NCAA Ends Online Partnership With Focus On The Family, Clay Aiken To Talk About Gay Rights For First Time, Federal Hate Crime Charges In Connection To Chicago Bashing, Bruce Weber Presents Lady Cops. Marlon Teixeira, Taylor Lautner Likes Meat, James Franco’s Feast Of Steven Clip

An update to a post from Tuesday: the NCAA removed advertisements from Focus on the Family that had been running on its Championships Web site, a site, incidentally managed by CBS College Sports, after an outpouring of criticism, arguing rightly that Focus on the Family’s message of anti-abortion and anti-gay contradicted the policy of non-discrimination practiced by the NCAA. According to several different reports, when the faux-Christian organization was sold spots to air during the Super Bowl by CBS, that purchase afforded Focus on the Family access to the other network run sites, like the NCAA, with the promise of access to other CBS sporting events like the men’s final basketball tournament. It remains unclear if Focus on the Family intends to run commercials during the Final Four tournament or if they were sold time, and that time was now rescinded under pressure.

An update to a post from January: this Saturday, Clay Aiken will address a Human Rights Campaign gala in his hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina, and will do something he has never done before – address the issue of gay rights. Aiken, a single father, whose son Parker is three, came out post-American Idol in 2008, but has been reticent to discuss his sexuality beyond announcing it. Saturday, he will deliver a keynote address on equal rights for gays, including inheritance rights, access to hospital visitations, and perhaps most importantly, marriage. Aiken says his speech will be hopeful in tone and that although at this point he is apt to take a measured approach to issues surrounding the attainment of equality, “that sure as hell doesn’t mean I won’t be loud one day.”

An update to another post from January: the charges brought against three Chicago area men who viciously attacked an openly gay man who came to aid of a gay youth on January 10th on an area subway have been upgraded to felony hate crimes. Daniel Hauff was allegedly attacked by the three – Sean Little, Benjamin Eder, and Kevin McAndrew – after he intervened to help a gay youth the trio had allegedly been harassing both verbally and physically. The group of men then allegedly assaulted Hauff, repeatedly calling him a “stupid faggot.” The misdemeanour battery charges against the three were dropped Tuesday, and they were all re-arrested and charged with hate crimes.

Bruce Weber, famed photographer, not the college basketball coach, directs an editorial for the March issue of Vogue Paris (or French Vogue) and imagines a television series titled Lady Cops, featuring Brooke Shields, Elaine Irwin, and Aaron O’Connell, as well as an assembly of hot male models.(NSFW)

The truly beautiful Marlon Teixeira is made in Brasil.

Tall, dark, tight-jeaned, smoking sexy Taylor Lautner is seen Tuesday in Los Angeles getting dinner at BOA Steakhouse.



A curious clip, albeit a much too brief one, from James Franco’s student film The Feast of Steven, full of promise. (NSFW)