News: Dark Knight, Pope, Lawrence King, Madonna Sex Tape

Australia: Pope's apology for clergy abuse not good enough. Clash between pilgrims and protestors after condoms thrown.

The Dark Knight shatters box office records, taking in $153.34 million. Check out the list of records it broke.

Man claims possession of sex tape featuring A-Rod and Madonna.

Obama campaign snubs New Yorker reporter from foreign trip press plane following Muslim cover flap?: "Forty journalists, including such leading correspondents as Dan Balz of The Washington Post, will be aboard his plane for next week's swing through Jordan, Israel, Germany, France and England. The campaign received 200 requests for press seats on the plane. Among those for whom there was no room was Ryan Lizza, Washington correspondent of The New Yorker. The campaign, which was furious about the magazine's satirical cover this week, cited space constraints in turning him away."

Hundreds of dead baby penguins wash ashore on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro.

George Clooney works mustache for Martini.

Australia's first LGBT retirement village to be built an hour outside of Melbourne: "The estate will feature 120 two and three-bedroom apartments, a tennis court, bowling green, open-air theatre and a multi-million dollar leisure centre with a pool, spa, gymnasium, cafe, restaurant, piano room and business centre. Managing director and major shareholder Peter Dickson said the village filled a gap in the market. 'Whether we're in a relationship or whether we're single, we want to be surrounded by friends,' he said. 'I wanted Linton Estate to be different to other retirement facilities and this has now come about.'"

Young, gay, and murdered: Haven't had a chance to dive into this yet, but here's Newsweek's take on the Lawrence King tragedy.

Following registrar Lillian Ladele's lead, a Christian policeman says he's been victimized over his opposition to Gay Pride: "Graham Cogman, a constable with 15 years experience, is taking action against Norfolk Police as he claims he was victimised for refusing to wear a pink ribbon on his uniform to mark a 'gay pride' event, and for questioning the force's stance towards gay men and lesbians."

Human Rights Campaign hires trans woman Allyson Robinson as new Associate Director of Diversity?

Man dies during New York triathlon: "Race director Bill Burke said other competitors alerted medical personnel to the man during the 1,500-meter swim in the Hudson River, and he was unconscious when he was pulled from the water just before 8 a.m."

University of Maryland swimmer Fred Deal is out and proud.

Ian Thorpe: It's a girl!

Chace Crawford hangs with the international spokesmodel for Ralph Lauren’s Black Label for men and POLO Black fragrances at a Polo match in the Hamptons.

Showtime orders up two new series with significant gay content: "The first announced was the tentatively titled thirty minute dark comedy Nurse Jackie, starring The Sopranos’ Edie Falco as an iconoclastic, opinionated, self-medicating nurse in New York City...Greenblatt also announced that The United States of Tara, starring Toni Collette, had been ordered to series. Based on an idea by Steven Spielberg and written by Academy Award-winning writer Diablo Cody, the comedy features Collette as Tara, a suburban mother suffering from dissociative identity disorder (more commonly known as multiple personality disorder). Her various personalities include a rebellious teen girl, a biker, and others that impact in a variety of ways both her husband (John Corbett) as well as her children including out gay teen Marshall."

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Toronto Fans Taunt A-Rod with Madonna Headshots

Blue Jay fans attempted to distract Alex Rodriguez by flashing images of Madonna during a three-game visit to Toronto. The Yanks lost 2 out of 3 in the series.

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News: Out of the Mouths of Generals, Boy George I Don't Think He's Got It, MySpace Rocks the Vote, Jesus Take the Wheel & More

Wesley Clark stands by his dressing down of John McCain.

The U.S. doesn’t find Boy George appealing—so his first tour in ages is officially off. I guess America doesn’t know a good drag queen when we see one.

No charges for Virginia men who managed to get married thanks to bridegroom Justin ("juh-STEEN") being very in touch with his feminine side.

MySpace and Rock the Vote launch a DemROCKracy Band Competition to amp up the youth vote. The band enticing the most voter registrations through MySpace’s user registration tool (found here) can win prizes, including a chance to perform "on a major concert stage."

I Know Who Drilled Me: A Montana woman admits to a long-ago affair with Lindsay Lohan’s father Michael and wants her 13-year-old daughter acknowledged as his. God…there's another Lohan out there?

Arresting San Francisco Pride Weekend images. (Some NSFW.)

Jesus Christ…another alternative for disgruntled Hillary Clinton supporters. (Though the media has given this guy a free pass, too, grumble.) Feeling the heat, Obama ups the ante. Obama and Jesus...potential running mates?

Burning Up: Madonna's childhood home burns under suspicious circumstances just as her Sticky and Sweet Tour rehearsals are heating up. But a divorce? A sampling of A-Rod? You’re getting cold.

Bette Midler’s wedding snaps from her 1984 Las Vegas ceremony arrived in her hands only this month. What do you expect when you say "I do" in a place called the Starlight Chapel?

The Outfest 2008 box office is now open at the Directors Guild of America in Hollywood. If you’ve never gone and are close enough to go, go—I had a blast the year I went.

Derek Jeter loses the beard.

Huntington Beach police officer Adam Bereki has settled his suit against the city, which alleged he endured repeated gay harassment by his co-workers. He'll get $150,000 upfront and $4,000 a month in disability for life. Even though the city admits no wrongdoing and none of the accused officers have been penalized, spokesman Lt. Dave Bunetta says, "Anyone being harassed or victimized will not be tolerated by the police department." I wonder if he realizes what he's saying was literally true in this case?

Check out this warm backstage remembrance of Katharine Hepburn (who would be 101 this year) by Tim Ranney, who interned on her play The West Side Waltz in 1981. Her advice: "Obey all the rules, and miss all the fun."

The best reason yet to vote for Barack Obama.

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News: Thomas Roberts, Penguins, Jason Castro, Kylie Minogue

New York high court refuses to strike down state's recognition of out-of-state same-sex marriage: "The Court of Appeals declined yesterday to review the mid-level appellate court's decision to recognize the couple's Canadian marriage, the first such ruling by an appellate court in New York State. For now, that lower court decision remains binding across the state."

Thomas Roberts talks to The Advocate about the news industry's glass ceiling for gays: "It’s funny that people think I got fired from CNN. I left CNN on my accord: I resigned from my contract because of personal reasons. I never dealt with anything but respect and kindness. There’s a great misconception. I’ve worked my ass off, I’ve been fortunate, and luck doesn’t hurt either. If people don’t like that I’m gay or that I talk about being gay, I’m sorry. Because that’s not my problem."

American Idol's resident stoner Jason Castro has his own hot doll, complete with dreads, and it can be yours.

A-Rod faints as daughter is born.

Have any questions for Chace Crawford?

Filipino Archbishop defends right of gays to participate in Santacruzans: "If they are devotees, they are religious and they look decent, I believe they have the right to join in. I think it would be better for us to see gays who act formally and decently in the Santacruzan rather than young and beautiful women who are not clean and [are] immoral."

Gay penguin book And Tango Makes Three is "most objected to" library book in America for second year straight: "Other books on the ALA's top 10 list include Maya Angelou's memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, in which the author writes of being raped as a young girl; Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, long attacked for alleged racism; and Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass, an anti-religious work in which a former nun says: 'The Christian religion is a very powerful and convincing mistake.'"

Three teenage girls admit to tagging school and vehicles with racial, vulgar and homophobic messages in Wisconsin.

Moldova hopes to hold its first Gay Pride ever: "Organisers of the Gay Pride in Moldova – 'Rainbow over the Dniester' – are hopeful of being able to stage a parade this year in the country’s capital, Chisinau. The Pride is the seventh to be organised, but in previous years the parade has been banned by the authorities. 'During three previous consecutive years, public authorities have banned the public manifestations on various pretexts,' said a spokesperson for GenderDoc-M, the Pride organisers. 'This year after we applied to the City Hall to inform the authorities about planned public manifestation within the Pride, we got the information, which gave us hope.'"

Kylie Minogue show hot out of the gates in Paris.

One benefit to having a fat ass.

Rhode Island lawmakers to debate bills that would allow same-sex couples married elsewhere to divorce in that state: "Lawmakers filed the divorce bill after Rhode Island's Supreme Court ruled in December that a lesbian couple married in Massachusetts cannot divorce in Rhode Island, where they live. Massachusetts is the only state to legalize gay marriage."

Looks like Dick Cheney's gone hunting again.

John Travolta is a subway terrorist.

White House admits it is missing email backups from start of Iraq war: "The White House acknowledged in a court filing last night that it no longer has backup tapes of email from between March 1 and May 22, 2003, a period that includes the beginning of the Iraq war. Yesterday's filing is the latest development in the ongoing White House emails lawsuit, in which two non-profits, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and the National Security Archive (NSA), are suing to force the administration to recover any missing emails and institute a more effective email archiving system."

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New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez Makes a Fashion Statement

[[Men's Vogue image removed at request of publisher]]

In its place, enjoy this photo of A-Rod getting a massage. You can see another one at the link below...

A-Rod and his bat step up to the cover of Men's Vogue for April.
Does that mean pinstripes are in?

Previously
How to Get to First Base with A-Rod [tr]

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News: Great White, Uganda, Matthew McConaughey, Singapore

Singapore bans gay picnic, saying politics not welcome in public parks: "It was never meant to be political, and this testifies to the paranoia of the government. They automatically assume that anything gay is a political challenge to them. It speaks volumes about the political climate in Singapore."

Beckham pays a visit to the Yankees and Blue Jays' clubhouses to see what American sports are all about.

British Great White Shark photo exposed as a fake: "The man who took the picture, which was featured prominently in the Sun, admitted he had snapped the creature during a fishing trip in South Africa rather than off Newquay, northern Cornwall. 'I took the picture while I was on a fishing trip in Cape Town and just sent it in as a joke,' Kevin Keeble told the Newquay Voice newspaper. 'I didn't expect anyone to take be daft enough to take it seriously.'"

Five continents to see lunar eclipse on August 28th: "The event begins 54 minutes past midnight PDT (0754 UT) on August 28th when the Moon enters Earth's shadow. At first, there's little change. The outskirts of Earth's shadow are as pale as the Moon itself; an onlooker might not even realize anything is happening. But as the Moon penetrates deeper, a startling metamorphosis occurs. Around 2:52 am PDT (0952 UT), the color of the Moon changes from moondust-gray to sunset-red. This is totality, and it lasts for 90 minutes."

Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church to picket funerals of Minneapolis bridge collapse victims.

A look at Matthew McConaughey's pocket rocket?

Retired bishop who supported gay rights causes reaction after he is identified attending Catholic mass in Uganda: "The Rt. Rev. John Baptist Kaggwa mentioned Ssenyonjo among the important guests in the congregation, drawing mixed reactions from Catholics who also condemn homosexuality. One of the celebrants said Ssenyonjo should not have been recognised during the mass because the public could think that the Catholic Church sympathises with gay activists."

What's next for Apple TV?

Broward County Commission blasts Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle over homophobic comments, but stops short of censure: "Using words such as bigoted and despicable, commissioners united in chastising Naugle, then signed letters that will be sent to gay news Web sites and convention planners reaffirming their commitment to diversity. The symbolic reproach individually by the nine commissioners, though, stops shy of them formally voting to censure him, which is what some gay political activists want. The county's tourism czar, Nicki Grossman, said Tuesday's actions were vital in light of the growing national tumult over Naugle's views. She and other tourism executives had hoped the area's long-standing reputation as a gay-friendly destination would avert any negative effect."

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How to Get to First Base with A-Rod

Here's the second half of today's subway series...

On Letterman last night, correspondent Biff Henderson filed his annual report from the New York Yankees spring training in Tampa, and viewers found out just how much third-baseman Alex Rodriguez enjoys a man's touch.

Video here.

You may have missed...
A-Rod Adjusts a Rod [tr]

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News: Madonna Tiara, HIV Fugitive, A-Rod

Crowd of thousands cheer Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson "for calling President Bush a 'dishonest, war-mongering, human-rights violating president' whose time in office would 'rank as the worst presidency our nation has ever had to endure.'"

Now A-Rod has milk too.

National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuals criticized when member advocates bullying of kids who cross gender role boundaries: "I suggest, indeed, letting children who wish go to school in clothes of the opposite sex - but not counselling other children to not tease them or hurt their feelings. On the contrary, don't interfere, and let the other children ridicule the child who has lost that clear boundary between play-acting at home and the reality needs of the outside world. Maybe, in this way, the child will re-establish that necessary boundary."

Madonna's wedding tiara on eBay auction with starting bid of $225,000. Shipping, however, is free.

Police launch manhunt for fugitive Mark James, sentenced to three years and four months for knowingly infecting his partner with HIV.

Scottish firefighters who refused to hand out leaflets at a Glasgow gay pride festival are ordered to undergo "diversity training": ""Firefighters are well aware that fire prevention education and spreading the fire safety message is not a minor part of their job - it ranks alongside fire-fighting as a core, statutory duty...Firefighters cannot, and will not, pick and choose to whom they offer fire safety advice."

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A-Rod Adjusts a Rod

As Ozzie Guillen imagines where he might put it...

(via deadspin)

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