News: $181 Million, Gay Avengers, 'Ex-Gay' Ban, Slavery Praise

Will Ann Romney congratulate gay weatherman Sam Champion on his forthcoming marriage when she hosts GMA?

Mitt Romney and his body doubles.

The New York City Health Department found six "critical" violations at the Italian restaurant owned by Lady Gaga's parents.

President Obama's reelection campaign says they raised over $181 million the month of September, meaning the president is inching closer to the $1 billion fundraising mark.

The British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy told its 3,000 members that "ex-gay therapy" is now banned. Their letter also noted that "the diversity of human sexualities is compatible with normal mental health and social adjustment."

David Blaine is electric.

More pictures of Matt Bomer and Joe Manganiello at the GLSEN Respect Awards.

Meredith Baxter is narrating a documentary about the 2009 police raid at a Fort Worth gay bar. "I think it's important for people to realize that events like what happened at the Rainbow Lounge are still happening in our lifetime," said Raid of the Rainbow Lounge director Robert L. Camina.

Karen Andresen, the mother of a teen denied Eagle Scout status for being gay, will appear on Ellen next week.

Gay activists in Serbia held a silent protest and pride event indoors after police banned their planned pride parade for the second year in a row.

Colin Farrell tells Ellen DeGeneres he loves getting wet and sweaty.

Gay heroes Wiccan and Hulkling would make a great addition to the new, more diverse Avengers, says Newsarama.

Arkansas State Rep. Jon Hubbard thinks slavery may have been a "blessing in disguise": "The institution of slavery that the black race has long believed to be an abomination upon its people may actually have been a blessing in disguise. The blacks who could endure those conditions and circumstances would someday be rewarded with citizenship in the greatest nation ever established upon the face of the Earth."

Michigan State Rep. Says Being Gay Is A 'Lifestyle Choice': VIDEO

In 2003, Michigan State Representative Tom McMillin told The Detroit News that he believes people choose to be gay and need help. "I think that the people who are caught up in the homosexual lifestyle need help. We encourage people to stop smoking. This resolution is the same sort of thing," the Republican said. That was six years ago and McMillin's views haven't really changed. He still thinks being gay is a choice and that people can choose to be straight.

Asked during a town hall meeting held late last month whether he stands by those comments, McMillin said yes, telling his audience that people can "come out" of homosexuality. "I think that the thousands of people that have been in that lifestyle and come out would say that it was their choice when they were in and came out of the lifestyle," he said in a comment caught on video included AFTER THE JUMP.

"I think for some it is, it sounds like it," McMillin said when again asked whether he thinks being gay is a choice. According to The Oakland Press, McMillin cited actresss Anne Heche as an example of someone who "left" homosexuality.

Former Ferndale, Michigan, mayor Craig Covey spoke out against McMillin, saying, "The science says that it is not a choice, but I'll tell you what is a choice, being a prejudiced person, being a bigot, being anti-gay — that is a choice, and it is a choice that Tom McMillin has made."

McMillin's office responded to the video with an email message claiming it is simple a liberal distraction: "A few liberals clearly want to take the focus off what we’ve been accomplishing."

Watch the video report AFTER THE JUMP.

Growing Up Gay, Matt Bomer Played Both The Field And The Stage

Matt Bomer took the stage alongside partner Simon Halls last night to accept GLSEN's Inspiration Award and to discuss his own experience growing up gay in high school.

"When I was in high school, there was no safe haven, there was no outlet for you to speaking your mind," he said, according to E! News' Marc Malkin. "So I did what any self-preserving 14-year-old would do—I signed up for the school play and also the football team to cover my tracks."

"When that happens, when you aren't allowed to speak about who you are, one of the most authentic parts of who you are, which is who you love or is who you're attracted to, [one] feels invisible."

He went on, "GLSEN gives visibility and authenticity to kids all across the country."

Bomer's Magic Mike co-star Joe Manganiello spoke before giving the men their award in Beverly Hills, telling the couple and a crowd that included Jim Parsons and Amy Adams, "You are the example that the rest of our country needs to wake up and see in terms of equality and putting and end to the bullying epidemic and making sure that every family is respected in our schools and our society."

[Image via Just Jared]

Obama And Romney Ads Star 'Dishonesty' And 'Disappointment': VIDEOS

Saturday is no day of rest for the presidential candidates and their campaign teams. Both President Obama and challenger Mitt Romney released new ads today.

In Obama's ad, "Dishonest", the narrator highlights Mitt Romney's alleged dishonesty in his debate claim he doesn't favor a $5 trillion cut that favors the wealthy (a claim that is actually at least partially true). The ad also takes aim at the actual mendacity inherent in a pro-Romney ad claiming Obama wanted to impose $4,000 in taxes on the middle class. The research on which Romney based his claim was done by a pal from his days at Bain & Company. Dick Cheney and Newt Gingrich were also involved.

Romney's ad takes a more softer tone, featuring a woman named Melanie McNamara who explains that she voted for Obama in 2008 but has been "disappointed" by his first term and remains worried about the 450,000 women who have lost their jobs over the past four years. That ad is called "Melanie".

Watch both campaign ads AFTER THE JUMP.

American Dream Includes Marriage Equality: VIDEO

Director David Crabtree submitted this video as part of the I Vote Nation's voter registration initiative, and it's wonderful.

Called "My American Dream," the minute-long testimonial, shot entirely on an iPhone, outlines some of his democratic fantasies, none of which involve traveling with Kanye or rolling in a hot car. Rather, he wants honest banks, fuel efficient vehicles and the right to marry the man he loves.

Also, in the video's official description, Crabtree adds that he wants to see the National Endowment for the Arts receive more funding and would be over the moon if astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson were in the White House.

Watch Crabtree's video AFTER THE JUMP.

Same-Sex Families Don't Count In Pence's Economic Plan

Indiana Rep. Mike Pence has a long history of touting homophobic politics.

He joined forces with the Family Research Council to spread lies about hate crimes laws creating a "special class" of people and he warned of "mainstreaming" gays in the military.

And those exclusionary politics are on full display now that the Republican lawmaker is running for governor.

One of the load-bearing planks in his platform is the idea that "two-parent, intact households" can help eradicate poverty. Gay couples, however, need not apply.

"I understand the desire of some to hurry off to the fault lines of a social issues debate, but I actually think we could create a broad consensus around this where we say in effect, 'Are there ways for us in Indiana to affirm two-parent, married couples and to encourage more kids to get married, to stay married and to wait to have kids until they get married?," Pence said in an AP interview.

Same-sex couples aren't part of his plan because they can't get married, he said. Marriage equality is banned in Indiana, and you can be sure Pence isn't interested in making it legal. "Our focus here is on an affirmative statement about traditional, two-parent married couples," he said.

Aaron Schaler from the Indiana chapter of the Stonewall Democrats responded by saying, "Mike Pence needs to look at the many, many cases where same-sex couples do it well and in many cases have done it better than opposite-sex couples." It may also be helpful for him to look at data showing income disparities between same-sex and heterosexual couples.