Openly Gay Vancouver MLA Calls On B.C. Liberal Government To Act And End Homophobia, Openly Gay Australian Minister Supports Her Government’s Opposition To Gay Marriage, New Jersey Supreme Court Split Vote Rules Not To Hear Gay Marriage Case, Gay American Idol Contestant Files Discrimination Suit, James Franco Likes To Read On Toilet, Kellan Lutz In The Shower And In The Street, Zac Efron Mob

Ahead of this weekend’s Vancouver Pride, openly gay NDP Member of the Legislative Assembly Spencer Chandra Herbert said that the party is “concerned with the latest string of hate attacks” and referencing a recent study said that “B.C., as you may have heard with Statistics Canada, has been called the province with the highest level of hate attacks in Canada, specifically against gay and lesbian people. So we’re here today to call for action from the provincial government to address this growing concern.” Herbert called on the ruling Liberal party to take action, and introduced a series of five suggestions that the NDP want to see enacted. They include introducing clear, explicit anti-homophobia polices in every school, ensuring that all Crown prosecutors are aware of and employ legal hate-crime provisions, create a province-wide tips line to report gay bashing, invest in community support for victims of discrimination and violence, and work with the city of Vancouver to ensure a greater police presence in the city’s predominately gay village.

Sunday, Penny Wong, the Australian ruling Labour Party’s Minister for Climate Change said she supports her party’s opposition to gay marriage, saying that “on the issue of marriage I think the reality is there is a cultural, religious, historical view around that which we have to respect. The party’s position is very clear that this is an institution that is between a man and woman.” Wong, incidentally, is openly gay.

The New Jersey Supreme Court Monday by a vote of 3-3 decided not to hear a case in which six same sex couples requested the right to marry. Steven Goldstein, the chairman of the gay advocacy group Garden State Equality, said that “same-sex couples will continue to be denied the consistent right to visit one another in the hospital, to make medical decisions for one another, and to receive equal health benefits from employers, all because of the deprivation of the equality and dignity that uniquely comes with the word marriage.” Despite the court’s denial, it did leave open the possibility that the case could be heard in the future, the order today reading in part that “this matter cannot be decided without the development of an appropriate trial-like record.”

Someone named Ian Bernardo says he has filed a complaint in New York’s Division of Human Rights office against the producers of American Idol for illegal workplace discrimination. Ian was a contestant on the 2006 season, auditioning with a rendition of Laura Branigan’s Gloria. Bernardo’s suit alleges that the producers “exploited my non-conforming appearance and sexual orientation. They did this by directing me to ‘gay it up’ in any appearance I made on camera ... Although characterized as an ‘audition’ to the public at large, in fact, I was and was paid as an employee of respondents for each appearance.” The suit adds that the employees of Idol used words like “fag” and “homo” and that the “workplace was permeated with discriminatory intimidation, ridicule, insults and hostile and offensive comments that were so severe as to alter my working conditions and create an environment that was abusive and ultimately threatening to my safety.”

The Good Men Project – an online magazine – asks an assortment of men (naturally) to name their favourite guy ritual. Among the more notable answers were Duncan Roy, a filmmaker, who responded “washing under my foreskin” and James Franco who replied “reading on the toilet.”

Kellan Lutz, in the shower, showing where the trail ends and the treasure begins.

Then, Kellan was spotted Monday in Los Angeles, post-workout, unfairly placing a towel where that beautiful bulge tends to appear.



A Zac Efron mob welcomed the hotness back to his hotel in New York City Monday.