Religious Australian Adoption Agencies Oppose Proposal To Allow Gay Couples To Adopt, Westboro Baptist Church Threat To Protest Adam Lambert Concert Never Materializes, Adam Lambert Tweets His Love Of The Gays, Art Gets Gay Bashed, Profiling Ryan Murphy, Tim Tebow Rookie Hazing Haircut Has Religious Overtones, Tim Tebow Sneaker Sells Out, Circumcised Tim Tebow Says He Feels Better In Briefs Instead Of Boxers

In Australia, Anglicare, a non-government adoption agency, has initiated a campaign against a bill before parliament that would allow gay couples the right to adopt, Anglicare writing to MP’s urging them to vote against the bill, and threatening to withdraw its adoption services if the measure is approved. According to Community Services Minister Linda Burney, the New South Wales Cabinet will this week discuss amending the bill, introduced in June by Independent MP Clover Moore, that would permit Anglicare and the Catholic Adoption agency, Centacare, the right to refuse gay couple adoption rights. “Their argument – and I respect their argument – is that it (gay adoption) is an anomaly to them: it’s not part of what their faith can, or believes in, or can cope with,” said Burney. Anglicare is one of three non-government adoption agencies, and its chief executive officer Peter Kell authored a letter to MP outlined eleven reasons why the bill should be rejected, among them that children need the opportunity to have both a father and mother, arguing that adoption is not a gay rights issues, but is an issue that needs to address the interests of the child. “Our understanding of how families are best constructed is that children need the opportunity to have both a mother and a father,” Kell said. “Men and women complement each other and the optimal care for children really consists of being in a family for both a mother and a father.”

Saturday night, a contingent of the Fred Phelps led Westboro Baptist Church threatened to stage a protest at an Adam Lambert concert in Springfield, Missouri, but the typically inert hate-mongers never materialized. A counter-protest did, an estimated 200 people gathered, Adam Crawford, the organizer, saying that because the WBC “didn’t show up, instead of a protest, now it is just a celebration. It was a great way to get together and show the community what we are all about.” Moments before the concert was to begin, Lambert appeared outside the Juanita K. Hammons Hall, thanking those who came to counter the Westboro Baptist delegation, Crawford saying that “he was there for two or three minutes, and kind of walked the sidewalk signing people’s posters and stuff. It was kind of surprising.” Lambert earlier had tweeted from inside the hall “Amazing Anti-Hate protest outside venue. Completely outnumbered the Westboro Bastard Church of Ignorance. Love overcomes hate. I LOVE FAGS,” a reference by Adam to the WBC penchant for posters that read “GOD HATES FAGS.”

In Los Angeles, a sculpture by artist Susan Tibbles made to resemble a wedding cake with two grooms atop on display at the Craft and Folk Art Museum was vandalized Tuesday, a day before United States Chief District Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that the California gay marriage ban – Proposition 8 – was unconstitutional. Eilen R. Stewart, the museum’s exhibition and publicity coordinator said that “the two guys were unfortunately torn off and thrown about the gallery along with some other embellishments. Whether this was done by someone who had heard that the judge’s ruling was coming or someone who was just expressing their anger, we don’t know.”

A profile of Ryan Murphy, the creator of Popular, Nip/Tuck, and Glee, and the director of Eat Pray Love, who “was picked on in high school for being openly gay (in 1980, no less), performing in a choir and leading an ad hoc Meryl Streep fan club.(He demanded that members watch Sophie’s Choice four weekends in a row.) But by some strange twist of fate he was also popular, hanging out with the quarterback of the football team. ‘I would get stoned to the Moody Blues and then listen to Barbra Streisand,’ Mr. Murphy said. ‘I was just that kind of a kid.’ He cites self-assuredness as a reason he was able to oscillate between cliques. ‘People didn’t really understand me, but I projected a certain confidence, so they left me alone.’”

Tim Tebow appeared at the Denver Broncos first practice Saturday sporting a new haircut courtesy of the team’s veterans, the style mimicking that of a 15th century monk’s, a picture courtesy of teammate LenDale White's Twitter. Tebow, whose limited edition Nike (partnered with EA Sports College Football 2011) cross trainers were released August 6th – all 500 promptly sold out in five minutes – recently signed an endorsement deal with Jockey, and below a behind the scenes look at the campaign – Jockey saying that it was looking for the next, um, big thing, and Tebow saying that he prefers briefs to boxers because they fit better and he "enjoys being in briefs better."