News: Courtney Love, Provincetown, Mario Lopez, Woodpecker

Archbishop Desmond Tutu honored by International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission in San Francisco. Tutu: "How sad, how tragic, that the Church be so concerned with this issue when God’s children all the world over are suffering. I ask for your forgiveness for the way the Church has ostracized you."

Sotheby's photography auction off to strong start.

Is Courtney Love rehearsing for a Valley of the Dolls remake?

The artist known as Prince has joined the line-up for this year's Coachella Music Festival.

More on the gay Yale impostor!

Anti-gay Christian group in Maine launches referendum aimed at banning same-sex marriage and gay adoption: "The referendum also would eliminate sexual orientation as a protected class under the Maine Human Rights Act and would take away funding that supports civil rights teams affiliated with the state Attorney General’s Office. Michael Heath, executive director of the Christian Civic League of Maine, said that if the Secretary of State’s Office approves his petition, he’ll begin recruiting organizers to gather signatures. Putting a referendum on the state ballot requires about 55,000 signatures, or 10 percent of the turnout for the last gubernatorial election."

First gay bar outside of Ireland's major cities opens in Strabane, Northern Ireland. Rainbow Project leader: "What the opening of this bar is saying is that, yes, our small towns have a gay community too and they are welcome and they are valued. I have been a gay rights activist for 25 years and when I started out, gay people were moving away in their droves because they were deemed socially unacceptable. But now we have this development and it is one of the biggest steps I've seen for the gay community. What it is saying to us is stay, there is something here for you."

Hey bird lovers: woodpecker with freakishly large beak photographed.

Rosie O'Donnell fighting tabloid claim that she abuses her kids.

Gay domestic abuse survivor Pedro Velazquez Fernandez to speak at rally in Des Moines, Iowa: "I feel like when I'm getting to know somebody, I can't trust him. I hate to say it, but I think ... love doesn't exist."

New York magazine has 21 questions for Simon Doonan.

Singapore cable operator fined for showing lesbian kiss: "Singapore's Media Development Authority, which regulates and censors media and the arts, said on Wednesday it fined StarHub S$10,000 ($7,246) for airing a commercial for a song that featured 'romanticised scenes' of lesbians kissing and portrayed the relationship as 'acceptable'. The music video of the song, titled 'Silly Child' by Mandarin singer Olivia Yan, shows an intimate kissing scene before one of the women rejects her boyfriend at the end of the clip. 'This is in breach of the TV advertising guidelines, which disallows advertisements that condone homosexuality,' the media authority said."

New ferry route launches between Gloucester, Massachusetts and Provincetown.

Mario Lopez about to hit the Broadway stage in A Chorus Line.

Gavin Newsom punks protestors with seismic bait-and-switch at San Francisco Olympic torch procession: "'I am very upset,' said Rosie Salis, 51, who came in from Foster City to see the relay. 'There were lots of people here with their kids. They had to wait for four or five hours, and it's very disappointing.' Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, a vocal critic of Newsom's administration, was equally unhappy, as was the local ACLU chapter. 'Gavin Newsom runs San Francisco the way the premier of China runs his country - secrecy, lies, misinformation, lack of transparency and manipulating the populace,' Peskin said. 'He did it so China can report they had a great torch run.' Newsom emphatically denied those accusations. 'We felt it was in everyone's best interest that we augment the route,' Newsom said. 'I believe people were afforded the right to protest and support the torch. You saw that in the streets. They were not denied the ability to protest.'"

Was the universe that came before our own its identical twin?

Parents in Eau Claire, Wisconsin upset that a teacher told five health classes that she's gay: "At least one parent said Rowe had no business talking about her sexual preference. The parent agreed that Rowe is an outstanding teacher, but she should stick to the curriculum."

Poll shows Clinton-Obama "dream ticket" beaten by McCain-Rice ticket in New York state: "According to the poll, McCain/Condi would earn the votes of 49% of registered voters in New York State compared with 46% for a Clinton/Obama ticket, and the same 49% against an underwhelming 44% for an Obama/Clinton ticket."

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News: Dexter, Prozac, Courtney Love, Bullfrogs, Robert Buckley

New York judge allows divorce trial for lesbians married in Canada.

Four years ago today Rosie O'Donnell and Kelli Carpenter were married inside Mayor Gavin Newsom's office at San Francisco City Hall.

Hospital in Florida refuses lesbian and children to communicate with her dying partner of 18 years, tells them there is nothing they can do because they're in an anti-gay state.

Courtney Love blogs about the Oscars: "i was supposed to be at Eltons Party at i think noon or something and if we dont hiurry it will suck- i really dont want to get there ina crush of shit and stuff- wait my pr is outside im calling her hold on- okay i hope the disaster has been averted but m,y expirience with that party is that i do NOT want to see Paris dancing ona table i really really DONT and i dont want to stuff a stale slamon canape in my mouth and i really need to get laid so i m off to do so."

Incest is Best: Dexter serial killer killer Michael C. Hall is dating his sister on the show?

Anti-aging substance found in bullfrogs: "Because it is water-soluble, the substance may be consumed in much more diverse ways than the oil-soluble tocopherol. You may put it in soft drinks, for example."

First 30,000 pages of 'Book of Life' revealed: "The immense online resource is designed to greatly enhance our understanding of the world's diminishing biodiversity. The creators of the database say it could have an impact on human knowledge comparable to that which followed the microscope's invention in the 1600s. It is designed to be used by everyone from scientists to lay readers. The Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) - described as the "ultimate field guide" - is to encompass all six kingdoms of life, and even viruses - which many researchers do not consider to be living organisms."

Robert Buckley makes an impression on Lipstick Jungle.

The Academy's excuse for Brad Renfro death montage snub: not enough time to include everyone.

Cases of HIV/AIDS soar 45% in China from 2006 to 2007: "The staggering rise was put down to changing social attitudes and an improvement in data collection. The government had said late last year that 700,000 people were living with the virus, an increase from an earlier estimate of 650,000. The year before, China lowered its estimate to 650,000 from 840,000, despite warnings from international experts that the disease was spreading due to ignorance and because many people were too afraid or too poor to seek help."

Rent ends 12-year run on Broadway.

Gay porn twins arrested for string of burglaries in Philadelphia.

Gay Brazilians demand Fidel Castro ask for forgiveness for his persecution of gays and lesbians: "Grupo Gay da Bahia, the oldest homosexual non-governmental organization in Latin America, demands that the dictator Fidel Castro, before his death, recognizes and asks for forgiveness for the grave errors of the Cuban revolution responsible for the demoralization, persecution, imprisonment in concentration camps, forced labor, torture, deportation, and death of thousands of gays, transvestites and lesbians in Cuba."

Scientists: Prozac doesn't work.

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Music News: Spice Girls Make Headlines As New Single Leaks, Plus Patti LaBelle, Kylie Minogue, Kurt Cobain, Jay-Z, David Gest

Please welcome Robbie Daw, who will be penning occasional music posts for us here on Towleroad! Robbie runs his own pop music site called Chart Rigger.

"Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)," the new single from the Spice Girls, has leaked weeks ahead of its official release. Have a listen and see (or, rather, hear) what you think:

It's pleasant in that "2 Become 1" way, but after all the hype, isn't this new Spice track missing that certain zig-a-zig-ah?

"Headlines" will be included on the Spice Girls' Greatest Hits. Last week it was reported that the British fivesome had signed a deal  with Victoria's Secret for the upcoming CD to be sold exclusively in the lingerie chain's U.S. stores beginning November 13. The compilation will also be available on iTunes. Otherwise, there won't be a wide retail release in American outlets until January.

Meanwhile, tabloids are reporting that the video shoot for "Headlines," which happened on Friday, almost collapsed under the fivesome's "diva demands": "Things were very delayed. The director was tearing his hair out and threatened to walk. The girls were so tired and Emma [Bunton] was crying as the shoot just went on and on."

Additionally, Sony Home Entertainment is reissuing the 1997 film Spice World in a "special edition" DVD on November 27, a week ahead of the Girls' world tour.

   Four tracks from Kylie Minogue's upcoming album are available now for free.

   Illegal download site OiNK busted by international police.

   Liza's ex, David Gest, has found his inner indie rocker: "I could have given it up for a happy marriage, but I'd rather go for a drink, go dancing in Camden, listen to the Kaiser Chiefs."

   Patti LaBelle (pictured right) shocks Sugababes fans at Fashion Rocks in London this past weekend.

   Despite all her drama, Britney Spears' Blackout (out next week) is getting great reviews.

   Jay-Z is on the road again.

   Universal Pictures is adapting Chris Cross' Kurt Cobain biography, Heavier Than Heaven, into a film, with Courtney Love and her lawyer exec producing.

   TODAY'S NEW RELEASES:

Depeche Mode frontman Dave Gahan's Hourglass.

Idol Carrie Underwood's sophomore album, Carnival Ride.

La Vida Es Un Ratico, from Latin superstars Juanes.

Raising Sand, a collaboration between a subdued Robert Plant and Nashville singer Alison Krauss.

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis' Music From The Motion Picture The Assasination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford.

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Marc Jacobs' Boyfriend Hits Town Wearing Dead Mouse

TMZ reports that the "deceased rodent brooch" worn by Jason Preston as he hit the fashion party circuit with boyfriend Marc Jacobs was a gift from Courtney Love. It may be the perfect complement to Jacobs' backward heel.
(via dlisted)

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Music News: Apple Reveals the iPod Touch, Plus The Feeling, Klaxons, Madonna, The Perry Twins

Please welcome Robbie Daw, who will be penning occasional music posts for us here on Towleroad! Robbie runs his own pop music site called Chart Rigger.

Steve Jobs revealed the latest updates to Apple's iPod line at a press conference in San Francisco today. Despite insistent buzzing over the past week online, there was no surprise Madonna appearance at the event or unveiling of The Beatles' back catalog for the iTunes music store, although KT Tunstall performed live. Mostly the revelations stuck mainly to the MP3 player itself.

The big news is the all new 8mm thin iPod Touch, which will use the same interface as the iPhone (and has approximately the same size screen). "We think it's one of the seven wonders of the world," Jobs joked. The Touch player has Wi-Fi capabilities that allows users to now search for and download songs from the iTunes Wi-Fi music store. They've also struck up a deal with Starbucks to allow downloading and music discovery from their locations. The iPod Touch also features a Safari browser and YouTube channel.

The iPod Touch has a battery life of 22 hours and is available in 8 GB ($299) and 16 GB ($399) sizes. It ships to stores by the end of the month. iPhone users will also receive an update connecting them wirelessly to the iTunes store, and Apple has dropped the price point on the 8GB iPhone by $200, to $399.

Klaxons have won England's Mercury Prize -- "Europe's top arts prize in terms of influence and media coverage." In the 15th year of the award, Klaxons beat out a list of nominees that included Amy Winehouse, Bat For Lashes, and Arctic Monkeys.

Klaxons - Myths of the Near Future [iTunes]

They're not exactly covering James Blunt's new single, but The Feeling were recently posed with the task of choosing a song from the year 1973 to cover for a compilation celebrating the 40th anniversary of the BBC's Radio 1 station.

Forty artists were each given a year to choose a song from spanning across the station's time on the air. The Feeling's openly-gay frontman Dan Gillespie-Sells explained on the band's website why they picked Carly Simon's "You're So Vain": "When they gave us 1973, it was actually quite hard to pick a song that we wanted to do. There were obvious things like, 'Life On Mars' by David Bowie, but I thought we should do a song that was very unlike us. So eventually we went for the Carly Simon track. We recorded it down in the big country house where we were working on our new album. It started off as a late-night jam and eventually mutated into this weird version of the song. It doesn't really sound like us or the original...I really like it, but it's pretty bonkers too."

Other acts on the tribute set include Robbie Williams doing "Lola" by The Kinks, Amy Winehouse covering "Cupid" by Johnny Nash," Kylie Minogue taking on Roxy Music's "Love Is The Drug" and Natasha Bedingfield with her version of Madonna's "Ray Of Light."

Dapper Dan & Co. are certainly no strangers to doing tunes by other bands. Their cover of The Buggles' "Video Killed The Radio Star" -- which they used to perform at gigs in The Alps before getting signed -- appeared as a B-side on their European CD single for "Rosé". The group is even working with former Buggles singer-turned-mega-producer Trevor Horn in sessions for their sophomore album.

The double-disc Radio 1. Established 1967 will be available October 1 from Universal. [Full track list]

NEWS BITES: Being in a band is bad for you.

Princess of Monaco's daughter makes a cameo in Justice's VMA-nominated video for "D.A.N.C.E."

Whitney and Bobby's custody battle heating up.

Kelly Clarkson's tour is back on track.

Bernard Sumner on upcoming Joy Division biopic, Control: "We were more youthfully idiotic than that."

Ne-Yo doesn't wait around for Britney.

Courtney Love on reports she publicly bashed Amy Winehouse: "I keep my own counsel about sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll and I do not judge others unless I know they are a danger to other people beloved in my own life."

20-year-old Eurythmics record inspired Darren Hayes to make his latest album.

Lily Allen curbs her enthusiasm.

After the jump - fake Madonna cover art, the soundtrack to the Mormon Men On A Mission calendar and the week's slim new releases.

Nothing signals a new Madonna album barrelling down the tracks moreso than the slew of Photoshopped fan artwork passed off as the real thing. And blogger XOLondon has been having a field day warning M's followers of the chicanery amiss.

Here are some recent Madge-similes the D.C.-based blogger has picked up on:

This next one kinda takes the cake. You have to at least admire the enthusiasm (Incidentally, it was e-mailed out over the weekend to various websites by someone purporting to be Madonna's business partner, Guy Oseary):

There's a new YouTube video for the 2008 Men On A Mission calendar featuring former Mormon missionaries getting unbuttoned:

Doug and Derek Perry -- aka The Perry Twins -- are the ones behind "Activate My Body," the song you're hearing in the promotional clip. For singing chores, the Los Angeles-based gay brothers enlisted club belter Jania.

And, really, it's all about the vocals, no?

NEW RELEASES: (This week finds the calm before the storm, really, before the 50 Cent/Kanye West showdown on Tuesday.) U.K. hip-hop artist Just Jack's second album, Overtones, containing his collaboration with Kylie Minogue, "I Talk Too Much."

Latin alternative artist (and Coachella favorite) Manu Chao's first American studio release in six years, La Radiolina.

Patti Scialfa's Play It As It Lays, featuring her fellow E Street Band mates (including husband Bruce Springsteen).

High, the tenth studio album for British rockers New Model Army.

ToHeavenURide, a live album from Michelle Shocked.

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Music News: Darren Hayes Disses John Howard, Plus Duran Duran, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Phil Spector, Robyn

Please welcome Robbie Daw, who will be penning occasional music posts for us here on Towleroad! Robbie runs his own pop music site called Chart Rigger.

For the past two weeks, Brisbane-born Darren Hayes and his British husband, Richard Cullen, have been zipping around Australia as Hayes promotes his album, This Delicate Thing We've Made (out next week), and current single, "On The Verge Of Something Wonderful."

While Down Under, Hayes has been met with the realities of being a legally-married gay man outside of England, as Cullen has to travel with him on a tourist visa, rather than as his partner, under the current laws.

In turn, the pop star has worked some criticism of Prime Minister John Howard's anti-gay policies into his interviews: "It makes me angry and frustrated. I'm Australian and the way the law sits I can't bring my partner home as my partner. I would never have voted for John Howard and I encourage people not to. I don't think he speaks for this country in the same way I don't think George Bush speaks for the U.S."

Meanwhile, Darren scored the seventh Top 20 hit of his solo career on Sunday's official U.K. singles chart when "On The Verge Of Something Wonderful" debuted at #20. He posted on his MySpace blog that today he begins shooting the video for its follow-up, "Me, Myself And I."

While everyone's eager to speculate on the Madonna/Justin Timberlake/Timbaland collaboration, let us not forget that first comes the new Duran Duran album that J.T. 'n' T. had their Midas-dipped hands in.

Entertainment Weekly is currently streaming "Night Runner," a track produced by Timbaland and Danja, which features Timberlake on vocals along with Simon Le Bon. Actually, "Night Runner" isn't so much shocking as it is confusing...why don't you try figuring out which vocals are Le Bon's and which are Justin's.

Duran Duran's twelfth studio album is titled Red Carpet Massacre, and will be released October 30. But despite the early promotion of "Night Runner," the confirmed first single is the Timberlake-produced "Falling Down."

Prior to the recording sessions, longtime band member Andy Taylor split from the group last fall.

Murder trail, shmurder trial! Phil Spector continues working with an artist he says "reminds me of a young John Lennon."

Courtney Love is a stripper...again.

On the official Pet Shop Boys site, Neil Tennant denies The Sun's claim that Damon Albarn gave the Boys the smackdown.

After the jump: the return of Robyn, and today's new releases.

IMPORTED: Ten years ago, in that hazy period pre-Britney, Swedish teenager Robyn scored two major American hits with "Do You Know (What It Takes)" and "Show Me Love."

After several record label growing pains, Robyn makes a gallant return this week as her self-released electro single, "With Every Heartbeat," has topped the U.K. chart.

Though only available on import, "With Every Heartbeat" is downloadable from 7 Digital.

TODAY'S NEW RELEASES: Country singer Lori McKenna's Unglamorous, produced by Tim McGraw and Byron Gallimore.

Alt rock act Eisley's Combinations.

Disco legend Thelma Houston's covers album, A Woman's Touch.

DJ Paul Van Dyk's In Between, featuring guests David Byrne, Wayne Jackson and Jessica Sutta of Pussycat Dolls.

The High School Musical 2 soundtrack. You now have three days to cram the lyrics into your memory before the Disney Channel movie airs Friday night.

Junior Senior's Hey Hey My Yo Yo. The half-gay (Senior) and half-straight (Junior) duo from Denmark sees a U.S. release of their sophomore album, which has been available internationally for two years.

Inching closer to adding The Beatles repertoire to iTunes, the online store adds John Lennon's back catalog today.

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News: Yasser Arafat, Enigma Machine, Annie Lennox, Emmys

Did Yasser Arafat really die of AIDS? One Palestinian leader insists, yes.

William Hamilton Martin and Bernon Mitchell, NSA traitors whose treason was blamed in part on their homosexuality, are proven to be straight after documents are declassified: "After interviewing more than 450 individuals about the twosome’s character, habits, and sex lives—right down to the skin rash on Martin’s stomach—the NSA, in a 1961 report, could find no conclusive evidence the two men were gay. “Martin and Mitchell were known to be close friends and somewhat anti-social, but no one had any knowledge of a homosexual relationship between them,” investigators reported. Both, in fact, had American girlfriends, and Martin married a Russian woman four months after his arrival there. Mitchell also wed later."

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Sopranos, Ugly Betty lead Emmy nominations. Full list.

Gone before its time: Who killed A Mighty Heart?

Kylie Minogue teams up with Stuart Price, Madonna's producer on Confessions on a Dance Floor.

Courtney Love: Orange you glad she's back?

Spit-tune: If you're going to one of Amy Winehouse's concerts, be sure to stay out of range of her salivary glands.

Conservative Episcopal priest from Boston defects to become a bishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya: "The Rev. William L. Murdoch, rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in West Newbury, will fly to Nairobi next month for his consecration as a Kenyan bishop, then return to Massachusetts to minister to other disaffected conservatives who are leaving the Episcopal Church over its 2003 decision to ordain an openly gay priest as the bishop of New Hampshire."

Fancy yourself the next Alan Turing? Have a bit of practice decoding some of the messages from this 1938 Enigma machine for sale on eBay. Bidding is currently near $20,000 but the reserve has not yet been met.

Window Media President Peter Polimino to step down, and will be replaced by three co-presidents: "Mike Kitchens is Window Media's chief operating officer, Steve Myers is chief financial officer, and Bill Kapfer is responsible for marketing and Genre's publisher."

Lover of flesh Spencer Tunick will make his next project a commentary on global warming and photograph hundreds of naked folk in the Alps. He is encouraging those who wish to participate to arrive there by public transportation.

Annie Lennox is back with Songs of Mass Destruction, a new album featuring the track "Sing" to which Madonna, Sarah McLachlan, Celine Dion, Fergie, Faith Hill, Pink, Dido, Gladys Knight, kd Lang, Angelique Kidjo, Bonnie Raitt, Shakira, Melissa Etheridge, Anastasia, Joss Stone, KT Tunstall and many others will add their voices. The track will raise awareness and funding for the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) - organizations fighting for human rights, education and health care for those affected by the HIV AIDS virus.

Do you take it? (warning: NSFW)

Nova Scotia tries to get in on the gay travel market with Rainbow Halifax.

"I could hear them.": Be careful when traveling in Belize and don't read this post while you're eating lunch.

Channel 4 in the UK presents 40 Years Out, a week of programming meant to mark the passing of the Homosexual Reform Act in 1967, which decriminalized homosexual acts in private between two adult men aged 21 and over.

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News: The Joker, Liz Taylor, Presbyterians, David LaChapelle

CIA: Iraq a "big moneymaker" for al Qaeda.

Tim Gunn and Heatherette toss a few salads at the Wish-Bone fashion show.

L.A. Galaxy owner: Beckham investment will be more than recouped by the time he arrives in July. Tim Leiweke: "David Beckham will do more for US soccer than any other activity in the young history of North America's top league. With David coming to play for our team soccer has made a quantum leap in terms of public awareness. His signing created such a huge interest that we should be able to make good on our investment before he even arrives in California in July."

Courtney Love and David LaChappelle hit Mr. Chow. Love jokes: "This is David LaChapelle ... and he is not a homosexual."

Gay man details persecution in Jamaica, failed attempt to seek asylum in the UK: "People [always] tell me that I walk like a girl. What happened is that a group of men drew me into St Michael's Church, and they used a stone and started knocking me in the head...Then, one of them told his friend to go for his gun to shoot me and throw me in a pit. I was begging for my life and telling them that I was not that (homosexual) and that I was coming from Bellevue. Then they buck up on (found) a letter that the doctor gave me from Bellevue, and they read through it and decided that I was a 'mad bwoy' and decided to let me go."

Cannes Water Lilies director Céline Sciamma comes out of the closet: "Hey, I'm gay. I don't know if I should say this. I always...resent the people who are gay, who could say it, and they don't. So I'm not going to do that. I have to be logical.”

Verdict: Liz Taylor can keep Van Gogh looted by the Nazis. "Dame Elizabeth, 75, bought the 1889 work, View Of The Asylum And Chapel At Saint-Remy, at Sotheby's in 1963 for £92,000. She keeps it in her Los Angeles home. The painting, completed by Van Gogh near the end of his life, is estimated to now be worth up to £8 million. The Orkin family sued Taylor for return of the painting in 2004. They are South African and Canadian descendants of Margarete Mauthner, a Jewish woman whose possessions were seized by the Nazis when she fled Germany in 1939. The Orkins claimed the work was among the items confiscated and that it should be returned to them under the U.S. Holocaust Victims Redress Act."

Meth addict or Heath Ledger?

George Michael explains car troubles: "It involves prescribed drugs and it involves a dependency on them and the tendency to chase one drug with another because of side effects."

Presbyterian court upholds anti-gay policies: "The court ruled 8-3 that the presbytery could not call the ordination standards 'an essential of Reformed polity,' but while candidates could disagree with them, they still must adhere to them. The court also voted 11-0 that presbytery could prevent clergy from conducting same-sex marriages as long as they were able to bless same-sex unions, which the church's high court has upheld."

Choose Hillary Clinton's campaign song!

Gay Welsh referee selected for Rugby World Cup: "It's such a big taboo to be gay in my line of work, I had to think very hard about it because I didn't want to jeopardise my career. Coming out was very difficult and I tried to live with who I really was for years. I knew I was 'different' from my late teens, but I was just living a lie."

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News: Red Apples, Vancouver, Jennifer Hudson, Gayle King

Survey: Vancouver now Canada's #1 gay travel destination.

Controversial skyscraper planned for Russian city of Saint Petersburg: "The RMJM submission for the skyscraper that will anchor the complex features a spire that changes colour according to the light."

The gays have arrived: "Lavender invasion" hits Russia.

Jennifer Hudson, who will be performing at a pre-New Year's Eve party in New York on December 30th, tells HX she's ready for gay icon status: "I think the world of the gay community, and I feel like it’s an honor. The gay community is the hardest community to please, so if they love me, I must be fierce, honey."

Great piece on gays in the Arab world from this weekend's NYT magazine: "Politicians, the police, government officials and much of the press are making homosexuality an 'issue': a way to display nationalist bona fides in the face of an encroaching Western sensibility; to reject a creeping globalization that brings with it what is perceived as the worst of the international market culture; to flash religious credentials and placate growing Islamist power. In recent years, there have been arrests, crackdowns and episodes of torture. In Egypt, the most populous country in the Arab world, as in Morocco, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates — even in famously open and cosmopolitan Lebanon — the policing of homosexuality has become part of what sometimes seems like a general moral panic."

Watching Dreamgirls with Gayle King: one blogger's tale.

Over 100 same-sex civil partnership ceremonies have taken place in Northern Ireland since they took effect in December 2005, according to provisional records from the Office of National Statistics in the UK. Over 15,000 have taken place across the UK, says the firm.

The Queen addresses her subjects from on high.

CBS' Cold Case goes Brokeback with gay cop love affair.

Scientists discover the "red apple" gene. Researcher: "Apple growers have always known that apple colour is dependant on light – apples grown in darkness or even heavy shade don't turn red when they ripen That made it very likely that the gene we were looking for requires light to be activated. By identifying master genes that were activated by light, Adam was able to pinpoint the gene that controls the formation of anthocyanins in apples, and we found that in green apples this gene is not expressed as much as in red apples."

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Madonna vs. Courtney Love: Faces of Eroticism

Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott just shot an 18-page spread for the latest issue of Pop magazine featuring a nude Courtney Love and her twins (NSFW). While Love certainly looks amazing for a 42-year-old woman, I couldn't help but be reminded, particularly in the spread's opening shot, of Stephen Meisel's orgasmic portrait of Madonna used for the mylar wrapper of Sex and Erotica back in 1992.

You may have missed...
Courtney Love and Billy Corgan: Songs for a Cause [tr]

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Courtney Love and Billy Corgan: Songs for a Cause

The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center held a fundraiser on Saturday night and Linda Perry of 4 Non Blondes was billed as the headliner. So imagine the audience's surprise when a chain-smoking Courtney Love and Smashing Pumpkins singer Billy Corgan joined Perry onstage to sing tracks from Love's new album. Towleroad can now bring you these shots from the event.

Love talked to NME.com about the night, which raised over $150,000 for the Center: "Billy and me have never been onstage before and it was intense. His guitar parts are haunting and beautiful. It's me, him, Linda and 2000 lesbians and the songs are dramatically different from the demos. It was fucking historic, Billy played 'Can't Find My Way Home' by Blind Faith and Linda played 'Beautiful' and 'What's Going On'. It was such a cool living room vibe. The songs are smashing now. I wouldn't fuck around here, this is the best shit I've done since 'Live Through This' period. It's hard to sell six-minute new songs and you could have heard a pin drop although apparently there was speculation about whether I was wearing underwear. Look I've been wearing short skirts onstage forever and and obviously I wear panties. Christ!"

Glad we cleared that up.

Pictured below with Corgan, Perry, and Love is the Center's CEO Lorri L. Jean.

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