Justice Department Appeals Massachusetts Ruling That Struck Down Defense Of Marriage Act, Accused Killer Of Carlos Castro Arraigned And Denied Bail, Boston Catholic Diocese Revises School Admission Policy With Caveat, Dave And James Franco Will Play Dave And James Franco, Joe Jonas, Jake Gyllenhaal Still Running

The Justice Department officially filed an appeal Thursday to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals challenging a ruling made in Massachusetts last July invalidating a portion of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, finding in favour of seven same sex married couples and three survivors of same sex couple all of whom were denied access to federal benefits, the Washington Post reports. The decision by the Department of Justice has angered United States gay advocacy groups, Mary L. Baonauto, the civil rights project director for Gay and Lesbians Advocates and Defenders, who is representing the plaintiffs, saying “We see nothing really new in this brief, which reiterates many of the same arguments the government made in the District Court. We’re prepared to meet these arguments head-on, and bring to an end the discrimination that is suffered by married same sex couples like our plaintiffs.” GLAD had argued that the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, that defines marriage at the federal level, as that only existing between one man and one woman, violates the Constitution’s equal protection clause, because it mandates the state of Massachusetts, where same sex marriage is legal, to treat homosexual couples markedly different from heterosexual couples. However, in the 174-page brief filed Thursday by the DOJ, attorneys argued that Congress was well within its rights to define marriage at the federal level. President Obama has historically said he does not support same sex marriage, although recently, days before the end of 2010, said his views are “evolving.”

Reuters is reporting on the arraignment Friday of 21 year old Renato Seabra, accused of murdering 65 year old Carlos Castro on January 7th, the victim’s body found on the floor of the hotel room the two men had shared since arriving in New York City December 29th. Seabra, a model from Cantanhede, Portugal, did not enter a plea and said nothing as the charge of second-degree murder was read; he appeared via video link from Bellevue Hospital, where he has remained since his arrest, dressed in pale blue pyjamas. Medical investigators have concluded Castro died from a combination of blunt impact head trauma and strangulation, and believe that the attack took place for at least an hour. He was also crudely castrated, Seabra removing his scrotum with a corkscrew. Although it was widely accepted the two men were a couple, Seabra (and his mother) continue to insist he is not gay. Seabra was denied bail and ordered held until his next court appearance February 1st.

The Archdiocese of Boston Wednesday, reports the Boston Globe, embattled after a Hingham parochial school rescinded an admissions offer to the child of a lesbian couple, released a new Catholic schools admission policy emphasising parochial schools will not “discriminate against or exchange any categories of students,” added, however, that the parents of students “must accept and understand that the teaching of the Catholic Church are an essential and required part of the curriculum.” The Catholic Schools Foundation, which distributes millions in scholarships to low-income students, and who threatened no to subsidize tuition at any school with a discriminatory admissions policy, said that it was pleased with the new policy’s “clear message of inclusiveness.” However, since the new guidelines suggest that admission should be based in part on “the best interest of the child” and as Catholic doctrine continues to teach that marriage is that existing between one man and one woman and that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered,” the extent of inclusiveness on the part of Catholic schools remains unclear.

Dave Franco, the cuter, younger, openly gay brother of James tells MTV that he and older brother will star in. Dave says of the yet un-titled work “we play versions of ourselves named Dave and James. Without giving away too much, it all takes place around Thanksgiving and Christmas break around our hometown of Palo Alto, California. Our real family will be in it, my real friends from home will be in it ... It’s going to be difficult for me, because it’s now a 90-minute version of him giving me shit and making fun of me.”

Joe Jonas – tucked into a pair of tight jeans, natch, - spotted in Los Angeles Thursday.

Jake Gyllenhaal runs his way through Los Angeles Thursday, the bulging in all the right places seen along Mulholland Drive.