Andy Warhol's '200 One Dollar Bills' Goes for $43.7 Million

The money appears to be back in the contemporary art market:

"The price rose at breakneck speed as five collectors vied for the classic image, '200 One Dollar Bills.' It ended up selling for $43.7 million (including fees to Sotheby’s), more than three times its high estimate of $12 million. The buyer, whom Sotheby’s refused to identify, bid by telephone through Bruno Vinciguerra, the company’s chief operating officer. Sotheby’s would also not identify the seller, although people familiar with the collection said it was Pauline Karpidas, a London-based collector. Just a year after the art market was in the doldrums with the world’s financial markets, buyers with deep pockets were not shy about stepping up for tried-and-true artists. The sale topped Sotheby’s expectations, totaling $134.4 million, well above its $67.9 million high estimate."

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Justice Kennedy refers R-71 names case to full Supreme Court?

Excitement over Thai AIDS vaccine fades: "Now, two other analyses of the trial data suggests that the results could have been due to pure chance, and therefore the vaccine may not have conferred protection to people after all. The additional data are published today in the New England Journal of Medicine and will be more fully discussed today by researchers attending an AIDS meeting in Paris."

Twins wreak havoc on X-Factor with their cover of "Oops, I Did It Again".

Toronto chosen for World Pride 2014.

Man pleads guilty to 2008 gay bashing in Springville, New York.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown backs opening Parliament to gay weddings: "The Prime Minister will insist that it is unfair only heterosexual couples can marry inside the Palace of Westminster. Mr Brown will be speaking at a Parliamentary inquiry into how to increase the representation of gay people, ethnic minorities, women and the disabled at Westminster."

Joss Whedon to direct Glee.

Daniel Radcliffe purchases third NYC residence.

Threats on President's life up 400%: "The Boston Globe reports that a new internal Congressional Research Service report and government sources say there are an unprecedented number of death threats against President Obama -- and that the Secret Service is insufficiently funded and staffed to deal with them."

Astronomers find 32 planets outside our solar system.

Transgender woman found strangled to death in her flat in Brighton, UK by firefighters responding to a blaze. Police have arrested a 42-year-old man: "The body of Andrea Waddell, 29, who had a masters degree and worked as a prostitute, was found just before midnight on Thursday by firefighters. The man in custody, from Brighton, was held on Saturday night, police said."

Big Brother 9 winner Adam Jasinski used his $500,000 prize to fuel his oxycodone drug-dealing business.

Elvis hair: it sells for $15,000.

John Mayer releases augmented reality music video.

More of Lance Bass in the boxing ring.

Character on Law and Order: SVU to come out of the closet.

Inside David Hockney's iPhone obsession.

D.C. activists oppose phase-out of domestic partnerships, fearing that failure of same-sex marriage law would leave gays and lesbians with nothing.

Singer Will Young guest edits Attitude magazine: "Explaining why he took on the job, Will says: 'The first time I bought Attitude I was 15 and Chris O'Donnell was dressed as Robin on the front cover. I didn't know it was a gay magazine at the time. It is never easy adjusting to being different but things have changed so quickly over the last 10 years. I dedicate this issue to the people who were at the forefront of that change by being brave enough to be themselves."

Adam Lambert album to be called For Your Entertainment.

Fashion chat: Paul Smith blabs with Simon Doonan.

Lesbian couple attacked in Brighton, UK: " The couple, who are aged 18 and 22, were walking hand in hand at about 3am on October 7. When they turned towards the three men shouting homophobic insults at them, two of the men attacked them, punching them both in the head. Even when the young women begged the third man, who had a large brown dog, to stop his friends, he did not intervene."

Celebs Customize Shepard Fairey for Marriage Equality

More than 80 entertainers and political figures including Julia Roberts, Robert De Niro, Anne Hathaway, Mayor Gavin Newsom, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Pine, Jessica Biel, Natalie Portman, Bradley Cooper, Lance Bass, Dave Matthews, Jared Leto, and Charlie Sheen have contributed signatures and/or enhancements to a set of "Defend Equality - Love Unites" original prints with a design by Shepard Fairey which became well-known during California's campaign against Proposition 8.

The project (undertaken in partnership with entertainment networking group HOMOtracker and its annual fundraiser ‘FallOut’) will go up for auction on November 10 on the website Charity Buzz and will benefit the grassroots marriage equality group FAIR. The group is also holding an event in West Hollywood on November 12 at which the prints will be on display.

The image above was enhanced by Virginia Madsen. Check out contributions from Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, Marc Jacobs, Michael C Hall, and Cheyenne Jackson,
AFTER THE JUMP...

British Agency Pulls 'Fagot' and 'Dikes' License Plates from Auction

Two license plates have been pulled from an auction of personalized plates by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in the UK:

"The two registrations – F4 GOT and D1 KES – were to have been among 1,600 auctioned at a sale this week. But Stonewall, the gay rights charity, objected to the DVLA profiting from the sale of the insulting numberplates and they were dropped from the auction, which is expected to raise £3.5million...Stonewall argued that F4 GOT – due to go under the hammer for at least £900 – could, when displayed on a car, be read as ‘FAGOT’, a derogatory term used to refer to gay men. Likewise, campaigners said, D1 KES could be read as ‘DIKES’ – similar to the insulting term ‘DYKES’ levelled at lesbians. That plate also had a £900 reserve. The registrations will still appear in the catalogue for the auction on Wednesday in a hotel in Broadway, Worcestershire. But when the lots come up the auctioneer will announce that they are no longer for sale. James Lawrence, of Stonewall, which is supported by a host of celebrities including comic Alan Carr, singer Dannii Minogue and ex-EastEnders star Michael Cashman, said last night: ‘It is regrettable that personalised numberplates that could clearly cause offence were made available."

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True Blood's Ryan Kwanten shows off his favorite outfit for GQ.

WATCH: Britney Spears launches presidential campaign on Letterman.

Gay Iraqi tells Guardian about attack by militia: "Four men came into the shop. They pulled out guns. They were the Mahdi army. The place they took me to was very close to a mosque or actually in the courtyard – I could hear the call to prayer very clearly. When they hauled me out of the car, they beat me unconscious. Late the next day, they came to me and said, 'We know you are gay.' They pulled out a list of names and started reading them ... I knew four who were still alive. One they had already killed. They interrogated me for three hours that night. They demanded I give them names of other gays. At night they got a broomstick. They used it to rape me."

Does Demetri Martin tailor his discomfort over playing gay to specific audiences?

West Hollywood International Film Festival descends into complete chaos.

Imogen Heap is back with a new album and video.

Kylie Minogue talks to Instinct a month before her first-ever North American tour: "There is still a certain amount of disbelief because it’s really happening. I’ve spoken about this for so long and I was sure the fans in the States had given up, hadn’t you?"

Elton John and David Furnish live the good life in Saint Tropez.

European Committee of Social Rights: Croatia's sex-ed curriculum is discriminatory. "The committee said parts of the curriculum 'stigmatize homosexuals and are based upon negative, distorted, reprehensible and degrading stereotypes.'"

Warming: More methane seen rising from Arctic sea bed.

Andy Warhol Michael Jackson portrait sells: "The auction, which closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday, was conducted online, by phone and at the gallery. The seller is a private collector. Gallery co-owner Janet Lehr would not disclose the final bid price, but did say it was more than a million dollars."

Gay romantic comedy Bear City looking for extras in NYC.

The thunderstorm that ripped through Manhattan last night caused more destruction in Central Park than has been seen in 30 years.

Q-SINY: New gay nightclub opens on Staten Island.

Winnipeg prostitute faces deportation to the Philippines.

Mario Lopez bicep rival Nick Adams makes solo debut at Birdland.

E. Lynn Harris' aunt Jesse Phillips talks about the late author: "Every time he wrote a book I'd go and buy 10 to 12 of them to support him I knew that he was gay before he told me because I could tell by his mannerisms but it didn't make me love him any less. When he was about 14 or 15, he confided in me that he was gay and it was just between the two of us. I kept his secret. I don't think he ever sat down with my sister and told her the way he did with me, but she accepted him just the same. He told me, 'I thought I could pray everything away even my sexuality but I can't.' Then he said that he knew I didn't' like the idea of him being gay but the fact was if he never had sex again in his life, he'd still be gay."

Michael Jackson Portrait by Andy Warhol Pulled from Auction

A 1984 Andy Warhol portrait of Michael Jackson has been pulled from a Long Island auction as demand for artifacts related to the musician rises:

"The Vered Gallery in East Hampton says enormous interest prompted the decision. The auction was to close Sunday. The 30-by-26-inch painting shows a smiling Jackson in a red jacket from his 'Thriller' days. Pre-sale estimates ranged anywhere from $1 million to $10 million. Gallery co-owner Janet Lehr says in a statement she wants to offer the 1984 work to 'the greatest number of prospective purchasers.'"