St. Petersburg Gay Activists Determined To March Saturday Despite City Ban And Threats From Extremists, Straight Swingers Score High STD Rates, Anna Paquin, American Soccer Hotness Abounds, Rafael Nadal, Matthew Mitcham

Thursday, organizers of a Gay Pride parade in St. Petersburg, Russia, said that despite threats from nationalist extremists and the continual denial by City Hall to authorize the event, a march will be held Saturday. Maria Yefremenkova, the organizing committee’s chair, said “I blame the Russian authorities for any possible attack on use and any possible damage that we suffer.” Earlier in the day, Yefremenkova filed a lawsuit against a City Hall’s law, order, and security committee over the rejections, which she deemed “derisive, City Hall having twice rejected applications for an event permit, while a third application filed Thursday has been met by silence. “The St. Petersburg tolerance program is applied to national minorities only, but not to gays or lesbians,” said Yefremenkova, “and I hope our action will show the true face of this St. Petersburg tolerance. Our governor (Valentina Matviyenko) has recently been praised by UNESCO for promoting tolerance and non-violence – where is her much-lauded tolerance?”

Researchers at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands revealed a study Thursday that shows swingers – heterosexual couples who swap partners and/or engage in group sex – have some of the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases.

Anna Paquin says she has no regret about announcing that she is bisexual, telling Self magazine that “I understand why it’s a big deal to some people, but to me, it’s not. I’ve probably always known I was bisexual. I’m really lucky; I grew up in an open-minded, supportive family, so my sexuality was never stigmatized or scary or out of bounds.”

The American men’s soccer team celebrated advancing to the second round of FIFA World Cup in the lobby of their South African hotel, joined by family, friends, and staff, including the seriously sexy Stuart Holden and the smouldering team captain Carlos Bocanegra, who, post-game Wednesday celebrated with Bill Clinton and a Budweiser in the team’s locker room, revealing a tattooed torso.

Rafael Nadal and assets in action during his second round match at Wimbledon against Robin Haase.



Matthew Mitcham spotted arriving at the Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association Awards Thursday.