Another Homophobic Attack In Merseyside, Israeli Gay And Lesbian Association Sues Religious Website For Anti-Gay Statements, Galapagos Islands Taken Off Endangered List, Ryan Murphy Candidate To Direct Wicked, Chace Crawford, Ryan Phillippe

Police in Merseyside say that a 27 year old man was punched in the face on June 21st fracturing the victim’s jaw in what is being deemed a homophobic attack. The man was with three friends when a group of seven men approached them, shouting anti-gay slurs at them. Police have released security video of the suspects and are asking for assistance in identifying the men, in particular a 16 or 17 year old male, 5ft 8in with dark hair and a metal brace on his teeth. Detective Constable Peter Tynan of the Sigma Hate Crime Unit said that “those who carry out hate crimes targeting people because of their difference should be left in no doubt that their behaviour will not be tolerated and that robust action will be taken to ensure they are arrested and prosecuted for their actions.”

The National Association of LGBT in Israel filed a lawsuit in a Tel Aviv court against a website – Tsofar, a religious site – for publishing an article that asked for the indictment of leaders of a gay youth center housed at the Tel Aviv Gay and Lesbian Association center, rather than the still at large gunman who killed two people August 1st, 2009. The article, which appeared barely two weeks later, read in part that “many citizens who are sick and tired of the reckless and morally uninhibited conduct expect law-enforcement authorities to put the heads of the murder club (the gay center) on trial for crimes they committed,” adding a quote from a letter – sent anonymously to the National Council for the Child – that purported to have proof public acts of sex took place at the club. The lawsuit argues that the article was in fact full of “defamatory and homophobic expression,” and that “boorish and ignorant insults of the kind that the defendants published are liable to lead to additional hate crimes against the plaintiffs and members of the pride community in Israel.”

The Galapagos Islands, a series of islands along the coast of Ecuador, has been taken off the UNESCO list of endangered environmental sites. The Islands, a World Heritage site whose species served as the source for Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, was placed on the endangered list in 2009 because of threats from tourism, immigration, and invasive species. Ecuador’s government took strong action to ensure that the Islands remain safe.

It has been confirmed that one of the four filmmakers in discussions to direct Wicked is Ryan Murphy, JJ Abrams, James Mangold, and Rob Marshall the other three.

Chace Crawford caught in a pensive, pouty moment Monday on the set of Gossip Girl.



Wednesday, the most beautiful man in the world, Ryan Phillippe, spotted at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Installation Luncheon.