Austrian National Rugby Team are Fantastic Losers

The Austrian national rugby team suffered a horrible defeat 48-0 by Lithuania over the weekend, but drowned their sorrows in a mass striptease (and a rousing rendition of "Singin' in the Rain") in a public square in Vilnius, which, of course, was filmed by a bystander and posted on the internet.

Reuters reports: "The video, put out by a blogger on social community website Virb and then taken up by the Lithuanian news portal Delfi, showed a group of 20 men singing and stripping off their clothes on a street in central Vilnius, while people in a nearby bar clapped and cheered. 'Yes, these were the men we played against on Saturday ... I guess the defeat could have prompted them to do that,' Lithuanian rugby federation President Aleksandras Makarenka told Reuters. Delfi quoted the Vilnius police chief as saying stripping in public could be considered an act of hooliganism -- but by then the Austrian team had gone home."

Let's hope they lose more often.

Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP (warning: portions NSFW)...

(warning: NSFW) And a bit more here.

Previously
Just Cavalli Underwear Campaign Features Italian Rugby Beefcake [tr]
Sportrait: Danny Cipriani [tr]
British Rugby Star Ben Cohen Says Sport Ready for Gay Player [tr]
Rugby Ad: From London to Paris, with Love [tr]

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Zimbabwe: Intelligence officers for the government of Robert Mugabe force opposition supporters to take down their posters and eat them. "Amnesty International cited a case on March 7, when three members of the Morgan Tsvangirai-led faction of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) were ordered by intelligence officers to take down election posters. According to Amnesty, the officials forced the opposition supporters to chew the posters and swallow them."

Fat Joe and Suge White mock fellow hip-hop artists 50 Cent and G-Unit with 'Gay-Unit' mix tape: "Featuring a Photoshoped image of 50, Yayo and Banks tightly embraced, all three rappers are portrayed with smeared lipstick on the face, as Yayo was tattooed with a "I Miss Jail" on his right shoulder and Banks sporting a portrait of Curtis on his left shoulder with 'Delicious' tagged under." (image via Rod 2.0)

American Idol: Is David Cook an 'original', or just a really good cover artist?

University of Pittsburgh study: LGB youth report higher rates of drug and alcohol use. "The odds of substance use for lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) youth are on average 190 percent higher than for heterosexual youth...What's more, for some sub-populations of LGB youth, the odds were substantially higher, including 340 percent for bisexual youth and 400 percent for lesbians, researchers found. 'Homophobia, discrimination and victimization are largely what are responsible for these substance use disparities in young gay people,' said Michael P. Marshal, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of UPMC, who led the study. 'History shows that when marginalized groups are oppressed and do not have equal opportunities and equal rights, they suffer. Our results show that gay youth are clearly no exception.'"

The second coming of Rick Astley: the "Never Gonna Give you Up" singer talks about the RickRoll.

Apparently they are remaking the 70's kids TV show Land of the Lost at the La Brea Tar Pits, but I don't know how you can ever replicate the wonderfully bad fake dinos and the Sleestaks...

Ellen Degeneres top television host in new poll.

'Domestic partnership' to become 'mutual commitment' in Salt Lake City? "Some legislators argued that the term 'domestic partnership,' at least in spirit, violated Utah's constitutional Amendment No. 3, which bans same-sex marriage and substantially similar civil unions. Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker said Tuesday he will recommend to the City Council that the name be changed to the mutual commitment registry. The City Council likely will consider the recommendation at its April 1 meeting. If approved, the registry could be up and running as soon as April 7."

Ronald Haines, Episcopal Bishop who ordained lesbian in 1991, dies in Pennsylvania.

Karl Lagerfeld the subject of new documentary: "The film is Lagerfeld Gone Wild, with delights such as Lagerfeld discussing how gay people suck nowadays because they no longer outrage 'bourgeois social norms' and why prostitution should be legal. He's full of opinions."

Mario Lopez hawks abtastic new fitness book.

Vienna LGBT group announces poster competition to raise awareness about homophobia in football: "With the European championships to be held in Austria and Switzerland this summer, Qwien said it wanted to draw attention to homophobia in football. 'By launching a Europe-wide poster competition, we will make an otherwise taboo topic public' during the championships, it said. Posters had to be submitted by the end of May. The best 50 would be selected and then a jury - including Icelandic film director Robert Douglas, Life Ball organiser Gery Keszler, the president of Hamburg's FC St. Pauli football club Corny Littmann, pop singer Jimmy Somerville and Tanja Walther of the the European Gay and Lesbian Sports Federation - would pick the best three. The winner would be announced on June 4. The 50 best posters would be displayed "at a public venue" during the championship itself, which runs from June 7-29." (official site)

More gay looks for Jay Leno.

L.A.'s first openly gay police officer seeks new trial in discrimination suit: "Former Sgt. Mitchell Grobeson wants a rehearing of a discrimination suit that sought up to $4.4 million in damages. A jury ruled for the city last year. A Superior Court judge on Tuesday took under submission Grobeson's motions for a new trial and reinstatement to the LAPD. Grobeson did two stints with the LAPD in the 1980s and 1990s before retiring on a psychological disability. The LAPD settled a previous suit by Grobeson in 1993 by promising to improve its hiring and training of gay officers."

Remember Aquaman? Alan Ritchson a superhero again.

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Austrian Minister Draws Up Same-Sex Marriage Proposal

From the Austrian paper Wiener Zeitung:

"Justice minister Maria Berger of the Social Democrats (SPÖ) has presented her proposals for registered partnerships of the same-sex. The so-called working paper, drawn up with the coalition partner, the People’s Party (ÖVP), foresees couples formally providing evidence of their relationship at a local registry office. Same-sex couples would be entitled to many of the rights and have the same obligations as heterosexual couples who are married. One of the aims of the proposed legislation is to avoid discrimination."

The Deutsche Presse adds: " The so-called registered partnership shows a number of parallels with traditional marriage law, complete with similar rights and duties, but was no 'marriage light' Berger stressed and was independent of current marriage legislation. A right for adoption is not envisaged, separation can be either by mutual consent or court decision."

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Der Rosa Platz: Vienna to Get Memorial to Gay Holocaust Victims

It looks as though a memorial to Gay and Transgender victims of the Holocaust is going to be a reality in Vienna, Austria following an international competition to design it. Or perhaps it's already open. I haven't been able to confirm that.

Der Rosa Platz, or "Pink Place" is a shallow pink pool. According to planners, "the water itself will be colored pink."

From the plan: "Stretching across the basin is a relief with the letters 'QUE(E)R' looking out of it. Stepping from letter to letter one can walk across 1the basin... In its coloring The Pink Place is strongly reminiscent of the “Pink Triangle”, the badge those who were victimized and murdered for their sexual orientation during the Nazi era were forced to wear. 'QUE(E)R' is an open place for an open-minded society. The Pink Place is a meeting place, a place of contemplation or simply a place where you can dip your strained feet into the refreshing water on a hot summer day. Like a 'red' carpet, 'QUE(E)R' leads to the Inner City which, at the same time, is reflected on its surface. This temporary reproduction of the city gets overlapped by reflections of the passers-by and invites them to stay, to watch and to remember."

Below, the plaza, situated at the edge of the Inner City at Donaukanal, before and after.

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Vienna Life Ball Brings out the Glitter to Fight AIDS

The 15th Annual Life Ball took place in Vienna on Saturday night, drawing 4,000 partygoers and more than 40,000 spectators to its opening ceremony. The Ball, which last year, according to the International Herald Tribune, raised $1.5 million to fight AIDS, featured a fashion show by Heatherette and musical performances by the Scissor Sisters.

Scissor Sisters photographer Kevin Tachman sent us these shots. Above, Lance Bass is kissed by Traver Rains, one half of Heatherette, as he ends his runway walk.

Scissor Sisters' Anamatronic and actor Alan Cumming. Amanda Lepore prepares for her walk-on.

Another Heatherette Life Ball model.

The Scissor Sisters perform. Porn star Jenna Jameson (left) takes the stage.

Jake Shears makes some adjustments.

Seth Kirby and Ana Matronic with musical group The Ones. Heatherette's Richie Rich, Mario Testino, Sharon Stone, Traver Rains. Stone told the crowd: "It's very important for us to remember that the AIDS and HIV situation is a situation that began from love, and it's a situation that will end with love...We have to constantly remind ourselves and others that there is no shame that love cannot cure; there is no hatred, no controversy and no walls that cannot come down when faced with the power of love and dignity."

Amanda Lepore walks the walk.

All photos: Kevin Tachman / WENN

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Scissor Sisters Play the Austrian Alps

Scissor Sisters photographer Kevin Tachman sent us these shots from the annual Top Of The Mountain show at the Silvretta Arena Ischgl-Samnaun in Ischgl, Austria this past weekend. Tina Turner, Bob Dylan, and Elton John have played the show before, which is meant to mark the end of the official ski season there.

Said Tachman, "The altitude had Jake reaching for the oxygen tank and Ana Matronic toasting to high altitude effects of alcohol." That's some venue!

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A Real Ski Bum: Rainer Schoenfelder

Rainer Schoenfelder, an Austrian skier and sometime pop star, lost a bet with his physiotherapist who had been treating him for neck and back pain. He told his therapist that if the pains subsided by Wednesday, he'd ski down Switzerland's Lauberhorn in the altogether.

Well, his pains subsided and was forced to hit the slopes wearing yellow boots, an orange helmet, and gloves, catching the attention of, well, just about everyone, including a nearby photographer.

Said Schoenfelder: "Somehow I didn't notice the photographer. It was an internal bet and of course the whole thing wasn't planned for the public. I am happy, though, that the pains have eased up and that it was not cold when I honored my debt."

Austria's head ski coach Toni Giger didn't have a problem with it: "I have no problem with nudity in general. I haven't seen the pictures but no one was hurt. ... This was typical Schoenfelder behavior."

I'm sure Schoenfelder's glad that he didn't take a spill.

After the jump, Schoenfelder's ski run...

Click photo for full (NSFW) image.

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