Liza Minnelli Does Gay Pride in Paris, Remarks on Jackson Death

Liza Minnelli (pictured with gay Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoe, below) rode a float at Gay Pride in Paris on Saturday:

"Hundreds of thousands on Saturday marched through Paris and Berlin in flamboyant Gay Pride parades with US showbiz diva and gay icon Liza Minnelli mesmerising crowds in the French capital. Minnelli, who takes to the stage later Saturday in the French capital, a city which also holds fond memories for the star of her film director father, dazzled with a brief dance routine. 'Freedom,' she cried, dancing on a float festooned with multi-coloured balloons in the gay movement's symbolic rainbow hues."

Video of Liza in Paris, AFTER THE JUMP...

The event falls 40 years after the Stonewall riots, which occurred the week following the death of Minnelli's mother, Judy Garland. At least one Stonewall veteran has claimed that the two events were connected.

Said David Bermudez to the TakeAway: "That night was different because, you see, when we were raided we never fought back. Never ever fought back. And that night I feel that because of Judy Garland's death and all that we just had it. Enough was enough. When the cops started hitting us and harassing us and putting us in paddywagons and all, we just went ahead and fought back, and started hitting back."

Minnelli also talked to CBS' The Early Show about Michael Jackson's death:

"All of us who knew him well really know what he was like. And I'm sure that now the accolades are going, and I'm sure when the autopsy comes, all hell's going to break loose. So, thank God we're celebrating him now. He was just a really splendid man. And a brilliant performer who changed theatrical history. And I will miss him, I cannot tell you."

Video of Liza in Paris, AFTER THE JUMP...

News: Autoerotica, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mandals, Bertrand Delanoe

There may be a ruling soon on Wisconsin's same-sex marriage ban.

Autoerotica: Washington man has had sex with more than 1,000 cars.

In 2000, McCain said he'd be too old to run in 2008: "Well, in 2004, I expect to be campaigning for the reelection of President George W. Bush, and by 2008, I think I might be ready to go down to the old soldiers home and await the cavalry charge there."

'Save California' group says issuing marriage licenses to gays is the moral equivalent of gassing Jews: "Ask your county clerk if they were a Nazi officer during WWII and had been ordered to gas the Jews, would they? At the Nuremberg trials, they would have been convicted of murder for following this immoral order." UPDATE: Group edits alert.

Winehouse out, Beyonce in to record James Bond theme.

Gay rights activists condemn Gambia leader's announcement that he plans to kill all gays: "Carey Johnson of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Council said the comments were 'disgraceful'. 'What president Jammeh fails to realise is that there are a significant population of Gambians who are gay, and he has no right to ask them to leave,' Mr Johnson said. The speech was 'doubly disgraceful' because The Gambia is the host country for the African Commission on Human and People's Rights, he said. ...'Jammeh has a long history of homophobia,' said British gay rights activist Peter Tatchell. 'If he tries to carry out these threats, international aid donors are likely to withdraw their support, and foreign tourists will stay away in droves, thereby damaging the Gambian economy,' he added."

Britney Spears is in the recording studio again working on follow-up to Blackout.

Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoë takes first steps in journey that could lead him to the presidency: "In the introduction to a book of interviews, outlining a market-oriented and even Blairist future for Socialism in France, M. Delanoë hinted strongly that he would run for the leadership of the Parti Socialiste in November and probably seek the party's presidential nomination in four years' time. He was ready, he said, to "invest my convictions and energy in my country" if 'democracy and the Socialist Party call on me... to act'."

Will TV's first gay superhero Thom Creed soon make his way to your living room? "It's not campy either — it's not The Gayest American Hero. He just happens to be gay. It's just one of the many things he wrestles with."

Folks in New York's Union Square try on the season's gayest mandals.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United win the Champions League trophy!

Homophobic attack in Portsmouth, UK: "Two men have been attacked by a gang in what police described as a homophobic incident in Portsmouth city centre. The men, aged 41 and 20, were walking in Guildhall Square when they were attacked by two men and a woman who were part of a large group. One of the men received grazes to his chest and back and the other sustained a black eye and a sore neck."

Black bunny captures Provincetown's imagination.

Richard Dreyfus to play Cheney to Josh Brolin's Bush in Oliver Stone's W.

Marketing director for sperm bank catering to gays and lesbians files sexual harassment lawsuit: "In a lawsuit filed in New York, Scott Glasgow says he was pressured into sharing a bed on company trips with his boss, Growing Generations CEO Stuart Miller. The lawsuit also claims that Miller sent Glasgow pictures of himself shirtless, wearing bondage attire and holding a whip, and forced Glasgow to perform in drag on a company trip."

Gay Activist Peter Tatchell Detained Amid Olympic Flame Protests

Gay activist Peter Tatchell was one of dozens detained in various protests over the weekend surrounding the transit of the Olympic flame through London, including one dramatic moment in which the torch was nearly snatched from the hands of television presenter Konnie Huq (see video, AFTER THE JUMP). There were 80 torch-bearers who carried the flame through London, from Wembley Stadium to Greenwich.

Gays Without Borders reports on the Tatchell arrest: "Mr Tatchell ran in front of the bus carrying the Olympic flame. He held up a placard which read: “Free Tibet, Free Hu Jia.” He shouted the same words as he ran along in front of the bus. The police wrestled Mr Tatchell to the ground, which delayed the bus briefly while he was removed to pavement. After questioning, he was later released without charge."

Said Tatchell,in a statement released later: "Hu Jia was jailed for three and half years in Beijing last week for campaigning for free speech, Tibetan autonomy, environmental protection, and for the human rights of the rural poor and people with HIV. Gordon Brown has shamed himself and Britain by greeting the Olympic torch at Downing Street, at a time when China is shooting dead Tibetan protesters and jailing and torturing hundreds of political prisoners. It is hypocritical for the Prime Minister to boycott the Zimbabwean regime, but not the dictatorial regime in China. These double standards bring our government into disrepute. The UK should not be colluding with a police state like China. Attempts to gently persuade the Beijing leaders to stop their human rights abuses have failed. They are manipulating the Olympics. We must not allow them to exploit the Beijing games to divert attention from China’s abysmal human rights record. All countries that love freedom, democracy and liberty should refuse to host the Olympic torch and boycott the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. Athletes should wear Tibetan flags during their events and on the podium when they collect their medals..."

Demonstrators across London wanted to make it clear that they will not tolerate China's human rights abuses as the summer Olympics in Beijing approach.

In all, 37 people were arrested over the course of the day. The flame is now in Paris, where it has been met with so much protest that it has been extinguished and put aboard a bus for its transit. According to Agence France Presse, "Paris's Socialist mayor Bertrand Delanoe planned to unfurl a giant banner over city hall in defence of human rights."

Watch the clip of the Olympic flame snatch attempt, AFTER THE JUMP...

European Mayors Asked to Attend Moscow Gay Pride

Moscow Gay Pride organizer Nikolai Alexeyev has asked London mayor Ken Livingstone (pictured, second from right) and openly gay mayors Bertrand Delanoe of Paris (far left), and Klaus Wowereit (far right) of Berlin to attend Moscow's Gay Pride observance, which has been scheduled for May 30 and 31, UK Gay News reports:

"In a letter to the three Mayors, Nikolai Baev and Nikolai Alekseev point out that in Russia gay men and women face enormous difficulties in publicly expressing themselves. 'You always support the fundamental right of homosexual people to openly manifest and to publicly express themselves,' they say in their letter to the city halls. 'All of you also regularly take part in Gay Pride parades in your own cities.' They go on to say that the constitutional right to freedom of assembly has been violated in the previous two years when Gay Pride Parades have been scheduled, only to be banned by Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. 'Taking into account the bans of the public Pride events in the Russian capital in 2006 and 2007, we are not sure that Mayor Luzhkov will permit Gay Pride manifestation this year,' they point out. 'Please take part in our conference and rally,' the organisers ask."

Last year's Gay Pride parade turned bloody and violent. British activist Peter Tatchell and Right Said Fred singer Richard Fairbrass were assaulted on camera. Tatchell and Fairbrass were both then arrested, along with Italian MEP Marco Cappato, German MP Volker Beck, the leader of GayRussia, Nikolai Alexeyev, and dozens of other activists.

The photo of the three mayors above, with Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, was taken at a mayoral summit in London in February 2007.

Valentino Spits on Dolce & Gabbana on the Way Out the Door

Valentino decided to let his fellow designers what they thought of them prior to the presentation of his final collection in Paris yesterday.

The Telegraph reports: "Valentino Garavani was reflecting on his 50-year career and on his rivals when he dismissed Dolce & Gabbana as 'shy to begin with, but now rather arrogant'. The 76-year-old added: 'The problem with young stylists is that they all want to be famous straight away and then they all do the same things.' Valentino’s comments appear to have touched a raw nerve, especially as he only had superlative praise for other Italian designers. He went on to describe Giorgio Armani as 'revolutionary', Miuccia Prada as 'stupefying' and Donatella Versace as 'gritty and determined'. In return, Mr Armani sent a vibrant red dress down his recent catwalk show in tribute to 'the genius of Valentino', who made red dresses his trademark. Stefano Gabbana, 46, one half of the label that now has an annual turnover of over £700 million, said: 'Valentino has been having goodbye parties since last July. I’ve been working. To be quite honest, I don’t care what Valentino says about us.'"

Gabbana also believes a child should not be raised by same-sex parents.

No word on what Valentino thought of Karl Lagerfeld, who handled the retiring designer with kid gloves at a ceremony later at the Hotel de Ville, where Valentino was awarded the Medal of Paris by gay mayor Bertrand Delanoe.

Previously
Valentino Steps Down from Design House He Founded [tr]

Openly Gay Paris Mayor Delanoe Targeted by Islamic Radicals?

PageOneQ reports (via AP) that openly gay Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe (as well as targets in his city) is the subject of a threatening email sent to a radical Islamist website:

"The e-mail's sender and the site were not identified by the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. They said only that the message went to an Internet site run by Salafists, or Islamic fundamentalists. Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe said on RTL radio that authorities informed him of the threat Saturday. 'I am calm. I have the information I need and I have complete confidence in the work ... of police headquarters vis-a-vis security problems in general, terrorism in particular and finally the protection of the mayor of Paris,' Delanoe said later on the TV station iTele.

Local and national anti-terrorist agencies are looking into the situation.