News: Lafayette, Bruce Willis, Peregrine Falcons, Eric Balfour

Alan Cumming appointed OBE (Order of the British Empire) by Queen.

Bruce Willis gets naked for W.

Palatial Gay Fantasia: Where Simon Doonan lives. "Doonan’s picaresque journey from ration books in Reading, England, to palatial gay fantasia is the subject of the British television show 'Beautiful People,' which was about to make its American début, on the Logo network. The show is adapted from Doonan’s memoir 'Nasty: My Family and Other Glamorous Varmints.' 'When the book was optioned, everyone thought I’d start flying to work in a mink-lined helicopter,' Doonan said. In reality, his compensation was a bit more modest; he wouldn’t say how much he was paid, but allowed that it was 'better than a poke in the eye with a dirty stick.'"

John Mayer's bros can't hold their liquor.

Dolly Parton surprises Girl Scouts with patch made in her honor.

True Blood: Lafayette speaks.

James Franco adapts homoerotic Anthony Hecht poem The Feast of Stephen for student film: "Franco pulls this together stylishly if graphically, with chests, thighs and asses pressed tight in various permutations, infusing the violence with the poem’s more visceral sense of ecstasy."

Fast education: Elementary school kids accidentally shown 'Camp Cock' instead of 'Camp Rock'.

Have a laugh. Or 27.

Remember me? Robert Pattinson starts new movie in New York.

Houston Chronicle: Immigration law divides gay couples. "But the bill is facing heated opposition by anti-immigration advocates, who say it could potentially lead to fraud. A strong voice in the pro-immigrant movement, the Catholic Church, also has taken a stand against the bill, based on the belief that marriage is strictly between a man and a woman, said Kevin Appleby, migration policy director for U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops."

Bloggers Desperately Seek Susan Seidelman.

Bodies suggest Air France Flight 447 broke up in mid-air.

Eric Balfour does some beach rasslin'.

Brody Jenner taunts sharks.

Homophobic bullying"widespread" in Ireland, says Minister for Children: "Speaking at the launch of a report on teenage mental health this morning, the Minister said young people should be educated about the serious dangers of homophobic bullying. And he said, it was particularly worrying to hear that some young people had experienced homophobic bullying by teachers."

Peregrine Falcon babies webcam.

'Gay panic' in Connecticut leads to brutal murder: "In a seven-page confession to police released Friday, O'Brien-Veader painted a disturbing picture of a savage killing that was preceded by a brutal beating all intended to make Olivera suffer. The catalyst for the slaying appears to be that O'Brien-Veader was enraged because he thought Olivera was a homosexual and had performed a sex act on him while the two had slept in the same bed in an abandoned factory at 835 South Main St."

Lobbying for Equality and Justice in New York - Reports and Videos

Chris Rovzar at New York magazine reports on yesterday's Equality and Justice Day in Albany, where a rally was held and legislators were lobbied by constituents urging them to pass marriage equality in New York:

"There was only one dissenter wandering the field in front of the State House in Albany today, as over 2,000 people rallied for LGBT civil rights for the Empire State Pride Agenda's Equality and Justice Day. The anti-protester, who intoned passages from the Bible as he railed against the "abominations" around him, was quickly chased off by a group of high-school kids wearing Goth makeup and rainbow tights."

Our post from yesterday with photos can be found here. (images via hrc twitter)

Below are speakers at the rally. The videos below feature Alan Cumming, Alan Lubin - New York State United Teachers, Bishop Prince Singh of the Diocese of Rochester, actress Anne Hathaway's mother Kate Hathaway, and Empire State Pride Agenda executive director Alan van Capelle.

Here also is a video by Elizabeth Benjamin of the New York Daily News. Benjamin reports that Paterson hasn't lobbied any legislators yet on marriage equality: "I haven't talked to any of the legislators about marriage equality yet. I've been talking to them mostly about the MTA over the past couple weeks. But I've been waiting to let the advocates have the advocacy day and let them do some of the research and try to make identifications (about) what would be the right direction. But I would be happy to talk to legislators. I do it all the time. Two of them, three of them are coming to see me today on different isues."

Paterson: One Person 'Can't Dictate' In Albany from Elizabeth Benjamin on Vimeo.

Alan Cumming: Obama Equipped to Lead, from Head to Toe

New York magazine asked a bunch of people at a party for celebrity photographer Russell James' new book who they'd like to see naked and among those who chose to tell them, was actor Alan Cumming.

Said Cumming: "I’d like to see Obama naked. I think great leaders, charismatic leaders and men who are so confident and who have achieved so much, usually have big penises. I think there’s a correlation between the level of confidence, the level of the way a man can hold a room and the way he conducts himself in life, with his penis size — with his comfort with his penis size. So much of male psyche is taken up with how big your cock is; it’s a huge deal in our lives, and so when you’re confident about your penis size, it shows. Well, just look at him. Just the way he’s so kind of elegant and very confident in his body and himself. Also, someone told me that they worked out with him in a gym in Chicago, and it was big."

Alan Cumming Says Barack Obama Has a Big Wang [ny mag]

News: Alan Cumming, Taxis, Esquire, Booker Prize, Sarah Palin

While Palin was mayor, Wasilla billed victims for their rape kits.

Taxi service for gays to launch in St. Petersburg, Russia?

Pete Wentz: I once almost put a bullet through my head.

Gay softball team disqualified from world series for having too many straight players: "D2, a team from San Francisco, beat the Atlanta Mudcats in the series to qualify for the A Division championship game against the Los Angeles Vipers. But the Mudcats filed a protest, alleging that six of D2’s players were straight. North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance (NAGAA) rules state a team in the series may have no more than two straight players on its squad."

Some guy relieved himself next to David Beckham and confirmed previous reports from Posh.

Marc Jacobs closes New York show in a skirt.

Barbra Streisand to sing for Obama: "Streisand will perform at a $2,500-per-person reception and concert fund-raiser at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, with upwards of 700 people expected to attend. Among the co-hosts of the event are DreamWorks partners Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen, as well as political consultant Andy Spahn. It'€™s being organized with Obama's Southern California finance team."

UK Booker Prize shortlist announced: Aravind Adiga The White Tiger: A Novel, Sebastian Barry The Secret Scripture, Amitav Ghosh Sea of Poppies: A Novel, Linda Grant The Clothes on Their Backs, Philip Hensher The Northern Clemency, Steve Toltz A Fraction of the Whole.

Kevin and Scotty pics from the new season of Brothers and Sisters.

"No on 8" office opens in SF's Castro: "Activists have already been working for months to build up a grassroots operation to defeat the anti-gay constitutional amendment, but now they will have a spacious centrally-located office to organize. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Assemblyman Mark Leno, Supervisor Tom Ammiano and Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums worked up the crowd with reminders of this historic struggle--and how a defeat by the radical right would be a huge setback for the LGBT community."

Esquire celebrates 75th anniversary with E-ink cover.

Alan Cumming becoming U.S. citizen to vote for Obama.

Living strong: Lance Armstrong to come out of retirement for Tour de France?

UFC fighter Evan Tanner found dead after walk into desert.

WSJ's Kirchik claims GOP is kissing gay-bashing goodbye: "...it was refreshing to see that gays were not part of the agenda this year. Indeed, the only speaker to make mention of them was the former Arkansas governor and Baptist preacher Mike Huckabee, and he did so only tangentially, stating that Mr. McCain "doesn't want to change the very definition of marriage from what it has always meant throughout recorded human history." (The same, of course, could be said of the supposedly gay-friendly Barack Obama, who also opposes marriage equality for gay couples). The absence of antigay rhetoric has much to do with Mr. McCain; he is comfortable around gay people, and his old-fashioned sense of honor proscribes against making them pariahs for political gain."

Katy Perry-hating church hit with 'God loves gays' vandalism.

McGreevey's partner Mark O'Donnell offers to pay for daughter Jacqueline's school: "O'Donnell's offer was disclosed in a letter filed Friday in Union County Family Court by McGreevey lawyer Stephen Haller, who called it 'an incredibly generous gesture.'"

Gay porn killers to be tried together...

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #285

I'M YOUR #1 FAN: Tom Cruise's #1 fan on yesterday's Oprah special.

ALAN CUMMING: Talks to UK gossip site Holy Moly in Claridge's.

CESC FABREGAS: Is flaming.

SHARK SURFER: Fake, but funny.

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here.

Thanksgiving Travel Tips from Alan Cumming

I know many of you will be traveling over the holidays and I wish you a safe trip.

So does Alan Cumming, who offers this bit of travel advice to New York magazine's Intelligencer:

"I always think the pressure on planes gives you a hard-on. My friend I was just working with said that when he goes to sleep, he always puts the table out in case he gets a hard-on whilst he’s asleep. That’s a very good tip for your readers if they want to avoid embarrassment on a plane."

Previously

Alan Cumming Film Tortures More Than David Boreanaz [tr]
Vienna Life Ball Brings out the Glitter to Fight AIDS [tr]
Alan Cumming Weds Partner Grant Shaffer in Civil Partnership [tr]