Owner Of Cape Town South Africa Gay Club Murdered, Austin Texas Bartender Victim Of Possible Gay Bashing, Illinois Representative Harris Introduces Same Sex Marriage Bill In House, Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa Calls On Court To Lift Stay On Same Sex Marriage In State, Oklahoma-Based Romance Writing Competition Bans Same Sex Stories And Subsequent Backlash Forces Cancellation Of Event, Tom Cruise’s DJ Son Vulgar Homophobic Tweet,Vampire Diaries Hotness, Scarlett Johansson’s Smoking Sexy Brother Hunter

The owner of popular Cape Town gay nightclub Bronx was found dead in his house with his hands bound, police said. IOL reports that Bruno Bronn, 50, was found by his domestic worker at around 8.45 am on Tuesday in his Green Point home, said Warrant Officer November Filander. “He was found lying on his back on the floor with his hands tied with tape in front of him. Marks were found around his neck, but the cause of death is yet to be determined.” Filander said on Tuesday night that police were waiting for Bronn’s relatives to arrive from Bloemfontein to identify his body. According to a Cape Times report, police and a team of forensic experts spent at least three hours at Bronn’s home in Ocean View Drive before his body was carried into a mortuary van. One of the nightclub’s DJs, Dawid Human, broke down in tears as the forensics team removed the body, the report said. Human reportedly told the Cape Times: “Bruno came to see me on Sunday and said he was very scared and traumatised because of this person that has been harassing him… I think I know who it is but I can’t say.” Another man told Eyewitness News: “There was some commotion here at about 11:00 pm on Monday night. The next door neighbour went over to ask them to keep it down. She threatened to call the cops, but she didn’t. The body was found by the maid who comes every Tuesday.” Bronx closed its doors a few weeks ago as the building it was situated in is due to be revamped. Filander said the motive for the murder was still unknown and no arrests had been made.

In Austin, Texas, a bartender at Oilcan Harry's says he was followed and attacked by two men after leaving work Saturday. According to KVUE-TV, Steven Benoit says he began walking home from the bar around 3:15 am when he noticed the men following him. He says one of the men punched him in the back of the head so hard his glasses fell off his face. He says the men chased him for several blocks through downtown before he jumped into a taxi and waited for police. "I don't know if it's because they saw me leaving a bar, they thought I was gay and they were going to attack me, or they thought I had money," said Benoit. Police say that a short time later, they received another call to a disturbance. Another man called for help, claiming two men with a similar description had been harassing him. Officers took one of the attackers into custody. The other got away. "This definitely could've been way worse," Benoit said. "I'm very thankful to be here and that nothing awful happened. I just want others to be aware of their surroundings. If you see somebody running around downtown being chased, maybe stop and help them," said Steven Benoit. Officers say it's up to the District Attorney to decide whether this will be investigated as a hate crime. Police are still looking for the other attacker, a Hispanic man in his 20s. If you have any information, call the Austin Police Department.

A year after gay couples gained the option of civil unions in Illinois, some lawmakers are beginning a push to authorize same sex marriages. According to The Associated Press, three legislators filed what they call the “Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act” on Wednesday. It would eliminate the part of state law that now explicitly prohibits gay marriages and would offer same-sex couples the marriage rights now exclusively available to heterosexual couples. Representative Greg Harris, who was instrumental in getting civil unions approved last year, said he doesn't know whether gay marriage will get serious consideration during the Legislature's spring session. He predicted the new bill will trigger a period of lobbying to build support. With gay marriage gaining ground across the country, he said, Illinois could consider it soon. Washington state is on the verge of approving same sex marriage, New York did so last year and an appeals court just struck down a California ban on gay marriages. “The numbers all tell the same story — that in the last year, for the first time, the majority of Americans believe in full marriage equality,” said Harris, D-Chicago. Lawmakers might be hesitant to support the legislation in an election year, and the measure is likely to trigger strong opposition from conservative groups. “We're not bigots for trying to hold the line on our religious beliefs, and that will be a concern in this fall's elections,” said Fran Eaton, editor of conservative website Illinois Review. Eaton said sponsors of the gay marriage bill may be setting the stage for a vote before new lawmakers are seated. Civil unions were approved during the same kind of “lame duck” period. The gay rights group Equality Illinois said that legalizing civil unions were a step forward, but remain a poor substitute for same sex marriage. “Separate is not equal,” said the group's CEO, Bernard Cherkasov.

In a boisterous City Hall rally Tuesday celebrating a federal appeals court decision to overturn California's ban on same sex marriage, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called on the court to also lift its stay on the marriages and said he can't wait until he can again perform weddings for same-sex couples. "I want to feel the love in their hearts and to see the joy on their faces," he told a crowd of activists and city workers gathered in City Hall's ornate rotunda. The Los Angeles Times reports that four years ago, Villaraigosa and other officials presided over dozens of same sex unions. Councilman Eric Garcetti, who performed a marriage that year between two of his former staff members on the steps of City Hall, said Tuesday that he wasn't old enough to remember the 1960s, and that for him, "2008 was my summer of love." The marriages stopped in November of that year, when California voters narrowly approved a ban on same-sex marriage. Lesbian and gay activists challenged the constitutionality of Proposition 8, and have been engaged in a protracted legal struggle with the ban's supporters ever since. Those supporters have pledged to appeal Tuesday's ruling. Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who is gay, waved a rainbow flag at the rally and said those appeals mean the battle is not over yet. Another official in the crowd, Brenda Barnette, head of the L.A. Department of Animal Services, said she was proud that Los Angeles has been so supportive of the gay and lesbian civil rights fight. When she heard about Tuesday's ruling, she immediately called her girlfriend and invited her to the City Hall rally. But she joked that the invitation was not a proposal. "I don't know if I see marriage in my life," Barnette said. "But I think it should be the right of a couple to do it."

The Guardian reports that love is patient and kind – and strictly between a man and a woman, at least according to an Oklahoma-based romantic writing competition, which decided to ban same sex entries and prompted a furious backlash from romantic fiction authors. Romance Writers Ink, the Tulsa, Oklahoma chapter of the Romance Writers of America, runs the More than Magic writing competition. The contest accepts entries covering romance about vampires and werewolves, romance set in the future and the past, erotica and urban fantasy – but decided this year that it would "no longer accept same-sex entries in any category.” Romantic fiction novelist Kari Gregg says she got in touch with the contest to ask why, and was told that "RWI chapter members were uncomfortable with accepting same-sex contest entries. 'Same-sex was just too much.'" The news was met with an incensed reaction from authors, who suggested boycotting the contest altogether, wrote to RWI to complain and spread the word across the internet. Gregg told The Guardian that she was "staggered" by RWI's "nonchalance". "The arrogant presumption that their behaviour was OK infuriated me as a professional, who (reasonably) expected her work to be considered with the same courtesy and respect afforded to every other romance book, but also as a parent of a LGBT young adult," she said. "Both the professional and the parent responded with an immediate, 'how dare they?'" Author Courtney Milan agreed, saying "Romance is a genre that is not only about love, but also one that explores people finding an identity and their place within the community. To bar same-sex romances from recognition implies that same-sex couples do not deserve to have the same exploration of identity and community belonging that heterosexual couples enjoy. That is a very dangerous and discriminatory message to send." The Tulsa organization has now cancelled the competition, saying in a statement on its website that "we have heard and understood the issues raised, and will take those concerns into consideration should the chapter elect to hold contests in the future. Please note: our contest coordinator, Jackie, is a chapter member who graciously volunteered to collect entries and sort by category. It is unfortunate that she has become the object of personal ridicule and abuse. We recognise the decision to disallow same-sex entries is highly charged. We also opted not to accept YA entries. We do not condone discrimination against individuals of any sort." Author Heidi Cullinan, president of Rainbow Romance Writers, the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender chapter of the Romance Writers of America, was reluctant to claim cancellation of the contest as a victory. "I suppose it is in a way, but mostly the whole thing makes me sad," said Cullinan. "It's clear the chapter felt threatened and still doesn't fully understand that they were discriminating. The excuse of the moment seems to be that 'same-sex romance is a genre'. No, we aren't. I'll buy that we're a group, a demographic perhaps, but no more than 'Southern women romances' should be a genre or 'non-Caucasians' should be a genre. Same-sex romances cover every genre you can imagine and every one recognized by RWA – even inspirationals."

According to The New York Post, Connor Cruise — a die-hard Patriots fan and the DJ son of Tom Cruise — lashed out at one of his reps, Todd Krim, who tweeted after the game, “Sorry @TheConnorCruise maybe next year!!!” According to an e-mail forwarded to publicists by Krim, Cruise, 17, texted him back, saying, “That was a gay ass fucking tweet . . . U don’t say shit like that about my team the second they lose. Low.” When Krim — who heads entertainment/ charity Web site Give Back Hollywood and helped book DJ gigs for Cruise — wrote back, “Umm ok . . . Dude I was fucking joking,” Cruise responded, “That was fucked” and “Idgaf” (“I don’t give a fuck).” Cruise and Krim were both in Indianapolis where Cruise DJed DirecTV’s Saturday night party. Krim says the Twitter tantrum ended their professional relations, while sources close to Cruise say they’d parted ways weeks ago. On Monday, Krim e-mailed colleagues with a screen grab of Cruise’s texts, saying, “I am no longer working with Connor Cruise. In fact, I am no longer speaking with [him] . . . I refuse to be professionally (or even personally) associated with someone that engages in this sort of behaviour . . . I just thought you should know who and what you’re dealing with.” He called Cruise’s comments, “highly offensive and what I consider homophobic . . . after I jokingly tweeted about the Patriots losing.” Krim told the Post, “I did a lot for [Connor], and he was less than respectful and appreciative . . . I made a joke, and let’s just say his reaction was not what I expected. It’s disappointing when you think someone is one way and they turn out to be another.” Cruise, through his representative, said, “What I texted was unacceptable. It is not a reflection of who I am and what I feel, and it certainly won’t happen again.”

On the cover of Entertainment Weekly, Vampire Diaries’ star Nina Dobrev sandwiched between her nude co-stars Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder.

Scarlett Johansson spotted out with her smoking sexy brother Hunter.