News: Serbia, Caster Semenya, China, Tim Hardaway, Cleveland

Obama appoints law professor, ENDA expert, and former legislative counsel to the AIDS Project of the ACLU Chai R. Feldblum as Commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Hamburglar chic at Marc Jacobs show.

Orbitz, Bertolli, Cadillac, Subaru, Lifelube, Allstate, Coors Light among nominees for GLAAD  Media Awards in Advertising.

David Beckham looks like a fool trying to golf.

Amnesty International: Serbian gay rights activists under attack. Serbian authorities expect Gay Pride clashes...

Teen sentenced to up to 9 months in juvenile detention for gay bashing of Steven Harmon in Portage, Michigan, after pleading guilty to aggravated assault. More on the crime here. "The 16-year-old was also ordered to obtain anger management counseling, victim restitution and write a letter of apology to the victim, Steven Harmon, said Karen Hayter, division leader for assistant prosecuting attorneys in the Family Court division of Kalamazoo County Circuit Court."

South African runner at center of gender debate,Caster Semenya, on suicide watch: "She is like a raped person. She is afraid of herself and does not want anyone near her. If she commits suicide, it will be on all our heads. The best we can do is protect her and look out for her during this trying time."

Gays take a stand (and a seat) in a public park in Guangzhou, China: "When the police descend on People's Park and shoo away the gay men gathered there, the men usually scatter to avoid trouble. But recently, about 50 or so confronted five officers who began a sweep and finally forced a police retreat after a heated but nonviolent standoff."

Straight spouses stung by closeted exes speak up for same-sex marriage: "If gays and lesbians were more accepted, I wouldn't have married a closeted lesbian."

Tim Hardaway foundation to hold Miami benefit for gay suicide hotline The Trevor Project.

Popular gay radio show Fernando & Greg booted from the air in San Francisco...

Jake Gyllenhaal takes in the Del Potro knockdown at the U.S. Open.

Penn Badgley on Gossip Girl cast: "In certain circles we're treated like royalty. We're treated like the Kennedys."

Mayor Frank Jackson and Cleveland City Council lift city's Gay Games bid to the tune of $700,000: "The money would help defray the costs of holding the games here and would not be spent unless Cleveland is the winning bidder. The city is one of three finalists for the 2014 Gay Olympics. Boston and Washington D.C. are the other contenders."

Former Bush speechwriter reveals how Bush dissed everyone in Washington.

Report cards issued to pharmaceutical companies with HIV drugs on the market.

Finish line: "on Sunday, September 13, 2009, 113 riders and a team of 50 volunteer crew members of Braking the Cycle ended their three-day cycling journey from Boston to New York, at the footsteps of the LGBT Community Center...Together, this small group of dedicated individuals raised $274,682 (Net) for the HIV/AIDS services of the Center."

Peoria, Illinois holds first Gay Pride event.

California Bar Association annual meeting split by protest over Prop 8 supporter Doug Manchester's Grand Hyatt in San Diego: "Most nights there is a noisy picket line in front of the hotel. Whether the State Bar should or could move its annual meeting was a great controversy in legal circles earlier this year. In the end, the State Bar decided that it was not prudent or possible to move their convention. However, the now truly independent Conference of Delegates found itself not bound by the State Bar decision. The Conference of Delegates moved more than a mile away to the new Hilton Bayfront, near Petco Park. Attorneys or judges who want to attend both are left to chose between their walking shoes or taking a pedicab or taxi."

News: Sarah Palin, Penguins, Ralph Reed, Cleveland, Kidneys, MP3s

Palin hints at independent conservative movement, to remain on national scene. Also, Son Track not a Republican.

Gay SF Zoo penguin pulls an Anne Heche.

Real Housewives of New York holding out for six figures. Kelly Bensimon to return.

Ralph Reed aims to rejuvenate Christian Coalition: “Even though I’ve been doing other things, this is kind of like Steve Jobs returning to Apple.You have to reinvent it. It’s the political analog to the iPod and the iPhone. It would be cool. It would be transformative. It would transform our politics and bring younger people to our ranks. All of those are critical imperatives.”

Barney Frank cool in the pool.

Ryan Reynolds to star as Green Lantern in feature film.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference threatens to fire Los Angeles leader over support for same-sex marriage: "The Rev. Eric P. Lee, president of the local SCLC chapter for two years, became an outspoken advocate of same-sex marriage during the recent campaign against Proposition 8, an amendment to the state Constitution that banned such unions. The SCLC national board notified Lee on May 27 that he would have to attend a hearing at its Atlanta headquarters on June 4 to explain his stance on same-sex marriage. If he did not show up, they said, they would suspend and fire him."

F*CK!: Swearing helps reduce pain.

Lateisha Green murder trial set to begin in Syracuse. New York to use hate crimes law.

Music industry sees collapse in illegal file-sharing: "The survey of 1,000 fans also shows that many14 to 18 year olds are now streaming music regularly online using services such as YouTube and Spotify. At the same time less than a third of teenagers are now illegally downloading music, the survey suggests."

Male model fix: Chris Cuba.

Brad Pitt and Anglelina Jolie house-hunting at swank NYC upper east side "fortress".

Robert Pattinson offers a flash of the pubes.

Mental: Comedian Eddie Sarfaty coming to NYC.

Levi Johnston: Palin quit for the money.

Margaret Cho returns to TV in Drop Dead Diva: Cho plays the sidekick to a recently deceased model trapped in an overweight brainiac's body. "I thought that it was a really interesting idea, because I think that a certain kind of beauty is valued more than other kinds, and that's a really harmful thing. To take a script that questions that beauty ideal and challenges it is very important. It's really close to what I do in stand-up, talking about body issues and beauty in an intelligent, funny and provocative way."

Cleveland keen on capturing 2014 Gay Games.

Wanted: living kidney donors.

Anchor mocks Mariah Carey's performance of "I'll Be There" at Jackson funeral. The Westboro Baptist Chuch performs "Beat It".

News: Natasha Richardson, Subway Hero, AIDS, Cape Cod, iPhone 3.0

Minnesota Family Council warns world will end if gays are allowed to marry. Muslim Community Center director: "If everyone is a gay, this world will cease to exist in 10 years."

EW makes last-minute cover switch. Family vigil at bedside in New York as Natasha Richardson condition fails to improve...UPDATE: Richardson off life support.

Poor George Clooney doesn't have a heated toilet seat to sit on while he does his business in Chad.

A woman was pierced by an arrow in NYC.

Merriam Webster redefines marriage.

Boston, Washington, or Cleveland to get 2014 Gay Games.

Marc Jacobs to host party at "trashy" gay Brazilian nightclub.

D.C. AIDS rate hits 3%.

Search for solution to AIDS vaccine takes new turn: " Back at square one, a group of researchers at Rockefeller University in New York City have some new ideas — and no shortage of optimism — about how to find the holy grail of AIDS research. Their approach to vaccine development is to abandon the as yet fruitless search for a magic bullet — which zeros in on just a single target to halt the virus — and instead try to mimic the body's natural, if rare and more diffuse, defense against the virus"

Meet The Real Housewives of New Jersey.

New Warhol exhibit opens at the newly remodeled Grand Palais in Paris.

Judge orders case of Lawrence King's teen killer to move forward.

Citations for public sex acts in Cape Cod dunes drop in 2008: "The drop in tickets is due to a public education campaign waged by Seashore staff and a shortage of rangers, a park official said. Federal rangers gave out 49 disorderly conduct citations last summer in the Seashore's northern district. That's down from at least a two-decade high of 132 citations issued in the summer before, federal records indicated. The Seashore's 44,000 acres are divided into two districts. The northern territory covers part of Provincetown and Truro, with about 20 miles of coastline."

Justin Timberlake to launch his own brand of tequila.

First-ever humpback whale spotted in waters of Hong Kong.

Toronto University Ryerson sees spike in hate crimes.

Gay hotel chain Axel follows up hotels in Buenos Aires and Barcelona with one in Berlin.

Gizmodo's Guide to iPhone 3.0.

Birds of a feather...

SF: The Rise and Fall of a Polk Street Hustler. "I came to San Francisco because I wanted to be an artist. When I first got here, there were a lot more people. We used to play guitars and drink beers or smoke a joint and just hang out and stay out of trouble. I've been trying to protect my little self and my little brother and I'm about 500 homicides behind and I don't know how to bump and grind to pick up the little morsels and the pieces of the people I liked and loved the way I used to know how to. So I just keep on."

Dave Annable loses his shorts.

NYC's selfless subway hero/actor plays for our team according to an "imdb user who did some theatre stuff with him a number of years ago."

Only openly gay member of Brazil's legislature dies: "The Victory Fund has learned that Clodovil Hernandes, the openly gay member of Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies, has died. He was the only openly gay elected official in the country. Hernandes was admitted to a Brasilia hospital yesterday after suffering a stroke. Known for his colorful career as a fashion designer and television gossip show host, Hernandes represented Sao Paolo in the country’s national legislature."

Newport Beach, California police officer receives $1.2 million in damages after suing department for anti-gay harassment and refusal of promotion over sexuality: "Neil Harvey, a 27-year department veteran, alleged that he was passed over for lieutenant despite having more experience and formal education than other candidates and that former Police Chief Bob McDonell never promoted anyone perceived to be gay. Harvey's attorney, Jack Girardi, said he and his client were pleased that the jury believed Harvey was mistreated. Girardi said Harvey was looking forward to returning to his job today."

News: Zac Efron, Gay Games, Ft. Lauderdale, Barbra Streisand

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle, under fire from gays for his proposed "robotic toilets", attacks gay and lesbian library: "Naugle said Tuesday he's not going to apologize for his comments about gay sex in bathrooms, or gay people being unhappy. But he did say he was 'impressed' with the number of 'happy homosexuals' in his city. 'If I've learned one thing through this,' he said, 'it's that there are a lot of happy homosexuals in Fort Lauderdale.'"

Aaron Eckhart suffers for his craft: "I had to pretend that my nuts hurt, so I put a clothespin on my nuts. Otherwise, you’re just learning your lines and saying them. There’s no art in that. People say, ‘Why do you want to put a clothespin on your nuts?’ You know why? Because that’s what I do for a living."

Zac Efron to star in remake of Footloose.

J.P. Morgan analyst retracts "iPhone Nano" report.

Breaking tradition, Chicago declares 2006 Gay Games a financial success: "In 2003 when we launched the bid to host the 2006 Gay Games, we promised our local LGBT community, the City of Chicago, and the worldwide LGBT sports movement that the 2006 Gay Games would break even financially. We also made the commitment to leave a lasting and positive legacy for future Gay Games hosts - a sound business model upon which future Gay Games could be built. We are proud today to have fulfilled those promises.

"Landro" said to be "just friends"?

Bryan Singer's close collaborator, screenwriter Michael Dougherty (X2: XMen United, Superman returns), talks movies: "Watching a lot of movies as a kid, watching a lot of t.v. I grew up on the 80s when cable had just come onto the scene, so you know, they were digging deep into the libraries and digging out all these old movies and t.v. shows. So every day I was watching Twilight Zone episodes, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, old B&W monster movies, just constantly being barraged by so many different genres of film -especially horror films. It seemed like cable was really big on putting horror films in there. So in a very short time period I was being exposed to the very same horror films and shows that my Dad grew up with. Oh, and old horror comics. Like 'Creepy' and 'Eerie' were huge for me."

New Florida group raises $1 million to fight proposed amendment banning gay marriage: "By focusing on the ban's potential repercussions for live-in partners -- instead of on the polarizing question of gay marriage -- opponents are trying to duplicate their success last year in Arizona, the first state to reject a same-sex marriage ban."

Live from Manchester, Barbra Streisand's diva demands: "Waiting for her backstage were five fabric-upholstered furniture suites, 60 tables and 120 bath-sized towels. Even the security staff were immaculate in the 'dark jackets, blazers or sweaters with no T-shirts' that she requested."

News: Justin, Johnny Marr, Gay Games, Billie Jean King

The National Tennis Center in Flushing, Queens is to be renamed The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center: "'I still can't believe it,' the 62-year-old gay tennis star said with tears in her eyes during a press conference at the stadium yesterday. 'So rarely are women thought of in this way.'"

Chicago's 2006 Gay Games drew more than 140,000 attendees, 40% more than organizers predicted: "More than 11,000 athletes from 70 countries participated in the 30 sporting events, with figure skating, diving and dancesport drawing the largest number of ticket buyers."

Former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr has joined Modest Mouse: "Marr’s membership is so unequivocal, he will tour with MM in support of their next record, tentatively titled We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank and tentatively due this fall. 'He made a cautious commitment to write and record with us, and then the tighter we got, he was like, 'okay, let’s tour too,'' Brock said. 'Then he was pretty much a member of the band - not pretty much. He’s a full blown member of the band.'"

Fast forward to fall. Justin Timberlake sheaths his sexy back in layers of clothing in the 100-degree NYC heat. Why???

Guy Adams, an organizer for (big surprise!) wingnut Alan Keyes' group Renew America has made a hateful and inflammatory claim on a conservative internet radio show: "The newest thing in Chicago, it's becoming a trend, and you're gonna find this hard to believe...sex with infants...It's not enough that they have...you know when you engage in perversion, and homosexuality is perversion, we don't hate the gays mind you, we don't hate them, we hate what they're doing...pretty soon that perversion is like addiction, it's not enough, so you need to graduate to something else. You need to move on. So now they're having sex with animals, a small group that's getting bigger, sex with infants, sex in the street in Chicago out in the open, it's just getting more and more perverted." Of course Guy Adams had no evidence to back up his statements.

The Star Jones/Al Reynolds divorce rumor mill continues to grind.

Jack Jackson, gay activist and Houston philanthropist, has died at 81.

News: Shirtless Men Banned, Gay Clinton, Speedos

Ann Coulter's piehole spews another cloud of dross, says Bill Clinton is a latent homosexual: "I think that sort of rampant promiscuity does show some level of latent homosexuality. I think anyone with that level of promiscuity where, you know, you — I mean, he didn’t know Monica’s name until their sixth sexual encounter. There is something that is — that is of the bathhouse about that."

The Victorian Age returns: UK towns consider banning shirtless men. Government minister: "There is a problem. In my part of the country we are trying to revitalise the main shopping precinct. But one of the things that is depressing for anyone going shopping is the numbers of shaven-headed men, mainly in their 30s and 40s, who seem to think people want to see their torsos. It is only a small minority, one in a hundred people. But these men do look aggressive and occasionally behave aggressively. You would see a big difference in the shopping centre if they were made to put a shirt on." I'm not sure how anyone could see this as a bad thing.

Patricia Nell Warren to finish Front Runner race at Montreal's Outgames: "The 70 year old Warren has been granted the honor of being the first person to cross the finish line in honor of her novel’s fictional character, U.S. distance runner Billy Sive, who (in the book) is killed before completing the 5000-meter at the ‘76 Montréal Olympics."

More Speedo action from Mr. Beckham.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Betty Williams: "'I have a very hard time with this word 'non-violence', because I don't believe that I am non-violent. Right now, I would love to kill George Bush.' Her young audience at the Brisbane City Hall clapped and cheered."

Bush as President of Iraq? The Mind of Mencia takes a look...

Cyd Zeigler grades the Gay Games. His verdict: C+.