News: Dear Abby, Kirsten Gillibrand, Bette Midler, 'Guy Code'

GQ magazine, Andy Cohen discusses why straight guys love his show: "I show a bunch of boobs and asses and good-looking women. I get your wives and girlfriends playing drinking games. I get 'em wound up, I get 'em drunk, and just when they're at the point where.... [then] I'm off the air.'"

MTV2's testosterone-laden show Guy Code will be addressing the gay spectrum next week, and most of the gents agree there is such a spectrum.

They don't illustrate like this anymore.

On gun control and gay marriage: "...The long-term trend on gun control, unlike gay marriage, has been a rise in opposition. As recently as April, the Pew Research Center put out a report noting the divergent trends on the two issues, noting that 'on gun control, Americans have become more conservative; on gay marriage, Americans have become more liberal.'"

  Michael Triplett, president of the National Lesbian & Gay Journalist Association, has died at the age of 48 after a battle with cancer. From the group's website: "His quiet demeanor masked a steely resolve and an uncanny ability to push our organization forward. Michael quickly became someone who could be relied on both to provide sage advice as well as the time and energy to help us accomplish our goals…. Michael was truly a joy for all of us to work with, and his loss will be felt among our organization for years to come. Our thoughts and prayers are with his partner, Jack and his family in Alabama."

An unknown number of hostages are dead during a state-run raid to end a siege in Algeria.

This camera can capture 3D images of falling snow.

Chris Christie calls the NRA ad attacking the President for using Secret Service for his children "reprehensible."

Sorry, conservatives, but Bette Midler is right about Ronald Reagan and the mentally ill.

Hateful Family Research Council leader Tony Perkins is wrong about It Gets Better, which he calls a "deceptive lie."

Pauline Friedman Phillips, the woman who wrote the Dr. Abby column as Abigail Van Buren, died at the age of 94.

A Toronto man accused of murdering his husband is now asking for the victim's $2 million life insurance and is also demanding his mourning family never see a dime.

Nicholous Hoult looked refreshingly hot at the Rome premiere of Warm Bodies.

You will be forgiven for taking some time to watch Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj hate one another.

Heads up, Australia - Robert Pattinson brought his guitar.

Matt Bomer is designing men's apparel inspired by his show, White Collar.

There's a new support group for GBT men in Atlanta who have been victims of hate crimes.

Retired Baptist Rev. Howard Bess stands with gay students at evangelical Wheaton College: "I am one of those supporters though I am not gay. Wheaton College is my alma mater and I am proud to be a Wheaton graduate. I found Wheaton to be a home for a rigorous academic education, and Wheaton’s student body and faculty comprised the greatest group of people I have ever known. They were dedicated, hard-working and highly principled. To them, Christ was Lord; nothing else was so important."

British Evangelical leader Steve Chalke comes out for recognition of same-sex relationships: "When we refuse to make room for gay people to live in loving, stable relationships, we consign them to lives of loneness, secrecy and fear."

Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is again leading the call for Homeland Security and the Justice Department to guarantee that married bi-national same-sex couples not be deported or separated before the Supreme Court rules on marriage equality. "By taking these interim steps, vulnerable families affected by DOMA can remain together until the Supreme Court issues its decision," Gillibrand and other senators wrote. "Preserving family unity is a fundamental American value and is the cornerstone of our nation’s immigration law."

"No more wedding jokes, please," says Kim Kardashian.

Sexy Beards: VIDEO

Canada's Fab magazine goes behind the scenes of its "sexy beards" issue,
AFTER THE JUMP...

News: 'We Do,' Zayn Malik, Italy, Outkast

Anti-gay activist Brian Brown is in France trying to stir up more homophobia in the nation's debate about marriage equality.

Former Smithsonian researcher Tim Gold and his husband Mitchell Gold, of Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Furniture, hope to open an LGBT history museum.

The Campaign for Southern Equality will take its "I Do" campaign to Virginia next week, where same-sex couples will try to get marriage licenses to protest nuptial discrimination.

Italy's High Court ruled yesterday that same-sex couples can adopt.

The Vatican, predictably, is pissed. "Monogamous families constitute the ideal place to learn the significance of human relations and represent the social and anthropological environment in which the best type of growth is possible," bioethicist Adriano Pessina wrote in the Vatican's newspaper, clearly basing his argument on the homophobic assumption that same-sex couples are incapable of monogamy.

The world's 100 oldest living Oscar nomineees.

Dallas city officials recorded a 13-minute "It Gets Better" video.

"Why Is NBC Sports Sponsoring America’s Largest Gun Show?"

James Yeager, the man who promised to start killing people if President Obama tries restrict access to deadly firearms, has had his gun permit suspended.

Sorry, Star Wars fans, but the Obama administration says we can't afford the $850 quadrillion it would take to make a Death Star. Also, do we really need a device capable of blowing up planets?

Hot: Outkast (Andre 3000 and Big Boi) got back together to help Frank Ocean on his track "Pink Matter."

Paying it woofward: Dog teaches puppy how to walk down the stairs.

Sorry, but Johnny Cash did not write a song called "I'll Have The Wine," though I'm sure he wanted to...

Jeremy Renner shines fabulously at Hansel and Gretel premiere in Mexico.

Happy 20th birthday to One Direction singer Zayn Malik.

And congratulations to all the winners at the International Web TV Awards.

Canadian Blood Services wants gay men to be able to donate if they haven't had sex with a man in the past five years. The AIDS Calgary Awareness Association says that's not enough: the entire ban must be lifted.

A wonderful profile of openly gay boxer Orlando Cruz.

Only one-in-seven Americans approve of Congress. Shocking, I know.

Legacy: "George Prescott Bush is gearing up to run for a little-known but powerful office in a state where his family already is a political dynasty and where his Hispanic roots could help extend a stranglehold on power Republicans have enjoyed for two decades." That office? The Texas Land Commission.

Pod of Killer Whales That Were Trapped in Sea Ice Now Free

A pod of killer whales that had been trapped under sea ice in northern Quebec are now free, according to the town's mayor. The whales had been frantically surfacing for air through a small hole in the ice.

Some good news from the North, via NBC News:

Two scouts sent to check on the killer whales around 8 a.m. local time found a passage of water had been created in Hudson Bay all of the way to the open sea – nearly 25 miles away -- and the ice hole that the marine mammals had been trapped in was empty, said Petah Inukpuk, mayor of Inukjuak, a remote Inuit village home to 1,800, in Quebec.

“They are free. They are no longer here. When there is a new moon, the water current is activated. It could have helped … completely trap them, but in this case it caused an open passage out to the open water,” he told NBC News, adding that they probably were freed overnight. “It was mother nature that helped them. ... They are no longer icelocked.”

I've reposted the video of the trapped whales shot yesterday, AFTER THE JUMP...

Canadian PSA Fights 'Faggot' With Censorship: VIDEO

The No Homophobes Campaign recently released a very effective television ad meant to counter the tenaciously ubiquitous word "faggot."

The campaign, organized by the University of Albertaʼs Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services, has been going hard after the word for a few years now, and last year found that Twitter users employed the anti-gay epithet 2.5 million times in a three month period last year, from July to September. That means that "faggot" is used on Twitter about 15 million times a year. Terrible.

Maybe this new advert, which highlights the interchangeable, universal hate that flows through words not fit for TV. When, they wonder, will "faggot" join the ranks of other f-words?

The video is definitely worth a view, so please do AFTER THE JUMP.

News: Missy, Stonewalling Hagel, Da Vinci, Twenty Thirteen

Ask the Blue Coat internet security company to eliminate a filtering function that they themselves admit unnecessarily censors LGBT sites.

A We The People petition argues that a White House-backed reality show about VP Joe Biden would help bipartisanship. "Such a program would educate the American public about the duties and responsibilities of their Vice President, while providing a glimpse of the lighthearted side of politics even in the midst of contentious and divisive national debates," the organizers say. As of this writing, 1,352 people have signed that petition.

Republican Senators are already warning that Defense Secretary nominee to-be Chuck Hagel will face a tough confirmation hearing. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Hagel's past comments and votes on Iran and Israel will be a "matter of much discussion," even though the Kentucky Republican once said Hagel is a "a clear voice on foreign policy and national security." Sen. Lindsey Graham meanwhile described the nomination as an "in your face" move by a president "high on re-election."

Sen. Graham also said of Hagel, "If confirmed to be secretary of defense, [he] would be the most antagonistic secretary of defense towards the state of Israel in our nation's history."

Thomas Lopez-Pierre, a candidate for New York City Council, wrote an exceptionally offensive email to a black real estate developer blasting him for backing Lopez-Pierre's rival, a Jewish man named Mark Levine. This is how that email ends: "Black people in Harlem can smell the Bitch in you. They know that you are a weak, little short man who sucks White/Jewish cock."

If Leonardo Da Vinci lived today, he would most likely be called "gay," yet he artist's sexuality appears to decidedly straight in the new Starz original series Da Vinci's Demons, the trailer of which was just released.

"I know I am not the best looking man in the world but surely no woman could fail to be dazzled by this shirt? The gold shirt has been one of my dreams." So says 32-year old money lender Datta Phuge of his internationally renowned $22,000 splurge.

Hey Britney, Missy would like to work with you.

"25 Of Jared Padalecki’s Sexiest Photos." Nuff said.

Texas Chainsaw 3D was number one at the box office this weekend.

Actor and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says guns in movies are "just entertainment."

The Vatican's semi-official newspaper continues to support the idea that LGBT equality is like socialism and will destroy civilization as we know it. Yawn.

Though "hashtag" was the American Dialect Society's word of the year for 2012, "marriage equality" was voted most likely to succeed: "The argument was that while the word hashtag has been around since 2007, this was the year of the hashtag. This was the year that hashtag was everywhere in the Twittersphere and beyond. It was creating social trends, reflecting social trends, making memes go viral," said ADS voting member and University of Michigan Professor Anne Curzan.

Gay hero Northstar covers next month's Astonishing X-Men #59, and he looks fierce.

Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee hopes that passing marriage equality will help improve the state's image, attracting new business, new visitors and maybe some "creative" new residents. "We want to be very inclusive, welcoming everybody," he said. "And in particular (to the) creative, energetic people that so often are associated with the gay community."

Hendrik Hertzberg on the awkward pronunciation of 2013: "A question... [when] you got to the mention of '2013,' did your inner reading voice say 'two thousand thirteen'? Or did it say, as I hope and expect, 'twenty thirteen'?..."

Gay bowler Scott Norton on the impact his and his husband's on-air kiss has had: "I didn't even know anything was going to come of it. It happened on Sunday and then nothing came of it... And then it exploded and all of the credit goes to Jaime Perez and the International Art of Bowling for all they've done. They've really turned this into something special."

Gay men in Australia are asking the government there to follow in the footsteps of its Commonwealth cousin the UK and expunge old anti-gay convictions from people's records: "For an unknown number of older gay men, historical convictions for consensual sex continue to cast a shadow over their lives. Despite Victoria decriminalizing gay sex in 1981, these men are still prevented from applying for some jobs, such as teaching, or taking on volunteering roles."

British Prime Minister told The Telegraph that he would like to stay in office until 2020 and concedes that his proposals for marriage equality in England were not delivered as concisely as possible, particularly with regard to religious institutions. He made clear, "[The proposal] is about what the state does, this is the civil part of marriage. We're not changing what happens in church or synagogue or mosque."