News: Mary Cheney, Lutherans, DOMA, Mariah Carey, Detroit

Federal judge rules that gay couple denied benefits should receive compensation: "U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephen Reinhardt deemed the denial of healthcare and other benefits to the spouse of federal public defender Brad Levenson to be a violation of the Constitution's guarantee of due process and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, which is prohibited by California state law."

Mary Cheney and Heather Poe welcome new baby: "Sarah Lynne Cheney was born Wednesday morning at Sibley Hospital in Washington, weighing 6 pounds and 14 ounces. She is the seventh grandchild of the former vice president and his wife, Lynne."

Mariah Carey demands 20 fluffy white kittens, 100 doves, 80 security guards and more so she can turn on the Christmas lights at a London mall.

South African runner Caster Semenya keeps title after gender dispute.

Robert Pattinson can play things other than vampires.

Incoming gay Detroit City Council member Charles Pugh talks of AIDS crisis in city: “There needs to be more money targets at the crisis areas."

David Vitter won't comment on the Louisiana justice who refused to marry an interracial couple because he isn't familiar with Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court case which lifted the ban on interracial marriages.

Demi Moore has lost a chunk of her thigh!

WATCH: Band uses naked men as furniture in new video.

Levi Johnston never intended to go full-frontal in Playgirl.

Neil Patrick Harris has a signature pose.

Probably one of the skankiest beards in Hollywood.

Anti-gay evangelicals met with protest at Syracuse University: "Pesto, a junior from Westchester County, said he saw the Deferios’ signs earlier in the day. It made him uncomfortable, he said, so he made his own sign. 'Corduroy skirts are a sin,' it said, referring to what Michelle Deferio was wearing. 'I was just making a gay joke,' he said. But friends saw him and joined in, standing with him and making signs of their own. Other students came and, by 6:30, there were about 70 people at the scene, holding signs, cheering and challenging the Deferios."

If you were called "Mary" for 55 years would you really want your name changed to "Terry"?

Adam Lambert is starting to resemble a member of the Queen's Guard.

Gay vs Gay? Queer/trans anarchist group Bash Back protests Join the Impact demonstration in Minneapolis.

A guide to D.C. marriage equality discrimination.

Mall Santas and doctors neckties are to be avoided if you want to escape the flu.

Gay couples blast DOMA in new court filing: "DOMA marks a stark, and unique, departure from the respect and recognition the federal government has long afforded to State marital status determinations."

Via Boy Culture, Susan Boyle sings Madonna's "You'll See".

UK pit bull owner hunted after allowing his dog to attack blind woman's seeing-eye dog.

Get hubbied.

Lutherans upset over gay clergy split to form new denomination: "Leaders of Lutheran CORE said Wednesday that a working group would immediately begin drafting a constitution and taking other steps to form the denomination, with hopes to have it off the ground by next August. 'There are many people within the ELCA who are very unhappy with what has happened,' said the Rev. Paull Spring, chairman of Lutheran CORE and a retired ELCA bishop from State College, Pa."

News: Venezuela, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Chapel Hill, Mormons

Marriage Equality New York holding rally tonight to protest anti-gay vote in Maine: "Please join us at a rally on Nov 4th in Union Square on 14th Street side at 5:30pm urging the NYS Senate to vote and in response to the votes on marriage equality across the United States."

50 Cent is a power ______.

Venezuelan police harassing and arresting LGBT citizens: "Like most of those arrested, our identity documents and mobile phones were taken away, we were beaten, our sexual orientation was insulted in degrading language, and we were refused permission to speak to the Justice Ministry officials and members of the National Guard who were present."

Mark Kleinschmidt becomes openly gay mayor of Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Just Jared interviews Glee's Mark Salling.

Author details how Tom Cruise personally audited him for Scientology: "You tell the ashtray, 'Sit in that chair.' Then you actually go over and put the ashtray on the chair. Then you tell the ashtray, 'Thank you.' Then you do the same thing with the bottle, and the book. And you do this for hours and hours."

Fort Worth, Texas task force makes recommendations on expansion of gay rights in the city: "Jon Nelson, an attorney and chairman of the task force, called the recommendations 'one of the most far-reaching actions this city has taken, in the shortest amount of time.'"

Louisiana Justice of the Peace Keith Bardwell, who refused to marry an interracial couple, has resigned.

Female Spectacled Bears suddenly go bald in Leipzig.

Carrie Prejean - Miss California USA settlement details revealed: "We've learned the Pageant will fork over around $100,000 for Carrie's lawyers and publicists connected with the public battle royale. That money goes directly to her flacks and not into her bank account. We're told Carrie personally gets zilch. What Carrie walks away with: Her book comes out on Monday and we're told the Pageant won't fight her for writing it without its permission."

Sean Penn's son arrested at school.

Blu Dot tracks NYC abandoned chairs in "curb-mining" experiment.

Foundation for Reconciliation to deliver 2,000 signatures to Mormon leaders: "About 50 people are expected to deliver the petition to the offices of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Wednesday. Organizer Cheryl Nunn of Santa Cruz, Calif., says the petition is a reaction to the Salt Lake City-based church's support for Proposition 8, a 2008 ballot initiative that banned gay marriage in California."

Brad Pitt dresses up his beard with beads.

Facebook: the movie?

Seattle gay rights pioneer Paul Barwick reflects on applying for a marriage license in King County, Washington in 1971: We knew they weren't going to give us one, but damn it, they were going to have to tell us no to escort us out the door."

Early marriage equality advocates?

Gay Annapolis alderman candidate to file complaint over gay 'child molester' smears.

Dallas Morning News corrects article labeling OUT and The advocate "alternative lifestyle magazines."

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison recommends gay man as U.S. Attorney: "Some Republicans are vehemently and unapologetically not ready for that. That could make it even harder for Hutchison to woo social conservatives in her bid to outflank and oust Gov. Rick Perry in March. "

Cyndi Lauper and Lady Gaga to hawk MAC lipstick for AIDS fund: "MAC Viva Glam Gaga Lipstick and Viva Glam Cyndi Lipstick, $14 each, will launch in North America on March 18 and globally throughout the month, with 100 percent of the proceeds being donated to the MAC AIDS Fund."

News: Donal Og Cusack, Ecuador, Magic Johnson, HPV, Jared Polis

Here Media chairman Stephen Jarchow on Gay.com purchase and expanding "empire": "As the result of this deal, we have become a unique company that straddles traditional distribution and digital distribution. We own pretty much the entire media for the gay marketing space."

Irish hurler Donal Óg Cusack gives his first public interview since coming out.

Michael Jackson wears Tom Ford cologne and speaks to LaToya from beyond the grave.

Matt Foreman: TV ads not the answer in Maine.

Brad Pitt in motorcycle fender-bender.

Rep. Jared Polis holds LGBT town hall in Denver.

"All of us old junkies just turn into dowagers." Carrie Fisher gives a candid interview to Kevin Sessums at The Daily Beast.

NYT: Timing key in Olson-Boies Prop 8 challenge: "Mr. Olson’s problem, then, is that he may reach the Supreme Court too soon. Public support for same-sex marriage is gaining ground, particularly among younger people. But a majority of Americans remains opposed to the practice."

Charlize Theron kisses woman for $140,000 at San Francisco auction benefit.

Beckham embracing the werewolf trend.

Diocese of South Carolina distances itself from Episcopal Church over gays and same-sex unions: "Eighty-seven clergy members voted to pass the resolution after a nearly hour-long debate during a special convention in Mount Pleasant, Canon Kendall Harmon said, with 17 voting no. The vote allows leaders of the diocese to reduce its participation in the national church without severing ties completely, as some dioceses and parishes have."

NYPD cars retrofitted with "rumble" technology.

Roadblocks to HPV vaccine for men continue...

Nude coffee maker Eric Williamson defends himself after incident: "I looked straight at the cops and said, 'You're telling me that none of you guys have ever walked across your kitchen or run to the laundry room to get some pants?' I was treated like an animal. If there was something offensive, would not a knock on the door and heads-up suffice?"

First look: Lady Gaga on Gossip Girl.

Male model fix: Andre Ziehe.

Food critic slammed by animal rights groups for shooting "inedible" baboon for sport: "Writing in yesterday's Sunday Times Style section, Gill said he was driven by the urge to be a 'recreational primate killer' while on a trip to Tanzania. 'I know perfectly well there is absolutely no excuse for this,' he wrote. 'Baboon isn't good to eat, unless you're a leopard. The feeble argument for cull and control is much the same as for foxes: a veil of naughty fun.'"

Gay Iowa couples reflect on six months of marriage.

Transgender makeovers offered on busy Quito, Ecuador street.

College of William and Mary names transgender homecoming queen: “We figured it would be something different for the school to go through, something that hasn’t happened too often. I was kind of surprised that I won because I knew the other girls running. I know that they’re really friendly; they’re wonderful people, so I was unsure.”

Book: Magic Johnson blames Isiah Thomas for gay rumors.

Morrissey discharged from hospital following weekend stage collapse.

Washington man gets 18 months in prison for gay immigration fraud: "Steven Mahoney touted himself as an expert in immigration affairs and ran Mahoney and Associates in Kent, which advised immigrants on how to stay in the U.S. He pleaded guilty in April, acknowledging that between 1998 and 2007 he filed as many as 99 false immigration documents and was paid between $1,000 and $4,000 for each."

A Look Inside Brad Pitt's 'Man Cave'

 Apparently Brad Pitt has a bunch of special back rooms:

"As a father of six, Pitt complains he no longer has the energy for parties. He prefers to invite other fathers, including his fellow star Matt Damon, to play in back rooms stuffed with gadgets in the homes he shares with Angelina Jolie, the American actress, in California, Louisiana and the south of France. The man cave, defined in the online Urban Dictionary as 'a room ... specifically reserved for a male to work [and] play without interruption ... or female influence', is a world away from the British den, traditionally a garage or garden shed. Visitors to Pitt’s home in Malibu, California, say he keeps a vintage Wurlitzer jukebox and an array of flatscreen televisions, with cords snaking beneath the wheels of motorbikes, including a Harley-Davidson Bad Boy and a Confederate Hellcat. Buddies sit revving the engines while drinking beer and talking about sport. Other essentials such as a 'kegerator' — a refrigerator designed to chill beer kegs — have taken the cost of completing the 'cave' to about $200,000 (£125,000), according to a business associate. The man cave in Pitt’s 19th-century New Orleans home is more decorous, filled with architectural models and his collection of rock’n’roll records."

News: Outrage, Eric Brewer, Crocs, Serbia, Mark Foley, Germany

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg hospitalized, released...

Dear Harvey: Play about Harvey Milk opens at San Diego State.

Eric Brewer, Mayor of East Cleveland, Ohio, in women's lingerie photo scandal.

Kept: Reality show about NYC gays to be a reality.

Outrage (see my write-up here) is coming to HBO on October 5.

UK gay man targeted in blackmail scam: "The 49-year-old had arranged to meet a man in the town through a known gay social networking website. But when the victim arrived he was approached by men posing as police officers who demanded a 'fine' and took his bank card. It later emerged £200 in cash was taken from the man's bank account, which was used to buy a mountain bike, alcohol and cigarettes."

London, Ontario 'football hero', allegedly responsible for gay bashing of modeling agent Brandon Wright, has been arrested at the airport.

Rabbi: No Crocs on Yom Kippur.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram talks to one of the gay brothers on this season's Amazing Race, which premieres on Sunday.

Brad Pitt joins Bill Clinton's Global Initiative.

Mark Foley hits the airwaves in South Florida.

Mysterious "lump" spotted forming around nearby star.

Mother of Ryan Keith Skipper speaks at Florida Hate Crimes Awareness Summit: "You may relive your pain, but you also relive your love. It keeps Ryan's memory alive and to me, that's an important thing. I don't want his death to have been in vain."

Reese Witherspoon ring sparks whispers of Gyllenhaal engagement.

Brokeback Mountain actor arrested for skipping out on hotel bill.

Carrie Prejean: Scantily-clad Halloween costume model.

UK teacher suspended after students found photos of him posing on a gay porn website.

Openly gay man tipped to be Angela Merkel's Foreign Minister in Germany. "[Can] a gay man, who sometimes takes his partner on official overseas trips, can function as a foreign minister. Could there, for instance, be snubs from President Ahmadinejad (who, after the execution of two gay men, told a Western audience: “We don’t have homosexuals, as in your country.”). Or jokes from Silvio Berlusconi (whose supporters recently used homosexuality claims to get rid of a critical editor)?"

Serbian prosecutor calls for ban on hate groups that caused cancellation of Belgrade's Pride parade: "Serbian authorities withdrew approval for gay activists to hold a rally in central Belgrade on Saturday after soccer hooligans and the extremist groups Obraz (Face) and Association 1398 threatened to attack the parade. 'The two groups were identified as those which must be outlawed immediately,' prosecutor Slobodan Radovanovic told B92 television."

Hillary Clinton on international violence against LGBT people: "We are starting to track violence against the LGBT community, because where it happens anywhere in the world, the United States must speak out against it and work for its end. Through our annual human rights report, we are documenting human rights abuses against LGBT communities worldwide. And we are seeking out partners at the United Nations such as Brazil, France, Sweden and the Netherlands to help us address these human rights abuses."

Movies: 'You're Basterd People!'

 
NATHANIEL ROGERS

Nathaniel Rogers would live inside a movie theater but for the poor internet reception. He blogs daily at the Film Experience.

Your Feature Presentation

 At first glance it might seem odd to channel Waiting For Guffman’s Corky St. Clair to title a post on Quentin Tarantino’s WW II film Inglourious Basterds, but a closer inspection excuses the odd allusion. Inglourious Basterds lurches toward the parodic on more than one occasion as it veers like a happy drunk from historical drama to espionage thriller to action gorefest to black comedy and back again. And Tarantino is never shy about cinematic referencing so why should we be when discussing his films? Brad Pitt plays the presumably illiterate Lt. Aldo Raine –hence the title, bound to drive spelling bee champs mad – who leads a group of mostly Jewish soldiers on a mission to kill and scalp “Natzis!” in occupied France late in World War II. But that synopsis, and even the understandable marketing of Pitt as the film’s star are somewhat misleading.

MORE, AFTER THE JUMP...