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."

Cyndi Lauper Lauds Passage of Hate Crimes Prevention Bill

Towleroad has received a statement from Cyndi Lauper praising passage of the hate crimes bill, which President Obama will sign into law tomorrow.

"As a straight ally and as a person with many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender family members, friends and fans, I want to thank the Human Rights Campaign, Judy and Dennis Shepard and Senator Edward Kennedy for their leadership in the 11 year struggle to get the Matthew Shepard & James Byrd, Jr. Hates Crimes Prevention Bill enacted. FINALLY, with President Obama's signature, violent hate crimes against the LGBT community will be recognized and prosecuted by the Federal government. This is only the beginning, I believe that the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act, as well as the passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, will soon be here. Today, that light at the end of the tunnel for the LGBT civil rights movement is much brighter."

News: Harry Potter, Jamaica, Frank Bruni, Jiu Jitsu, John Barrowman

Walter Cronkite dies at 92.

Episcopal Church seeking growth through "inclusivity".

Gay overtones in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince?

WATCH: Cyndi Lauper and Lil' Kim deliver Nelson Mandela a birthday performance of "Time After Time".

Former Lt. Dan Choi speaks at premiere of Silent Partners, a mini-doc on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", in L.A.

NYT restaurant critic Frank Bruni on his unhealthy relationship with food: "I’d read some of the articles [on Karen Carpenter. I’d actually taken a weird sort of comfort from them, because they included details like her possible use of ipecac to make herself vomit. I’d never even heard of ipecac before. The articles included pictures of her looking cadaverous. I’d need several three-day fasts or two weeks of protein shakes to close in on bony."

Paula Abdul plays hardball: demands $20 million for Idol return.

Graffiti artist imploring New Orleans to READ.

Registered nurse in Australia calls for elimination of gays: “I certainly wouldn’t want him giving me my dose of morphine."

Coalition of groups opposing 2010 marriage ballot measure to over turn Proposition 8 in California grows: "The Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club -- the nation's oldest LGBT Demo club -- thinks 2012 would be better, too. After hearing a presentation from San Francisco pollster Amy Simon this week, the club's board decided -- after much debate -- that there might not be enough time to right the wrongs of the last campaign."

Gay-bashing thrives in Jamaica: "It is impossible to say just how common gay bashing attacks like the one against Sherman are in Jamaica — their tormentors are sometimes the police themselves. But many homosexuals in Jamaica say homophobia is pervasive across the sun-soaked island, from the pulpit to the floor of the Parliament."

Male model fix: Evandro Soldati.

The homoerotic undertones of mixed martial arts: "Brazilian jujitsu doesn't just look like gay sex, it feels an awful lot like it too."

CBS censoring Big Brother 11 slurs. Houseguest: 'If someone's a racist, they should be portrayed as one. You shouldn't edit it to make them look good.'

South Florida lesbian couple celebrates 70 years together: "In 1939 Leto and Magazzu met at a party in New York. Caroline thought Venera was stylish. Venera thought Caroline was funny. After a courtship of about a year, Magazzu, a teacher, and Leto, a telegraph operator, moved into a tiny house in New York. They spent most of their lives there, with only close family members and closer friends knowing about their relationship. Magazzu, a former Army medic, said she often fought the urge to tell others, but feared what  'outsiders' would think. She believes society back then was more receptive to two women living together than two men -- or at least less inquisitive."

Angela's Ashes novelist Frank McCourt dies.

WATCH: New trailer for Where the Wild Things Are.

Actor John Barrowman walks away from on-set 80 mph car crash.

NYT on Torchwood: Children of Earth: "Russell T Davies, the Welsh writer and producer who revived “Doctor Who” and created 'Torchwood,' has thrived by taking the low-rent, knockabout style of the original “Doctor Who” and giving it a nighttime-soap-opera gloss. This has meant, for one thing, employing much better-looking actors...It has also meant amping up the sexual tension and pushing against some of the same boundaries Mr. Davies did in his breakout show, 'Queer as Folk.' On 'Torchwood' Capt. Jack Harkness (Mr. Barrowman) and his aide-de-camp, Ianto Jones (Mr. David-Lloyd), are now a full-fledged, kiss-on-the-lips couple."

News: The Arctic, Washington D.C., Smurfs, Rwanda, Ochocinco

D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics to hear arguments today regarding Bishop Harry Jackson's referendum against recognition of same-sex marriage and whether or not it can go forward. Hundreds watch hearing...

The Arctic?

3,000 students dress up as Smurfs to break world record.

A gay soldier's husband speaks from the shadows.

NYT advice on 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell': "President Obama should see if there is indeed any action he could take on his own while awaiting the military’s assessment. In the end, it will be up to Congress to root out 'don’t ask, don’t tell' by overturning the law that brought it about."

Some upset over Obama shoe photo.

Barbara Bush finds a hot piece.

Pregnant man Thomas Beatie gives birth again.

Charlie Rose talks about the federal challenge to Proposition 8 with David Boies.

Is your phone spying on you? "This new generation of -user-friendly spy-phone software has become widely available in the last year—and it confers stunning powers. The latest programs can silently turn on handset microphones even when no call is being made, allowing a spy to listen to voices in a room halfway around the world. Targets are none the wiser: neither call logs nor phone bills show records of the secretly transmitted data."

Oraine Barrett is the first Black model to appear on the cover of Brazil's DOM magazine.

Adam Lambert to appear on 20/20 this Friday.

Catholic group compares San Francisco Board of Supervisors to Nazis for "denouncing a Vatican order to Catholic Charities not to place adoptive children with same-sex couples."

Cyndi Lauper holds summer auction for True Colors Fund.

Mormon fringe ponders 'chemical castration' for gays: "[I]s chemical castration an option for LDS gays? I mean, if you're faithful LDS & accept that for whatever reason the Lord has put you on Earth as a "eunuch" (best case, if you can stay strong), why should you have to struggle with incessant thoughts that are not just inappropriate now, but will be inappropriate in the next life, too, only serve to pervert any desires to have children in a celestial relationship in the next life."

Stars show up for True Blood premiere.

Not coming back: Satellite images show decimation of 99 percent of rainforest in Rwanda.

Israel to hold first public same-sex wedding ceremony.

Limited hunting of humpback whales considered.

Fabien Baron returning to Interview magazine as Glenn O'Brien exits.

NFL players Chad Ochocinco and Carson Palmer have "Brokeback Mountain" relationship.

Cyndi Lauper to Madonna: Go on with your Cougar Self

Cyndi Lauper set a New York magazine intern straight at the recent Defying Inequality: the Broadway Concert for Equal Rights when he questioned Lauper about Madonna's alleged fling with much younger Brazilian model Jesus Luz:

"What's your issue? You know how many old geezers do you see with young women. What's the double standard? Who cares? You know, they're both adults. Who cares? What's good for the goose is good for the gander."

Music News: A Final Listen To 2008

Robbie Daw presents a weekly pop music update here on Towleroad! Robbie runs his own site called Chart Rigger.

Another year, almost over. At the onset each January, the music fan in me looks ahead, anticipating new whatever intriguing new releases may be on the way. Yet for many reasons, politics took the front seat to pretty much everything in 2008.

Listening to and waxing philosophical on pop just kind of felt insignificant at many points over the past 12 months.

That said, this being my last Towleroad music column of the year, I decided to take a look back at just some random music-related points from 2008: Some that maybe didn't get mention here, some that did. Some perhaps unimportant in the grand scheme, but all of which are off the top of my head on this cold mid-December day:

   Lil Wayne had the best selling album of the year with Tha Carter III, which moved 2.7 copies. The second best-selling was Coldplay's Viva La Vida, which sold 1.9 million. By comparison, the top-selling album of 1998 was the Titanic soundtrack, at 7 million copies.

   I was bummed that I missed catching Aussie dance trio Cut Copy live at every turn. Their latest album In Ghost Colors is pretty groovy, and definitely worth checking out (particularly the track "Lights & Music").

   I did get to see MGMT live at Austin City Limits—which, as I read in Billboard today, was the fifth top-grossing music festival of the year, with $11.7 million in ticket sales. The band was a bit disappointing live. Chalk it up to the Texas heat? Meanwhile, there are two awesome new Pet Shop Boys mixes of MGMT's current single "Kids" out there—the "PSB Abstrakt Mix" and "PSB Synthpop Mix."

   I'm not sure pop really got more perfect than Chris Brown's "Forever" in 2008.

   Albums that will be worth revisiting after December 31: The Ting Tings' We Started Nothing, Robyn's Robyn, Cyndi Lauper's Bring Ya To The Brink and Kylie Minogue's X.

   Ones that were perhaps a bit ahead of their time, or underappreciated: Santogold's Santogold, Keane's Perfect Symmetry and The Killers' Day & Age.

   One import worth snagging: Take That's The Circus. That said, rumor has it the album is getting a U.S. release in 2009.

At $282 in earnings, by year's end Madonna is set to see her Sticky & Sweet tour become the top-grossing jaunt ever for both a female and solo artist.

   It was jarring to see Britney Spears on the cover of Rolling Stone in February for a story titled "Inside An American Tragedy," then nine months later with "Yes She Can: Britney Returns!"  But return she did, scoring her first #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 since her 1998 debut single. She also landed her first two back-to-back Top 10 singles ("Womanizer" and "Circus") last week.

   It didn't seem possible for any artist to make an equally-impactful version of "Run" as Snow Patrol's 2004 original, but Leona Lewis somehow came close. Her cover has been the #1 U.K. single for two weeks now, and was just added to U.S. iTunes today.

    In the spring we all pondered whether Katy Perry was offensive with her songs "Ur So Gay" and "I Kissed A Girl." Who knew she had a decent jam like "Hot N Cold" up her sleeve, to boot?

Kevin Cogill cooperated with authorities and pleaded guilty to leaking tracks from Guns N' Roses Chinese Democracy online over the summer, ahead of the album's November release. He could face a year in prison.

   Whoever can count the amount of times Andy Towle mentioned Lady GaGa gets a gold star.

   Following in the tradition of Sugababes and Girls Aloud, the Saturdays are the next in the line of great British girl groups who may never get proper exposure this side of the pond.

   David Archuleta sure is merry, lively and spirited!

   Finally, if ever there was a starlet deserving of claiming she sufffers from the grand Hollywood malady of "exhaustion," it just might be Rihanna.

A FEW CLIPS FOR THE WEEK:

ELLEN DEGENERES AND BRITNEY SPEARS: Christmas caroling in L.A.

SARA BAREILLES AND INGRID MICHAELSON: "Winter Song," from the compilation Hotel Cafe Presents Winter Songs.

GIRLS ALOUD: New single "The Loving Kind," co-written by Pet Shop Boys and Xenomania, and officially out in the U.K. next month.

LILY ALLEN: "The Fear," new single (on iTunes now) from her upcoming second album It's Not Me, It's You.

THIS WEEK'S NEW RELEASES:

Fall Out Boy's fifth album Folie à Deux, produced by Neal Avron and Pharrell Williams.

The Killers' third annual Product Red AIDS charity single "Joseph, Better You Than Me," also featuring Elton John and the Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant on vocals.

Keyshia Cole's third album A Different Me.

Holiday songs by Lady GaGa ("Christmas Tree"), Slim ("This Christmas") and Lady Antebellum ("Baby, It's Cold Outside").

New singles from Leona Lewis ("Run"), Bruce Springsteen ("The Wrestler") and R. Kelly ("I Believe").