News: West Side Story, Matt Dillon, Bush Golf, Ryan O'Meara

Former Olympic skater Ryan O'Meara: I'm gay.

Madonna in bid to reunited Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake for her Sticky & Sweet tour. If that doesn't work, maybe Justin could just play both of them.

Bush to attend McCain golf fundraiser. FLASHBACK: "Playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal."

Sarah Jessica Parker whacked her mole.

Brisbane, Australia's gay, Aboriginal, and civil libertarian communities to march against Pope Benedict tomorrow: "We are protesting against the Pope's anti-queer, anti-abortion, anti-condom stance. The Pope is an extremely powerful and influential figure, who has called homosexuality 'an intrinsic moral evil', has said that abortion rights are a 'new holocaust', and who tells those in the midst of the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa that contraception and sex education support a 'culture of death'."

Scores of Methodist ministers in California putting careers on the line to officiate same-sex weddings: "The pastors could lose their jobs and clerical credentials in the church, the nation's second-largest Protestant denomination. Ministers in Santa Monica, Claremont, Walnut Creek and other cities have already performed ceremonies for gays and lesbians or are planning to do so. In addition, 82 retired pastors in Northern California signed a resolution in June offering to perform such weddings on behalf of ministers who feel they can't do so themselves."

West Side Story revival to begin Broadway previews in 2009...

Barry Manilow: too thin?

Andrew Lloyd Webber reveals details of Phantom sequel at boozy UK bash.

Participants at the Anglican Lambeth Conference will be invited to take a walk on the gay side: "Peterson Toscano, who is also booked for the Edinburgh Festival and the Greenbelt Christian arts festival this summer, promises good humour and topicality when he takes to the stage at the Keynes Lecture Theatre at the University of Kent on Wednesday 30 and Thursday 31 July 2008, starting at 8pm. The lively theatrical performance activist will share his own spiritual story and experience, liberally sprinkled with excerpts from a play that tells how he survived the 'ex-gay' movement which has been encouraged in some Christian circles - 'Doin' Time in the Homo No Mo Halfway House'. The performances will also include a 'question and answer' session."

Anti-gay protest at McDonald's goes pathetically.

Matt Dillon: open wide.

Afghanistan, Bid Laden first: The John McCain blunder nobody has discussed yet.

Al Gore to make ' moon shot' challenge on environment: "Just as John F. Kennedy set his sights on the moon, Al Gore is challenging the nation to produce every kilowatt of electricity through wind, sun and other Earth-friendly energy sources within 10 years, an audacious goal he hopes the next president will embrace...'I have never seen an opportunity for the country like the one that's emerging now,' Gore told The Associated Press in an interview previewing a speech on global warming he planned to give Thursday in Washington."

Dennis Kucinich's impeachment resolution moves forward, ever so slowly...

H&R Block offers $100 coupons or free TaxCut software to gay couples their software blocked from filing online: "Connecticut taxpayers Jason Smith and Settimio Pisu and the ACLU sent a demand letter last March to Block asking the tax preparer to stop penalizing gay couples because the software in use then didn’t support Connecticut civil union returns. Filers who encountered that problem were asked to contact a Block tax service office for help, for which higher fees were charged."

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Lie Accusations Fly in Barry Manilow View Feud

On Monday, TMZ reported that Barry Manilow pulled out of a scheduled appearance on The View because he disagreed with Elisabeth Hasselbeck's conservative point-of-view.

Manilow posted the following message to fans on his website: "I wanted to let you know that I will no longer be on The View tomorrow as scheduled. I had made a request that I be interviewed by Joy, Barbara or Whoopi, but not Elisabeth Hasselback. Unfortunately, the show was not willing to accommodate this simple request so I bowed out. It’s really too bad because I've always been a big supporter of the show, but I cannot compromise my beliefs. The good news is that I will be on a whole slew of other shows promoting the new album so I hope you can catch me on those."

Whatever happened to agreeing to disagree?

Access Hollywood is now reporting that sources from The View say Manilow is lying: "Sources told Access the show is the one who cancelled the booking because they would not allow the 'Copacabana' singer to dictate who would interview him. In addition, the appearance has been scheduled since July (which is after Rosie left the show) and that Manilow has appeared twice on the show in the past with Hasselbeck on the panel. The sources suggest Manilow is causing a stir in order to create a buzz as his new album, Greatest Songs of the Seventies, is getting ready to debut."

Coincidentally, Manilow recorded "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" with former View host Rosie O'Donnell, but it didn't make the new album.

Manilow told Access: "It was the most fun I’ve had in a long time. She is just inspiring because you know she’s not a singer. She knows that, but she just got behind the microphone and ripped away. She was great and in tune too. The problem was, as I put the album together, it became a very romantic album. And having this thing come crashing in out of nowhere, the tone just didn’t feel right. It’ll probably wind up being a bonus cut somewhere."

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News: Boxer Briefs, Barry Manilow's Hip, Moustaches

Hundreds took to the streets on Friday night in San Diego's Hillcrest neighborhood to rally against the hateful attacks that took place near Balboa Park over Gay Pride weekend.

Remember the 14-year-old gay Iraqi boy murdered on his doorstep? Evidence shows increase in Iraqi Shia death squad executions of homosexuals: "There is growing evidence that Shia militias have been killing men suspected of being gay and children who have been sold to criminal gangs to be sexually abused. The threat has led to a rapid increase in the numbers of Iraqi homosexuals now seeking asylum in the UK because it has become impossible for them to live safely in their own country."

Hugh Jackman's lucky charm: a pair of ten-year-old boxer briefs.

Marvel Comics Editor in Chief says that due to "ridiculous" pressure from "pro-family" groups like Traditional Values Coalition, the company will not be publishing titles with gay and lesbian characters without an "explicit content" label: "The last thing we want to do is have everybody come down on the entire comic book industry."

Barry Manilow to undergo hip surgery.

What your facial hair says about you: “You’ve got some who are hairy and do nothing about it, some who are almost obsessive about being clean-shaven, and some who just keep their facial hair neatly trimmed—and what goes on up top is usually a good indication of what goes on below."

World's first gay motor show set to start its engines in Cardiff, UK.

Western Australia National Party passes motion supporting gay and lesbian civil unions: "This move by the National Party shows that there is an increasing level of support within the party to secure fairness and certainty for same-sex couples and their families, especially those in rural and regional Western Australia."

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