News: Tel Aviv, John Berry, Betty White, Miami, Lobster, Mercy

Five gay couples wed in ceremony on Tel Aviv beach as Pride celebration climaxes.

Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson tape for No H8.

WATCH: Betty White plays beer pong.

City of Miami passes Domestic Partner ordinance: "The domestic partners benefits measure extends to unmarried gay and straight employees of the city who register their relationships with Miami-Dade County's domestic partner registry."

White House Office of Personnel Management head John Berry delivers impassioned speech at Justice Dept: "My family has never known divorce. Were we married? No, but I dare anyone to say that we were not in love.... Where do you stand? Honoring love as precious and true wherever you find it, or with those who would demean or deny it? I urge you: Stand where you can be proud. Stand with service and truth. Stand with love. Stand for liberty and justice for all."

San Diego County school district apologizes for refusing to let student deliver report on Harvey Milk during class time: "In a letter to Natalie and her parents, Supt. Robert Graeff and Mt. Woodson Principal Theresa Grace apologized and said they had acted out of an abundance of caution for the 'tender sensibilities' of Natalie's fellow students. 'It is our hope that -- together -- we can all view this incident as a learning experience and emerge wiser from the entire experience,' wrote Graeff and Grace, on behalf of themselves and the school board."

Bret Michaels releases lengthy statement on Tonys mishap that left him bloody.

Yellow lobster is 1 in 30 million.

On the bus to Kayseri, Turkey: "Kayseri is home to a group of gay men and lesbians who have fled Iran and are now waiting in Turkey to be resettled in a Western country. The government of Turkey does not allow non-European refugees to stay in Turkey, and it is the responsibility of UNHCR to find a host country to take them in. Currently there are over 18,000 refugees in Turkey, some of whom have been waiting for over 2 years to be resettled elsewhere. While in Turkey, the authorities insist that refugees can only stay in one of 30 designated small cities. These locations are assigned based on the asylum seeker’s nationality, gender, age, and reason for seeking asylum."

Madonna confirms Mercy adoption.

Anti-gay hate graffiti under investigation in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Hate crime charges against Staten Island man dropped: "A spokesman for District Attorney Daniel Donovan would not comment because the case is sealed, but confirmed the hate crime case against James Champagne, 24, of Stapleton, has been dismissed. Champagne had been accused of beating up another man in West Brighton July 29, and during the attack he allegedly yelled, 'we don't like faggots on Barker Street.'"

GQ interviews Barney Frank.

Beyond Hatred: PBS to air documentary about French gay man murdered by skinheads.

The Daily Beast interviews openly gay Iraq vet and candidate for Congress Anthony Woods, who was discharged under 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell': “I knew getting into it that if I took a stand, it would be a costly decision and it certainly has become one. But people have to take a stand for what's right. There's a reason this policy is on the front burner now... We're a country fighting two wars, having trouble recruiting, yet we want to turn away some of our most talented, most well-trained soldiers?”

News: Bret Michaels, D.C., Jesse Helms, Dan Choi, Connecticut

D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics hears four hours of testimony on anti-gay referendum: "Both sides presented legal and political arguments about whether the same-sex marriage issue should be in the hands of voters or the politicians who represent them."

Bret Michaels says the Tony Awards people would have cared more about his self-inflicted on-set accident if it had happened to Liza Minnelli, Dolly Parton, or Elton John.

Transgender woman beaten at bus stop in Seattle: "The victim, who told police that she sometimes wears a skirt, said the attack was a result of that, the report stated. During the confrontation, several of the victim's assailants uttered a slur for a gay man as they struck and kicked the victim, then knocked her to the ground, the report says. The attacking youths also tried to pull off her backpack. The group then fled."

Researcher: Cougars love Adam Lambert. What about Cougays?

Oceanside, California resident pleads "not guilty" in assault on gay rights activist during recent torch relay protesting Proposition 8.

Living Sasquatch!

Britney Spears announces second round of tour dates.

Dan Choi joins No H8 Campaign.

City of Seattle fights to keep identities of its LGBT employees private after request from City Light employee affiliated with conservative Christian organization opposed to gay rights.

Cristiano Ronaldo bought by Real Madrid for world record transfer fee of £80million, spends night with Paris Hilton.

Paul Schindler at Gay City News does an excellent job of summing up the chaotic events that have occurred this week with regard to marriage equality in New York.

Man arrested for 'revenge' pissing at Motor City Pride in Detroit.

Something is happening in Iran.

North Carolina resolution in honor of Jesse Helms inspires mass walkout, vote of "no" from gay lawmaker.

Kellan Lutz gives good tank.

Virginia prison segregated women who "looked gay": "For more than a year, Virginia's largest women's prison rounded up inmates who had loose-fitting clothes, short hair or otherwise masculine looks, sending them to a unit officers derisively dubbed the "butch wing," prisoners and guards say."

Greenwich, Connecticut a magnet for NYC same-sex weddings.

British ambassador to Poland in hot water for promoting gay pride march in Warsaw: "Ric Todd has been told by the country's civil rights ombudsman that he has 'exceeded his authority' and Roman Catholic groups have accused the ambassador of representing the 'homosexual lobby'. The problem arose after Mr Todd, who has been our man in Warsaw for almost two years, gave gay rights leaders a UK Guide To Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual And Transgender People And Their Rights, translated into Polish, earlier this week."

Brady Quinn is Bret Michaels' Rock of Love

Even though it's only ladies that are able to compete in Poison lead singer Bret Michaels' new trash 'celebreality' show Rock of Love, Cleveland Browns QB Brady Quinn looks to be trying his best to impress.

(via deadspin)

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