adopted the named Skyler James when she deserted to Canada two years ago, says she was denied a discharge because she was to be deployed to Afghanistan, even though in doing so the military violated its own policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” She says that after being outed by another soldier, she was the victim of constant discrimination and harassment, but when she asked to be formally discharged was told that there existed such a shortage of military personal that she would be required to complete a tour of duty.

Meanwhile, a lesbian soldier who says she served six years on active duty with the United States Army, offers a point of view regarding DADT rarely, if ever heard, JT Blatty arguing that the “policy is not homosexual witch-hunt," and more importantly, not the most fundamental civil rights issue facing gays. Blatty also suggests that the military ban on gays serving openly has been co-opted as means to an end by straight personal wanting to get out of active duty, Blatty saying that “during my time in the Army, a large percentage of the DADT investigations were caused by straight soldiers playing the homosexual card to get out of going overseas. These guys would go to the extreme, staging photographs and videos of themselves with other men, or maybe even making out in front of their commander. They were using DADT as a potential free ticket out of deployment.” Blatty is in favour or repealing the policy, but her point seems to be that without the legal right of all American gay men and women to marry, removing the policy of gays serving openly in the military will do little to correct the grotesque discrimination at work when a same sex couple is denied all the legal rights as those afforded an opposite sex couple.

Ricky Martin Raises Money For At Risk Children, Adam Lambert Suggests Not Every Gay Man The Same, Military Man Moonlights In Gay Porn, Precious

Ricky Martin Thursday announced that he is partnering with the German broadcaster RTL to raise funds for his foundation – the aptly named Ricky Martin Foundation – to build a center in his native Puerto Rico that will offer a safe haven for children at risk. The center, to be built in Loiza, near the capital city of San Juan, and will be able to accommodate one hundred and fifty children at a time, and will offer art classes, martial arts, meditation, and yoga. Martin’s foundation, formed in 2004, helps victims of human trafficking.

Adam Lambert insists that Aaron Hicklin, editor in chief of Out magazine, was wrong to write an open letter critical of the American Idol runner up and his management team’s request to avoid making Lambert appear “too gay” and his refusal to entertain political questions. Lambert says “what people don’t realize is, I am managing my image, more than maybe the editor of Out magazine likes to give anybody credit for. team is a team ... I’m not being puppeted around. I didn’t want to jump onto a gay magazine as my first thing, because I feel like that’s putting myself in a box and limiting myself,” adding that “not every gay man is the same gay man.” While Lambert states the obvious, he fails to comprehend that while not every gay man and woman is the same, every gay man and woman do tend to share the same concerns, an end to discrimination, full equality, etc.

The story of an active Marine, retained by the Military to promote the armed services, who is gay and who is an active porn power bottom, although it appears that the larger story is about the American military ban on gays serving openly. The source site, as a warning, is very NSFW.

The Producers Guild of America announced Wednesday that it will honor the Lee Daniels’ directed Precious with its Stanley Kramer Award, an award bestowed upon a work that documents provocative social issues in a way both accessible and enlightening. Last year, Milk received the award, which was established in 2002.

Court Orders Full Benefits For Federal Gay Employees, Suit Filed To Stop D.C. Gay Marriage, Conservative Evangelicals Oppose Anti-Gay Ugandan Law

Judge Alex Kozinski, the chief federal appeals court judge in San Francisco, California, late Thursday ordered the Obama administration to “cease at once its interference with the jurisdiction of this tribunal,” that after the court found that an employee, Karen Golinski, a staff attorney, was entitled to enrol her wife in the family health plan that already covers the couple’s 6 year old son. This is the second such order in as many days; the court castigated the Office of Personal Management for denying insurance coverage to same sex couples of court approved employees. On Wednesday, a judge ordered the federal public defender’s office in Los Angeles to pay a gay attorney the full cost of insurance coverage for his husband. The Obama administration and the Office of Personal Management invoked the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits federal marriage benefits to same sex couples, in both cases.

The decision by the D.C, Board of Elections and Ethics to block a ballot initiative to ban same sex marriage has prompted anti-gay zealot Bishop Harry Jackson to file suit in Superior Court seeking an injunction to overrule the election board. The board made that decision Tuesday, finding that the proposed initiative to define marriage as that only existing between a man and a woman was in direction violation of Washington, D.C.’s Human Rights Act, because it discriminates against gay men and women.

This past Sunday, the Executive Council of the Anglican Church of Canada voted unanimously to oppose the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill, introduced last month in Uganda that would apply the death penalty to homosexuals for various offenses, calling the legislation a “fundamental violation of human rights.” Now the American based Exodus International, famous for contending that homosexuality can be cured, has written a letter to the Ugandan president imploring him to stop signing the Bill into law.

Castor Semenya, New Jersey Favours Gay Marriage, Alex Pettyfer Musings, Sean Maguire, Levi Johnston, Neil Patrick Harris And David Burtka

The International Association of Athletics Federations announced that South African runner Caster Semenya will retain her gold medal, and the world record she set in the 800 meters race in August, despite the 18 year old be forced to undergo a battery of gender verification tests post-victory. An agreement was also reached with the governing body of track and field that further scientific gender tests conducted on Castor will be confidential and the results will not be publically disclosed. In September, an Australian paper, the Daily Telegraph, citing an unnamed source, suggested that Semenya had been discovered to be a hermaphrodite, exhaustive tests concluding she had both female and male characteristics.

A new Rutgers-Eagleton poll asked of 903 New Jersey residents revealed that of those surveyed, more than 46 percent were in favour of passing legislation legalized same sex marriage. The poll also suggests that of those surveyed, 52 percent would approve if State lawmakers enacted legislation today approving gay marriage, while 40 percent of those asked would approve a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

The beyond beautiful Alex Pettyfer, a self-professed muse of photographer Greg Gorman, whose new book, In Their Youth, is a collection of photographs of young stars seen in black and white by the American Gorman – Rupert Everett graces the cover – and it closes with a series of seven pictures of Pettyfer, including an odd one of Alex on the toilet.

Sean Maguire graces the cover of the December Attitude magazine.

Levi Johnston, correcting Sarah Palin, said last night in Los Angeles, California, that despite reports to the contrary, he never intended to reveal all and had no desire to be regarded as either an amateur or professional porn star.

The antithesis of Adam Lambert and all that drama, Mr. Neil Patrick Harris and Mr. David Burtka, a beautiful, beguiling couple for the ages, attend the Museum of Contemporary Art’s 30th Anniversary gala in Los Angeles, California Sunday night.

New York Appeals Court Uphold Gay Marriage Benefits, Beware Senator Buttars Hypocrisy, Mayor Becker, Scholastic Press Pressured By Homophobes

Thursday, New York State Court of Appeals upheld a decision by lower courts that dismissed a challenge to two decisions in 2006, one by the Department of Civil Service, the other by Westchester County, to afford health insurance and a number of other benefits to same sex couples married in either other states or other countries. In handing down their ruling, the judges essentially request that the New York State lawmakers confront the issue of same sex marriage, deciding whether to legalize gay marriage or not.

Utah Senator Chris Buttars, a Republican who is on record as vehemently opposing gay rights, now says he is favour of adopting state-wide legislation that would mimic anti-discrimination laws just passed in the capital city of Salt Lake City. Buttars, who mere months ago suggested gays, not terrorists presented the greatest threat to America, now says he “very well might” endorse legislation in 2010 that would permit local governments to adopt anti-discrimination ordinances for employment and housing, but that would legally prohibit them from extending any further rights based on sexual orientation or gender identity, protecting, again according to Buttars, “legislative creep” towards legalizing gay marriage.

Meanwhile, Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker, who signed the two anti-discrimination ordinances Wednesday, said his campaign promise to eliminate discrimination within the borders of the capital city has yet to be fulfilled, the Mayor determined to create a hate crimes ordinance designed for the city, although he says “it’s possible now, with what’s happened now at the federal level as it relates to hate crimes that there isn’t a need for Salt Lake City to step into that void in terms of policy in our city, but we’re certainly going to take a look at where we go from here, and continue to progress forward.”

The Illinois Family Institute – an ominously named conservative right-wing advocacy group – wants Scholastic Press to suffer, calling for a boycott of the educational publishers because it has refused to bow to pressure and remove the book Luv Ya Bunches from its front list catalogue. The book, aimed at an age group 9-12 years old, tells the tale a young girl who happens to have same sex parents.

Gay Baltimore Teen Tragedy, Boston College Homophobia, Is Anyone Married In Texas, Cole Mohr Parties, Levi Johnston Playgirl Preview, Peter Facinelli

James Mattison Jr., a 15 year old gay high school sophomore in Baltimore, Maryland found dead, last week, after he was raped, gagged, stabbed repeatedly in the head and the throat, and placed in an upstairs closet at his aunt’s house, allegedly murdered by 35 year old Dante Parish, who at the age of 24 was convicted of shooting and killing of a man in Baltimore in the late winter of 1999. In January, 2009, Parish was released from prison after a group of attorneys – Project Innocence – found that he had been wrongly convicted based upon a number of faulty statements of facts. How he came to brutally kill Mattison is but one of the questions James’ family wants answered.

The Boston College student newspaper, The Heights, is running a three part special series on homophobia at the Catholic university, part one published this past Monday.

According to Barbara Ann Radnofsky, an attorney based in Houston, Texas, and a Democratic candidate for attorney general, a 2006 constitutional amendment authored to ban gay marriage in the state may have inadvertently endangered the legal status of all marriages in Texas.

H & M hosts a holiday party, guest of honor one Cole Mohr, whose eyebrows are singularly sexy, all captured by Terry Richardson.

A preview of the Playgirl Levi Johnston spread.

Twilight hotness and Hall of Fame DILF Peter Facinelli and co-star Kellan Lutz caught holding hands by in the early spring, the photograph recently re-surfacing and generating a storm of speculation. Lutz laughing off all the rumors, saying the picture of the twosome is harmless, “it’s the naked one of us in the bubble bath that would really get us into trouble.”

Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado Killing Prosecuted As Hate Crime, Lutheran Conservatives Break Away Over Gay Inclusion, Kerry Degman Seen By Luke Smalley

On Wednesday, officials in Puerto Rico announced that the murder of Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado will be investigated as a hate crime, the first time a crime is prosecuted based upon sexual orientation in the American governed territory. A 26 year old suspect was arrested Tuesday, whom prosecutors suggest has a “deep-seated rage” against homosexuals, motivating his gruesome attack on the 19 year old Mercado, who was decapitated, dismembered, his badly burned body left alongside an isolated roadside.

Also on Wednesday, the conservative faction of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America announced it intends to dissociate from the church and form a new, separate body, dissatisfied it says with a ban that was lifted prohibiting sexually active gay and lesbian pastors from serving as clergy. In August, at the ELCA’s annual convention, held this year in Minneapolis, members voted to become more inclusive, the repeal of the gay ban a part of that movement, but the Lutheran CORE delegation insists that the decision is in fact in direct opposition to Scripture.

The late American photographer Luke Smalley’s third book American Drive has been published by Twin Palms Press and in conjunction with the release, an exhibit at New York City’s ClampArt Gallery in on view until December 19th, 2009. Smalley, who died suddenly this past spring at the age of 53, features Kerry Degman in Sunday Drive, a series that aims to document the fleeting innocence of youth, and capture its inevitable corruption.

Fox Protecting Chris Colfer From Being Typecast, Allan Hyde A Guy With An iPhone, Kellan Lutz, Jesus Luz, Ryan Phillippe Shy Guy, Perez Hilton

According to reports, executives at Fox made the decision to have cute Chris Colfer slip slightly back into the closet, worried that the actor, who plays gay Kurt Hummel on Glee, would be typecast as the “gay actor” instead of simply the “actor.”

The crazy cute actor Allan Hyde, so good as Godric on the second season True Blood, take his rightful place in the pantheon that is guys with iPhones, although, unfortunately, Hyde chooses to remain clothed.

Kellan Lutz, on the Ellen DeGeneres Show Wednesday, tells of being accosted by a fan while Kellan was naked at a spa, the man engaging Lutz in a ten minute conversation.

Jesus on and off the beach, Ipanema in fact.

Ryan Phillippe, out Tuesday night at Katsuya, in Los Angeles, California, being suddenly shy.



The Black Eyed Peas manager who allegedly assaulted Perez Hilton has written a letter of apology and the charges against him have been dropped. The incident took place in Toronto in June of this year at a Much Music Video Awards after party. Perez sent an email to the Canadian Press that read in part “I am happy that Liborio Molina has accepted responsibility for his violent actions. I am looking forward to reading his letter of apology and he and will.i.am. can look forward to reading my in-depth thoughts about that awful night in my new book.”

Sexual Identity No Factor In Catholic Child Abuse, LA Times Praise D.C. Council Battling Catholic Church, Washington Blade Reprised, Johnny Deep

The Associated Press reports that a study commissioned by the Roman Catholic Church concludes that homosexual priests are no more likely to abuse children than are heterosexual priests. The researchers responsible for the study suggest that “the idea of sexual identity be separated from the problem of sexual abuse,” adding that they did not locate a connection “between homosexual identity and the increased likelihood of subsequent abuse.” The report, which will not be formally finished until the end of the year, also finds date indicating abuse in the Church has steadily declined since the nineteen eighties.

The Los Angeles Times in an editorial written Wednesday praised the Washington D.C City Council for refusing to bow to demand by the Roman Catholic diocese which threatened to withhold social services if the Council continued with plans to legalize gay marriage in the district. “So far,” the Times writes “the District of Columbia Council is showing more backbone on this issue that the Obama administration. Barack Obama promised during his presidential campaign that he would end the practice of allowing faith-based groups receiving federal money to discriminate in hiring – for example, by not employing people who hold other religious beliefs. But he has back off that vow. In contrast, D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray said the city would find another contractor if the Catholic Church severed its ties. That was the right response, and we hope it rang loud enough for Obama to hear.”

The editorial staff of the now defunct Washington Blade says it intends to publish again, as early as this coming Friday. The Washington Blade, which at forty, was America’s oldest gay newspaper and which was surprisingly shut down by its parent company Window Media this past Sunday, will put out a new publication for the Washington D.C. gay community, that according to Kevin Neff, the former editor in chief of the Blade, who made the announcement on National Public Radio Tuesday.

People Magazine has chosen Johnny Deep its Sexiest Man Alive.

Arrest Made In Murder Of Jorge Mercado, Suspect Invokes Homosexual Panic Defence, Adam Lambert Fights Back Awkwardly, Bash Back!

An arrest has been made in the horrific hate crime killing of 19 year old Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado, Puerto Rico authorities apprehending 26 year old John A. Martinez Matos, the father of four, scheduled to appear in court Tuesday night at which time formal charges were to be laid. According to reports, Matos is thought to have picked Mercado up late Friday night believing him to be a female prostitute. In his confession to police, Matos is alleged to state that Mercado asked for money, and Matos refused, the victim pulled a knife on him. When Matos realized Mercado was actually male, it triggered a flashback to a time when he was raped in prison while serving a sentence for domestic violence. Claiming homosexual panic as a defence, Matos said he attacked Mercado, separating his arms from his torso. Police have discovered a wig, a number of knives, a burned mattress, and blood stains at Matos’ home.

Adam Lambert took to his Twitter page – and that truly is always a bad beginning – to respond to the letter Out magazine editor in chief Aaron Hicklin wrote, suggesting that the American Idol runner up and his handlers were a tad too timid about Lambert’s sexuality, suggesting that the issue is not that “deep” and that Aaron too was “at the mercy of the marketing machine.” Unfortunately Lambert, now perceived not to want alienate a perspective audience because he is gay, is behaving badly, forgetting that the gays have had his back, championing him, defending him, celebrating him as one of our own. Until now, that is.

The ultra radical queer activist group, Bash Back!, has claimed responsibility for vandalizing a National Coming Out Day billboard in Memphis, Tennessee that was sponsored by the Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center, and that featured an image of a returning solder, with the words "I'm gay and I protected your freedom." The group contends that the Community Center is “flat out racist/anti-queer/anti-trans” as well as insists that they squandered 3,500 dollars on a billboard “when Memphis has the highest trans-murder rate (11 trans women of color, 1 white transwoman and 1 transman of color), as well as one of the highest queer youth homeless rates in the nation.”

Utah Log Cabin Republicans Draft State-Wide Anti-Discrimination Bill, Cincinnati Bengals Sign Larry Johnson, Senator Says Gay Like Necrophilia

According to reports, Utah Governor Gary Herbert, a Republican, held an informal meeting Monday evening with the State’s Log Cabin Republicans to discuss two bills the group is drafting, one – an extension of the law just approved for the capital city of Salt Lake City – that prohibit employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. Herbert is already on record as saying that while he does not believe homosexuals should be discriminated against in any way, he does believe enacting legislation to protect gays against discrimination is the start of a slippery slope. But, Melvin Nimer, president of the Utah Log Cabin Republicans, said that Herbert needs to be reminded of the State’s Constitutional Amendment 3, banning gay marriage, saying that “under Amendment 3, the Utah Legislature did create a special class of people, and all we’re doing is asking that those people that the Utah Legislation singled out have some protections that they might not otherwise have because of that situation with Amendment 3.”

Last night, it was causally announced on Monday Night Football that the suddenly resurgent Cincinnati Bengals intend to sign anti-gay recently terminated Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson, and that news has LBGT organizations none too happy.

An Oklahoma state senator, Steve Russell, Republican representing Oklahoma City, intends to offer a bill in the spring session that would allow the State the power to opt out of the just signed into law Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, because Russell contends that the legislation oversteps the bounds of the federal government and restricts free speech and religious freedom. The Senator, apparently unfamiliar with the conceit of law, says that the Act represents an attempt by the government to intervene on issues of morality, and worries that the ambiguity of the bill would lead to the suspect in hate crime assigning blame to a religious leader who preached against a particular lifestyle. “The law,” said Russell “is very vague to begin with. Sexual orientation is a very vague word that could be extended to extremes like necrophilia.”

Arrest Made In Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado Murder, Anti-Gay New Hampshire Radio Host Fired, Clay Aiken Blasts School Board, Gay Superheroes

Police in Puerto Rico say they arrested a suspect early Tuesday morning in connection to the horrific hate crime killing of 19 year old Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado, whose body was found along the side of isolated road in Cagey, a small town in Puerto Rico, the young gay man’s body badly burned, decapitated, and dismembered. Authorities reportedly took a 28 year old man into custody, and it is also being reported that the FBI is monitoring the case, because if it was motivated in part by the victim’s sexual orientation, it intends to prosecute the case under the guidelines set out in the recently signed into law Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. A rally is being planned to honour the memory of Mercado and call for an end to violence against gays in both Puerto Rico’s capital city, San Juan and in New York City.

Doug Lambert, a conservative columnist who hosted a radio talk show called Meet the New Press in Concord, New Hampshire, has been fired, the show cancelled, and his column terminated after he called the State Democratic Chairman Robert Buckley, who is openly gay, a “faggot” on air. Immediately after, Lambert said on air (the show was also being live-streamed) “Yeah, you faggot. That’s right. I said it and I meant it. You are a reprobate. How the people, the Democrats ... I think of some of the grey-haired ladies from the old party would stand behind you is beyond me. You are a disgrace to yourself, to humanity, to mankind and to your party.” Lambert later apologized for the tirade, which was too little, too late for his employers.

Last Thursday, Clay Aiken took to his blog to criticize the election of four new members of the Wake County school board, who have formed a majority whose mandate appears to be doing away with diversity in schools. Aiken, who has a home nearby, wrote “what has happened to Wake County Schools?!? Now that I have a kid I am so much more invested and I am EXTREMELY disappointed that so many selfish idiots ran and won seats on the school board. I hope we can get rid of them as soon as possible before they ruin my school system. Idiots.”

Meet Diva, a deadly lesbian, Liberty, a glamorous transvestite, and gay twins Mr. Muscles and Butch, all among a new group of gay superheroes found in a new comic, Spandex, from the mind of creator Martin Eden, who says “gay people in comics are fairly under-represented, but this new comic aims to address that. Spandex introduces a whole bunch of fabulous new characters who are set to take the comic world by storm. It’s a fun experimental comic, full of drama, comedy, romance, and action ... all done in the best possible taste.”

Teacher Charged For Threatening Gay Student, Adam Lambert Gay/Not Gay, Levi Johnston Full Frontal Failure, Sarah Palin, NPH Twitter, Videophone Video

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Randolph Forde, a teacher at Mundy’s Mill High School in Clayton County, Georgia was arrested late last month on charges of terrorist threats after Forde reportedly questioned a 16 year old student about his sexuality one day and then the next day threatening to hit the student in the mouth. A few days later, according to police reports, Forde asked another student to put a “hit” on the young man, offering to pay if victim was killed. Forde, a special education teacher, is on administrative leave with pay pending a hearing scheduled for Tuesday. The case is being sent to a grand jury.

Adam Lambert drama, the editor in chief of Out magazine Aaron Hicklin taking the unusual step of lambasting Lambert and his management publically for requesting that Adam not be portrayed as being “too gay,” despite appearing on the cover of the magazine’s annual Out 100, a celebration of those – gay and straight – who have impacted the LBGT community over the previous year.

Blaming Levi Johnston’s manager Tank Jones, Playgirl released a statement Monday that despite promises, there will be no full frontal nudity. Playgirl said that they are “thrilled with the photos we got, and are confident people will love them. Although there may be glimpses, we did not get full on frontal nudity.” According to reports, Levi does, however, sport sexy scruff.

That “gay friend” Sarah Palin kept mentioning during her unsuccessful campaign as the Republican vice-presidential candidate was her college roommate.

Neil Patrick Harris is twittering, amassing nearly 20,000 followers after only two awkward tweets, confirming the obvious, that NPH is literally loved by all.

Beyonce’s Videophone video, featuring Lady Gaga, has leaked.

Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado Killed, Brutally Gay Bashed In Puerto Rico

According to a report, on November 14th, the body of 19 year old Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado was discovered along an isolated road mere miles from his home in the tiny town of Caguas, Puerto Rico, the body partially burned, decapitated, and dismembered – his arms and legs had been hacked off. Mercado was gay, and, again, according to the report, the police officer in charge of the investigation said in a publically televised statement that “people who lead this type of lifestyle need to be aware that this will happen.” Although Puerto Rico is a district of the United States, and is therefore mandated to follow federal laws, in particular the just passed Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, it seems that little regard is given by legislators or by the national media to gay issues, especially hate crimes like the one that victimized young Mr. Mercado. If you have any further details about this hate crime, please pass them along to me, so that I can continue to post on this shaming act of targeted violence.

Ten Year Old Will Phillips Is The Hero

10 year old Will Phillips, a native of Arkansas, whom I previously posted, has refused to stand each morning in class to recite the pledge of allegiance, because, as Will rightly points out, the ideals of the words – liberty and justice for all – is not a reality, because gay men and women cannot legally marry in the United States. Will and his Dad told their story on CNN this weekend, Will being the very modern definition of an impassioned hero and who is so cute, and obviously more articulate and thoughtful than most adults, says that he will continue to exercise his right not to participate until gays can marry. P.S. Love, love his Dad, Mr. Phillips!

Police Arrest Man For Murder Of Transgendered, America’s Largest LGBT News Service Folds, Sign For Equality Begins Taking Names, Men Of The Alps

Police in London, England have arrested a man in connection to the murder of 29 year old Destiny Lauren on November 5th. Lauren, transgendered, was discovered strangled in the early morning hours of that Thursday, and rushed to hospital where she was later pronounced dead. Police have arrested a man in 20’s and had previously arrested a 35 year old male, who was released on bail pending post-mortem results.

Washington D.C. Window Media LLC, America’s largest gay and lesbian newspaper publisher, forced into receivership early this year, has shuttered all of its gay publications, including the Southern Voice, with a staff of twenty, who recently celebrated its 21st anniversary. Also affected by closures were the Washington Blade, South Florida Blade, and the Houston Voice.

Sign For Equality has begun to take names, gathering enough signatures to place a new initiative on the November 2nd, 2010 ballot that would repeal California’s Proposition 8, the voter amendment passed in November, 2008, that amended the State constitution to define marriage as that only existing between a man and woman. The details, including a downloadable petition, are all here.

The 2010 Men in the Alps Charity Erotic Calendar is available, February and December being two of my favourite months.

Adam Lambert Here For Your Entertainment

Adam Lambert filmed scenes for the video to For Your Entertainment, the supposed first single from his debut album of the same name. The shoot took place in downtown Los Angeles, California Sunday, and Lambert looked decidedly futuristically glam, head to toe in black leather, with a golden hand, as did the rather remarkable display of young man flesh, although the video will not be released till next week, so there is no way to know till then whether the effort is deliberately campy or earnest homage.