News: Meningitis, Puerto Rico, Rob Ford, China, Russia

Epidemiologists puzzled over NYC's Meningitis outbreak: "What is concerning is that it is largely restricted to men who have sex with men. So we don’t really understand why that is.” Have you been vaccinated?

Thousands marched in support of gay rights in the capital of Puerto Rico of San Juan: "Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz and Sen. Ramón Nieves Pérez, who sponsored the sweeping anti-LGBT non-discrimination bill the Senate on Thursday passed by a 15-11 vote margin, unfurled an LGBT Pride flag from the balcony of City Hall as marchers passed."

Britney Spears claims the leaked version of her upcoming single is just an early demo.

Colin Egglesfield knows how to wear a t-shirt.

North Korea launched three short-range guided missiles in a northeastern direction earlier today.

Sookie flips the paparazzi the bird.

The very first film to be adapted from a David Sedaris short story set to open Outfest.

Gawker wants to raise $200,000 so they can purchase and publish the videotape of anti-gay Toronto mayor Rob Ford smoking crack. Also, don't expect to hear Ford air his weekly radio show this weekend.

Some promising yet frustrating news out of China on the International Day Against Homophobia: "Activists said they felt encouraged when the communist party's official mouthpiece China Central Television published a Weibo post on Friday morning advocating respect for the LGBT community. But the post was soon deleted without any explanation."

Could Smell-O-Vision be coming back - in a mobile form?

Reacting disapprovingly to today's momentous legalization of same-sex marriage in France, Russia's Children's Rights Commissioner Pavel Astakhov said this morning that his country will now consider changing its child adoption policy with France.

News: Rob Gronkowski, Immigration, NASA, Asylum

Nate Silver makes his prediction for the Super Bowl.

His team may not be competing in the Super Bowl, but Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski found himself partying shirtless in New Orleans.

NASA says an approaching asteroid will be the largest object to ever come this close to Earth, but the mega rock won't zip by until later this month.

Harry Reid says immigration reform should include same-sex families: "If we have gay folks in this country who have children, or they come from some other place they should be protected just like any other child."

Ricky Martin lands in Oz.

Buzzfeed: The Dying Political Tradition Of Avoiding The Gay Question.

Britney Spears will not be playing Vegas.

Louisville, Kentucky, expands anti-discrimination protections for city employees.

Inventor of the Etch A Sketch dead at 86.

Iowa Senator Matt McCoy wants to reduce the penalty for HIV-positive people who don't purposely pass the virus to their sex partners. "...someone convicted of intentional or attempted transmission of the virus could be sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison and face a $750 to $7,500 fine. That would put HIV in the same criminal category as transmitting any other communicable disease, such as Hepatitis C."

Report: Gay UK asylum seekers frequently required to prove sexuality: "(Lecture) will detail the extraordinary methods to which individuals are resorting – including filming themselves having sex – to justify requests for refuge."

News: James Yeager, Illinois, Manhattan, Princess

Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee vowed to veto any legislation that tries to put marriage equality up to a popular vote. He wants to see state lawmakers pass a bill, instead.

The Toronto Maple Leafs fired their coach, the very LGBT-friendly Brian Burke, because the hockey team hasn't made the Stanley Cup playoffs since his tenure began in 2008.

Hateful anti-gay activist Peter LaBarbera from Americans for Truth About Homosexuality tells a mother who refused to let her gay son's boyfriend spend the night that she's doing the right thing because being gay is like being an alcoholic and shouldn't be enabled: "We don't give an alcoholic, we don't say, 'I love you so much I’m going to give you a bottle of scotch every month.' That's not true love. True love is what you’re talking about, it's defending godly values and praying for your son to be delivered out of that lifestyle."

Alexander McQueen, Autumn/Winter 2013.

Matt Bomer, Eddie Redmayne and other dashing men strutted their stuff at the People's Choice Awards last night.

Britney Spears and The X-Factor have parted ways.

Robert Downey Jr. wants to see Naomi Watts win best actress at this year's Oscars.

Those of you who enjoyed The Amazing Spider-Man starring Andrew Garfield will be excited to hear that the sequel starts shooting soon.

James Yeager, the CEO of a Tennessee-based gun company, said he will start killing people if President Obama tries to limit arms ownership: "I'm not fucking putting up with this. I am not letting my country be ruled by a dictator. I'm not letting anybody take my guns. If it goes one inch further, I'm gonna start killing people."

Vice President Joe Biden said today that he and his gun task force will have policy recommendations to President Obama by next Tuesday. The admittedly insane NRA, meanwhile, is "disappointed" by their talks with Biden.

A new generation of activists continues to expand the queer spectrum: "If the gay-rights movement today seems to revolve around same-sex marriage, this generation is seeking something more radical: an upending of gender roles beyond the binary of male/female. The core question isn’t whom they love, but who they are — that is, identity as distinct from sexual orientation." Love it.

If Prince William and Duchess Kate have a girl, she will not have to suffer the indignity of being a simple "Lady," like any old Crawley. No, Queen Elizabeth announced the child will be a "Princess." A boy would be a prince automatically, because, you know, sexism.

Pat Brady, the Illinois GOP party chairman who supports marriage equality, refuses to give into conservative pressure and step down. "If people want to throw me out because I took a stand on an issue of discrimination [as] the chairman of the Republican Party, the party founded by Abraham Lincoln, then that's – that’s up to them and they’re free to do it," he said. "But I'm not backing down."

President Obama has nominated Jack Lew to replace Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary.

Finally, enjoy Russian photographer Sergey Semenov's stunning new view of Manhattan. (Click to enlarge.)

Will.i.am and Britney Spears 'Scream & Shout' Video: WATCH

Britney's balls are on fire, bitch.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

'Scream and Shout', Britney Spears and will.i.am's New Song: LISTEN

Are you shouting...or screaming?

Listen, AFTER THE JUMP...

'X Factor' Edits Out Contestant's Gay Confession to Britney: VIDEO

On The X-Factor this week, viewers saw Don Philip, a man who recorded with Britney Spears a decade ago, try and fail to win the judge's approval. The clip included an emotional breakdown from Philip, who told Spears that "I never thought I'd see you again...At the time I just...I didn't feel like I was worthy."

Back in June, Popcrush reported on the audition, and said that Philip came out to Britney, saying that the reason he didn't think she would think him worthy was because he's gay. Spears was reportedly supportive, telling him that she thought it was "fine" that he's gay.

FOX chose to edit that portion of the audition out, however:

For some reason — that emotional exchange was edited out of the program. “I’m sorry they didn’t think it was up to the X Factor standard as Britney says,” Don tells RumorFix exclusively. “They already outed me to the world.” Don, who went through a roller coaster of emotions when he came out to Britney, says, “Is Gay bad for FOX? I didn’t do anything bad. They edited the gay out of me.”

The singer, who sang “I Will Love You,” with Britney at the beginning of his career, goes on to say, “I don’t understand it. Aren’t they a reality show? Is it too real?” Don said that Britney didn’t do anything wrong and the omission “is sending the wrong message. It’s like gay is being censored.”

More from Gather:

He says that he got "set up" by producers who bullied him into admitting his sexual preferences. "It was kind of a private thing they forced out of me," he says. "...I went home and had thoughts (of suicide)."

Don said he was honest with the show's producers, telling them he really didn't want to talk about that aspect of his life on the show. However, he did admit to hiding a secret. That was his mistake. As soon as he hit the stage, L.A. Reid kept bombarding him with the same question repeatedly. "What's the secret?"

Worried that he would be outed anyway, Philip finally spilled the beans. He says that admission so upset him that he couldn't adequately pull it together to do his audition number. That resulted in the sub par performance that got him bounced out of the competition.

Watch the version that aired on Wednesday, AFTER THE JUMP...