News: Robert Novak, Guam, Celine Dion, Comet, GLSEN

Chicago Sun-Times columnist Robert Novak dies at 78...

David Mixner scolds Bill Clinton on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" explanation: "President Clinton blaming us for "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is simply wrong, insensitive and outrageous. He should step up to the plate, accept responsibility for this huge mistake and then he can lead with dignity the battle to repeal it."

GLSEN launches new 'Think B4 You Speak' campaign to battle "That's so gay" slurs.

Madonna swims.

Guam considering civil union bill.

A round-up of links on the health care debate.

Fort Worth changes bar inspection policy following Rainbow Lounge raid: "The report says [Police chief Jeff] Halstead has told the department to add specific guidelines for officers and supervisors to follow during bar checks. He said the policy will be implemented by Sept. 1. 'Under the new policy there will be three distinct differences between an actual bar check, bar inspection, and bar investigation,' he writes."

SALON: 'Fag hags' dying out.

Ballot battle: 77 days till marriage equality vote in Maine.  Let the money laundering begin.

Study: men with sleep apnea twice as likely to die early.

Celine Dion pregnant.

Brian Austin Green gets a kryptonite heart.

Derek Barrett, former consultant to Australia's Labour government, jailed for two and a half years for attempted rape of man: "In evidence, Barrett's victim told prosecutor Andrew Miller that he and Barrett had been at a social evening along with a number of others.  During the night bottles of Veuve Clicqueot and Bollinger had been drunk and the 25-year-old had fallen asleep fully clothed in a bed.  He told the jury he woke up naked with Barrett was touching him on the chest and kissing him."

Eric McCormack, Timothy Olyphant, Dan Futterman, Zachary Quinto and Robert Gant join all-star staged reading of Celebration: The Gay Marriage Plays, in L.A.

Thank you for being a friend: NYC homeless shelter for LGBT youth to be named for Bea Arthur.

Twilight: New Moon gets a new trailer.

Glycine, building block of life, found in comet: "The latest findings add credence to the notion that extraterrestrial objects such as meteorites and comets may have seeded ancient Earth, and other planets, with the raw materials of life that formed elsewhere in the cosmos."

Bowling Green, Ohio bans discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Sweden called on to halt deportations of gay Iraqis seeking asylum.

Swedish version of iTunes censors "gay", allows "fag".

Signature check of Washington state anti-gay Referendum 71 is half-finished: "David Ammons, secretary of state spokesman, said the latest tally shows 58,306 signatures accepted...'They need 120,577 valid Washington voter signatures to qualify,' Ammons said. 'Overall, the error rate is currently 11.03 percent, considerably lower than the 20-year average of about 18.5 percent, and still below the maximum error rate the sponsors can absorb, about 12.4 percent.'"

News: Billy Mays, Orgullo, Kevin Jennings, Avenue Q, Prop 8

NCLR, ACLU, and Lambda Legal back federal challenge to Prop 8: "In legal documents filed late Thursday, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal and the ACLU signaled a significant break with past legal tactics that avoided taking the fight to federal court."

NYT revelation: Gay men and straight men can be friends.

Zachary Quinto has a couple of male beach dates in Malibu, on the same day.

Scenes from the coup in Honduras.

Won't resign: Governor Mark Sanford compares himself to King David.

Despite ban, Russian gay activists plan to protest Obama next week on his trip to Moscow: "In a statement, Nikolai Alexeyev said the Moscow authorities had banned a proposed demonstration outside the U.S. embassy next Tuesday, the second day of Obama's July 6-8 trip...'We don't intend to abandon our plans and in the near future we will determine the format of action on July 7 during the visit of Barack Obama in Russia.' A Moscow municipal spokeswoman confirmed city authorities had turned down a request from gay activists to protest in front of the U.S. embassy on July 7. She said the area had already been booked for another event and that Muscovites were against the gay protest."

The last days of Heath Ledger.

Madrid's Orgullo gay pride festival a two-week event. Obama called out on gay rights in Paris.

Avenue Q to close on Broadway in September as 20th longest-running show of all time.

City of Toronto data sheds light on gay neighborhoods, marriages from out-of-state, etc.

Famous TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead in home.

The 5 strangest products pitched by Billy Mays.

Ashton Kutcher's spread - nsfw.

Wingnuts attack former GLSEN founder Kevin Jennings over Department of Education appointment.

Going to Rome this summer? You may want to check out these spots.

Gayby Boom: CNN on the children of same-sex couples.

Best banner ad ever?

Male model fix: Edilson Nascimiento.

Michael Jackson: UK's Daily Mail publishes tell-all; LAPD questions cardiologist.

NYDN: It's time to end LGBT discrimination. "That Stonewall has hit its fourth decade is only part of the reason that the media are giving this anniversary attention. The other reason is that there is a sense of excitement that, with the spread of gay marriage to more states, the struggle for gay rights may be about to reach a new high-water mark. But all this excitement glosses over a critical fact: Gay people have the same federal protections against discrimination in terms of the most basic civil rights that we had at the time of Stonewall. And that is exactly: zero."

Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden Speaks at GLSEN's 2009 Respect Awards

Dr. Jill Biden, wife of the Vice President, spoke at the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network's (GLSEN) 2009 Respect Awards in New York. After giving a shout-out to LGBT Pride Month, Biden, a lifelong educator, talked about bullying and the importance of making schools a safe place for LGBT youth. She also praised student leaders.

Said Biden: "Change is not easy, especially when it comes to ending bigotry and fear, but I am confident that together we will succeed. That is why I am proud to tell you that the Obama/Biden administration shares your commitment that every student has a safe school. Each child, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, deserves an education."

Biden also told the group (it was announced on May 19) that GLSEN founder Kevin Jennings would be joining the Obama administration, working alongside Education Secretary Arne Duncan as Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education. Jennings will head the safe and drug-free schools program.

Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...

Anti-Gay Bullying Leads to Suicide of Massachusetts Student

Last Friday I mentioned Eric Mohat, the late Ohio high school student whose parents are suing the school for its complicity in bullying they say led to the suicide of their son.

Now comes news of another similar, horrifying suicide also brought on by anti-gay bullying:

"Two days after the worst day of her life, when she found her 11-year-old son had committed suicide by hanging himself, Sirdeaner L. Walker said on Wednesday she wants the bullying to stop. She found Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover (above) hanging by an extension cord on the second floor of their 124 Northampton Ave. home Monday night after he had endured another day of taunting at New Leadership Charter School, where he was a sixth-grader, she said...She phoned the school repeatedly since Carl began attending in September but the bullying continued, she said. Other students made him a target, daily calling him gay, making fun of how he dressed and threatening him, she said"

News: GLSEN, RuPaul's Drag Race, Hawaii, John Mayer Twitter

GLSEN meets with Education Secretary Arne Duncan to discuss bullying in schools. Exec. Director Byard: "It was moving to witness these students and teachers sharing their personal stories of pain, rejection, resilience and hope with the nation’s top education official. Secretary Duncan showed great compassion for their experiences, respect for their perseverance and dedication to identifying effective responses to school climate issues."

Complex: Kanye West does whiteface.

Jake Gyllenhaal dines out with Amazing Race contestant Mike White.

Lesbian named head of U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

Anchorage, Alaska drag bars change to appeal to straight customers.

Straight bachelorette parties putting strain on gay bars in Chicago. "The women are a hoot, and some can be just delightful. But because not everybody can get married, watching them celebrate, it's such a slap in the face. Prop 8 just reopened the wound."

UK Videogame designer suing Microsoft: "He said mocking emails were sent around his workplace with headings such as 'I'm Jim and I'm Gay' and 'Me and My Favourite Men'. He said the firm did not have policies to deal with his complaints."

REPORT: John Mayer chose Twitter over Jennifer Aniston: "The source said: 'John suddenly stopped calling her or returning her emails and when she would finally catch up with him, he'd say: 'I've been so busy with work. I'm sorry I haven't had time to call you back.' The source added: 'Jen was fuming. There he was, telling her he didn't have time for her and yet his page was filled with Twitter updates.'"

Zac Efron won't be taking the Kevin Bacon route.

Democrats seek to break deadlock on Hawaii civil unions bill: "Opponents, led by conservative Christian church groups, have lobbied against the bill, saying Hawaii voted against gay marriage in 1998 and that the issue should not be taken up again. Now supporters of the bill say a recent statewide survey done by QMark Research and Polling shows 81 percent support for equal treatment for couples no matter what their gender. For the Senate Democrats, the issue is whether they have enough votes to either pull the bill from the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is deadlocked 3-3, or fashion a compromise by amending the bill in committee. An amended bill would require passage by the Senate, sending it back to the House for either approval or a conference committee later this spring."

The Indigo Girls are back.

And a four-piece Ukranian band covers Katy Perry's "Hot & Cold".

Inspired by an Iron Age fertility symbol, UK teen proceeds to create his own on the roof of his parents' home so he can see it from Google Earth.

Hate crimes surge in Kent, UK.

Jennifer Hudson taping secret Idol concert tonight.

RuPaul winning dance chart drag race?

OUT interviews the real winner of RuPaul's Drag Race (spoilers).

Police to receive honor from Sacramento gay group.

Sarah Palin a hypocrite on "special needs" children.

Former Gawker editor Choire Sicha penning book on 'death of New York': "It used to be, you came to New York and you got a job as an assistant, and sooner or later you got to have part of your boss’s job and you moved up. There was sort of a continuum. There was a thing called a career in New York...For me, what the recession for young working people reminds me of is HIV in the early 90s, when my generation of gay men decided there wasn’t much of a future. I feel like I hear from people now, and they’re like, 'fuck tomorrow!' Which seems completely reasonable to me. And whether that’s based on a real understanding of the economy or on what we’re getting through the filter of the media, it doesn’t matter– it’s a completely appropriate response to the moment we’re in."

'That's So Gay' Ad Wins Top Ad Council Award: Video

The Ad Council's Gold Bell for creative excellence was awarded to the "That's So Gay" PSA campaign produced by Arnold New York in partnership with GLSEN at an awards ceremony at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Manhattan in late November.

The ads, some of which featured Hillary Duff and Wanda Sykes which were part of a campaign called ThinkB4YouSpeak, intended to educate young people about homophobic language and its consequences.

Sykes, since producing the ad, came out of the closet publicly at a rally following the passage of Proposition 8 in California.

Watch a clip of the ceremony which has just been posted by AdAge, AFTER THE JUMP...