Towleroad Guide to the Tube #481

ELIOT SPITZER: Rachel Maddow asks the former New York governor, who resigned after his prostitution scandal, about legalizing prostitution.

PAULINA PORIZKOVA: Says she was fired from America's Next Top Model. "The reason I was told I was fired was because, it seemed that 'America's Next Top Model' has gotten too fat and they needed to cut some fat and the fat was me. So I figured it was either that or my gigantic huge ego. Which I wasn't aware of before I was told by the producers that I have an ego problem."

MISS PANAMA 2009: Confused about Confucius.

LA ROUX: Their new video for "Bulletproof".

For recent Guides to the Tube, click HERE.

News: Rihanna, Shiba Inus, Simpsons, Oregon, Robert Buckley

Potential AIDS breakthrough following bone marrow transplant in Berlin: "The startling case of an AIDS patient who underwent a bone marrow transplant to treat leukemia is stirring new hope that gene-therapy strategies on the far edges of AIDS research might someday cure the disease. The patient, a 42-year-old American living in Berlin, is still recovering from his leukemia therapy, but he appears to have won his battle with AIDS. Doctors have not been able to detect the virus in his blood for more than 600 days, despite his having ceased all conventional AIDS medication."

Writes Sam Fulcher to the Dallas Voice: “I found it ironic and sad that on a night of such history and hope I was greeted with a sign stating ‘Gay is Not O.K.’ As one barrier is being shattered homophobia is alive and well and still accepted enough to be on the side of a building. The recent passing of bans on gay marriage in many of our states make this point even more obvious.” Fulcher is organizing a protest of the church on Sunday.

Not sure how they're ever going to make a Broadway musical out of THIS.

Ex-Councilman in NYC Philip Reed dies at 59: "Philip Reed, a former elevator salesman who devoted himself to health issues as a member of the New York City Council, where he was a pioneer as a black, openly gay and H.I.V.-positive lawmaker representing a mostly Latino district, died on Thursday."

Live puppies!

GLSEN slams The Simpsons for "That's so gay" line: "Nelson's use of 'that's so gay' in a negative way is not surprising considering that 90 percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth say they hear the term used this way frequently or often at school. Nelson should visit ThinkB4YouSpeak.com where he can send an apologetic e-card to Milhouse. GLSEN would also welcome Nelson's participation in our next PSA so he can make amends by helping to educate young people about why such language is wrong."

Studio: Sex and the City sequel confirmed.

UN urges India to decriminalize homosexuality: "he United Nations has urged India to decriminalise homosexuality, saying it would help the fight against HIV/AIDS by allowing intervention programmes like the successful ones in China and Brazil."

Silverton, Oregon resident Stu Rasmussen becomes first openly transgender mayor of a U.S. city.

Robert Buckley answers the 'boxers or briefs' question.

Eliot Spitzer will not face criminal federal prostitution charges: "The announcement, a five-paragraph statement from Michael J. Garcia, the United States attorney in Manhattan, ended almost eight months of uncertainty for the disgraced governor, whose lawyers had been quietly making their case to the country’s most prominent prosecutor’s office that he ought not be charged. And it ended the possibility that Mr. Spitzer, once an aggressive prosecutor himself, would have his private life explored in a public criminal case."

Fun with presidential maps.

Britain's Ministry of Defence pays compensation to gays discharged unfairly: "The Ministry of Defence has paid £4 million to settle a series of compensation claims from homosexual service personnel who were unfairly dismissed from the Forces. The payout has been pending since 1999 when four staff won their case in the European Court of Human Rights. The MoD disclosed this week that it had paid £3.7 million last year to 57 former staff who had also brought legal action. This was in addition to £300,000 paid to eight homosexual staff over the previous two years. Of the 65 people who have settled a claim against the MoD for its ban on homosexual staff, the average payout was £61,500.

Rihanna passes out on stage.

Magazine Covers of the Year

The American Society of Magazine Editors has announced the finalists for its annual magazine cover awards. These three magazine covers featuring Marc Jacobs, former NY Governor Eliot Spitzer, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad doing a Larry Craig toe-tap, are the finalists for "Cover of the Year".

You can check out the rest of the categories here.

News: Gay Films, Paraguay, Harvey Dent, The Rock, Atlantic City

Gay panic: Trial to begin for Cesar Israel Villazano in Florida. He shot a man wearing a mini-skirt and high heels in the back of the head for making a sexual advance: "Villazano told police he was embarrassed because he isn't gay."

Hollywood Reporter: Gay indie films more plentiful than ever, but suffering critically and at box office. "Strand Releasing's 22 films in theaters last year (most with GLBT themes) grossed just $462,000. Killer Films has shifted its focus from queer-themed features to true crime dramas and other films, with tepid critical and financial success. Rotten Tomatoes says that gay- and lesbian-themed films averaged a 51.5% rating in 2006 and 2007 (well below its under-60% "rotten" threshold), while projects like the 2005 Toronto fest's best Canadian feature winner, "C.R.A.Z.Y.," can't secure U.S. theatrical distribution."

Openly gay journalist David Self who took part in one of Britain's first civil partnership ceremonies, has died at the age of 67.

Man makes love to Cheeto...really.

UK Vicar Dudley has no regrets over performing marriage of two priests: "Amazing flowers, fabulous music, a ceremony both solemn and oddly homely, familiar words reordered and reconfigured, carrying new meanings. Nothing jarred, nothing felt even vaguely inappropriate. New and untried but not wrong."

Harvey Dent: viral video for The Dark Knight unleashed...

Couple jailed in Paraguay for same-sex wedding is freed after one of them is discovered to be a hermaphrodite.

Anti-gay "pro-family" bigot Paul Cameron takes his diatribe to Russia.

What does gay look like?

Larry Craig and Dave Karsnia wed in quaint bathroom ceremony: "The private ceremony was held in a quaint public bathroom on the third floor at San Francisco City Hall. In an interview after the ceremony, Craig said, in his highly oratorical and completely off-putting voice, 'We wanted all of the heat to die down before we went forward with this. Well ... not all the heat.'"

That kiss that Dwayne Johnson had with Steve Carell must have really affected him. He's still talking about what a man he was to do it: "It was like -- you know, you ever had, like a warm apple pie with that cold ice cream, too? And you find that balance, where you're like [utters disgusting sound]. Hey, it was great, it was great."

Atlantic City holds first-ever "Gay Day at the Beach". ORganizer: "There isn't a gay area in Atlantic City. "We decided to pick Flag Day as a way to stake out our claim for an area. We're trying not to be political, but there's so much to be political about."

The 70's are back: Robbie Williams flashes his chest rug.

Former NY Governor Eliot Spitzer to be named the "Ultimate Sugar Daddy". "He'll win a pound of sugar, a year's worth of free lap dances from strippers at the VIP Men's Club in Chelsea and an unlimited supply of testosterone pills."

Ireland's Catholic Bishops restate opposition to gay marriage: “In view of the current debate in our society about the nature of marriage, sometimes promoted by individuals or institutions who claim support from Christian ideals, the bishops reiterated that marriage presupposes the mutuality and complementarity of the sexes."

Governor Paterson Vows to Bring Full Marriage Equality to NY

New York Governor David Paterson delivered a funny and eloquent video message (watch it) to the crowd at last night's National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Leadership Awards dinner since he was being "held hostage" in Albany and couldn't be there in person.

Joked Paterson: "If any of you can hear me, please contact the FBI or Interpol. I'm being held hostage in the dysfunctional Albany. I wanted to come to this dinner tonight. I'm actually tied to this chair and a gun is being pointed at my head. They're trying to get me to reverse my opinions on a number of issues, but I won't do it. If I am shot or killed during this interview, remember that I did the right thing."

Paterson praised outgoing Executive Director Matt Foreman as well as former Governor Eliot Spitzer: "I am proud to have run on a ticket with Eliot Spitzer that became the first ticket in this country to actually advocate for marriage equality for all citizens and to win on that premise."

He added: "Marriage equality in NY may not come just this moment but it is no longer an issue mostly for conviction, it is an issue for courage. People more and more understand that when people love each other they should express it in whatever way they deem necessary and possible. They should have all the rights that the rest of us have. And so, we willl push on and bring full marriage equality to New York State. And when we have done that, we're going to do more. We're going to protect young people from bullies. We're going to protect against the discrimination of people in the transgender community, and we're going to fight for decent and affordable healthcare for all citizens in this state. If you will join with me, and if we work hard enough, we can change the face of New York, which will be the catalyst to changing national policy."

Watch Paterson's clip, AFTER THE JUMP...

Playgirl Reaches Out to Eliot Spitzer

Playgirl says they'd like to make former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer a "very attractive" offer to pose in the magazine, stopping short of promising him the $1 million Hustler offered to his call girl:

Writes the mag: "We think you’ve had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week. But we’ve been thinking. Your political career is sadly over; and you owe a lot of money to a lot of people. Hell, you may land in jail before too long. So consider this letter a brief note of urgency. How about making some loot back, by showing us what you saved for such a select few? How about strutting your sexuality, and defending your right to get down for the magazine and Playgirl.com? Couldn’t you use a little rent money right about now? Seriously—get in touch with us. We’re ready to make you a very attractive offer. Someone get Spitzer on the line: Playgirl needs him naked, now."

I wouldn't wait by the phone.

Previously
NY Governor Paterson Admits to Affair Hours After Swearing In [tr]
Report: NY Governor Eliot Spitzer Linked to Prostitution Ring [tr]