USC Quarterback Matt Barkley Shakes Head At Decision By Justice Department Not To Defend Indefensible Defense Of Marriage Act But Insists He Is No Homophobe, Academy Awards Stumble, In Memoriam Omissions, Sir Elton John To Host SNL, Andrew Sullivan Joins Daily Beast/Newsweek, David Burtka And Neil Patrick Harris Take Gideon And Harper Out Of Town, Aiden Grimshaw Covers Gay Times

University of Southern California quarterback Matt Barkley inexplicably thought it necessary to tweet his thoughts regarding same sex marriage, February 23rd, shortly after the Justice Department, acting on orders from President Obama, announced it would no longer defend the indefensible Defense of Marriage, Barkley posted “Smh ... ‘@YahooNews Gov't says it won't defend constitutionality of law that bans recognition of same-sex marriage: http://yhoo.it/hUSDca,’” Smh shorthand for shaking my head. Barkley was quite quickly taken to task for the tweet, in particular from @vegasrobert who posted @MattBarkley "SMH"?? really? ur a homophobe? did not know this about you.. how disappointing to learn it.” Barkley soon after defended the tweet, "look bro, I’m not discriminating and I’m not a homophobe. I’m standing up for what I believe. Cool down.."

The 83rd annual Academy Awards were held Sunday night in Los Angeles, and it was a dismal affair to be sure. Not simply the show itself, which was stunningly dull and managed to insult the senses (Melissa Leo’s bit of fakery was particularly jarring) but as an indication of the year in film, which hit new lows, in particular the insipid Black Swan, an unimaginative amalgamation of Carrie and Turning Point, and not nearly as interesting as either of those two. The complete list of winners, such as they were, here.

The Oscar show in recent history has fouled up the In Memoriam segment, omitting the names of Hollywood individuals who died in the preceding year, and this year, as Deadline.com points, was no exception to the forgetfulness, Eric Rohmer, Peter Graves, and Corey Haim among those left of the list.

Sir Elton John will to host and service as musical guest (along with Leon Russell) on the April 2nd episode of Saturday Night Live, the announcement made at John's annual Oscar viewing party, held Sunday night at the Pacific Design Center, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The party included a live auction to benefit the Elton John Aids Foundation. Among the items offered was VIP access for two to SNL's April 2 show and cast after-party, courtesy of Lorne Michaels. The winning bid came in at $75,000.

Amid the Oscars, Tina Brown announced that angry Andrew Sullivan was leaving his post at The Atlantic to join the Daily Beast/Newsweek, Tina suggesting that “Andrew almost single-handedly defined the political blog and has been refining it as a form of journalism in real time nearly every day for the past decade.”

David Burtka and Neil Patrick Harris spotted arriving at Los Angeles International Airport Sunday, new twins Gideon and Harper (and nanny) safely in tow, the family departing for an unknown destination.

19 year old X Factor cutie Aiden Grimshaw graces the cover of the April issue of Gay Times.