News: Santa Barbara, Outrage, Sacha Baron Cohen, Prop 8

Prop 8 boycott target Doug Manchester trying to make amends with LGBT community: "His plan – which his people warned this newspaper against publishing, even after a Hyatt representative discussed it – is to give $25,000 to a national organization that promotes civil unions and domestic partnerships. Manchester also is considering offering $100,000 in hotel credit to local gay and lesbian organizations so they can use the Grand Hyatt for events such as fundraisers. The $125,000 total matches what he gave to Proposition 8."

Sacha Baron Cohen bleached his nether regions for Bruno, but things went terribly wrong.

Towleroad's Corey Johnson profiled in Bay Windows, 10 years after making headlines by coming out to his high school football team.

McDonald's settles Louisville "faggots" case: "McDonald’s restaurant has agreed to pay $2,000 each to two Indianapolis men who complained they were subjected to anti-gay slurs and discrimination when they visited a McDonald’s restaurant on East Market Street last year."

NYT: Outrage review. LAT: Kirby Dick interview.

Grand jury indicts inmate for 2002 hate crime killing in Cincinnati: "A man already behind bars is now facing charges for allegedly killing a gay man in a hate crime six years ago. Gregory Beauchamp was shot and killed in Over-the-Rhine on New Year's Eve 2002 at the intersection of Vine Street and West Liberty. According to witnesses, a man yelled anti-gay slurs at three men wearing women's clothing, then opened fire. Beauchamp was 21-years-old when he was killed. Until now, the identity of the shooter has remained a mystery."

Robert Downey Jr.  is in a hole.

Dudes surf as Santa Barbara burns. Pool party!

ABC picks up sitcom featuring gay family: "Twentieth Century Fox TV is behind the show, which follows the lives of three American families, as seen through the eyes of a filmmaker. One home centers on a traditional nuclear family, another is a gay couple with a newly adopted Vietnamese child; and the third consists of an older man who has just married a younger Latina wife.

Hugh Jackman on Ellen.

Mario Cantone on NY Governor David Paterson: "You know, a lot of people don’t like him, but I think he’s a little tough bitch. I think he’s tough. I think he’s like, ‘I don’t care if you don’t like me, I’m going to do what I want."

Undersea volcano near Guam has massive cone.

Randy Blue actor appeals suspension from Christian college.

RuPaul's Drag Race 2 casting...

Gosling gets a shiner.

John Cameron Mitchell chats with Tilda Swinton.

Texas city council candidate admits using gay slur against opponent's supporters outside polling place.

Meet Millionaire Matchmaker's gay millionaire, Kevin Grainger.

ABC News: Gay advocates eye Supreme Court. Victory Fund's Dennis Dison: "There have been 110 Supreme Court judges and 106 of them have been straight, white men. So it's high time to look outside those institutions that produced Supreme Court justices in the past and find someone with different life experiences and different perspectives."

Police academy cadet in Peru fights dismissal over gay rumors.

Same-sex couples find difficulties in getting health insurance: " Even if the relationship is formalized with the state in a marriage or union, that does not always obligate the employer to cover a same-sex spouse. For one thing, self-insured employers are not regulated by the states. And other benefit-providing employers that choose not to offer such coverage can sometimes use the Defense of Marriage Act — a law that forbids the federal government to recognize same-sex marriage — to trump state laws, said Ilse de Veer, a principal with Mercer"

News: Hate Crimes, Lady GaGa, Pope Condoms, India, James Franco

Bipartisan federal hate crimes bill reintroduced in House by Reps. John Conyers (D-MI) and Mark Kirk (R-IL): "Beyond providing tougher penalties for crimes explicitly targeting LGBT people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act also gives local law enforcement officers more resources for investigations and prosecutions of bias-motivated crimes as well as training on the issue."

World Without Us about Earth after demise of man to be made into film. But who will star?

Lady Gaga: bisexual performance artist (NSFW).

Helen Davis, Denver mom who became gay rights champion, dies of brain tumor.

Top 5 gay bars in Iowa in which to celebrate marriage equality (And perhaps meet your future groom?).

The ring: Marc Jacobs' proof of engagement.

Gay rights advocates seek spousal benefits in Maryland: "Last year, state legislators passed bills that allow same-sex partners who meet certain criteria to make medical and burial decisions for each other. They also made domestic partners eligible for tax benefits that married people currently get when transferring property. This year, activists want domestic partners who own a home together to be exempt from the hefty state taxes assessed on property when one partner dies."

Sex and the City sequel gets release date.

Levi Johnston tells Tyra Banks he practiced safe sex "most of the time."

Parents blame school bullying for teen's suicide: "The lawsuit -- filed March 27, alleges that the quiet but likable boy, who was involved in theater and music, was called 'gay,' 'fag,' 'queer' and 'homo' and often in front of his teachers. Most of the harassment took place in math class and the teacher -- an athletic coach -- was accused of failing to protect the boy."

John Cameron Mitchell to direct Aaron Eckhart, Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole: "The story, which David Lindsay-Abaire adapted from his own stage play, traces the life of a happily married couple that is disrupted by an unexpected tragedy and the emotional journey they must undertake to regain happiness. Eckhart will play Kidman's husband, who is trying to hold on to the memory of his dead son while dealing with his emotionally removed wife." 

More James Franco Howl shots.

Pope condoms selling like hotcakes in France.

Michael Phelps training with Navy Seals.

Visually-impaired Indian CEO Karan Goel produces film about plight of gays in India: "When I was 15, I found out I was suffering from Retinitis Pigmentosa (an eye disease). When people found out, they started distancing themselves from me and began boycotting me. I went ahead to finish my studies through correspondence but later left that too. I feel such discrimination also happens with homosexuals in India. Later, I went abroad to do my graduation from San Francisco State University and there I realised how liberal people were about homosexuality, unlike here. When I came back to India, my father suggested that I do something for society. He said, ‘Let’s make a movie!’ And homosexuality was a subject that came immediately to my mind."

News: Pope Hate, Ben Affleck, Touchscreen iPod?

BOOK: Arnold Schwarzenegger was reportedly enraged in his early years as a bodybuilder when he discovered that footage of his competitions had been used in gay porn films.

John Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus screens at Toronto International Film Festival with Mitchell performing. Film finds international distribution: "People are ready for change. There is a thirst for something different. What pissed me off was that it was ... generically identified of as porn. We are not trying to do anything salacious here. That is just the language which we speak. Porn is really to arouse. This film explores the other areas of sex."

George Bush a fan of pin-up Matt Lauer..

Gay Miami man David Bromstad wins HGTV Design Star competition.

Cameraphone photo raises possibility that video touchscreen iPod is on the menu for Apple's big event tomorrow.

Canadian Bishops were scolded by Pope Benedict XVI when they made a visit to the Vatican on Friday. The Pope lashed out at Canada's stance on gay marriage and abortion: "In the name of ‘tolerance' your country has had to endure the folly of the redefinition of spouse, and in the name of ‘freedom of choice' it is confronted with the daily destruction of unborn children. When the Creator's divine plan is ignored the truth of human nature is lost."

Venice Film Festival winners: Jia Zhang-Ke's Still Life, Helen Mirren as The Queen, Ben Affleck for Hollywoodland...

John Cameron Mitchell and Shortbus

John Cameron Mitchell presents the full-length trailer for his new film Shortbus, which opens October 4th.

On the Shortbus: Gay Filmmakers at Cannes

John Cameron Mitchell's steamy exploration of character through sexual behavior, Shortbus, is long on buzz. Mitchell: "I actually like pornography, but I don't consider this film pornographic. I define — and most people do — pornography as devoid of artistic intent. The purpose of pornography is to arouse. I don't think anyone got [sexually aroused] watching this film. There is a certain provocation we had in mind with this film, but more important than that, we wanted to use sex as a metaphor for things that were, perhaps, universal, themes like connection and love and fear. We just thought the language of sex could be used the way the language of music could be used in a musical."

Dreamgirls cast glams it up on the terrace of the Martinez hotel...

As Elton John was presenting the Chopard Trophy to Transamerica's Kevin Zegers, a photographer interrupted and touched off Elton's short fuse: "If you saw 'Transamerica' ... I'm talking ... you fuckwit, fucking photographers you should be shot, you should be all shot. Thank you."

Ian McKellen says the Catholic church should welcome The Da Vinci Code: "I am only too happy to believe that Jesus was married. I know that the Catholic Church has problems with gay people and I thought this would be absolute proof that Jesus was not gay."

Pedro Almodóvar's Volver "has captured the hearts of everyone at Cannes": "I went into a light and very agreeable trance watching this movie, which Almodóvar unfolds with a master's confidence: its ingenuities and contrivances float out of the screen. The cinematography and art direction by José Luis Alcaine and Salvador Parra give everything a gorgeous intensity that has the look of a Douglas Sirk film - and Almodóvar has something of Sirk's passionate empathy with women, mixed with a playful, gay sensibility."