Justice Delays Ruling on Gay Marriage Ballot Measure

Justice Judith Cowin sent the decision on whether to include a proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage to the full panel of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court after hearing arguments from Governor Mitt Romney and his wingnut gang.

Romney made the decision to request that the court take action after lawmakers delayed a proposed constiutional convention until January, the last day of the session, virtually assuring that the amendment would be killed.

The seven justices who will rule on the matter are the same seven who voted 4-3 to legalize gay marriage in 2003. A hearing is set for December 20.

Sphere: Related Content

World AIDS Day Debut: The Look/Listen/Love/Respect Campaign

World AIDS Day is tomorrow, and four actresses have recorded PSAs urging gay men to look out for themselves and those in their community. Crystal meth and unsafe sex are the focus of the new campaign debuting tonight on LOGO (during Noah's Arc) and tomorrow on Here! networks, featuring messages from Susan Sarandon, Amanda Peet, Whoopi Goldberg, and Rosie Perez.

Said Dan Carlson, founder of HIV Forum NYC, who together with the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center in NYC produced the PSAs: "Despite knowing that condoms prevent HIV transmission, many gay men continue to engage in risky and self-destructive behavior. As we mark World AIDS Day and the 25th anniversary of the discovery of HIV, we wanted to reframe the conversation among gay men about condom use and redefine what that simple act means."

Sphere: Related Content

Banksy and Warhol: They're a Steal

With prices for street art prankster Banksy through the roof, many of his actual "street paintings" have become targets for thieves eager to cash in. So it wasn't a surprise when a cleaner at Jacaranda Developments discovered a group of men posing as workmen trying to pry a rusty metal door off one of the buildings. On the door (above left) was a well-known Banksy that has come to be known as the "Liverpool Love Rat". The door has not yet been valued but it has since been put under lock and key.

And the Montauk, Long Island estate of that other pop culture commentator, Andy Warhol, finally sold. The price had been hacked down from $50 to $40 million after being on the market for years. Mickey Drexler, the CEO of J. Crew, scooped it up, reportedly for less than $30 million.

You may have missed...
Andy Warhol Estate Gets Big Price Cut [tr]
Bidding Frenzy for Banksy Warhol Fakes of Kate Moss [tr]

Sphere: Related Content

News: Gay Rabbis, Wii, Jim Webb, Paris Architecture, South Africa

South Africa's Civil Union Act signed into law by Deputy President.

Unusual erection to rise on La Defense in Paris featuring a rooftop wind farm.

Virginia Senator Jim Webb not afraid of speaking out against Bush's policies in Iraq, particularly when they concern his son who is fighting there: "I'm not particularly interested in having a picture of me and George W. Bush on my wall. No offense to the institution of the presidency, and I'm certainly looking forward to working with him and his administration. [But] leaders do some symbolic things to try to convey who they are and what the message is."

When you were young: Times Square in the 50's.

The Real World: Denver's gay housemate Davis tells Arjan what's in his iPod.

Fortune magazines cracks open the front door of gay corporate America: "Business is different. 'It's not a faith-based community,' says Ed Offshack, a chemical engineer and gay activist at Procter & Gamble. 'It's a logic-based community.' The changes in attitudes toward gays and lesbians have been swift, deep, and altogether remarkable. People who once were shunned and then merely tolerated are today being embraced by corporate America. Yes, embraced. And not just on Seventh Avenue and in Hollywood."

Conservative Jewish movement looks set to OK openly gay rabbis and same-sex unions. Rabbinical Assembly Committee on Jewish Law and Standards VP Joel Meyers: "I really don't know what will happen. Many of my colleagues are betting they will have two opinions at the end -- that rabbis can maintain the prohibition on homosexual behaviour and another that says it normalises homosexual behaviour

Mom always said, don't play Wii in the house! Website documents electronics damaged by careless Wii users.

Has she no sense of decency? Britney attempts to bring the va-jay-jay slip mainstream.

Sphere: Related Content

"We Belong" Documentary Exposes Homophobia in High School

Head over to Current TV and check out "We Belong", a fantastic short documentary entered in their Seeds of Tolerance contest. The doc was made by CJ Wills and exposed the homophobia and bullying at Franklin High School in Venango County, Pennsylvania.

And a special note from PageOneQ. If 1,000 people head over to Current TV and vote for "We Belong" the producers will donate the entire $100,000 prize to programs reducing homophobia in American schools.

Seeds of Tolerance contest [current tv]

Sphere: Related Content

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #55

THE VIEW: Drunken Danny Devito bashes Bush, horrifies Barbara.

LISTEN: Beyoncé's new video for her single from Dreamgirls.

LA DOLCE VITA: Behind the scenes of Michael Lucas' porn shoot fashion show. (briefly NSFW)

CHRIS EVANS: A recent message from the set of Fantastic Four 2.

For all our guides to the Tube, click here.

Sphere: Related Content