New Design for NYC AIDS Memorial Approved: RENDERING

Manhattan's Community Board 2 approved a new design for a New York City AIDS Memorial in Greenwich Village on a 17,000 square-foot triangle-shaped plot of land bordered by Seventh Avenue, 12th Street and Greenwich Avenue, opposite the former St. Vincent's Hospital.

The park's planners tell us:

In their presentation to Community Board 2, the design team issued the following statement: “The memorial is composed of three inter-connected elements that are inspired by the shelter provided from a dense grove of trees, and the visual impact created when trees within that canopy are lost.  The elements include a planted canopy creating a sheltered area that defines the memorial space, a reflective water feature providing a focal point for meditation, and a narrative surface design of concentric rings creating an opportunity for sharing and learning.”

“This memorial design provides an amenity for the new park and the surrounding neighborhood, while also marking this uniquely important site and providing a vehicle for passing on facts and memories about the ongoing history of the AIDS crisis,” said New York City AIDS Memorial cofounders Christopher Tepper and Paul Kelterborn in a statement.

A different, competition-winning design was rejected by the park's owner in January.

"Brooklyn, NY architects Mateo Paiva and Esteban Erlich of studio a+i, whose entry was selected in an international competition earlier this year, are responsible for the new memorial design approved by Community Board 2.  The memorial design team also includes representatives from Robert Silman Associates, structural engineering; 2x4, graphic design; and Fisher Marantz Stone, architectural lighting design," according to organizers.

Trouble In Heterosexual Paradise For 'Ex-Gay' Activists John And Anna Paulk?

A few months ago John Paulk, the former chairman of "ex-gay" group Exodus International and a poster boy for the movement, changed his Facebook page to say he's "interested in men and women."

Now the LGBT group Truth Wins Out reports that John and wife Anna, another activist in the "ex-gay" scene and John's co-author on Love Won Out, are splitting up and that Mr. Paulk has been dating men.

Sources tell Truth Wins Out today that John has moved out of the couple’s Portland, Oregon home. Other sources in Portland have informed Truth Wins Out that Paulk was dating a man, although the current status of that relationship remains murky, and that Paulk has frequented homosexual establishments in the city.

Paulk also recently penned a Facebook message about his wedding date, writing, "Although a lot has occurred since that day long ago and I am on a hard journey right now, I want this woman to know how much she has always meant to me and that no matter where things pan out."

You know that song "Things That Make You Go Hmmm"? This is it in action.

New Kids On The Block In The Shower With Mustaches: PHOTO

The men from New Kids on the Block recently reunited to work on some new music and also celebrate the end of Donnie Wahlberg's mustache, a follicular addition the singer says brought him "countless insults" and "thousands of requests to shave," so Wahlberg, eager to please, decided to let his face be naked once again.

Here's a picture the men took before Wahlberg did the deed. It's been almost 25-years since the quintet appeared on the scene and they're still looking pretty darn good.

Barbara Walters Discusses George Zimmerman Interview That Never Was: VIDEO

While Sean Hannity always had exclusive rights to George Zimmerman's first television interview, Barbara Walters was also supposed to have an interview with the man accused of shooting and killing 17-year old Trayvon Martin. That interview never happened.

According to Walters, she and her producers flew down to Florida to chat with Zimmerman, but the 28-year old had a demand they couldn't grant. Walters wouldn't say what that demand was — "It was a condition that, being a member of ABC News, I was unable to grant.” — but many speculate cash-strapped Zimmerman wanted ABC News to put him up in a hotel for a month.

Though she didn't get to conduct an official interview with Zimmerman, Walters did spend about an hour with him and describes him as "polite, soft-spoken and stubborn."

Watch Walters discuss the aborted interview mission AFTER THE JUMP.

Towleroad Guide To The Tube #1169

VITO: Trailer for HBO's documentary about activist and Celluloid Closet writer Vito Russo.

SPOT ON: Kid is Beyonce in a Snuggie for 'Countdown' video.

'CLOSE CALL': Karl Rove says Mitt Romney needs to made a decision on his tax returns.

BRAZEN: Police in Philadelphia are looking for the man who tried to kidnap a little girl.

For recent Guides to the Tube, click HERE.

News: Emmy Nominations, Bane, Tech Gene, Fred Willard

Chuck Dixon, one of the creators of Batman villain Bane, insists the phonetic resemblance to Mitt Romney's former employer, Bain Capital, is purely coincidental. "Bane was created by me and Graham Nolan, and we are lifelong conservatives and as far from leftwing mouthpieces as you are likely to find in comics," he said. Dixon does say, however, that Bane is a bit like the Occupy Wall Street protesters and that "if there ever was a Bruce Wayne running for the White House it would have to be Romney."

The Dark Knight Rises star Morgan Freeman gave a pro-Obama super PAC $1 million last month.

Pro-equality group Mainers United for Marriage say "350 members of the clergy representing 20 different denominations in 158 Maine towns are supporting the referendum to allow same-sex weddings in Maine."

Meanwhile, in Minnesota, the LGBT group Minnesota United for All Families has raised a total of about $5.4 million to fight an amendment banning marriage equality there. Their opponents at the right wing Minnesota for Marriage have taken in only about $1.5 million.

The New York Times admits a lapse in an article on a building up for historic landmark status. "A post last week about 186 Spring Street — a 19th-century row house near Thompson Street that seems destined to be demolished or (far less likely) made a landmark — all but stated flat out that nothing of consequence had occurred there until it was bought by a Beastie Boy in 2000.  In fact, 186 Spring Street had a brief turn as a center of gay political activism in the decade following the Stonewall uprising..."

Mad Men and American Horror Story tied for the most Emmy nominations - 17 each - during today's announcement of the award show's finalists. Modern Family received 14 nods, including "best supporting actor" for all of its adult men. Downton Abbey received nine nominations, including "best supporting actress" for Maggie Smith, who really should win for just "Best."

Congratulations to Dan Savage on his Emmy nomination for the It Gets Better campaign! The category? "Outstanding Children's Nonfiction, Reality or Reality-Competition Program."

Ann Romney to ABC News' Robin Roberts: "We've given all you people need to know and understand about our financial situation and about how we live our life."

There's a gene for that: "...Researchers took DNA samples from the participants and analysed a gene, DBH, that regulates how much of the neurotransmitter dopamine is made in the prefrontal cortex, a brain region that controls decision making. Participants with a form of the gene that made more dopamine were faster at making decisions without the computer's aid, and were more likely to cross-check what it said with their own information."

The owners of a bed and breakfast that turned away a gay couple must pay them $4,500 for discrimination, said the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal.

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope found a new exoplanet two-thirds to size of Earth. It is called UCF-1.01 and is 33 light years away.

Washington State is the first place where citizens can use Facebook to register to vote, and a whole lot more: "Besides registering to vote on Facebook, Washington residents will be able to update personal information, access customized voter guides with candidate info and ballot measures, as well as access replacement ballot

Why not speculate about whether or not Kate Middleton is pregnant? What else are you going to do all afternoon?

Get it, gurl: Modern Family star Sofia Vergara earned an estimated $19 million last year, mostly thanks to her Pepsi and Covergirl endorsement deals.

Frequent Christopher Guest collaborator and legendary improv actor Fred Willard was arrested for lewd behavior at an adult movie theater. What else does one do at such a place?

When Newt and Callista Gingrich chilled with Snooki.

Washington State Republican Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna disagrees with the Boy Scouts' decision to uphold a ban on gay members and troop leaders.

The Wire, Lego style.

Tonight on ABC's Nightline: "I am gay, I am Mormon, I am married to a woman. I am happy every single day. My life is filled with joy. I have wonderful sex life. All of these things are true whether your mind allows you to believe them or not."