British Columbia NDP Poised To Elect Openly Gay Mike Farnworth As Leader, Iowa Republicans Begin All Out Assault On Gay Marriage Equality, Federal Government Proposes Pro-Gay Changes To Housing Regulations, Keith Olbermann Abruptly Resigns, Ryan Phillippe Drives A Rolls, Jake Gyllenhaal And His Beard

Despite the gains made by gays politically – both in, and by – there has very been few openly gay leaders, and in Canada, no openly gay premier, but as the Globe and Mail reports that stands to soon change, the NDP likely to elect Mike Farnworth as provincial party leader, Mr. Farnworth in turn, poised to become premier of British Columbia. Is a politician’s sexual orientation still a story in 2011? Spencer Chandra Hebert, an openly gay NDP MLA who represents Vancouver-West End, a constituency with the largest openly gay population, thinks, sadly, that it does. “It shouldn’t be an issue today but it is,” he said. “Yesterday retrieving messages on my constituency phone someone left a message full of homophobic slurs, things like fag and that and saying that we are worthless people. I was walking down the street holding hands with my partner and someone we passed decided to cross themselves like we were vampires, like they were visibly trying to ward us off. So that attitude still exists.” Does Farnworth stand to change attitudes like those? According to the Globe, he “so obviously defies the old, outdated stereotype that some still have about gay men. He portrays an image of a somewhat tough, rugged guy whose big issue the past couple of years has been cracking down on crime. He lives in the suburbs with his partner of 22 years, Doug, and not in downtown Vancouver. Mr. Farnworth said he’s never hidden the fact he’s gay, as some in the gay community have suggested, just he’s never felt it was something he needed to trumpet. He’s never defined himself by his sexual persuasion. He’s never been a proponent of identity politics. Whom he sleeps with at night shouldn’t matter to a voter. What he does on their behalf should. We may soon get to see if that is true.”

In Iowa, the Des Moines Register reports that Republican leaders are introducing legislation to begin the process of amending the Constitution to ban not only same sex marriage, but also civil unions and domestic partnerships, an assault on gay equality. Representative Dwayne Alons (Republican-Hull) is the lead sponsor of House Joint Resolution 6, which states “Marriage between one man and one woman shall be the only legal union valid or recognized in this state,” and he says “I think the biggest issue is that if that (a same sex marriage ban) is carried forward, and then Iowa does civil unions and recognizes that as a substitute status, then, from what I’ve seen in other states” people would come to think of same sex civil unions as being equal to marriage. Des Moines attorney James Benzoni says that such an amendment would contradict the intent of Iowa laws that expressly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. “The problem you’re going to have is that it allows prejudice,” he said. “It’s going to open to door now for discrimination, for bullying, for treating people as second-class citizens.” In 2009, the Iowa Supreme Court issued an unanimous 69-page ruling that found state law defining marriage as that only existing between a man and a woman was unconstitutional because, in treating same sex couples different from opposition sex couples, it violated the Constitution’s stipulations of due process and equal treatment.

The Washington Post reports that the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced a series of proposed changes Thursday that would extend greater rights to gays and lesbians to ensure that they do not face discrimination when applying for federal housing assistance. The new rules would prohibit lenders from using sexual orientation or gender identity as a way of determining a borrower’s eligibility, and would also state that eligible families have the opportunity to participate in HUD-based programs regardless of marital status of sexual orientation.

Keith Olbermann surprised viewers Friday, abruptly announcing that the evening’s edition of Countdown with Keith Olbermann would be his last for the cable news network, reports the New York Times. He offered no explanation other that the show on occasion had become too much for him. He thanked his viewers for their support of the show that had “gradually established its position as antiestablishment.”

Ryan Phillippe spotted in Los Angeles Wednesday, post-lunch, driving off in a brand new Rolls Royce.

Jake Gyllenhaal and his beard back in Los Angeles.