Vancouver Gay Basher Gets Seventeen Month Sentence For Hate Crime, Shelby Lynne Could Be The Celebrity Coming Out Next Week, Ellen Page Joins Tilda, Lost Ending Likely To Frustrate, Arthur Sales Butches Up, Bruce Weber. Channing Tatum, Tom Brady And Son John Edward Play Date

Michael Kandola, the 22 year old Vancouver, British Columbia man who pled guilty to gay bashing Jordan Smith, was sentenced Friday to seventeen months in jail, B.C. Supreme Court Judge Joel Groves saying that the attack qualified as a hate crime. Kandola, who was 20 years old at the time, attacked Smith who was walking along a downtown Vancouver street hand-in-hand with another man. Smith, then 27 years old, suffered substantial injuries, including a broken jaw after Kandola sucker punched him. Both Smith and witness said Kandola uttered a series of homophobic slurs prior to and during the attack. Judge Joel Groves categorized Kandola’s actions as cowardly, vicious, and unprovoked, and said that his hated of homosexuals was a motivating factor in the attack. Despite objections from the Crown, Kandola will earn credit for the five months he has already spent in jail, and will therefore spend twelve more months in jail, if he serves the full sentence.

As previously posted, May 5th is not merely Cinco de Mayo, it is the day that a certain celebrity will come out via People magazine, and the odds on favourite to date – Shelby Lynne.

Ellen Page has joined the cast of HBO’s Tilda, starring Dianne Keaton as Tilda Watski, a character so obviously based on blogger Nikki Finke that there are rumours Finke will threaten to sue. The show, though, has a great pedigree and is said to make Entourage (which I loathe) and its purported examination of life in Hollywood look like Hannah Montana.

Damon Lidelof, one of co-creators of Lost, says that the show’s ending will likely prove frustrating to viewers, raising more questions than are answers, which is a polite way of saying that the writers, um, lost track of the original story.

Arthur Sales photographed for Butch swimwear’s 2010 spring and summer collection.

More photographs from the Bruce Weber Arena Homme editorial, featuring plenty of full frontal male nudity.(NSFW)

Channing Tatum spotted at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival Awards Night Show and Party.




Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen took five month old son Benjamin and Tom’s older son John Edward Moynahan, who looks so much like his mother Bridget, to a playground in Santa Monica, California.

Queers Against Israeli Apartheid Intends To March In Pride Toronto Parade Despite Warnings From City, Defense Secretary Robert Gates Warns Not To Repeal DADT Yet, Kentucky Judges Lessons Charges In Connection To Attempted Gay Bashing, Catholic Archbishop Wants Seton Hall Gay Marriage Class Cancelled, Remembering Harry Wieder

Organizers of the Toronto Pride said Thursday that it has yet to determine whether Queers Against Israeli Apartheid will be permitted to participate in the 2010 parade, despite warnings from the city that the group, which marched in 2009 with banners adorned with swastikas, violates the Toronto anti-discrimination policy, consequently, Toronto Pride stands to lose its future city funding. Mayor David Miller said that in order to qualify for grants, groups must adhere to Toronto policies. Last year, Pride received $120,000. “Pride is a celebration,” said Miller. “It is about freedom of expression and human rights, but it’s also a place where people have to respect other’s human rights. For example, if people have hate symbols, like swastikas, in the parade it would be up to Pride to make sure that those symbols aren’t used.” Although Pride officials say an application from QuAIA has yet to be received – the deadline to apply for a permit to the parade is June 4th – Jenny Peto, a spokesperson for QuAIA, said “we will march in Pride Toronto 2010 because we are proud of our politics and our solidarity with Palestinians, queer and straight.”

A report that American Defense Secretary Robert Gates has authored a letter to Congress warning not to change the military ban on gay men and women serving openly until he is able to draft a plan for repeal. Gates told a House committee Friday that forcing policy change on the military before it is prepared “would send a very damaging message to our men and women in uniform that in essence their views, concerns and perspectives do not matter.”

In McKee, Kentucky, Thursday, United States District Judge Henria Bailey-Lewis heard testimony from 18 year old Cheyenne Williams, alleging that Ashley Sams and Corinne Schwab, each 18 years old, threatened to push her off a cliff and hit her head with a rock. Both Sams and Schwab had been charged with felony counts of attempted murder and kidnapping, but the judge reduced the charges to fourth-degree assault and menacing, both misdemeanours. Williams contends she was the target of the attack because of her sexual orientation, but both girls, classmates of Williams, denied the allegations, insisting it was prank in which Williams willingly participated. A 17 year old girl, who cannot be named, is also charged in the attack. Despite the judge’s decision Thursday, Jordan Palmer, the president of the Kentucky Equality Federation, said he has requested the FBI investigate the case under the recently revised federal hate-crimes law. The case will be heard by a grand jury next week.

Because they have little else to concern themselves with, the Catholic Archbishop of Newark has requested that Seton Hall University’s governing board investigate a decision made by the administration to allow an academic class on gay marriage in the fall of 2010, the course offered by the department of Women and Gender studies, and designed to be a neutral examination of gay marriage from scholar perspective, not a platform to advocate either against or for same sex marriage. Seton Hall University is a private Catholic school.

A fond remembrance of Harry Wieder, the 57 year old native New Yorker killed tragically by a taxi earlier this week, Tuesday, leaving a community board meeting. Wieder was an advocate for gay rights, for affordable and safe public housing, for accessible and affordable health care, and access for the disabled. He was – and can personally attest to this – a true New Yorker in all the best possible ways. His accomplishments, which were many, were often, wrongly, overlooked because of the obvious and not so obvious hardships Harry endured. He was a dwarf, mostly deaf, and was a proud gay Jewish man, the only child of Holocaust survivors. At his funeral Friday, in Queens, his mother, Charlotte Wieder, 86 years old, who never went more than a week without seeing her son, said “in spite of my very strong feeling to protect him, I could not hold back his good.”

Hawaii House Of Representatives Pass Same Sex Civil Union Measure, Governor Lingle Has Until July 6th To Sign Bill Into Law

A measure allowing same sex civil union in Hawaii passed the state House of Representatives Thursday and is now on to the governor, who has yet to indicate whether or not she will sign into law the bill. The House voted 31-20 in favour of the legislation, which has stalled in committee several times, and seemed doomed to failure. It had been passed by the Senate in January. The bill will afford gay and lesbians couples the same rights and benefits the state provides to married heterosexual couples, and if approved by Republican Governor Linda Lingle, Hawaii will join California, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington as one of six states that extend the rights of marriage to same sex couples without legalizing gay marriage itself. The issue has been a contentious one: religious groups, who, last December, organized a massive demonstration outside the Hawaii State Capital, arguing that the measure means that the traditional definition of marriage is being changed by legislators without the authorization of the electorate. Lingle, who had urged legislators not to consider the same sex civil union measure this legislative session, now has 45 days to sign the bill, veto the bill, or let the bill become law without her signature.

Meet Michael Jackson’s Male Lover Who May Or May Have Hugged Him, Behind The Scene At D&G Underwear Shoot, Justin Deeley, Kerry Degman, Bruce Weber, Chris Colfer Lady Gaga Gaffe, Enrique Iglesias

Extra, in a vain attempt at an exclusive extra, reports on Jason Pfeiffer, a former dermatologist and current CEO of unnamed medical company claims to be the boyfriend of Michael Jackson in the years up to his death last summer. In an interview that aired Thursday, Pfeiffer says that he and the late Jackson had a “passionate and sexual” relationship. The two met at the offices of Jackson’s dermatologist Dr. Arnold Klein, who, incidentally, is thought to be the biological father of Paris and Prince Jackson. Klein says he witness Jackson and Pfeiffer together, in an office, Jackson shirtless. “When you see two people looking at each other you know what’s happening. I was just very happy for both of them,” said Klein, apparently not realizing that at the offices of a dermatologist, one might remove their clothing, for say, a check-up. For his part, Pfeiffer says the two connected because of their childhoods, saying “we were just sitting there and we both started to cry and I got up and went over to him and said it’s going to be okay Michael ... We hugged. And it was kind of then that the hug was a little bit more.” Pfeiffer said he assumed that Jackson was bisexual.

Backstage photographs from the Dolce and Gabbana underwear shoot starring five members of the Italian men’s soccer team.

Justin Deeley photographed by Rodney Ray.

Kerry Degman photographed by Daniel D’Otttavio in a boxing themed editorial. (Site NSFW)

Bruce Weber, adorable dogs, and models, some clothed, some, thankfully not, from the latest issue of Arena Homme. (Site NSFW)

Chris Colfer appearing on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, being Chris Colfer cute, and explaining the anxiety and confusion one feels meeting Lady Gaga.



The compact, cute Enrique Iglesias spotted in Los Angeles Wednesday outside Koi.

Apple Again Rejects Guide To New York Gay Life Application, Police In Vancouver Warn Of Misuse Of Grindr Application, Police In Phoenix Connect Murder Of Gay Man To Grindr, Los Angeles Times Endorse Gavin Newsom For Lt. Governor, Washington D.C. Mayor Apologizes For Honouring Ex-Gay Group, The Call Tries To Cultivate Anti-Gay Hate In Uganda

Apple, who apparently believes it has a moral responsibility (i.e. prerogative) to police content on the iPhone, consequently it has rejected, for the second time, an application – Gay New York: 101 Can’t-Miss Places, the company complaining that the images contained on the app are too sexual in nature and, to a caricature of the former governor of Alaska and failed Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. The rejection, according to some, underlines an obvious problem in a world of unfiltered technological growth and that is that Apple, rather than remaining a conduit for technology, is actually directing the cultural conservation.

In Vancouver, British Columbia police arrested a 54 year old man, Brent Tynan, and charged him with sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, and sexual assault after, police allege, he met a 15 year old boy through the iPhone Grindr application. Tynan was arrested on April 13th, although the incident in question allegedly occurred in August, 2009.

Police in Phoenix, Arizona say that the Grindr iPhone application may have led to the murder of 54 year old Mark Woodland, 19 year old Tommy Reed in custody, charged with second-degree murder after Woodland’s body was discovered in a bathroom at home he shared. He was badly beaten, stabbed repeatedly, and had been robbed.

The Los Angeles Times has endorsed San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom for the next Lieutenant Governor of California.

Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty apologized Thursday for a decision to issue an official certificate of appreciation that honoured the leader of Parents and Friends of ExGays and Gays, an organization that insists gays can be cured, rehabilitated from homosexuality to heterosexuality. Regina Griggs, the executive director was given the award in error, according to the mayor’s office, Mafara Hobson, a spokesperson, saying “we apologize for the error as it runs contrary to the mayor’s vision of a more open and inclusive city. The mayor is proud of his ardent support of the LGBT community.” Fenty was instrumental in helping the District pass a law legalizing gay marriage.

The Call, an American-based right-wing evangelical organization led by Lou Engle, is partnering with its Ugandan affiliate to host a rally at a stadium in Kampala May 2nd, aiming at mobilizing the country’s already violent anti-gay rhetoric, and urging those in attendance to “fight vices eating away at our society,’ specifically that represented by homosexuals. The event Sunday arrives as the Uganda parliament continues to debate the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009, one of the most discriminatory, horrific proposed pieces of legislation ever authored.

Hedi Slimane Remembers Ambrose Olson

Though the details surrounding the death last week in New York City of male model Ambrose Olson on April 24th, 2010, remain a mystery, the 24 year old, born in Homer, Alaska, who appeared in campaigns for Armani, Burberry, and the new face of Gucci, was beyond beautiful, and by all accounts a generous, joyous young man, who was interesting in a career in politics. Hedi Slimane remembers Ambrose, in a silent film shot along the shores of Los Angeles when he was 17.

Stating Anti-Discrimination Law Protects People Not Privately Held Beliefs Judge Dismisses Case Brought By Christian Councillor Fired For Not Treating Same Sex Couples

In England, Lord Justice Laws dismissed a case brought by Gary McFarlane, a Christian counsellor who claimed he had been wrongly terminated for refusing to provide sex therapy to same sex couple because McFarlane claimed homosexuality contradicted his privately held religious beliefs. McFarlane was employed by an Avon branch of Relate, and in three years refused to treat any and all gay clients, citing his right to religious freedom. He was fired in 2008, and appealed the decision to a tribunal, claiming religious discrimination. The tribunal dismissed his claims in January, 2009. He appealed to the High Court, but Lord Justices Laws also dismissed the case, and in language that made clear law created by the state to protect against discrimination are meant to protect people, not privately held beliefs. “We do not live in a society where all the people share uniform religious beliefs,” Laws said, “the precepts of any one religion – any belief system – cannot, by force of their religious origins, sound any louder in the general law that the precepts of any other. If they did, those out in the cold would be less citizens, and our constitution would be on the way to a theocracy, which is of necessity autocratic. The law of a theocracy is dictated without option to the people, not made by their judges and government. The individual conscience is free to accept such dictated law, but the State, if its people are to be free, has the burdensome duty of thinking for itself.”

Lee Alexander McQueen Cried For Help Before Suicide, Gareth Thomas Bemoans The Absence Of Openly Gay Athletes, Evan Lysacek Lashes Out At Johnny Weir, Johnny Weir Responds, Cristiano Ronaldo Gets Leggy

Lee Alexander McQueen tried to commit suicide twice in 2009, “a cry for help” triggered by a history of anxiety attacks, depression, insomnia, and the “misuse” of substances, an inquest was told Wednesday. McQueen, according to the Telegraph, took his own life in February, one day before the funeral of his mother, after her death left him “with not to live for.” McQueen hung himself with his “favourite brown belt” after ingesting a combination of cocaine, sleeping pills, and tranquillizers. He was 40.

Sports Illustrated profiles Gareth Thomas, the 35 year old Welsh sporting icon, who came out publically in November. The rugby star says that so far coming out is the best thing he could have ever done. “It’s like waking up on Christmas Day, walking down the stairs and seeing Father Christmas. The horizons are wide open. I’m like a teenager again. People keep asking me ‘What’s the negative of coming out?’ But there’s none so far.” Thomas, does, however, express disappointment that he is alone in being an openly gay professional male athlete on a team, and underlines how unfortunate it is that gay men and women with obvious athletic talent give up, conforming to clichés about sports and homosexuals. “The e-mails and letter and Twitters I get tell me there is so much confusion,” says Thomas, “so many kids who love sports get pushed away. A lot of the notes are from America. I love the United States, but ... but why wouldn’t the people who run your sports and sponsor them make a public announcement that they welcome gay people and will support them? Because even if they feel that’s bringing too much attention to something that should be a private matter, at this point that’s what’s needed.”

Evan Lysacek spoke to the Indianapolis Star and was asked about reports that Johnny Weir was not asked to be a part of the Smuckers sponsored Stars on Ice Tour because his perceived sexual orientation was not family friendly enough, to which, as if on cue, Evan, so straight, said “Stars on Ice is really selective of who they hire and they only hire the best of the best to skate. It would’ve been hard of them to justify hiring him, and I think he was really upset because he wanted the financial benefit of the tour. A lot of us in the skating world were really disappointed in the way he reacted, basically whining that he wasn’t chosen.” Curiously, asked if he were dating, he says “I’m single. The reason, well ... (laughs) ... I’m limited to who I can see.” Yes, Evan Lysacek is like heterosexual of the year.

Weir, meanwhile, appeared on The Wendy Williams Show Wednesday, and responded, articulate and generous, given Lysacek’s chronic harping, calling Evan a “slore” – a combination of the words slut and whore.



Cristiano Ronaldo spotted Tuesday, um, stretching?

Vancouver Music Teacher Claims Catholic School Fired Her For Being Lesbian, Chief Justice Vaughn Walker Sets June 16th For Closing Arguments In Proposition 8 Trial, Bolivian President Apologizes For Equating Eating Chicken With Homosexuality

Lisa Reimer, a music teacher at the Little Flower Academy Catholic School in Vancouver, claims she was fired by the private school after asking for a parental leave in December, explaining that she and her partner recently had a child, alerting the school to the fact that she is a lesbian. The school denied her request in January, and instead dismissed her. According to the Steve LeBel, a member of the Pride Education Network, who released a statement, she “was told she was dismissed because many parents had complained since they had become aware of the fact that she has recently become a parent and that her spouse was a woman,” adding that the “families were worried that ‘the girls might follow Ms. Reimer’s lead’” LeBel also said that the “Catholic school has knowingly employed her as a lesbian during the current school year, but suddenly dismissed without warning.” No one from either the school or the school board has yet to comment.

American Chief Justice Vaughn Walker Wednesday has tentatively scheduled June 16th as the date for closing arguments in long-delayed trial challenging the constitutional validity of the California gay marriage ban. Walker has heard weeks of testimony in January, but asked for time to review all the evidence prior to both the plaintiffs and defendants making their closing arguments. According to reports, however, the June 16th date may be an arbitrary one, Protect Marriage, a coalition of religious and social conservatives that qualified the gay marriage ban on the November, 2008 ballot – Proposition 8 – and is defending the amendment in court, has requested that Walker strike some of the e-mails and internal communications authored by Proposition 8 proponents from the record already introduced as evidence. The defendants claim that permitting the documents to remain on record would violate the First Amendment freedom of association rights. Walker has requested a full briefing on the issue by May 10th.

Evo Morales, president of Bolivia, has authored a letter apologizing for comments he made last week that linked that female hormones contained in chicken fed a genetically modified diet and homosexuality, after the Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Transsexuals, and Bisexuals, the Spanish gay rights group, sent a letter expressing disappointment in Morales. FLGTB accused Morales of engaging in state-sanctioned homophobia. According to presidential spokesperson Ivan Canelas, “under no way did it ever cross the mind of President Morales to the rights of homosexuals,” adding “we respect their sexual freedom and ratify our respect for what is established in the Bolivian Constitution.”

Family Research Council Sees Canada As A Wasteland Of Gay Rights On Demand And Silenced Free Speech

The American-based Family Research Council, headed by self-hating Tony Perkins, is really scared about the proposed federal non-discrimination act – the Employment Non-Discrimination Act – which would extend and strengthen protections against discriminatory policies based on sexual orientation and gender identity, safeguarding gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered from any form of discrimination in the workplace. The Family Research Council perceives the pending passage of the bill as an end to their bullying of homosexuals, couched in the kind of distorted, perverted, self-serving understanding of Christianity that would likely make Jesus weep. They want ENDA stopped, and as proof of the impending damage an effort to enact equality would bring, the FRC offers Canada as an example. Yes, Canada. A country where free speech no longer exists, where Christians are hunted by government goons – Revenue Canada, in particular, - and where a thwarting of one’s right to expound hate is a simple Human Right Commission away. Watch, but try to remember: none of the participants are attempting to be funny, at least on purpose.

3-ENDA - Just Look at Canada - Final from Derek Packard on Vimeo.

Mississippi High School Eliminates Any And All Evidence Openly Gay Ceara Sturgis Ever Existed, China Lifts HIV/AIDS Visitor Ban, Reead Sensuality, Aaron Johnson Abs, Joe Jonas

The unfortunately named Wesson Attendance Center, a high school in Mississippi, threatened to refuse to run Ceara Sturgis’s photograph in the annual yearbook, because Sturgis, who is openly gay, wore a traditional tuxedo. The American Civil Liberties Union intervened last October, demanding that officials comply and use the photo Sturgis submitted, but Copiah County School Districts officials refused, arguing at the time that their decision was “based upon sound educational policy and legal precedent.” Friday, the 2010 yearbook appeared, but Sturgis did not. There is no photograph, and more disturbingly, there is no mention of the senior. It is as though she did not even exist. Her mother Veronica Rodriguez said “it’s like she’s nobody there, even though she’s gone to school there for 12 years. They mentioned none of her accolades, even though she’s one of the smartest students there with wonderful grades. They’ve got kids in the book that have been busted for drugs. There’s even a picture of one of the seniors who dropped out of school. I don’t get it. Ceara is a top student. Why would they do this to her?” The ACLU would neither confirm nor deny they would now plan legal action and the Copiah County School District has refused comment.

China has lifted travel restrictions for foreign visitors with HIV and AIDS. The newly amended law was announced on the government’s website, days ahead of the Shanghai World Expo which opens Saturday. The World Health Organization said the decision was “a step in the right direction,” Dr Margaret Chan, the WHO Director-General saying “this decision should inspire other nations to change laws and policies that continue to discriminate against people living with HIV.”

Reead, the 28 year old Algerian born smoking sexy singer is alone in a New York City hotel room, just him and a tight, tiny pair of black Polo Ralph Lauren briefs, and, well, um, that is more than enough.

Aaron Johnson, the 19 year old sexy star of Kick-Ass, has some kick ass abs, and, um, other body parts.

The vastly underrated Joe Jonas spotted in Toluca Lake Sunday, shorts, sunglasses, and his favourite pair of shoes, Toms.

Chris Colfer Might Show You His Ass, Kirsten Chenowith Says God Does Not Mistakes And People Are Born How They Are, Cheyenne Jackson And His Dog, Tim Tebow On Jacking, Juice, And Balls, Tom Brady On Parade

Chris Colfer, who, alongside the great Jane Lynch, is one obvious reason to keep watching Glee, is profiled by Vanity Fair, and disputes criticism that his character Kurt Hummel is a cliché. “I’ve been working really hard to have him not be a stereotype from the beginning ... I grew up in a conservative small town, and the gay characters I saw on TV and in movies when I was growing up were all flamboyant and obnoxious and sometimes kind of annoying. And they weren’t like anyone I knew. The gay people I knew in real life were soft spoken and didn’t want to call attention to themselves because they were terrified of exposing themselves, of people finding that they’re gay.” Colfer also talks about finding a boyfriend in the show’s second season, and says he may play a prank the last night of the Glee Live tour at Radio City Hall. “Maybe I’ll cut out the ass of my jeans,” says Chris, “so when I turn around during the ‘Don’t Stop Believing,’ it’s just all ass hanging out.”

Time magazine talks to Kristen Chenowith, guest starring on Glee and appearing on Broadway in the revival of Promises, Promises, and Chenoweth discusses the disastrous appearance on the 700 Club with Pat Robertson, her tumultuous relationship with Aaron Sorkin, and her ability to reconcile being a Christian with her staunch support of gays and gay equality. “I’m a Christian,” says Chenoweth, “and I know unfortunately there’s a bad connotation that comes with that now, but I’m also nonjudgmental. God doesn’t make mistakes. People are born how they’re born. And I think people should be able to get married and love each other.”

The seriously sexy Cheyenne Jackson and his adorable dog Zora, cuddling.

Tim Tebow – All-American, amateur circumciser, and avowed virgin – was selected in last week’s NFL entry draft by the Denver Broncos and according to reports, the selection was the result of a sort of love at first sight between Tebow and Broncos' head coach Josh McDaniels, the two meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana hotel at the NFL Combine in February. “I was jacked leaving that room,” said Tebow. I didn’t even want to visit another room. It was not enough time. We were excited, we were enthusiastic. There was a passion. It was just intense, and it was ball, and it was juice. The juice level in that room was high, and it was awesome.

Tom Brady spotted in Brentwood Monday.

Amnesty International Accuses Britain Of Breaking International Law And Returning Asylum Applicants To Iraq, California Removes Gay Cure Mandate From Sex Crime Measure, Louisiana Rejects Gay Adoption Law, Leon Country Church Leaders Support Anti-Discrimination Law To Protect Gays, Scottish Conservative Again Disowned By Party For Saying Gay Not Normal

Amnesty International Tuesday accused a number of European countries, including Britain, of defying international rules governed by the United Nations, and forcibly returning asylum applicants to Iraq despite documented evidence of continued aggression and violence. Amnesty said that during the first week of April, over 100 civil deaths have occurred in Iraq, with ethnic and religious minorities, females, and gay men being specifically targeted. The organization also reports that in February, 2009 alone, 25 men and boys were killed merely because they were suspected of being gay. Amnesty is demanding that the countries named in the report in breach of the UN guidelines, return failed asylum seekers only when the security situation in Iraq is stabilised. Some seven years after the American led invasion of Iraq, the country continues to be rife with internal conflict, an open hostility often directed towards gays.

Monday, the 80 member California Assembly voted 62-0 to modify a 60 year old law in the state that mandated the Department of Health to find the cause and locate cures for homosexuality, categorizing homosexuality as a sexual deviance. The law was originally written as a part of larger law meant to combat sex crimes committed against children, but amid hysteria, gays again were made to be the source of all of society’s ills. Originally, Democratic Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal, the author of the measure, meant to repeal the archaic bill entirely, but some legislators wanted to preserve language that promotes research into the causes of sex crimes committed against children. Lowenthal said “the result will be the law as it should have been written 60 years ago, but now we’re setting it right.”

In Louisiana, Senate Bill 129, which would have allowed unmarried couples to jointly adopt and to allow an existing parent to petition a court to add a second adult as a legal parent, was rejected by a Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill would have applied to all regardless of the adoptive parents’ sexual orientation, but predictably the debate fixated on the rights extended by the state to gay parents and to their children. Louisiana law currently restricts adoption to married couples or to single individuals – meaning that gay couples can adopt, but they must choose which adult has parental rights, a forced choice that is cruel and unequal. One of the opponents to the law, a Reverend Louis Husser, said “this bill is nothing more than social experimentation using our children as guinea pigs.”

In Florida, more than 20 members of local clergy in Leon County stood in front of the County Courthouse Monday to show support for revisions to the Leon County human rights code that would expand and strengthen anti-discrimination measures, preventing discrimination against based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The church leaders said the ordinance was a human rights issue, and is necessary to ensure additional protection for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered individuals against discrimination beyond that afforded by state and federal law. Leon County commissioners will vote Tuesday evening on permitting the proposed ordinance to proceed as written and whether to hold a public hearing on the measure May 11th.

A Conservative candidate in Scotland has been suspended by the party after posting that gay people were “not normal” on his personal website. Philip Lardner’s comments were deemed “deeply offensive and unacceptable” by Scottish Conservative chairman Andrew Fulton, adding that “these views have no place in the modern Conservative party. Lardner was previously suspended by the same party for comments he made suggesting that Ian Smith, the leader of the white-rule Rhodesia, was a hero. Lardner, a primary school teacher, will still show on the ballot, but the party no longer supports him. Mr. Lardner contends that there is an obvious difference between the toleration of homosexuality and the state sanctioned promotion of homosexuality, an avowed opponent of the “agenda” to normalize gays.

B.C. Crown Prosecutor Wants Guilty Gay Bashing Sentenced To A Year, Utah Gay Teens Establish Gay Straight Alliances, Kevin Jonas Has Fun On Guys With iPhones, River Viiperi, Nicholas Madrid, Channing Tatum

In British Columbia, Crown prosecutor Dasein Nearing said that Michael Kandola, who pled guilty to assault causing bodily harm in connection to an unprovoked attack on Jordan Smith in September, 2008, should be sentenced to twelve months in jail, beyond the double-time credit he earns for pre-trial custody. Jordan Smith and his partner were walking hand-in-hand along Davie Street, when Kandola and a group of young men began verbally assaulting the two with homophobic insults. Kandola then sucker punched Smith, breaking his jaw, which was wired shut. Nearing told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Joel Groves that Kandola “committed a very violent, unprovoked attack that resulted in a very serious, substantial injury to a person who, in his own words, minding his own business.”

Beginning in the fall of 2010, four St. George, Utah high schools will have school sanctioned Gay-Straight Alliance clubs for the first time. In America, GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, which registers the GSA’s, promotes a safe school environment for all students regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. The applications for the clubs were initially met with resistance, some denied outright, however the American Civil Liberties Union became involved, finding that the restrictions in place at several Utah high schools were in fact “unconstitutional requirements that were very clearly designed to make it so unpopular or minority views could not be heard.” Jason Osmanski, a senior at Snow Canyon, one of the five schools that successfully created a GSA, said he hopes the club can teach all students to be more generous and tolerant of their LGBT fellow students. 16 year old Osmanski, who came out in the ninth grade, approached the Snow Canyon assistant principal earlier this month about the application for the GSA, and said he was prepared to be denied. “I had my (ALCU) ‘know your rights’ card out and ready. The second I walked out of the office, I started screaming and jumping. I was to point of tears,” adding that his success in establishing the club was the “most amazing experience” of his life ... so far.”

Kevin Jonas (maybe) makes the predictable appearance on Guys with iPhones, albeit clothed. (Site NSFW)

The ridiculously sexy River Viiperi in his words, with accompanying pictures naturally.

Meet male model Nicholas Madrid.

Channing Tatum attending the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Earth Made of Glass, a documentary about the Rwandan genocide which Tatum produced.

President Of Malawi Calls Homosexuality Foreign And Un-African, Cal State Transgendered Student Attacked, Attorneys Suggests Attacked High School Lesbian A Willing Participant, Ricky Martin On Puerto Rico And Arizona’s Racist Immigration Measure

Chairman of the African Union and president of Malawi Bingu wa Mutharika said Sunday that homosexuality was un-African, and called upon religious leaders to return Malawi to the “good old days.” Malawians,” said the president, “are even aping cultures they do not understand. They are saying a man should marry a fellow man! This is evil and bad before the eyes of God. There are certain things we Malawians just do not do.”

Police in Long Beach, California are searching for a suspect who slashed a transgendered student April 15th on the campus of California State Long Beach. The 27 year old student was approached by the suspect inside a restroom around 9:30 pm, who said a first name and asked the victim is he was that person. The student said he was, and then the suspect pulled the student’s tee shirt over his head, pushed him into a stall, and slashed him with a sharp instrument. The suspect then fled. The student was taken to an area hospital, treated, and released.

Ashley Sams and Corinne Schwab, each 18 years old, charged with kidnapping and attempted murder after the two, along with a 17 year old girl who cannot be named, attempted to push their classmate, openly gay Cheyenne Williams, 18 years old, off a cliff, both pled not guilty Monday during a brief hearing in McKee, Kentucky. Attorneys for Sams and Schwab said that the incident was staged, and that Williams was a willing participant. Detectives investigating have yet to determine the case to be a hate crime, contending that the alleged attack began as a prank but escalated – without the permission of Williams – to a point beyond, frightening Williams and causing her minor injuries. A preliminary hearing is set for Thursday, at which time a judge will decide whether to dismiss the charges, amend the charges, or send the case to a grand jury.

Ricky Martin would like to show you something.

And then, Mr. Martin would like to tell you something – specifically that he is opposed to the recently passed Arizona state immigration law.

Zachary Quinto Attends Opening Night Of Promises, Promises

The revival of Promises, Promises officially opened on Broadway Sunday night, starring Kristen Chenoweth and the newly officially out Sean Haynes, and while the reviews have been mostly unfortunate – the Times called it “tepid” - the stars were spotted attending, including the one and the only Zachary Quinto, looking very mad men sexy.

Edmonton Police Charge 14 Year Old In Connection With Gay Bashing

On Friday, Edmonton, Alberta police took a 14 year old boy into custody, charged with aggravated assault in connection to an attack on 31 year old Shannon Barry, an openly gay lesbian kicked in the face last Saturday while walking home with four friends. According to Constable Patrick Ruzage, police “confirmed that the incident was random and that the victim was not specifically targeted, “so while the investigation continues, no hate crime charges have yet to be filed. On Tuesday, Barry, in hospital recovering from substantial injuries, including a broken jaw and broken eye socket, said that she had yet to hear from the department, forcing Edmonton Police to concede it committed a series of errors in protocol. Saturday, Chief Mike Boyd said that the responding officer neither finished or filed his report before his shift ended Saturday, and then was off duty for days, meaning no record of the incident was available to officers who could, in theory, have followed up the investigation. Boyd said “I want to offer my apology to the victim and I also want to offer my apology on behalf of the Edmonton Police Service to our wider minority communities here in the city of Edmonton for the response that the victim got on Tuesday when she phoned the Edmonton Police Service, and this apology includes for the original officer not filing the report.” Barry said “I appreciate the apology. Does it still anger me that it was handed poorly? Of course.”

Puerto Rico Police Search For Killer Of Transgendered Woman, Research Shows Gays Bullied In Youth Develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, David Beckham And Tom Brady Take Their Boys Out, Zachary Quinto Reads Love, Alexander Skarsgard, Chris Egan

In Puerto Rico, police are searching for the killer of a transgendered woman, 31 year old Ashley Santiago Ocasio, whose badly beaten, naked body was discovered in her home last week. Activists are pressuring the police to consider the murder a hate crime. Ocasio was shot in the head, her car missing, but no indication that her home had been broken into. There appeared to an excessive amount of violence, so much blood covering the walls and floors that authorities initially thought she had been repeatedly stabbed. According to Pedro Julio Serrano, a spokesperson for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, said that this incident is the fifth in the last five months where police could have enforced the hate crime statue that covers crimes committed motivated by sexual orientation or gender identity, but has not been charged. “The law,” said Serrano, is very clear and we’re asking authorities to investigate without prejudice.” The hate crime law came into effect in 2002. An autopsy has yet to be completed, and police have no suspects.

Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health and Children’s Hospital have released a pioneering study that shows gay individuals are far more likely to be tormented as children, which often leads to years of post-traumatic stress disorder. The researchers are hopeful that the study will help raise awareness of parents, teachers, and health-care providers, and especially lawmakers in the United States who are attempting to formalize an anti-bullying bill.

An almost holy confluence of Hall of Fame DILFs in Los Angeles Saturday – David Beckham and Tom Brady spotted alongside their offspring – the Beckham boys Brooklyn, Cruz, and Romeo, and Brady’s son with Bridget Moynahan, John Edward Thomas, now nicknamed JET.

Last week, Zachary Quinto was among the actors who performed at Love, an evening of short plays on love, the evening a benefit for WET Productions, a non-profit group that supports the empowerment of girls and women by producing media that challenges popularly held female stereotypes and that also acts as an advocate for equality.

Beautiful, dreamy Alexander Skarsgard spotted at the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Metropia, a much delayed film that has garnered a good deal of buzz.



The equally dreamy Chris Egan spotted at the same film festival, there attending the premiere of Letters to Juliet.

Chris Pine And Zachary Quinto Attend After Party For Monogamy

Finally, after weeks, Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto together again, when we all needed them most, the twosome – forever known as Pinto, attending an after party in New York City Saturday for Monogamy at Beba, the film shown as a part of the Tribeca Film Festival. Could they be a cuter couple?

British Foreign Office Apologizes After Proposing Pope Bless Abortion Clinic, Officiate At Gay Marriage Ceremony, And Introduce Line Of Papal Condoms

An upcoming visit by Pope Benedict XVI to Britain scheduled for September may now be cancelled, that after a leaked “official” document from a committee within the British Foreign Office satirizing the Pontiff and the Catholic Church suggesting that on his official visit he bless an abortion clinic, officiate at a gay marriage ceremony, and that a line of papal-endorsed condoms be introduced – the “Benedict.” According to the Foreign Office, the memo was confidential, and was merely the beginnings of brainstorming session by a committee set up to ensure the Papal visit was well executed, and was not, according to Office, an official Government policy. Buried in the three page memo, are suggestions that the Pope formally apologize to the victims of sexual abuse, asking that the Pope take a “harder line on child abuse – announce sacking of dodgy bishops, announce whistle-blowing system for child abuse cases, and launch helpline for abused children.” The individual responsible for the memo has reportedly been transferred to other duties, and has been told that this was a “serious error in judgement,” a determination he has accepted. Officials have apologized to the Vatican, but it is unclear whether the trip will continue as planned or whether it will be cancelled.

Gay Group Bent On Preserving Laguna Beach Historic Boom Boom Room, San Francisco Gay Latin Bar Vandalized, Chris Egan Flaunts, Jake Gyllenhaal, Lance Bass, Tim Tebow Has Big Hands, Cristiano Ronaldo On His Knees

A group of gay activists are urging Laguna Beach, California officials to grant historic status to the building that once housed the Boom Boom Room at the Coast Inn, a famed gay bar that was closed in 2008. Steven Udvar-Hazy purchased the property in 2003, but shuttered the bar, where Rock Hudson was a fixture, and had plans approved by the city’s planning commission to renovate, transforming the space, built in 1928, into a ten suite boutique hotel with a rooftop pool, but no bar or restaurant. Udvar-Hazy had sought a K rating from the Laguna Beach Heritage Commission, but the board instead conferred a C rating, one that cites the significance of the building as a Spanish revival building. The bar originally catered to the Marines, and was called the Seven Seas, but over time evolved into the Boom Boom Room, a center for Laguna Beach’s thriving gay and artistic community. Fred Karger, whose organization Save the Boom first fought to keep the bar open, and is now fighting to preserve the space, said the Boom Boom Room “is a great source of pride, because this city was founded by gay artists.”

In San Francisco, the city’s only gay Latin bar was vandalized early Friday morning, someone scrawling swastikas on the walls, but the owner, refusing to notify police, painted over them. Edgar Lopez, manager of Esta Noche, in the city’s Mission District, said he found “Nazi symbols” but opted to paint over them without contacting the authorities, for reasons that remain unclear. Albie Esparza, a San Francisco Police spokesperson, said that “a swastika on a building is looked at as a hate crime. It is unacceptable and people should report it to the police. They should report it to the police because you never know if it will lead to something bigger in the future. If they are a target, any problems in the past. We need to know so we can do our investigation.” The co-owner of Esta Noche, Manuel Quijano, says he fears the bar was targeted because it is gay, and says he will meet with the other owner and the bar’s manager to decide whether to call the police in to investigate. However, with the evidence now removed, the investigation will have little to work with.

The next issue of Flaunt profiles Chris Egan, the Australian star of the upcoming film Letters to Juilet! co-starring Amanda Seyfried and Vanessa Redgrave, Egan beyond beautiful.

Jake Gyllenhaal spotted in West Hollywood Friday sexy in shades.



Lance Bass spotted Friday in Los Angeles.



Amateur circumciser and first round draft pick of the Denver Broncos, Tim Tebow, introduces himself Friday.



Cristiano Ronaldo, during a match Saturday between Real Madrid and Real Zaragoza, who assisted Madrid in winning 3-1, spotted making sexually suggestive gestures.

Arizona Governor Signs Anti-Immigration Bill Into Law, Bolivian President Says Eating Chicken Changes Men From Straight To Gay, University Of Miami At Ohio Rally Against Homophobia, Johnny Weir Sings Dirty Love, Olympia Male Model Pool Party, Anderson Cooper

An immigration law that American President Obama calls “misguided” was signed today by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer Friday, the bill makes it a crime to be in the state illegally, and requires that police check suspects for proper immigration paperwork. Brewer, a Republican, who is seeking re-election this year, and proponents of the legislation argue that it is fundamentally about public safety - “We cannot sacrifice our safety to the murderous greed of drug cartels,” she said during a press conference Friday – but opponents suggest the bill, SB 1070 is essentially an excuse for state-sanctioned racial profiling and that it threatens to erode the trust between local law enforcement and the very communities they serve. Obama, in Washington, said his administration would “examine the civil rights and other implications” of the law, and the Department of Justice said they were “reviewing the bill,” but would not elaborate. Immigration organizations have hinted that they will take the state to court, arguing rightly that immigration is a federal issue, and not the jurisdiction of state government.

On Tuesday, Bolivian President Evo Morales said that the producers of chicken inject poultry with female hormones, “and because of that, men who consume them have problems being men.” He added that chicken eaten in large quantities over a long period of time by men could lead to baldness.”Baldness,” he said, “which seems normal, is a sickness in Europe. Almost everyone is bald. And that’s because of what they eat.” Morales made the comments while addressing an environmental conference in Bolivia.

University of Miami at Ohio students held a rally Thursday night, an estimated two hundred marching peacefully handing out buttons that read “No Hate On My Campus,” the rally a response to the assault of student Ben Collings Saturday night, allegedly a homophobic attack precipitated by Collings overhearing someone who said “fucking faggots do not belong in society.” To date, Oxford, Ohio police say it was Collings who initiated the fight, and while investigating, do not consider the incident a hate crime.

Johnny Weir is making music, Weir working with RuPaul producer Lucian Piane on a song titled Dirty Love, which Weir will record in May. Weir says not surprisingly that his style is “a little but Lady Gaga mixed with Scissor Sisters mixed with Sam Sparro.”

An athletic themed editorial titled Olympia, featuring some seriously sexy male models from 160 magazine.

Anderson Cooper spotted in New York City Friday.

Anti-Gay Sign In Casper Wyoming Temporarily An Anti-War Sign, Mother Of Lesbian Student In Kentucky Who Was Nearly Killed Will Not Let Her Return To School, National Amateur Softball Alliance Responds To Discrimination Lawsuit, Ex-Gucci Heterosexual Employee Files Suit Claiming Homosexual Sexual Discrimination, Conservative In Britain Compares Risks Gay Men Face Over HIV To Risk Soldiers Face On Front Lines

In Casper, Wyoming, a sign painted along a private fence that had read “TO BE GAY=DEATH” had been changed to read “Religion=War,” but has since been changed back to its original message, painted by the fence’s owner Chris Trumbull. Trumbull said he wanted society to “hear the truth” and then referenced the biblical chapter and verse Leviticus, 20:13. Casper city officials said that the owner could not be made to change or remove the sign, citing the protections of free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment. According to a report from the Casper Star-Tribune, “a city public information officer who commented for the Star-Tribune’s first story about the sign has since been forbidden from talking to the Star-Tribune,” and the “city’s community development director, who oversees the code enforcement office, left town Thursday morning and won’t be available for comment until Monday, according to department employees.” One average, an estimated one hundred high school students pass the fence daily.

Dee Johnson, the mother of Cheyenne Williams, said Thursday that her daughter will not be returning to Jackson County High School in McKee, Kentucky, that after three of Williams allegedly attempted to kill the openly gay April 16th, trying to throw her off a cliff. Ashley Sams and Corinne Schwab, both 18 years old, are to be arranged Monday, each free on bail, charged with kidnapping and attempted murder. A 17 year old, whose name has yet to be released, was also involved in the incident. Police have yet to rule the case a hate crime, although Dee Johnson believes her daughter was targeted because she is gay. The case is being presented to a grand jury.

The North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance released a statement defending the organization against charges made by three bisexual softball players, who claim they were discriminated against by the NAGAAA and found to be not gay enough to qualify to play, the Alliance ultimately stripping the player’s team of their second place finish at the 2008 Gay Softball World Series Event, held that year in Seattle, Washington. According to the NAGAAA rules, no team can have more than two non-homosexual players on their roster; a rule, incidentally meant to insure that the league maintains a commitment to providing a safe climate for gay and lesbian amateur athletes. The three men, who are being represented by the National Center for Lesbian Rights, are seeking in excess of $225,000 in damages for emotional distress, as well as attorney fees and court costs. The open letter by the NAGAAA rightly points out that they are a “grassroots organization” founded in 1977 with a mission to provide an arena for gay and lesbian athletes to play softball, safely. “We have no paid staff; we do not have large sums of money, nor a pool of talented lawyers,”reads the letter in part, “it does sadden all of us that the NCLR, who we view as members of our community, have chosen this destructive path. NAGAA represents a diverse population, and as such there are legitimate differences of opinions among us. However, the action by the NCLR has forced these differences of opinions into the court system, rather than allowing our members the right to define who and what we are. One thing is clear, if NCLA is successful, the enormous monetary damages they seek will put our very existence in jeopardy. Regardless of the outcome, everyone loses here. There are no winners.

Adolfo Mendez, a former Gucci sales associate, has filed suit against the fashion giant, claiming he was the recipient of unwanted sexual attention, and was terminated after disputing his supervisor’s suggestion that he was gay. Mendez, who worked at the Gucci New York City flagship store, has filed a $5 million suit claiming he was effectively discriminated against because he is straight. Mendez said that his former supervisor, Michael Daly, continually engaged in inappropriate sexual conservations, and constantly touched Mendez in sexual suggestive ways. Daly is no longer employed by Gucci, and a company spokesperson said that the circumstances of both men’s “departures were unknown.”

From the United Kingdom, a report that the Labour Party is demanding that Conservative Julian Lewis, a candidate for New Forest East, be removed from caucus after a letter he wrote to a constituent regarding the lowering of the age of consent from 18 to 16 years old was made public. “I was strongly against lowering the age of consent from 18 to 16,” wrote Lewis, “my reasoning was that there is a seriously increased risk of HIV infection arising from male homosexual activity. When it comes to legalising practices that involves serious physical risk, I believe the higher limit should apply. This is the reason why we no long allow 16 and 17 year olds into front-line situations in the armed forces, for example.” Lewis did add that he voted in favour of the civil partnership bill, saying that “one of the criticisms made of gay relationships is that very often they do not last. It therefore seems obvious to me that, when a gay couple wish to commit to each other, by forming a permanent relationship, they should be encouraged and assisted in every way.”

Edmonton Police Are Now Investigating Violent Gay Bashing That Took Place Saturday Having Learned Of The Hate Crime Via The Media

Late Thursday, Edmonton Police Services announced it was conducting an internal investigation to determine why a violent gay bashing was not investigated four days after the incident occurred. EPS confirmed that they began the investigation only a after a local report was released Wednesday, detailing the failure of the officer who responded to the 911 call had not following standard police protocol of calling in a dog team or a helicopter to search for the attackers, a group men ranging in age from 16 to 20 years old, had fled. The officer, yet to be indentified failed to interview any of the witnesses, and had not filed a report, a breach of police policy, but as of Thursday morning he has filed a report and had been interviewed by the detectives from the hate crime unit.

Canadian Christians Contend Curriculum Containing Same Sex Discussions Part Of A Militant Gay Agenda And That If You Teach It They Will Practice It, NYC Women Practicing Unsafe Anal Sex, Anti-Gay BB Gun Toting Cousins Pled Guilty, Westboro Baptist Church Tour Colorado, Tim Tebow A Bronco, Kevin Jonas At Play, Jensen Ackles

Wednesday, Ontario Premier Dalton McGunity has postponed plans to implement revisions to the province’s sex-education curriculum, including an introduction of discussion about gender identity and same sex relationship in Grade 3, masturbation in Grade 6, and the risks of unprotected oral, vaginal, and anal sex in Grade 7, as well as instruction on safer sex practices, but the delay has not stopped faux-Christians from claiming that the updates are a part of a larger political agenda aiming to make homosexuality more acceptable to society and influence and indoctrinate young children to “practice” homosexuality. Brian Rushfeldt, of the Calgary-based Canada Family Action Coalition said that “this was an attempt to shape society and young minds, and to shift society away from the concept of male-female and husband-wife. They want to make society believe two men and two women having sex is normal,” adding that “they’re trying to ingrain in children a concept that society has never accepted before and that’s why they’re looking to children. Clearly they are trying to teach children so they can shape them at a young age.” Charles McVety, president of Canada Christian College in Toronto, took the lunacy one step beyond Rushfeldt, saying “it’s not about curriculum, it’s about changing the culture in our schools. We warned the country about this when same sex marriage came in. We changed the laws in this county, redefined marriage, the end result is now coming into our classrooms,” adding that “this is part of a militant homosexual agenda to normalize homosexuality in everyone’s mind and thereby promote homosexuality. If we teach our children these things ... guess what? That’s what they’ll practice.”

From New York City, a report released Thursday from the Department of Health, new research showing that more than 100,000 New York City women engage in anal intercourse each year, but most are following protocol required to protect against and prevent from HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

The three cousins who were accused of firing a BB rifle in the face of a San Francisco man they thought was gay, pled guilty Monday to a charge of negligent discharge of a BB gun with a hate crime enhancement. The three – 24 year old Mohammad Habibzada and Shafiq Hashemi and Sayed Bassam, both 21 years old – stand to be sentenced to six months in jail, as well as 400 hours of community service and probation for three years when they are sentenced May 13th.

The Westboro Baptist Church ceaseless tour of hate continued Thursday, a small sampling of the far-right religious lunatic fringe in Colorado, in and around the Denver area through till Saturday, met by a much larger, less loon group of counter-protestors.

Tim Tebow was selected in the first round of the 2010 NFL entry draft 25th overall by the Denver Broncos, who traded up with the Baltimore Ravens to get the Christian anti-choice Florida Gator. Tebow, who opted to stay home rather than travel to New York City, said he was happy with the selection, saying he “was hoping and praying that was where I could play.”

He is not gay.



He ... well, we can wish.

Edmonton Lesbian Violently Bashed Saturday, Police Have Yet To File A Report

A sickening story from Edmonton, Alberta, a lesbian violently attacked early Saturday morning while she and five friends walking home from a night out by a group of four men, the officer who responded to the 911 call failing to follow police protocol, as of Thursday, no police report has been filed. 31 year old Shannon Barry is recovering in an area hospital, post-surgery to implant two plates in her face, Barry suffering a broken jaw, a crushed left eye socket, and facial nerve damage, after being kicked in the face by a man who called her a “fucking dyke” before the attack. Dennis Gouchie, who was with Barry, said that the men were on the other side of the street when they began yelling homophobic slurs, then crossed the street to confront the group. “That’s when we stopped and turned around,” she said, “and I was just saying, ‘Ok, guys whoa. We’re ladies. Everybody calm down,’ and then I turned, and Shannon was on the ground.” Shannon, who admitted to police she was intoxicated at the time, then fell, stumbling on to one knew. At that point one of the four men kicked in the face so forcefully it knocked it backwards, leaving her unconscious. The attackers then fled. A 911 call was place, an ambulance arrived immediately, but it took thirty minutes to an officer to arrive. He took their names, but very little information. When Barry called city police Tuesday, she was told there was no record of the incident, and that the officer in question was off for four days. No one from the Edmonton Police Department, including the chief of police, has spoken on the record as of yet. Barry says that attack underlines a mistaken belief that hate directed towards gays is no longer an issue. “I think in this day and age, we’ve become complacent and passive about education the young to accept people’s differences, “she said, “ everyone’s under the assumption that we’re past all that, but it’s right here. It’s happening to people you know, that I know and love, all the time.”

Toronto Threatens To Withdraw Funding For Pride If Militant Anti-Israeli Group Permitted To Participate, University Of Miami At Ohio Junior Says He Is Victim Of Hate Crime But Police Disagree, Outing A Bisexual As Straight, Obama Disappointment Translates To Disappearing Democrat Voters, Archie Comics Introduces Gay Character, Madonna Films For D&G, Chris Evans, Kellan Lutz And The Big Pink Bag

On Monday, there were reports that the City of Toronto threatened to withdraw funding to the city’s gay Pride Parade next year – 2011 - if organizers permitted the group Queers Against Israeli Apartheid to march in this summer’s parade. Mike William, the general manager of economic development and culture, contends that the use of the word apartheid and the presence of the group in the 2009 parade likely violated the Pride organization’s anti-discrimination policy. The issue is being framed by all sides as a battle between the right to free expression versus censorship based entirely on financial repercussions.

The University of Miami at Ohio Queer/Straight Alliance hosted a drag show this past Saturday to raise funds for the Operation Smile, and a fight broke out, one that left Ben Collings, a junior, who attended the event with his boyfriend, with a broken cheek bone, a broken nose, and two black eyes, Collings claiming to the victim of a hate crime, while police contend he initiated the fight. According to Collings, he was in restroom when he heard someone say “fags do not belong in society,” and a fight that quickly grew in size ensued. Police continue to investigate and a silent protest is scheduled for this Thursday beginning at 7:00 pm.

An odd story from Pennsylvania that perhaps underlines the sea change in terms of politics and being openly gay, a primary set for May 19th, setting up a battle for the House seat between Representative Babette Josephs, a Democrat from Philadelphia, and her main opponent, Gregg Kravitz that turned nasty last Thursday when Josephs accused Kravitz of pretending to be bisexual in order to court the gay vote. “I outed him as a straight person,” she said during a fundraiser, “and now he goes around telling people, quote, ‘I swing both ways.’ That’s quite a respectful way to talk about sexuality. This guy’s a gem.” Kravitz, 29 years old, says he is bisexual, and said of Joseph’s comments that “kind of taunting is going to make it more difficult for the closeted members of the LGBT community to be comfortable with themselves. It’s damaging.” Mark Segal, however, the publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News, sees an upside to the nastiness. We’ve hit a new high point when candidates are accused of pretending to be gay to win a seat,” Segal said.

Will the frustration felt by many in the gay community in the United States towards President Obama over the perception that he and his administration have been apathetic or indifferent to the cause of advancing gay equality translate into a “hibernation” of gay or gay aligned voters this November?

Archie Comics is introducing a new character – Kevin Keller – the fictional town of Riverdale set to welcome its first openly gay character on September 1st, 2010. Kevin, in the issue titled “Isn’t It Bromatic?,” will reportedly out himself to Jughead, after his good looks attracts the attention of Veronica, who does not know he is gay because he is the new kid in town. Dan Parent, an illustrator with Archie Comics for decades, says “in the last year or two, we’ve been introducing a lot of new characters: Diverse characters, characters with different ethnicities. With trying to be diverse, we wanted to have everybody at the table. We knew at some point we wanted to introduce a gay character, and when I came up with the story idea, we felt it worked in context with this story.” Parent added that the storyline is successful because it is organic to the plot, not merely a ploy to randomly introduce a token gay character. “The story is very much in the true context of our Archie stories,” Parent says, “It’s Veronica being Veronica. The fact that there’s a gay character in the story isn’t a big deal to the characters. We didn’t do something with turmoil. The guy just happens to be gay, and the characters accept it, and that’s it.”

Madonna and an impossibly innocent sexy young man film an advertisement for Dolce and Gabanna in Harlem, New York City, Wednesday.

Chris Evans, the soon to be seen as Captain America, spotted at the premiere Tuesday of Losers, in Los Angeles.



Kellan Lutz, too, was spotted Tuesday attending the Los Angeles Lakers’ home playoff game versus the Oklahoma City Thunder, alongside his not girlfriend AnnaLynn McCord.

David Cameron Says He Will Send Openly Gay Top Tory To March In Poland Pride Parade And Help Educate Homophobic Allies, Congressional Democrats Demand Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Be Repealed Now, Maine Gay Civil Rights March Cancelled, Nick Jonas Is A Forever 21 Man, Ben Waddell, Brett Kallio, Chad White

David Cameron exercises yet another example of risk management, announcing Wednesday he will be sending the Conservative Party shadow Environment Secretary, Nick Herbert, the most senior openly gay cabinet member to Poland in July, Herbert to attend a gay rights march in Warsaw. Cameron stated that the trip is meant to convince the highly conservative, anti-gay Law and Justice party to take a “journey” to moderate its highly homophobic expressions. In 2009, the Cameron led Conservative Party formed a coalition with the Law and Justice Party, founded by the late Polish president Lech Kaczynski, who infamously banned gay pride marches while mayor of Warsaw. Cameron said that “we would not join with parties that had unacceptable views. But we do recognise that, particularly in central and eastern Europe, there are parties that have still got some way to go on the journey of recognising full rights for gay people. We are helping them make that journey.”

According to this report, Democrats in both the House and Senate are unwilling to adhere to the Obama Administration timeline to repeal the military policy of prohibiting gay men and women from serving openly – which includes completion of a ten-month Pentagon study scheduled to be completed in December – and are instead pushing to include an immediate repeal of the policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell” in the defense reauthorization bill, scheduled to be voted on in May.

The Maine Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Civil Rights March, a response to the rejection in November by voters of the gay marriage, scheduled to start on May 28th, finishing two days later with a rally at Augusta’s Capital Park, has been postponed indefinitely. According to a notice on an affiliated website, there was not “enough participation from grassroots organizers on the ground within Maine itself to give it a life of its own.” A gay marriage measure passed in the spring of 2009, signed into law by Governor Baldacci on May 6th, 2009, but opposition, led largely by the National Organization for Marriage, placed a referendum on the November ballot.

Nick Jonas – the smoking sexy brother Jonas – surprised shoppers at a Forever 21 store in Pasadena, California, Nick dressed in the store’s new line – 21Men – pretending to be a sales associate.

Winq is a gay magazine from the Netherlands, and in its latest issue an editorial titled Inside Out staring the seriously sexy Australian male model Ben Waddell wearing underwear and nothing more.

Meet male model Brett Kallio, an 18 year old Canadian from Edmonton, Alberta.

Chad White – so cute – for photographer Justin Wu, White not the best at lip-synching, but Chad is so charming all is forgiven.

Andy Roddick Runs Along Hawaii Beach

Andy Roddick – unfortunately heavily manscapped, wedding band on hand – is in Hawaii, joining wife Brooklyn Decker, there to film scenes for an upcoming film, Just Go With It, an opportunity for Roddick to frolic on the beach, Andy happily obliging.

Three Bisexual Men Sue Softball Association For Deeming Them Not Gay Enough To Play, Celebrity Confirmed Coming Out May 5th, Employment Non-Discrimination Act Fake Hysteria, GetEQUAL Disrupts ENDA Hearing Demanding Action

Three bisexual men are suing the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance stating that they were discriminated against during the Gay Softball World Series of 2008 because the Alliance determined the men not gay enough to play. The three plaintiffs played on a softball team called D2 that qualified for the 2008 Gay Softball World Series. However, a competing team in the Series accused D2 of violated an Alliance rule that no team can have more than two heterosexual players on its roster. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, states that the three plaintiffs were then called into a conference room in front of an estimated twenty-five people, and were asked “personal and intrusive questions” regarding their sexual attractions and desires, all in an effort, according to the lawsuit, to discover whether the players were gay or straight. The Alliance ad hoc panel ruled that the three men were “non-gay” and stripped D2 of its second place finish, recommending that the three players be suspended from participating in the World Series for a year. The plaintiffs are seeking $75,000 each in emotional damages, and a reinstatement of D2 second place finish. They also want the court to strike down the Alliance’s rule that requires a limiting of two heterosexual men on each team. Filed in United States District Court in Seattle, the plaintiffs are arguing that the Alliance violated the state laws prohibiting discrimination. An attorney for the Alliance said the three men “were not discriminated against in any unlawful manner.”

According to reports, mark May 5th as the day another celebrity intends to come out of the proverbial closet, People magazine reportedly obtaining the exclusive cover story, the celebrity in question booked on a number of talk shows, including the View, that week.

A vote on the proposed Employment Non-Discrimination Act has been promised by the Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank, the bill’s sponsor, for this week or next, the act being protested by social conservatives because it includes a provision that would protect transgender and transsexual teachers, an opportunity for the right to cultivate hysteria over the ever encroaching gay agenda.

In Washington, D.C. Wednesday meanwhile, GetEQUAL continued committed acts of civil disobedience, disrupting a House committee hearing on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to demand its markup, GetEQUAL member Mark Reed saying that “every day that ENDA is not passed in another day when someone in our community will be fired, especially transgender individuals and those living in states that have struck down employment protections. We are determined to continue fighting for this bill and intend to use non-violent civil disobedience and people powered actions to bring attention to the injustice.”

Lawyer For Sonoma Country Says Domestic Violence Suspicion Motivated Separation Of Two Elderly Gay Men

Gregory Spaulding, an attorney representing Sonoma County, California, and the county employees named in a civil lawsuit filed by Clay M. Greene, a 77 year old gay man from Sebastopol, said late Tuesday that the county contended Greene was abusing Harold Scull, his partner of twenty years, and that suspicion was the motivation to separate the two men, placing them in separate nursing homes. The story, which I previously posted, began when Scull was hospitalized after falling down the front steps of the home the two men shared, but according to Spaulding, the fall was an invention of Greene’s, who had, according to Scull, hit him. “Our response was to a domestic violence situation,” Spaulding said, and that’s why he was separated.” Tuesday, reports filed in court show that on “April 27, 2008, Scull was admitted to Kaiser Hospital in Santa Rosa as a result of domestic violence-related injuries which Scull reported were inflicted by Greene.” After the hospitalization, Sonoma County authorities arrived at the home the men shared, and began to remove and sell their possessions. Mr. Greene’s lawsuit alleges he and Mr. Scull legally named one another as executors in case either became incapacitated, but that the country ignored the orders. Spaulding explained that the possessions were sold at auction because Scull indicated that Greene was also financially abusing him, and the county, acting in the best interest of Scull, stepped in to insure financial security for Scull. “The county takes domestic abuse very seriously regardless of who is involved here,” said Spaulding, it has nothing to with gay marriage or that they were gay.”

Edmonton Pride Centre Vandalized, NYC Trial Begins In Beating Death Of Ecuadorian Mistaken For Gay, Paroled Convicted Arrested After Targeting Gay Men Through Craigslist, Conservative Chris Grayling Publically Apologizes For Anti-Gay Comments, Hedi Slimane’s Coachella Diary, Alexander Skarsgard Shirtless, Francisco Lachowski In Out, Hooded Tom Brady

Over the weekend, the Pride Centre in Edmonton, Alberta was vandalized, and a computer, a router, and a paper shredder stolen. The government funded drop-in centre is geared towards gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and the transgendered, and it is not known what documents were on the stolen computer.

In New York City, the trials of two men charged in connection to the fatal beating of an Ecuadorian man in Brooklyn in December of 2008 have begun. Keith Phoenix, 30 years old, and Hakim Scott, 26 years old, are accused of second-degree murder, second-degree manslaughter, assault, attempted assault – all with hate crime additions – and criminal possession of weapon, prosecutors alleging that the two beat 31 year old Jose Sucuzhanay with a bat and broken bottle, shouting anti-Hispanic and anti-gay slurs at the man because they mistook him for a gay man. Jose had been walking arm-in-arm with his brother Romel, who is gay, and who was also attacked, but escaped with minor injuries. Prosecutors say Scott has already confessed to breaking the bottle over the head of Sucuzhanay so hard it split his skull open. Two witnesses testified today; both corroborating the prosecution’s contention that the Phoenix and Scott are guilty as charged.

24 year old Angel Pena Ayala was arrested Friday by Hermosa Beach, California police, charged with eight felony counts in connection to the alleged robbing of two gay men he met through Craigslist, the Los Angeles County prosecutor contending that Ayala would stalk gay men on numerous social networking site, and that a number of other victims have likely not come forward because of the nature of the crime. Ayala was on parole for a previous carjacking conviction when he committed the crimes.

Chris Grayling, the British Conservative shadow Home Secretary, for the first time, publically apologized for comments he made suggesting that Christian bed and breakfast owners in the United Kingdom were well within their rights to refuse gay couples, Grayling asked Tuesday on the BBC program Daily Politics if he regretted making the statements. “I certainly regret causing confusion,” responded Grayling, “but I was talking about the debates of some years ago. I voted for the current law and there are many people in the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats who did not.” He added “I have supported gay rights and will continue to do so.” A law was enacted in Britain in April, 2007, that makes it illegal for providers of commercial accommodation to refuse any individual a service based on sexual orientation.

Hedi Slimane kept a Coachella diary, with predictable pretty results.

Alexander Skarsgard, shirtless, naturally, and his “girlfriend” poolside Palm Springs Monday, although the photos are annoyingly artificial, Bosworth posing for all she is worth.

Francisco Lachowski photographed for an editorial in the May issue of Out magazine, the feature titled Pitch Black.

Tom Brady spotted Monday, wedding ring on, Apple iPhone in hand, spotted at Los Angeles International Airport intent on being incognito.

GetEQUAL Commits Second Act Of Civil Disobedience In Front Of White House, Texas Appeal Court Hears Attorney General Argument Regarding Gay Divorce Petition, David Bahati Banned From United Kingdom If Anti-Homosexual Bill Passed, Cole Goforth Can Now Wear Pro-Gay Clothing To School, Russian Neo-Nazis Mistake Bubble Blowers For Gays And Attack

GetEQUAL has organized another attack on the American military policy prohibiting gay men and women from serving openly, Lt. Dan Choi, Capt Jim Pietrangelo, Petty Officer Larry Whitt, Petty Officer Autumn Sandeen, Cadet Mara Boyd, and Cpl. Evelyn Thomas chaining themselves to the White House fence shortly before noon Tuesday. All six have since been arrested.

From Dallas, Texas, on Wednesday, an appeal will be heard by the state Attorney General Greg Abbot against family court Judge Tena Callahan and her decision late last fall to hear the case of two Dallas men –known only as J.B. and H.B. – to end their Massachusetts marriage, and Callahan’s argument that the Texas ban on gay marriage is in fact a violation of the United States Constitution. Abbot intends to argue that a court in Texas cannot dissolve a marriage it does not legally recognize. A voter amendment to the state constitution and the Texas Family Code prohibit either same sex marriages or civil unions.

If the David Bahati authored Anti-Homosexual Bill of 2009 passes Ugandan parliament, the MP will not be banned from travelling to the United Kingdom, civil servants in the Foreign Office, the Department for International Development and the Borders Agency planning to block Bahati’s visa. The bill proposes the death penalty in instances of “aggravated homosexuality” and its grotesque violence towards gay men and women and those with HIV has been continually condemned by countries like Britain, Canada, France, and the United States, as well as by several religious organizations.

Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union Tennessee chapter and Lambda Legal said that they have received assurances from administrators at Greenbrier High School that they will cease censorship of student tee shirts communicating a pro-gay message, prompted by the school’s decision on April 5th to send home Cole Goforth, a freshman, for wearing a tee shirt that read "I Love Lady Gay Gay", told, at the time, that he could not wear a tee shirt in support of marriage equality because it was “disruptive.” The ACLU threatened to sue the school, and said that Cole Goforth “had long been subjected to daily anti-gay harassment at school, including threats of physical violence. Goforth was not only unable to get relief from the school, he was told by school employees that he had ‘brought (harassment) on himself by coming out (as gay)’”

In St. Petersburg, Russia Sunday, a group of suspected neo-Nazis mistook a flash mob group for a gay pride group, and attacked. Five hundred participants gathered on the steps of Gorkovskaya metro station and along the surround Alexandrovsky Park around 4:00 pm and began blowing bubbles. Thirty men descended upon them, beating them and firing rubber bullets. Riot police were called, the attackers dispersed, and the police detained, according to reports, about thirty bubble blowers for five hours on suspicion they walked on the grass, a charge they all denied. Calls to the police press office have yet to be answered.