News: Armenian Bar, Trayvon Details, Virginia, Mary Kennedy

Does a baby make a man more attractive? In the case of Chris Hemsworth, yes.

Underwear designer Andrew Christian has a potentially NSFW video to sell his wares, though I guarantee you'll be looking at more than just undies.

Here are some updates on the Trayvon Martin shooting case, including a rundown of the dead 17-year old's injuries.

Mariah on Mariah, and only Mariah.

Mary Kennedy, estranged wife of RFK Jr., has died of yet-to-be-determined causes.

Shemar Moore reminds us all why we should miss him whenever he's not in our thoughts.

Howard Dean was on the phone with a Canadian radio station when he was in a car accident. The former Vermont governor and DNC chair is a-okay, though.

DC Comics rejected these products for the forthcoming Before Watchmen series.

A persistent and misleading question: "Will Gay Marriage Divide Black Electorate?"

Analysis of a New York Times and CBS News poll: "A quarter of Americans would like to see some legal recognition for gay relationships, but would also prefer — again, if given the option — that such recognition not be described as a marriage."

Good on you to Hutchinson, Kansas, where the city council has voted to outlaw discrimination against gay and lesbian citizens.

The Obama Administration is not going to let GOP lawmakers push through discriminatory legislation. Zack Ford explains: "In its one Statement of Administration Policy, the White House outlined numerous reasons it opposes the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act, which contains a military “license to bully” provision and restricts same-sex marriages or similar ceremonies from being held on military bases. The other Statement of Administration Policy addressed the Violence Against Women Act, from which House Republicans stripped all protections for minority groups"

Ousted Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich will not be running for office in Washington State.

Drinking some hot Joe every morning may be good for your health. "Results show that death rates over a 13-year period among men and women who drank coffee decreased with a greater number of cups per day, up to six. The trend was seen for deaths from any cause, and from specific causes such as heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke and diabetes. This relationship, however, was not seen for those who died of cancer."

An Armenian gay bar was torched in what appears to be an anti-gay attack.

No Mitzvah: "[Israel's] Knesset voted down a bill on Wednesday that would allow same-sex, as well as interfaith couples to wed.  The legislation, by MK Nitzan Horowitz (Meretz) opens the option of civil marriages for those who may not be wed according to halacha (Jewish law), as well as those who choose not to be married by the Chief Rabbinate. It was rejected, with 39 MKs opposed and 11 in favor."

Virginia Sen. Adam Ebbin says he is "ashamed and disgusted" by his state legislature's recent decision to reject openly gay prosecutor Tracy Thorne-Begland for a potential judgeship.

News: Marco Rubio, Rest Stops, Ryan Budget, Military Pride

Progressive Muslims from coast-to-coast are working toward more inclusive, pro-gay, pro-women congregations: "While far from accepted by mainstream clerics, these worshippers feel that the future of the religion lies not solely with tradition but with them. Women are leading congregations in prayer, gay imams are performing Islamic marriages, and men and women are praying side by side."

James Van Der Beek loves BJs.

A little gay-related blind item for all you quiz lovers.

The House of Representatives passed Paul Ryan's budget by a 228-191 vote.

To the surprise of no one, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio endorsed Mitt Romney today. He promises, however, he does not have his eye on the vice presidency, but claims President Obama's "flexibility" with Russia helped sway him, to which I say, "yes you do," and "no it didn't."

Good news in Missouri: "The Camdenton R-III school district in central Missouri has agreed to stop blocking certain nonsexual websites that pertain to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said late Wednesday night. The school district will also agree to be monitored for 18 months and pay $125,000 in legal fees and costs."

Bad news in Kansas: The state's House yesterday approved a measure allowing organizations to discriminate against LGBT people based on religious reasons.

Sex in a rest stop: "This has been going on for a long, long time. The new ways that men meet — endlessly staring into phones, searching on hookup apps like Grindr or sites like Manhunt — haven’t changed the fact that we’re still having sex at rest areas, because they offer something different... Sex at the rest area, instead, abolishes identity; there’s a sort of freedom there to not be anything – instead, men just meet other men there; men who want the same sort of freedom."

James Franco looks rough for Spring Breakers.

President Obama addresses Planned Parenthood supporters.

Tori Spelling has a new gig as host of TLC's Craft Wars. Sounds intense.

With DADT's repeal, gay pride finds home at military academies.

Divorce between JP Morgan Chase analyst Peter Lawrence and stage star Donald Gallagher sets record for same-sex civil settlement.

Bradley Schmeling, the Lutheran pastor ousted from his Atlanta congregation for being in a gay relationship, has found a new flock.

Elton John discusses bullying.

My friend Cord Jefferson on NOM's race-baiting: "The ugly divisiveness distributed by hateful people like Brown is a bit shocking, of course, especially in its brazenness. But it’s nothing new. It’s a centuries-old strategy to hurt what could otherwise be powerful forces — divide and conquer."

Michelle Duggar thinks overpopulation is only about numbers, rather than resources: "The idea of overpopulation is not accurate because, really, the entire population of the world, if they were stood shoulder to shoulder, could fit in the city limits of Jacksonville. So if you realize that aspect of it, we realize we're not anywhere near being overpopulated."

Take a little trip inside the human brain.

Malta set to introduce civil partnerships for same-sex couples.

NEWS: Julianne Moore, Anne Frank, And Why The UK's Catholics Don't Want You To Marry

 Julianne Moore apparently does a wonderful Sarah Palin in Game Change:

As it becomes apparent to McCain’s team, via briefing sessions, that she is a know-nothing, they prep her on hot-button foreign policy issues—informing her that we fought Germany in two world wars, for instance. Here, Moore’s Palin takes notes with a diligence that at once enriches the farce and deepens the tragedy. After it becomes apparent to the world, via Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric, that she is a know-nothing, the camera tightens on Moore’s face at canted angles during subsequent tantrums, and we understand her resentment and paranoia. We can’t laugh at the surreal scene of Moore’s Palin watching Tina Fey’s Palin on SNL because the woman alone in front of the set is so, so far away from home—and farther yet from the first-born son who is away at war. He is prepared to die for a nation where she is a national laughingstock. Watching Palin escape a depressive funk by going to sleep—curling fetally on an anonymous floor in a hotel a bathrobe—I wished her sweet dreams, and ultimately found myself rooting for her to do well in her debate against Joe Biden.

 The New Yorker explains how and why the Republican primary went wrong.

 There was a caucus in Kansas today. Rick Santorum won:

Rick Santorum easily won the Kansas caucuses Saturday, which supporters say will give him much-needed momentum for two important Southern primaries Tuesday. With 89 percent of the vote counted, Santorum had 51 percent, compared to Mitt Romney’s 21 percent. Newt Gingrich is in third place with 14.4 percent and Ron Paul fourth with 12.5 percent. Neither Romneyh nor Gingrich campaigned in Kansas. 

Santorum is likely to pick up the vast majority of the state’s 40 delegates, notes the Associated Press. Wyoming is also holding caucuses Saturday and Romney appears to be leading.

If Santorum manages to use the momentum from his Kansas victory to help him win in Alabama and Mississippi Tuesday, “he could solidify his status as the conservative alternative to front-runner Romney,” writes Reuters.

 William Hamilton is dead. (You may not know him, but you definitely know the magazine cover he inspired.)

 Anne Frank comes to Madame Toussaud's in Berlin:

The new Anne Frank figure is next to that of Sophie Scholl, an activist executed by the Nazi regime for her involvement in the White Rose, a non-violent German resistance group. But Zerbe made clear that the juxtaposition was just a coincidence, and that the museum was not trying to create a historical display. "We want our visitors, and children in particular, to feel an emotional connection with the figure, rather than to feel that they're in a history class," she said.

In a chilling irony, the wax figure of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, which the museum controversially re-introduced after it was beheaded by a visitor shortly after the Berlin Madame Tussauds opened in 2008, is in the next room.

 Teacher fired for gay porn career is reinstated.

 University of California may begin asking new students about their sexual orientation.

 A brief, heartening rundown of LGBTs who've achieved high office in Latin America.

 The Catholic Church in the UK officially articulates its objections to marriage equality. It does so in a long, drony letter which will put non-Catholics into a godcoma and, several Bishops hope, whip believers into a frenzy of marriage-defending. Watch Archbishop Vincent Nichols read it aloud, AFTER THE JUMP ... 

Today: Chely Wright Opens Kansas City LGBT Community Center

Well -- technically it's a center for youth who are questioning their sexuality, but these kids will probably figure themselves out quickly enough. Maybe they'll stick around.

Chely Wright is the nu-country singer of hits "Shut Up And Drive" and "Single White Female" who came out of the closet in 2010 and shortly thereafter married her partner, the activist Lauren Blitzer. She decided to open the LIKEME Lighthouse, as it's called, because she grew up not far from Kansas City and remembers well the difficulties of coming of age in an area without resources for LGBT teens. From the Washington Post:

“This just gives so much hope to these outlying areas, that your major metropolitan area has a gay and lesbian center,” said Wright, who married LGBT activist Lauren Blitzer last summer. “That would have meant everything to me had I been a kid growing up in Wellsville, knowing that there is a beautiful facility in our major city, that that was OK.

LIKEME Lighthouse's ribbon-cutting ceremony is today at noon, and opening festivities continue into the evening with performances by Wright, Alan Cumming, and others. Lighthouse's website is up and fully operational, but it doesn't seem like the center's yet fleshed out its programming. The facility will be open, presumably for drop-ins, from 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. on most days, but what teens will be able to do once they arrive hasn't yet been decided. Maybe Lighthouse is waiting on volunteers?

Bill Up for Consideration in Kansas Would Allow Exemption from Non-Discrimination Policies Based on Religious Beliefs

Kansas Equality Coalition has sent out an alert about a bill that will get a hearing tomorrow in the Kansas legislature that would threaten non-discrimination laws and policies at the local level.

They write:

HB 2260 WILL LEGALIZE DISCRIMINATION against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender residents by nullifying local anti-discrimination laws and policies. All university non-discrimination policies, all school district policies, all local laws at the city and county level will be wiped out if this passes....This bill would allow anyone to claim religious exemption to local ordinances and policies, and gives them the right to sue every Kansas city, county, school district or college that has LGBT protections on its books.

University of Kansas, K-State, Pitt State, Wichita State, and every community college with LGBT protections will lose the ability to enforce their policies.  Every school district that has adopted policies protecting LGBT students will see themselves opened to lawsuits, just by having those policies on their books. Every Kansas city that has passed these protections as local law are targeted. KEC’s efforts to pass non-discrimination laws in other cities will be halted.

Contact information for the House Judiciary Members can be found HERE at the Kansas Equality Coalition. They are asking people to ask them to oppose HB2260.

A copy of the bill can be found HERE.

Kansas Lawmakers Prepare to Symbolically Condemn Gays By Leaving Sodomy Law in Place: VIDEO

Kansas lawmakers are prepared to ignore once again a bill repealing state law that criminalizes sodomy even though it's moot, because the topic is just too "sensitive" to address, according to one state senator.

Writes Igor Volsky: "Since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Lawrence v. Texas struck down anti-sodomy laws as unconstitutional, Kansas’ statute has no force and effect. Yet Republicans are determined to keep it on the books as a purely symbolic gesture of their condemnation of gay couples and a repeal bill stalled in the legislature last year."

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...