Towleroad Guide to the Tube #1275

TOP 5: Science stories of 2012.

200 CIGARETTES: A great New Year's Eve movie.

BRAVERY: Man in Bangladesh refuses to "pray the gay away."

THE CANYONS: Trailer for new Lindsay Lohan comedy that actually looks funny.

For recent Guides to the Tube, click HERE.

News: Maryland, Fiscal Deal, Russian Soccer, 'Oz'

Just a bit more about the Log Cabin's ad against Chuck Hagel, from a Washington Blade piece published last Friday, "Cooper said he couldn’t immediately recall the cost of the ad, but said it was done over the holiday week at a special rate and was financed by Log Cabin donors who are also organization members." According to Cooper, their anti-Hagel page in the New York Times was prepared before Christmas.

Marriage equality becomes the law of Maryland at the stroke of midnight.

President Obama said a congressional deal to prevent our nation from careening off the so-called "fiscal cliff" is in sight. From Reuters: "The tentative Senate agreement would raise taxes on several fronts, with wealthier Americans bearing much of the burden. That might not be popular in the House where Republicans hold sway. The planned tax increases, while substantial, would be smaller than those that will take effect automatically this week if Congress fails to brunt the full force of the fiscal cliff." [UPDATE: Nevermind! No House vote tonight, so no deal.]

Lake Superior State University's 38th annual list of banished words.

A new year's anthem from The Rescues: "Everything's Gonna Be Better Next Year"

Ring in the new year Oz style.

Based on the type of medicine she's being given, CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta thinks it's unlikely Hillary Clinton's blood clot is in her brain. [UPDATE: Actually, it is in her head.]

CNN asked Democratic voters who they would like to see run for president in 2016: 65% said Hillary Clinton; 26% went for Joe Biden.

10 gayest songs of 2012.

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian are having a baby.

Stacy Kiebler and Michael Phelps played beer pong together in Cabo. Where was George Clooney during all of this?

Who is paying for Lindsay Lohan's life?

Russian soccer players Alexander Kokorin and Pavel Mamaev ignited gay rumors after photos of them hugging and kind of kissing during a Miami vacation surfaced over the weekend.

As the National Geographic Channel prepares to air "Are You Tougher Than A Boy Scout?," a Change.org petition calling on the cable channel to denounce the group's a    nti-gay politics.

This is fabulous: Bahaman Bishop Simeon Hall apologized for past comments about gay people and said that pastors who still preach against LGBT people may be overcompensating for their own closet. "Psychologists tell us that sometimes the things we strike out against, we do so because a bit of it lies within us on a subliminal level," he said.

"The Pope and Killing Gay People."

Fantasia: Instagram Gay Nups Jibe 'Taken Far Out Of Context'

Fantasia Barrino's PR team claims the singer's comment about marriage equality being an example of a world gone mad were "taken far out of context":

Comments made by Ms. Barrino through her Intragram account were recently taken far out of context, and the purpose of this release is to set the record straight. Ms. Barrino is not now, nor has she ever been an opponent of the LGBT community. She has supported and performed at numerous events that are sponsored by the LGBT community.

Whether it’s through a live performance or placement on social media, Ms. Barrino uses every opportunity to reach out and connect with her fans, all of her fans.

Supporting an abstract community and supporting specific equal rights are not necessarily the same thing, mind you.

Barney Frank Strongly Opposes Chuck Hagel For Defense Secretary

Outgoing Congressman Barney Frank wants to make clear before he leaves Washingnton that he's completely against President Obama nominating former GOP Sen. Chuck Hagel as the next Defense Secretary.

From Frank's office:

Then-Senator Hagel’s aggressively bigoted opposition to President Clinton’s naming the first openly gay Ambassador in U.S. history was not, as Sen. Hagel now claims, an aberration.  He voted consistently against fairness for LGBT people and there does not seem to be any evidence prior to his effort to become Secretary of Defense of any apology or retraction of his attack on James Hormel.  And to those of us who admire and respect Mr. Hormel, Sen. Hagel’s description of him as aggressive can only mean that the Senator strongly objected to Hormel’s reasoned, civil advocacy for LGBT people.

I cannot think of any other minority group in the U.S. today where such a negative statement and action made in 1998 would not be an obstacle to a major Presidential appointment.

The more you know.

'Modern Family' Star Joins Illinois Lt. Gov. For Marriage Push

Modern Family actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Illinois Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon are planning a fashion-forward action this week to push for marriage equality in The Prairie State.

On Wednesday, they're encouraging voters to call lawmakers and tell them to support marriage equality. Then, on Thursday, they're organizing Bow Tie Lobby Day at the General Assembly to get equality passed before the end of the current session. Supportive lawmakers have vowed to do just that.

More details, from The Southern Illinoisan:

Simon and Ferguson will be joined by marriage equality advocates to encourage Illinoisans to contact their legislators on Wednesday and join a Bow Tie Lobby Day in Springfield on Thursday that urges the General Assembly to pass marriage equality legislation during the January legislative session, according to a news release from Simon's office.

"It is our responsibility to ensure that everyone is treated equally under the law, and right now we have a group of citizens that we are treating as second-class," Simon said. "Bringing marriage equality to Illinois is the right thing to do."

...

"Justin and I are thrilled to be participating in Springfield's Bow Tie Lobby Day. Drawing attention to the importance of marriage equality at this level is exactly why we developed Tie The Knot," Ferguson said. "We are also excited to see how the citizens and legislators of Illinois do with their bow tying skills."

Tie the Knot, for those of you who don't know, is Ferguson and fiance Justin Mikita's (pictured) organization that designs original bowties and donates a portion of the proceeds to marriage equality causes.

If Illinois' lawmakers make good and pass equality, it will be the 10th state to let same-sex couples marry. That's one-fifth of the country - not enough, but a solid base.

R. Clarke Cooper Writes To Andrew Sullivan About Chuck Hagel

Outgoing Log Cabin Republican leader R. Clarke Cooper is getting pretty tired of all the raised eyebrows and lingering question marks over his group's sudden, surprising attack on potential Defense Secretary nominee Chuck Hagel and the former senator's stance on gay people, Israel and Iran. So, he wrote a long letter to journalist Andrew Sullivan all about it.

Apparently the LCR's New York Times ad is all part of a much larger plan that is just as mysterious as the donors who helped fund it.

LCR has a long history of showing support for our ally Israel and questioning those who would be soft on Iran. While it may surprise some to see LCR taking out a major ad in the New York Times, it's part of a broader communications strategy that LCR and its board have been developing over the last year. The next couple of years will be critical with regard to helping the Republican Party change its position on a number of LGBT issues and we as an organization have made strategic decisions to dramatically increase the sophistication and profile of our communications efforts.

With regard to specific comments Hagel made about gay people in 1998 - that Ambassador James Hormel, then being considered to represent the States abroad, was unfit because he's gay - Cooper says that while LCR appreciate's Hagel's apology, again, they doubt its sincerity.