Rhode Island GOP Introduces Log Cabin Republicans, Gay Vatos In Love, Dr. Arnold Klein Says He Did Not Betray Michael Jackson Whom He Insists Was Always Openly Gay, Jonas Brothers, James Franco’s Physical Appearance At Tribeca Film Festival Alarms

In Rhode Island, the Republican Party introduced a new caucus last week, meant to broaden the appeal of the party state-wide, the Log Cabin Republicans, a group of gay and lesbian conservatives, the group holding their first meeting, organized by Raymond Beltran, a 26 year old Community College of Rhode Island student. “The perception of the GOP being bigoted and narrow-mined – at least in Rhode Island – is hopefully coming to a close, says Beltran, “we’re a very different breed in Rhode Island in many ways. We have one of the most forward-thinking Republican parties in the country.”

An interesting piece from the Los Angeles Times on Ozomatli, a band from Los Angeles, whose sound is a sort of hybrid of Latin American style (meringue, salsa) and seventies funk, and whose new album, Fire Away, contains a song called Gay Vatos in Love, vato Mexican slang for male, a celebratory anthem that seems at odds with the macho Latin American culture. According to Raul Pacheco, one of the group’s lead singers, the song was composed during the Proposition 8 campaign, at the time, one of the Ozomatli’s members was writing the music for independent film about a Mexican-American gay gangster. Pacheco says that the band sees gay rights as being “just another in a long line of underdogs, so I think we connected to it on that level. It was totally natural for us to take that stance. Critics praise the complexity of the song – which not only deals with closeted Latinos, but references Angie Zapata, the slain 18 year old transgendered woman horrifically killed in 2008.

Michael Jackson’s dermatologist – and also one of his closest friends – Dr. Arnold Klein tells TMZ he did not betray Jackson by revealing that the late singer had a long-term relationship with a one time assistant of the doctor, Jason Pfeiffer. Klein says that since the revelation last Friday, he has received “a lot of horrible death threats.” Klein contends that Jackson was not closeted, and in fact was openly gay.

The Jonas Brothers spotted Saturday in Washington, D.C. at the White House Correspondent’s Diner, Nick so seriously sexy.



James Franco spotted Sunday at the Tribeca Film Festival screening of Saturday Night, his documentary, begun student film project at New York University, that examines a week at Saturday Night Live. Franco’s appearance Sunday afternoon has elicited concern, the actor looking less than healthy, and a number of odd bruises on his arm attracting a lot of attention and speculation.