United States Senate Likely To Vote On Bill To Repeal Military Ban On Openly Gay Service Members, New Series Of Ads Attempt To Create Support For Same Sex Marriage In New York State, Republican Campaign Manager In Indiana Tweets Violently Offensive Anti-Gay Comments, Michael Pitt Interviewed, Giddy James Franco In Toronto, Zac Efron Appears On Same Red Carpet In Two Different Outfits

The Associated Press is reporting that the United States Senate could vote as early as next week on a bill that would allow the Pentagon to repeal the ban on openly gay men and women from serving. Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Carl Levin, Democrat from Michigan, said that Senators will address an annual military spending blueprint which includes language on the policy known as “don’t ask, don’t tell” implemented in 1993 “at the end of this week, maybe next week.” It does not repeal ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ – I wish it did, but it doesn’t. It simply authorizes the ending of the policy if there’s a certification that doing do will not undermine the morale of our troops.” In May, the House of Representatives approved the 2011 military authorization bill containing the clause to end the ban, and a Senate committee headed by Levin did the same.

The New York Times on a series of advertisements sponsored by advocates for gay marriage that have begun to appear in New York, videos featuring Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, the widow of Arthur Ashe, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Top Chef’s Tom Colicchio, and Julianne Moore. The ads are aggressive, direct, and offer a narrative meant to personalize the battle to legalize same sex marriage, appealing to the electorate instead of politicians. According to Brian V. Ellner, of the Human Rights Campaign, one of the gay rights groups backing the ads, the timing of the videos is deliberate, since Democrat Andrew Cuomo, the state’s current attorney general and perceived front runner in the gubernatorial race is on the record supporting legislation to extend marriage rights to gays and lesbians, Ellner saying “We want to build excitement and momentum in advance of that.”

WISH-TV in Indianapolis on the incredible offensive Stan Solomon, the campaign manager for Mike Scott, the GOP candidate for the 7th Congressional District, who continues to tweet violently anti-gay entries like “Homosexuality is wrong and dangerous to everyone,” Filthy Queer wants kids of 14 for sex,” and “Gay stands for Got AIDS Yet?” There have been calls for the Solomon to be fired, and Scott told WISH “I don’t know what he wrote, so I can’t comment on it. But I do want to say I apologize to that community. I’m disappointed to hear this, and I am taking steps to remedy that.” When asked if those steps might include dismissal, Scott said “I wouldn’t like to say that, but it’s the way any administrator would act when there’s a loose cannon on the ship.”

The seriously sexy Michael Pitt is one the stars of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, and Martin Scorsese, the series’ executive producer (and director of the debut episode) interviews Pitt for the September Interview magazine, photographs by Craig McDean.

James Franco is spotted at the Variety Studio at Holt Renfrew Sunday, Franco attending a screening of his new Danny Boyle directed 127 Hours at the Toronto International Film Festival.



Zac Efron (and a full beard) was seen in Madrid, Spain Monday at a screening of Charlie St. Cloud in a plaid casual ensemble, and then quite quickly changed into something slightly more formal, pulling up his pants at the last moment.