News: Chicago, Christian Bale, Jupiter, India, Virginia Foxx, Tanning

India High Court to consider appeal of historic ruling decriminalizing homosexuality: "In taking up the appeal, the highest court is responding to a petition by two private citizens who claimed they were deeply hurt by the judgment 'inasmuch as it seriously affects them and fellow countrymen in all spheres of their lives, personal as well as social.'"

Does Jupiter "take bullets" for Earth?

It's a Saved by the Bell reunion!

Rep. Virginia Foxx's latest ridiculous statement: Obama health care reform will put seniors to death.

Australian PM Kevin Rudd says ban on same-sex marriage will remain: " Rudd said his government's position remained unchanged amid media speculation that he would face a groundswell of support for same-sex marriage at Labor's national conference, due to begin in Sydney on Thursday. 'We are consistent with the policy we took to the last election,' he told public broadcaster ABC."

Chicago's Commission on Human Rights to honor gay veterans.

Johnny Depp disguises himself as squirrel at Comic-Con.

Two openly gay candidates for SF Supervisor say "wait" on Prop 8 ballot measure.

Miss Universe Dayana Mendoza comes out for marriage equality.

Officials place no restrictions on Gay Pride parade in Belfast: "We respect the views of those who are organising the Pride parade and those who wish to express their opposition. Just as with any other parade where there is disagreement the commission believes it is paramount that all concerned treat each other with respect and show tolerance towards the view of wider society. We welcome the assurances we have received in regards to the stewarding of the parade and the general conduct of the participants."

Kissimmee, Florida City Commissioner wants to add "In God We Trust" to city's logo because he thinks it will help rid the nation of unsavory things like gays, abortion, and pot. Otero:
"This nation has been moving toward more liberal postures such as homosexuality, gay marriage, abortion and the legalization of marijuana. I'm against that way of thinking. Those are not the values upon which this nation was founded. I think we need to fight for the values we're losing."

Christian Bale completes his latest unbelievable transformation.

STUDY: Tanning beds as deadly as Arsenic and Mustard Gas.

Is Kelly Clarkson being punished by label bosses for speaking out about the similarity of her song to Beyonce's?

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams sees "two-track" Anglican Church.

Grey's Anatomy says good-bye to Dr. George O'Malley.

OMG interviews Simon Rex about his online pilot.

Chicago's first openly gay alderman Tom Tunney asks if City Hall should set aside business contracts for LGBT-owned companies: "Tunney asked Corporation Counsel Mara Georges whether any other municipality has a 'category' that defines 'LGBT as a qualified minority.' Georges said she knows of no such category anywhere in the United States. But, she didn’t slam the door. 'We are certainly happy to talk to you about it and whether that’s something we should attempt to pursue,' Georges said."

Will Johnny Depp Actually Get to Play Carol Channing?

In Mid-July, Johnny Depp mentioned to the UK Mirror that his dream role would be to play Carol Channing. Said Depp: "My dream role would be to play musical legend Carol Channing in a biopic of her life. I love her, I really do, she's amazing."

Channing says she'd love it, telling Broadway World: "It is not a new concept to me. Not at all. Men have been imitating me for as long as I can remember. In fact, most of the impersonations I have seen have had a five o'clock shadow. I imagine, when or if Johnny should portray me, he will succeed. Because a true artist, such as himself, is one who loves his or her creation and therefore represents their honest view of that which they are creating. I think he is a gifted performer and I would be very proud, as well as interested in seeing what his vision of me would be. Johnny is someone I would very much like to help me and my foundation (ChanningARTS.org) to bring the Arts back into the the public school system in America."

News: Carol Channing, Episcopalians, Biological Blob, Savannah

Bishop Gene Robinson speaks about the Episcopal church's recent moves toward accepting gays and lesbians.

The Vatican embraces Oscar Wilde.

Janet Jackson is a single woman again.

Pepsi outraged over release of Michael Jackson hair fire video.

Florida Gay couple and lesbian couple battle for custody of child: "After considering arguments from both sides, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Leon Firtel on June 3 found Ray was nothing more than a sperm donor. Because there was no contract before birth, he had 'no rights.'"

Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) appointed to Air Force Academy Board of Visitors.

ESPN columnist LZ Granderson: Gay is not the new black. Pam Spaulding responds: "This nonsense about 'Is Black The New Gay,' just reached another plateau of bullcrap."

Bush's Justice Dept. blacklisted LGBT groups: "The Blade recently learned that among the blacklisted groups was Immigration Equality, which focuses on LGBT-related immigration issues. Also blacklisted was the immigration project for the Gay Men’s Health Crisis."

Johnny Depp's dream role is to play Carol Channing.

Biological "blob" drifts for miles in arctic waters off Alaska: "It's certainly biological. It's definitely not an oil product of any kind. It has no characteristics of an oil, or a hazardous substance, for that matter. It's definitely, by the smell and the makeup of it, it's some sort of naturally occurring organic or otherwise marine organism."

Groups assembling war chests for election marriage battle in Maine.

Former GOP Rep. Pickering's wife sues his mistress for adultery that ruined their marriage and his career.

Polish European Parliament leader under fire for homophobic remark made in 2000: "The latest row has been sparked by a short video clip available online dated July 2000, in which Mr Kaminski - a member of Poland's Law and Justice Party - uses the word 'pedal' to refer to gay rights campaigners, in a TV interview. This is a derogatory Polish word for homosexual, usually translated into English as 'fag' or 'queer'."

Orlando Bloom robbed of $500K in home burglary.

Madonna offers tearful memorial to two workers killed by her tour stage collapse in France.

France bans videogame in which players shoot a gun at naked gays.

Savannah Morning News: Crack down on gay cruising in public.

Anderson Cooper visits David Letterman. Video.

Metropolitan Museum of Art "de-gays" blockbuster Model as Muse exhibit: "Room after room is shoulder to shoulder with over seven decades of queer genius, showcasing the extraordinary visions of gay men whose simultaneous status as sidelined outsiders and ultimate insiders, dressing the planet's most visible women while their sexuality was illegal, spurred them to perpetually reinvent not only what we wear but how we live in the world. That's where art comes from and that's what the museum ignores."

Movies: Public Enemies, Johnny Depp and Bette Davis

NATHANIEL ROGERS

Nathaniel Rogers would live inside a movie theater but for the poor internet reception. He blogs daily at the Film Experience.

It’s Fourth of July weekend at the movies. What better way to celebrate than with that most patriotic of film genres: the gangster movie. I kid, but it’s definitely true that disreputable types that you would never ever want to associate with in real life have never gone out of style as film heroes. Perhaps it’s the abstracting distance of reel life that makes them attractive?

TAKE ONE: Now Playing

Michael Mann, one of Hollywood’s most relentlessly masculine auteurs, has always been drawn to violent men. He brought us Hannibal Lecter’s debut in Manhunter (1986), colonial savagery in The Last of the Mohicans (1992), corporate thuggery in The Insider (1999) and the gun play of Miami Vice (2006) …it’s what he does. His new film PUBLIC ENEMIES, recounts the last year of John Dillinger’s life as a notorious bank robber during the Great Depression. It begins with a huge title card stating "1933". Not for Mann, any fears about today's audiences not (generally) flocking to period dramas. But with one of the most dependable superstars in the world headlining, why worry?

Johnny Depp plays this  "Public Enemy #1", and Mann surrounds the star with a huge cast of fine character actors as well as other dangerous famous beauties like Christian Bale, Billy Crudup, Stephen Dorff, Marion Cotillard and even Channing Tatum as "Pretty Boy Floyd". Don’t get excited about the latter… he isn’t long for this film’s world.

 Bang Bang. My Baby Bale shot him down.

Aside from the title card, costumes and the recurring use of the classic "Bye Bye Black Bird" song, there's not much that feels period about Public Enemies. Mann's swift footed digital camera work is jarring at first but once you’ve adapted, it reveals its own distinct harsh beauty, lending the film a strangely modern feel. Plus the antihero (and also Johnny Depp) hold timeless appeal.

MORE, AFTER THE JUMP...
...on Public Enemies, new lesbian films, gay superheroes and the enduring appeal of Bette Davis

First Look: Tim Burton's Wonderland

A few character shots and some concept art for Tim Burton's Wonderland have been released. Above, Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter. Helena Bonham Carter as the Queen of Hearts and Anne Hathaway as The White Queen, AFTER THE JUMP...

News: Eminem, Pilot Whales, Outfest, Tel Aviv, Jesus Luz, Tim Kaine

DNC Chair Tim Kaine issues LGBT Pride month statement.

Second 'Million Fag March' held near Topeka's Westboro Baptist Church: "Love, who organized the march, said he picked the Gage Park location because it is the same place Westboro leader and anti-gay preacher Fred Phelps began staging his protests in 1991."

Guess which celebrity turned down the offer Eminem accepted to be the butt of Bruno's MTV Movie Awards joke.

Obama names new Army Secretary, Rep. John McHugh: few clues as to position on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell".

Zachary Quinto grows a John Waters pornstache.

Washington Post on the Robert Wone murder case: "So began a real-life parlor mystery -- an unsolved killing and alleged coverup in the guest room of an elegant home in the heart of Washington's gay community, with a trio of seemingly unlikely suspects: a self-described "polyamorous family" of three men. The bizarre murder that evening of a young Ivy League lawyer named Robert Wone, still grist for gossip and conjecture on the city's gay blogosphere, has vexed police and prosecutors since the 911 call just before midnight Aug. 2, 2006." 

THIS was a laugh-and-a-half last night for its pure pathetic-ness.

Madonna boytoy Jesus Luz gets a dedicated spread in L'Officiel Hommes.

UGLY: The mindset behind Maine's anti-marriage equality petition drive.

Scotland Yard alarmed at rise in homophobic crimes: "Campaigners say anti-gay violence has surged, and Scotland Yard statistics reveal a 9% rise in homophobic and transphobic offences to 1,372 in the year to April...Acting Detective Superintendent Gerry Campbell, of the Metropolitan police, who headed a recent operation against hate crime that led to 292 arrests, said: 'Homophobia cannot be considered a thing of the past, it's on the increase.'"

L.A.'s Outfest film festival announces 2009 line-up: "The impressive list of films and filmmakers involved with this year’s festival include writer-director Peter Bratt’s powerful drama 'La Mission' starring Benjamin Bratt, as the Opening Night Gala; Adam Salky returns to Outfest with his stunning debut feature 'Dare' starring Emmy Rossum, Alan Cumming and Zach Gilford, as the Closing Night Gala."

Johnny Depp does Vanity Fair.

Tel Aviv welcomes Mideast's first gay clinic?

Blue whales heard singing off New York coast for first time.

55 Pilot whales die in mass stranding in South Africa: "Authorities shot dozens of exhausted whales that beached on a shore near South Africa's storm-lashed southern tip Saturday amid scenes of grief and despair from volunteers who had tried to save them."

Nadine Smith: No excuses. No delays. Do we really mean it?

TIME: How to come out on Facebook...

Band of Thebes looks at the new exhibition at the New York Public Library: 1969: The Year of Gay Liberation. "Fifteen years ago, in honor of Stonewall 25, the library held a huge lgbt show in the premiere gallery on the first floor, complete with giant pink triangle banner outside, emblazoned with 'Becoming Visible.' Now for the 40th anniversary, we get half the hallway on the third floor."

Gay Ugandan immigrant deported from Britain and then returned is now suing the Home Office: "The 38-year-old originally fled to Britain in 2001, fearing that being gay - which in Uganda can result in life imprisonment or even death - put his life in danger. He had an outstanding application for a judicial review on his case when he was taken by four security men and bundled on to a flight to Kampala on September 18, 2008."