NYC Firefighters Present 2010 Beefcake Pin-up Calendar

NYC firefighters launched their 2010 pin-up calendar this week in Times Square. Proceeds from the calendar go to the Staten Island University Burn Center. Photos, AFTER THE JUMP...

 

Heroics in Milwaukee

This amateur video of a group of bystanders (some of them off-duty firefighters) who went into action following a car accident in suburban Milwaukee, rescuing a woman and her two children, is gripping, frightening, emotional, and reassuring — that in moments of distress people will rise to the occasion.

Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...

Denver Firefighters Get Sexually Harassed, by Choice

Denver's firefighters get objectified. Apparently they all got waxed beforehand too.

News: Diesel, Hayden Christensen, Indiana, Firefighters, Sam Adams

Jury out in murder case against anti-gay killers of Liverpool teen Michael Causer.

Kanye West steps out with gaybot.

Hillary Clinton talks about why she took job as Secretary of State: "It was not anything I had any reason to expect or had even thought about. I had to make a hard decision. We have so many of the same views of what we should do in the world." Gets Hardball award from Chris Matthews.

Porn producer Michael Lucas sends letter to Barack Obama requesting aid after seizure of adult video titles by Canadian authorities.

Gay tease Hayden Christensen chooses women.

One of Buffalo Continental plane crash victims was long time HIV prevention and gay men's health advocate: "Gonzalez came to New Brunswick from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, where he was a National Urban Fellow. Previously, he was executive director of Alianza Latina, a nonprofit organization addressing HIV/AIDS in Buffalo, N.Y.; and also education services director and community educator of AIDS Community Services in New York. Gonzalez also volunteered at a fitness center in East Harlem, N.Y., where he led free exercise classes for the poor."

POLL: 48% of New Jersey residents favor marriage equality, 43% oppose.

Madonna will not be appearing in vampire sequel.

Guess what day it is in Brazil?

New York Press takes a look at the East Village Boys. "The boys that we have on there, they sort of exist as the low-culture pin-up boys. It provides a good mix, having serious discussions without forgetting that we like to look at pictures of naked boys. When you read a newspaper, the most successful ones combine high and low culture. I don’t think most American newspapers do it well it all, but if you look at something like The Guardian, it’s serious but they also recognize that you want a little bit of everything and I think that’s kind of where we are...people come to the site for the cock, but they stay for the culture.” 

Anti-gay marriage amendment stopped in Indiana legislature: "Indiana’s Senate Republican Caucus voted this week not to consider a resolution that would have proposed amending the state constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman.  This vote means the amendment is unlikely to advance during this legislative session.  The resolution would require approval by the Senate and House in two consecutive legislative sessions, and, if approved, would then go before the voters."

Former Project Runway designer Jack Mackenroth, who is interviewed this week by the San Francisco Bay Times, blogs fashion week in NYC.

SF Weekly: Heads to butt at upcoming Prop 8 town hall. "Supervisors Bevan Dufty, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, and Senator Mark Leno will all apparently be there, as will ball-busting gay blogger and activist Michael Petrelis, who has spent a whole lot of time castigating the architects of the No on 8 campaign. In January, Petrelis posted the names and phone numbers of the 16 members of the No on 8 executive committee. According to Petrelis's blog, Petrelis Files, he had to file a public records request with the Secretary of State to get the names. "Like practically everything [Equality California Executive Director Geoff] Kors and No on 8 touched, the closet and non-transparency ruled," Petralis wrote. Then said he hoped the executive committee, which included Kors, would spend the next year sweeping the streets of gay neighborhoods and participating in other acts of penance for wasting $45 million on losing gays the right to marry."

Stonewall, the FBU, the Local Government Association, the Chief Fire Officers' Association, Unison, the Asian Fire Service Association, the Fire Officers' Association, the GMB, the National Disabled Fire Association, Networking Women in the Fire Service and the Retained Firefighters Union call for end of homophobic bullying among UK firefighters.

Paris Hilton attempts rap with Snoop Dogg.

Diesel displays downtown denizens dining: "Around 9 p.m. the guests took their seats around a table in the window of the new store, which opens to the public on Thursday, in full view of confused passerby. They nibbled Olivier Cheng catering while a pack of photographers snapped their photos through the large glass window, and Diesel employees and some invited press roamed the store."

AfterElton talks to Keir Gilchrist, the gay son on The United States of Tara.

Is GLASS the first LGBT non-profit to fall victim to recession? "Wednesday night, eight days after its 25th anniversary, the board of directors of Gay and Lesbian  Adolescent Social Services (GLASS) voted 7-0 (with one abstention) to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy this afternoon.  According to founder and executive director Terry DeCrescenzo, the staff is so "outraged" at the board's decision, they plan to ask a court to intervene and accept a reorganization plan instead."

Beaverton contractor launches crusade against Portland Mayor Sam Adams: "He passed out pamphlets detailing why Adams should be kicked out of office and said he plans to file charges with the state Thursday. PJ Mulcahy rented a room at Portland City Hall for Wednesday's press conference. He and several other people said Adams is not only an embarrassment to the city but they think he violated election laws for lying about his affair with a teenager. Mulcahy also brought a replica of the Ten Commandments and said Adams not only lied to the public, he sinned."

San Diego Firefighters Win $34,300 Gay Pride Harassment Judgment

A jury awarded four San Diego firefighters $34,300 in damages (to split between them) for harassment they claimed they suffered after being forced to participate in a Gay Pride parade in 2007:

"Jurors deliberated for about two-and-a-half days before reaching the verdict Tuesday in the case brought by firefighters John Ghiotto, Jason Hewitt, Alex Kane and Chad Allison. The firemen said they were subjected to sexually charged conduct and lewd comments while riding a fire engine in the July 2007 parade. City attorneys said they will appeal the verdict. Jurors were required to determine if the firefighters faced pervasive or severe harassment from spectators and participants. Nancy Chiquete, the jury foreperson, said reaching the decision was 'not easy,' particularly because she said she lives in the city and knows its financial situation is not good. But, Chiquete said, 'I felt truly like these four men were wronged by the situation.' The case was first heard in September but that jury was unable to reach a verdict on the sexual harassment claim. The jury did not know how much money the firefighters had asked for in the first trial, Chiquete said. She said that throughout the trial, the firefighters said they wanted to make a point and prevent the situation from happening to others and wanted to have the department's policy changed. 'So, I think in that sense, hopefully they got what they wanted,' she said. The firefighters' attorney, Charles LiMandri, said he and his clients were pleased."

During the first trail, their attorney had asked for $1 million each for the firefighters.

News: Zac Efron, Orange County, James Beard, Dallas, Damien Hirst

Jury deliberating San Diego firefighter Gay Pride harassment case...

Thirsty: Zac Efron goes on shirtless walkabout.

Something is terribly wrong here.

Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center wants you to send a Valentine to a straight ally!

Writer/director Joss Whedon on gay characters: "With Buffy I was very strict about the idea that you just couldn’t make somebody gay with magic. It would send a message that it’s a part of you that can be removed or cured, or that it’s some kind of punishment. We didn’t go there."

Who inspires you? Milk filmmakers announce finalists in online contest. "The “Who Inspires You?” College Mosaic Contest, which was open to college students only, called for students to create a tile for the Milk mosaic (www.milkmosaic.com) – with full audio-visual capabilities and/or text-driven – commemorating their inspirations. Entry tiles were evaluated through the criteria of inspirational tone, creativity, and originality. Each entrant named a college organization to be gifted with prize money; a First Prize of $1,500 will be donated to the winning finalist’s selected organization, and a Second Prize of $1,000 will be donated to the runner-up finalist’s selected organization." Vote HERE.

Michael Jackson suffering from MRSA-type flesh-eating bug?

Encased Damien Hirst satire makes waves at Madrid's ARCO fest.

Bon appetit: James Beard Foundation Awards for culinary excellence semifinalists announced.

Ricky Martin is a doting DILF.

Man jailed for 20 weeks in UK for ongoing harassment of neighbors: whistling The Addams Family theme at them.

Warning: Dark comets may kill us all.

Orange County high school principal bans gay characters from school plays: "Mrs. Asrani (the principal) is firmly against the portrayal of homosexual characters in RENT, despite the fact that all displays of affection have already been edited out of our script. Of course, a gay couple kissing on stage should not be inherently more offensive than a straight couple kissing, but that's beside the point (sort of)."

Mexico City mayor hands out free Viagra.

Andy Samberg in bromance with OUT.

Melbourne, Australia's weekly LGBT magazine, MCV, is donating all profits from its next issue to Victorian bushfire victims: "The bushfires have impacted on every Victorian’s life, whether they live in the city or in the areas ravaged by the fires. Most of us know someone who has suffered loss and there are many GLBTIQ people out there either fighting the fires directly or contributing their skills to help relieve suffering."

BREAKING: SONY introduces goddamn piece of shit...

Curbed ranter wants hookers expelled from NYC's West Village...

White House press veteran Helen Thomas thanks Bill O'Reilly for calling her the "wicked witch of the east."

Dallas County lesbian sheriff Lupe Valdez adds sexual orientation and gender identity to Sheriff's Department non-discrimination policies: "While the city of Dallas has included sexual orientation in its nondiscrimination policies since 1995, this will be the the first department in the county government to include gender identity. The policy first went into affect in January, two months after Valdez was elected to her second term."