News: Irving Penn, Blood Donation, Jesus Luz, Moon Impact, Poe

Impact of Moon by probe to be broadcast live on NASA TV tomorrow morning.

Photographer Irving Penn dies at 92.

Madonna buying posh Upper East Side apartment for Jesus Luz.

Gay travel agents converge on Tel Aviv.

Tracklist for Susan Boyle album includes Madonna and The Monkees.

Teen talk: My parents don't know my boyfriend's parents are gay. "My mom is asking to meet Robby's 'mom and dad.' She has spoken with one of Robby's dads on the phone but she doesn't know another dad exists. I don't want this to come between my parents and Robby. Should I just break up with him now and avoid doing this or lie and tell my mom that his parents don't want to meet?"

WATCH: OneRepublic's video for "All the Right Moves".

Levi Johnston workout photos.

Self-assessment, right of gays to donate blood at issue in Canadian court case: "Kyle Freeman, 36, relied on his own self-assessment that he wasn't infected with any sexually transmitted diseases when he lied about having sex with men on a donor-screening questionnaire...Freeman is suing the agency, claiming he didn't answer the question truthfully because Canadian Blood Services violated his Charter right to equality regardless of his sexual orientation when it asked him whether he had ever had sex with other men, even once, since 1977. The discovery Freeman had syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease that can damage the heart, brain and eyes if left untreated, was made only after Canadian Blood Services screened his donated blood."

Mika plays with puppets on Spanish TV.

Dozens join lawsuit against Chicago police officer Richard Fiorito.

15 gay TV characters who never came out of the closet but should have.

Edgar Allen Poe to get funeral he never had: "On Sunday, Poe's funeral will get an elaborate do-over, with two services expected to draw about 350 people each - the most a former church next to his grave can hold. Actors portraying Poe's contemporaries and other long-dead writers and artists will pay their respects, reading eulogies adapted from their writings about Poe."

The superheroes of your dreams.

Several prominent Twin Cities religious leaders speak out for marriage equality: "Retired Bishop Lowell Erdahl of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Rabbi Jared Saks of Temple Israel in Minneapolis are among those speaking at a Capitol news conference."

Poll: "Whatever" is most annoying conversational word.

Romanian-born German novelist Herta Müller wins Nobel Prize for Literature: "Announcing the award in Stockholm, the Swedish Academy described Ms. Müller, 'who, with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed.' Her award comes on the 20th anniversary of the fall of Communism in Europe."

Lesbians Petition to End Chinese Gay Blood Ban

Like the U.S., China faces its own ban on blood donation by gays, perpetuated by similar myths and prejudices, but a group of lesbians there is trying to change that with a petition, China Daily reports:

"At least 540 lesbians nationwide have signed the online petition, Liu said. Their goal is 1,000 signatures. 'We just hope the authorities respect our kind intention to donate blood and remove the discrimination,' Liu said. 'I think it's also what China's 30 million homosexuals, including 10 million lesbians, want,' said [college student] Li [Yu]. Shi Weiwei, deputy director of the Beijing Red Cross Blood Center, told China Daily that the regulations barring homosexuals from donating blood stem from safety concerns. 'As we all know, the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) including the deadly HIV/AIDS, is much higher among groups such as drug users and homosexuals, particularly gay men, who tend to have multiple sex partners,' she said."

In related news, a study published in the Journal of LGBT Youth reveals that Asian-American gay and lesbian youth face greater societal stress than other ethnicities:

"Hyeouk Chris Hahm of the Boston University School of Social Work said the process of homosexual identify formation among Asian and Pacific Islanders youth is affected by central societal stresses including the role of family life, personal sacrifice for family tranquility and generational clashes, as well as external factors such as racism, sexism and acculturation."

'No Faggots Allowed'

Activists in Portland Maine reportedly "plastered the community bulletin boards of downtown Portland" with a poster campaign drawing attention to the American Red Cross' discriminatory policies.

In May, UK Gay News reported that campaigning by activists led to the successful repeal of a similar ban by Russia.

Russia Ends Ban on Gay Blood Donation

A two-year campaign by activists came to a successful end yesterday when the Russian Health Ministry ended a ban on blood donation by gays, according to UK Gay News:

"Tatyana Golikova, the Minister of Health and Social Development signed the decree on April 16, it emerged yesterday. The decree amends the rules on blood donations which were implemented on September 14, 2001. According to the amendments, provisions for absolute ban on blood donations by people from the so called groups of high risk (homosexuals, drug addicts and prostitutes) are being repealed. Activists at GayRussia have been campaigning against the ban since April 2006 when they sent a letter to the Ministry of Health and Social Development as well as to the Russian General Prosecutor asking for the repeal of the ban because it contradicted the Russian Constitution and federal legislation. They repeated their demand a year later. The Ministry responded twice to the activists, saying that the amendments will be implemented, and that the issue is being discussed within the Ministry. A third letter was sent to the Ministry last month. Nikolai Alekseev and Nikolai Baev reminded officials that 'since May 1993 homosexual relations between consenting adults in private are not considered a crime in Russia. Since 1999 Russian psychiatry does not consider homosexuality as a mental illness as it joint international classification of mental illnesses'."

Above, an activist is arrested at a Moscow demonstration I posted about last September.

News: Taxes, Ken Livingstone, Titanic, Milo Ventimiglia, Scientology

On tax day, a reminder of how the U.S. inflicts extra financial burden on gay citizens.

The last meal on the Titanic, which went down 96 years ago today. Researchers have a new theory behind the sinking — rivets.

ABC's Jake Tapper calls attention to the "Compassion Forum" appearance of Clinton and Obama at Messiah College, which I posted about last week. One of his readers asks, ""Shouldn't Democratic presidential candidates, both of whom are explicitly on the record as being in favor of gay rights, avoid schools like this as assiduously as previous generations of politicians were urged to avoid Bob Jones University? How can politicians appear at a college that espouses these ideas and then turn around and court the gay community at the same time? How can the two leading Democratic candidates appear on stage at this college and not be questioned by the press about the hypocrisy of appearing there?"

Kentucky GOP Rep. Geoff Davis on Obama: "I’m going to tell you something: That boy’s finger does not need to be on the button. He could not make a decision in that simulation that related to a nuclear threat to this country." Davis apologizes...

The gay Navy lieutenant from Melrose Place, Jason Beghe, escaped the clutches of Scientology and now he's speaking out on video: "It’s very, very dangerous for your spiritual, psychological, mental, emotional health and evolution. I think it stunts your evolution. If Scientology is real, then something’s fucked up."

Lack of support from London Mayor Ken Livingstone leaves 2008 International Gay & Lesbian Football Association World Championship with a funding shortfall: "Peter Tatchell of Outrage! described as 'scandalous' the lack of any funding or support from City Hall. 'Ken Livingstone is organising billions of pounds for corporate mega events like the 2012 Olympics but can’t give a few thousand pounds to help host the gay football world championship.'"

A really mean box of jelly beans, which I'm actually really curious to taste.

Project Runway is getting not one but two spin-offs on Lifetime: "The first of them doesn't have a title yet, but Weinstein said it will look at the Project Runway world through the eyes of the show's models. The second, dubbed Project Pygmalion, is a makeover series that will turn its winner into a high-society socialite."

Somebody got carried away at the tattoo parlor.

Rick and Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in the World wins big at Italian animation festival: "Cult hit half-hour show about three gay couples in the fictional 'gay ghetto' of West Lahunga Beach took the Pulcinella nod for TV series of the year. The Pulcinella for TV series for all ages went to RAI Fiction’s 'Acqua in bocca' (Water and Bubbles), about two fish in a tank and their interaction with an Italian family, from helmer Guido Manuli."

Milo Ventimiglia dreamt of being a fighter pilot.

GYM bar in NYC to open up its locker room.

Queerty talks to author Scott Heim about his new novel We Disappear: "There were all these different disappearances in the book–including Scott Heim the writer disappearing into Scott the character—I liked this idea of readers not knowing where one starts and the others begin. There are a lot of things in the book that are total fiction. The danger of doing this blurring is when people do read this as a memoir."

Tom Cruise and David Beckham to buy a soccer team together?

A townhouse in New York's West Village transformed, part of New York magazine's excellent new occasional real estate section, Vu.

Fight to allow gay blood donors heats up in Scotland.

Judicial Watch calls on FEC to investigate Elton John's Hillary Clinton benefit concert: "Recent news reports suggest that Hillary Clinton and Hillary Clinton for President have accepted an in-kind contribution from a foreign national, Sir Elton John, in contravention of federal electon laws. On behalf of Judicial Watch and its supporters, I hereby request that the FEC investigate this matter."

News: Thailand, Dick Cheney, Brazil Wedding, Diva Clinton

Jay Leno and Ryan Phillippe are still on good terms after the "gayest look" incident. Said Leno: "No, we talked about it before. We're friends. I mean, it's a talk show. That's what you do."

Same-sex weddings, civil unions, commitment ceremonies big business in New England: "Throughout the Northeast, competition has spiked among wedding sites, hotels, resorts and inns as the travel industry has realized that same-sex ceremonies can draw scores of guests, who turn these destinations weddings into weekend stays."

Ashlee Simpson is another straight woman who loves that gay guys love her man.

Red Cross in Thailand changes screening process for gay blood donors: "Gay-rights activists had complained that one question, which was meant to target people more likely to have diseases transmitted by sex and drugs, had effectively blocked all gay men from donating by only asking about same-sex relations. 'We didn't mean to hurt anyone,' said Soisaang Pikulsod, director of the Thai Red Cross National Blood Centre. 'It was just to ensure the highest possible safety of our patients.' The Red Cross will rework the form to include more questions about all types of sexual behaviour, gay or heterosexual, that could increase the risk of diseases such as AIDS, she said."

Kathy Griffin and Adnan Ghalib in most obvious paparazzi punk'd ever.

Dick Cheney has either a naked woman or an alien entity in his lenses. Or Lynne Cheney, in which case it would be both.

American Idol loses one of the guys [SPOILER].

Gay-friendly college fairs a budding trend: "Students are coming out at a much younger age. That process isn't beginning in college or after college like we may have seen 10 or 20 years ago. So these high school students who are out come looking for a range of things that show a college will generally have students like them, and a university with an inclusive mission."

Judge tosses Florida lawsuit filed by high school student denied the right to form a gay-straight alliance: "The former student, Yasmin Gonzalez, has graduated, so she's no longer affected by the school's decision to ban the club, U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore said in a ruling Wednesday. Gonzalez's attorneys with the ACLU tried to maintain her stake in the case by seeking nominal monetary damages, but Moore ruled she isn't entitled to any money because she wasn't claiming violations of due process. 'We were surprised and disappointed by his interpretation,' said Rob Rosenwald, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. Rosenwald plans to ask the judge to reconsider. Attorneys for the school board declined to comment."

Brazil televises "tacky" gay wedding.

George Michael = God?

East Village Boys offer T-shirt that big shooters wear with pride.

TPM suggests "diva theory" behind Hillary's appeal: "Hillary is the diva, the fabulous woman who is fabulous just because she says so. She's the woman who is abused (by her husband), ridiculed (by the press), hated (by Republican mouth-breathers), yet she's still standing. She's like from some exploitation film where the heroine is beaten and barely raped before pulling a knife out of her sock and slicing the mean guy's balls off. Her supporters have stood by her and fought her battles with her - and sometimes for her - since the 1990s. The emotional connection runs too deep. R-e-s-p-e-c-t, she shakes her finger. Find out what it means to me. And the crowd eats it up." Can any shallower arguments be made?

Michigan's Aquinas College cancels speech by gay rights activist. President: "I'm not trying to keep people from seeing him. I'm trying to prevent the college from sponsoring an event that displays an attack on Catholic teaching values."