News: India, Tony Kushner, Jerusalem, Don Imus, Bash'd

Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis forbids liberal Catholic church from holding gay pride prayer service: "St. Joan of Arc Church in Minneapolis has held the event for several years in conjunction with the annual Twin Cities Pride Celebration. The archdiocese is instead suggesting that the church hold a "peace" service Wednesday with no mention of rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Archdiocese spokesman Dennis McGrath says the gay pride prayer service is inimical to the teachings of the Catholic church."

Global warming expert Hansen: Earth close to the tipping point.

This used to be her playground: Madonna and family go to Yankees game.

Grease RIP: A Rydell High death.

Angels in America playwright Tony Kushner to marry in California: "Mark and I are going to get married in California very soon. Then we’re going to be recognized in New York as legally married."

New Bedford, Massachusetts, where two-and-a-half years ago 18-year-old Jacob Robida terrorized a local gay bar with a hatchet and a shotgun, held its first gay pride over the weekend, which attracted 250 people.

Jerusalem gay pride a "go": "The High Court of Justice rejected Monday afternoon a petition filed by right-wing activists Itamar Ben-Gvir and Baruch Marzel against holding a gay pride parade in Jerusalem. As a result, the parade will take place as scheduled this coming Thursday."

Don Imus under fire again for racist comment.

Gay activists in India plan mass gay pride action: "The marchers plan to sing, give speeches and hold candlelit vigils in simultaneous parades in New Delhi, Calcutta and Bangalore on Sunday, said Gautam Bhan, a writer and gay rights activist involved with organizing the marches. While several dozen activists have marched in the eastern city of Calcutta in recent years, these would be the first gay pride parades in New Delhi and Bangalore. Bhan said the activists want to raise awareness of the issues facing the gay community in India."

Bash'd: a rap opera that fights back against anti-gay violence, playing in NYC: "With exceedingly bawdy lyrics, two rapping angels, T-Bag (Mr. Craddock) and Feminem (Mr. Cuckow), recount the tragedy of a Canadian couple, Jack and Dillon, who meet in an Edmonton club, fall in love and wed. But when Jack becomes the victim of violence, their idyll collapses."

New Yorker: Is "angry" Keith Olbermann changing TV news?

Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev sued over Moscow Pride: "Organisers of Moscow Gay Pride today applied to the city’s Tverskoi District Court accusing Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev of 'inaction on their letter' concerning the staging of the march for tolerance – and respect for the rights of freedoms of homosexual people in Russia – in Alexandrovskiy Sad, part of the Kremlin."

Jodie Foster in tussle with paparazzi.

PhD: Memoir of a gay stripper. “The truth was that stripping had long called out to me. It offered something different from my grad school grind of dealing with students, grading papers, and sitting through seemingly endless seminars.”

Obama curtails use of altered presidential seal.

James McAvoy on the perils of six packs and protein: "[The abs] were not a special effect. It was the result of a lot of time at the gym — which I hated. I was also trying to take these super protein supplements and they gave me incredible bouts of flatulence which wouldn’t have endeared me to the rest of the cast. But I’m back to normal."

Boy George takes his orchid for a walk.

A few notes and photos from the Provincetown International Film Festival.

New York Senate Majority Leader Republican Joe Bruno announces he won't seek reelection: "It also means a seat that had been considered a safe one for Republicans will not necessarily be a sure thing this fall. With all New York lawmakers' two-year terms ending in December, Republicans are defending their narrow 32-30 majority in the Senate, the party's last stronghold in state government. Democrats now hold the governor's post and dominate the Assembly by a 106-42 margin."

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #211

DON IMUS: Asks former syndicated radio host, "Why don't you like Huckabee, because you're gay, or what? Media Matters has the transcript.

HILLARY CLINTON: New spot featuring her mother Dorothy Rodham.

MAMMA MIA: Just released trailer for the film adaptation of the stage musical.

GOP DEBATE: Veracifier presents highlights (or lowlights perhaps) from yesterday's final Republican debate before the Iowa primary.

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here

Savage, Limbaugh, Imus, Coulter: The Week in Hate Speech

Or should I say free speech?

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has voted unanimously to condemn hateful radio personality Michael Savage for comments he made about immigrants:

"The resolution, introduced by Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval, not only condemned the language used by Savage, but reiterated San Francisco's commitment to being a tolerant, respectful city. Savage made defamatory remarks about college students who were involved in a weeklong fast in San Francisco's Civic Center Plaza from July 2 to July 9 to urge Congress to pass an immigration reform bill. Savage said in a radio program on July 5 that the demonstrators should "fast until they starve to death,' according to the resolution. The resolution states that the board deems Savage's comments as 'symbolic of hatred and racism,' both of which are not tolerated or endorsed by the city and county."

Savage's remarks in the past have also been virulently homophobic.

Clear Channel has responded to a letter from Harry Reid and Senate Democrats calling on the network "to publicly repudiate" comments made by Rush Limbaugh about "phony soldiers".

Said Clear Channel's president Mark P. Mays: "Mr. Limbaugh's comments have stirred a lot of emotion, and I have carefully read the transcript in question. Given Mr. Limbaugh's history of support for our soldiers, it would be unfair for me to assume his statements were intended to personally indict combat soldiers simply because they didn't share his own beliefs regarding the war in Iraq. I hope that you understand and support my position that while I certainly do not agree with all the views that are voiced on our stations, I will not condemn our talent for exercising their right to voice them."

Meanwhile, "In the House, Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., who is running for the open Senate seat in his state, has authored a resolution condemning the host. Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has not decided whether or not he'll bring it up for a vote, his staff told FOX News."

Newsday reports that Citadel Broadcasting is close to finishing up a deal with Don Imus that would put him back on the air for the first time since CBS fired him for making derogatory remarks about the Rutgers Women's basketball team: "It was not immediately clear from where Imus would be heard, but Citadel owns WABC in New York, making its morning slot a logical destination. It also owns WPLJ-FM. Currently the ABC spot is occupied by Ron Kuby and Curtis Sliwa."

And finally, Ann Coulter's piehole has a new book out and it's already raising a stink. Unfortunately, in the next few weeks, you're likely to hear the piehole spewing forth.

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Don Imus Settles with CBS, Now Free to Spew Again

Radio shock jock Don Imus, who lost his CBS radio show in mid-April following outrage over his racist, sexist, and classist comments regarding the Rutgers women's basketball team, has settled with CBS: "The terms of the settlement will not be disclosed, according to the CBS statement. The settlement pre-empts the dismissed DJ's threatened $120 million breach-of-contract lawsuit."

Drudge is reporting that the settlement is to the tune of $20 million.

And Imus is reportedly in talks to resume his career at WABC radio.

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Bill Richardson Apologizes for "Maricón" Moment

Democratic Presidential candidate Bill Richardson, who said this week that in the Spanish that he grew up with, the word maricón "means simply 'gay,' not positive or negative," apologized for his exchange with deposed radio host Don Imus in 2006, saying he used the term playfully.

Said Richardson: "My record is the strongest among the presidential candidates on gay rights issues and I'm puzzled by the timing of this. When it happened a year ago, nobody seemed to think it was terribly important. Now it surfaces. It's probably a sign from other campaigns that they are little worried about me. It was a playful exchange between me and Don Imus that was not intended to demean anybody, but if I offended anybody, I apologize."

Richardson Says Remark Meant Playfully [ap via washington post]

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News: Norman Korpi, Seattle Pride, Britney Comeback, Don Imus

Deposed radio host Don Imus says he's suing CBS for the $40 million remaining in his contract: " Imus has hired one of the nation's premiere First Amendment attorneys, and the two sides are gearing up for a legal showdown that could turn on how language in his contract that encouraged the radio host to be irreverent and engage in character attacks is interpreted, according to one person who has read the contract. The language, according to this source, was part of a five-year contract that went into effect in 2006 and that paid Imus close to $10 million a year. It stipulates that Imus be given a warning before being fired for doing what he made a career out of - making off-color jokes."

Britney stages San Diego comeback. And then follows it up in Anaheim.

Scott Schweickert, a Florida man who in 2003 used drugs to rape and torture two young men, has been sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Bette Midler, setting up shop in Las Vegas, says she's a bit intimidated by the scope of it: "The stage is so enormous there's a terror that you might not be able to fill it all by your lonesome, you know, a little person in high heels. And it's got the biggest (video wall) in the world, and you say, 'What the heck am I going to put on that? My baby pictures?"

The story behind New Paltz mayor Jason West's re-election loss.

I know you've been wondering what The Real World's gay housemate Norman Korpi has been up to. He's been preparing for a show of his paintings, and they're now up at Creative Galleries in the Helms Building in Los Angeles.

Seattle's The Stranger takes a look at the mess that is Seattle Gay Pride: "The annual paroxysms of doubt about whether the event will even happen at all. The ensuing existential crises within the gay community "leadership." The announcement, this year, of a bankruptcy filing by parade organizers—and then the subsequent announcement, just hours later, that the bankruptcy filing would not be happening. And of course, the all-out war between gay factions over the parade's location, with the supporters of a downtown parade in one camp and the supporters of a Capitol Hill parade in the other. Angry words and recriminations fly back and forth between them, in private and in public. It's enough to make a homo want to stay home on parade day."

People in the world are walking 10% faster than they did 10 years ago, according to a new study. Singapore is the fastest city. NYC ranks eighth.