News: Iceland, T.R. Knight, PETA, Penguins, Karl Rove, Octuplets

Portland Mayor Sam Adams back to work: "'Good morning, everybody,' he said to the reporters who rushed to meet him at the doors. 'Happy to be back,' he said. 'Ready to get to work.' He didn't miss a beat, didn't stop to chat. When a reporter tried to ask him about the most recent news reports, he didn't bite. 'I'm happy to answer questions about city business,' he said. Then he slipped into the City Council chamber, where he spent the next two hours discussing a bridge project."

T.R. Knight and boyfriend Mark Cornelsen enjoy the gayest place on Earth.

NBC bans PETA 'vegetable porn' commercial from Super Bowl - WATCH it.

Married same-sex New York couples offered guidelines: "The five-page document, issued on January 26 by Lambda Legal, the Empire State Pride Agenda, the New York Civil Liberties Union, and the American Civil Liberties Union, outlines a dozen-and-a-half areas -- some broad-reaching, others more narrowly tailored -- in which the state's policy of recognizing marriages by same-sex couples who legally wed in other jurisdictions have implications for their day-to-day life here in New York." Get the doc HERE.

Ryan Reynolds minds his muscles.

Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir to become Iceland's, world's first openly lesbian prime minister?

House Judiciary Chair Conyers issues subpoena to Karl Rove: "I have said many times that I will carry this investigation forward to its conclusion, whether in Congress or in court, and today's action is an important step along the way. Change has come to Washington, and I hope Karl Rove is ready for it. After two years of stonewalling, it's time for him to talk."

Know your ABCs: The gay alphabet!

Students across U.S. don T-shirts for 'Equality on Campus Day'.

High-ranking French official comes out: "Roger Karoutchi, France’s Secretary of State for Parliamentary Relations and a close friend of President Nicholas Sarkozy, has revealed he is gay. The former MEP and senator made the claim in an interview conducted in advance of the release of his autobiography."

Openly gay attorney Michael Pollok running for Kirsten Gillibrand's seat.

Necessary? Chinese zoo gives gay penguins a wedding. These are the same penguins who last month were segregated for stealing eggs and trying to raise a child.

Octuplets born in California.

Does it really matter if True Beauty contestant Joel Rush is pretty on the inside?

Georgia man fights court order on visits with kids: "[Judge] Edwards ordered that neither of the parents could have 'overnight company with a member of the opposite sex, or with any person deemed to be a paramour, unrelated by blood or marriage, in the presence of a child.' One sentence later Edwards wrote: 'Additionally, defendant is prohibited from exposing the children to his homosexual partners and friends.' In his appeal, Mongerson’s attorneys write that such an order was an abuse of the court’s discretion. 'There was no evidence presented that and the court made no finding that exposing the parties’ children to any of Appellant’s homosexual friends would adversely affect the best interests of the children,' according to the appeal. 'Therefore, such a prohibition on appellant’s homosexual friends is an abuse of discretion.'"

News: Malcolm Smith, Star Trek, Lieberman, Asbury Park, Beatles

Stop a marriage referendum in New York: "On November 4th, New Yorkers gave the Democrats a two-seat majority in the New York State Senate. Finally, it seemed, Democrats would be able to put marriage equality to a vote and Governor Paterson would be able to sign it into law. However, three Democrats refuse to endorse Malcolm Smith as the new Majority Leader because Malcolm Smith has promised to pass marriage equality in New York. Senator Rubén Díaz, Sr. and Senator Pedro Espada, Jr., both from the Bronx, and Senators Carl Kruger of Brooklyn, are all threatening to caucus with the Republicans to stop gay marriage in New York."

Hugh Jackman busts a few faces, but thankfully no one's looking there.

Trailer for new Star Trek film beams in.

A secret ballot vote by Democrats on Tuesday will determine Joe Lieberman's fate in the Senate: "Senate Democrats will decide by secret ballot Tuesday whether to take away Sen. Joe Lieberman's chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee — a post from which he oversees U.S. security issues, as well as the operations of a wide segment of the federal government. The anger over Lieberman's campaigning for the Republican presidential candidate is still boiling — fueled by memories of his undercutting Barack Obama, including in a nationally televised speech at the Republican National Convention."

More on Rosie O'Donnell's upcoming variety show.

Gregory Craig to be White House counsel: "Craig is intimately familiar with the president-elect’s record because he played the role of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in debate preparations. The officials said Obama has settled on Craig but were not sure when the appointment would be announced. The choice gives the president-elect both experience and loyalty. During the primaries, Craig was an early Clinton alumni defector to Obama."

It's the Mad Hatter!

Bill Ayers talks back.

It's not easy for gay youth in rural British Columbia: "Gay or bisexual teenage boys living in rural B.C. are nearly twice as likely to have attempted suicide and been physically sexually harassed in the past year than their peers in urban centres."

Paul McCartney talks of 14-minute unreleased 1967 Beatle epic "Carnival of Light".

South Korea reviewing ban on gays in the military: "The ban has been under review since a local military court asked the upper tribunal in August to determine whether the existing military criminal code banning homosexuality among soldiers is constitutional. The code stipulates that soldiers be jailed for up to one year for engaging in homosexual acts or sexual harassment while in service."

PETA protestor targets Lindsay Lohan with flour bomb outside Paris hotel.

Queens couple first gays to wed in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Researchers identify possible fossilized velociraptor egg nest.

Recession stops neo-gay enclave of Asbury Park, New Jersey in its tracks: "Various big residential plans came and went, but, partly because of an influx of gay men and lesbians looking for cheaper alternatives to places like Fire Island, it began coming back around 2000. The residential revival helped bring back downtown, now quite alive with shops and restaurants. Then came the beachfront development, beginning around 2005. From 2007 to 2008, the number of daily beach-access badges sold during the summer increased to 52,000 from 38,000. Live Nation, the concert promoter, signed an agreement to promote music at various locations. After all those years of going nowhere, Asbury Park was clearly going somewhere. And then, boom — the bottom fell out of the economy."

Karl Rove will never repudiate George W. Bush.

Woman Attempts Citizen's Arrest of Karl Rove for Treason

Here's the most amusing Karl Rove clip I've seen since his interview with On Harvard Time's anchor Derek Flanzraich.

At a forum at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, a discussion between Rove and former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell was interrupted by three sets of protestors, including one woman who got on stage and tried to put handcuffs on Rove and make a citizen's arrest for treason.

Following that exchange, Rove tried to make a point about negative campaigning by discussing John Kerry's jab the other day about McCain wearing Depends adult diapers.

Said Mitchell "I have to say I feel like Dorothy in the land of Oz hearing about you lecture about negative campaigns by others."

Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...

News: Ziro the Hutt, 90210, Margaret Cho, Karl Rove, Obesity

Charlie Crist to consider openly gay judge on Florida Supreme Court short list.

Star Wars: Clone Wars gay-coded character Ziro the Hutt is asexual. Director: Ziro, Jabba’s uncle, originally spoke in Hutt-ese, like Jabba and then he had a different sluggish voice just like Jabba, and then George one day was watching it and said ‘I want him to sound like Truman Capote.’ He actually said that and we were like ‘Wow!’...He’s of questionable [sexuality] at least as a slug. They tell me that these slugs can be either male or female depending. That’s something I guess that slugs and snails do. I wasn’t aware of that but I have continuity experts that tell me these things and I’m like. I guess Jabba is [his son’s] mother AND father from a certain point of view. It’s interesting.”

Child at center of gay kidnapping returned home: " Glazer said his son yelled, "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" when they were reunited and was 'kissing me and everybody.' Glazer's ex-partner, Eric Hyett, was not immediately arrested. Authorities in Israel were still mulling whether to take him into custody and return him to New York to face charges of custodial interference, said Glazer's lawyer, Sam Ferrara."

FIRST LOOK: Shannen Doherty and Jennie Garth together again on 90210.

Obama smear book: this is what "fuck you" looks like.

Drugs mimicking effects of GHB outlawed in London.

Singer Jackson Browne sues McCain over use of "Running on Empty" song in Obama attack ad.

Ed Westwick on a man date.

Happy 50th birthday Madonna.

Court reinstates dismissed discrimination case by former employee of Merrill Lynch over supervisor's "stupid fag" slur: "On the hostile workplace claim, the appeals court said Taylor's holding -- that a single comment may be severe enough to create a hostile workplace -- applies regardless of who made the comment. 'The fact that it was made by plaintiff's immediate supervisor should be enough because, as Taylor itself noted, a supervisor is someone who should be protecting the employee from such conduct in the workplace,' they wrote. They noted that even before the 'stupid fag' remark was allegedly made, Wonder had been verbally critical of Kwiatkowski's performance. 'At the very least, plaintiff would have had genuine reason to question Wonder every time she criticized his work and evaluated his performance, and to wonder whether the criticism was valid or instead was generated by her bias against gay men,' they observed."

Former Big Brother star dishes to HX about the behind-the-scenes action in the upcoming Another Gay Sequel.

Last Dance: Hopes for a NYC Roxy revival fading...Documentary to air on LOGO.

Margaret Cho would like to be the center in a Lindsay Lohan-Samantha Ronson sandwich: "I would hope that Samantha Ronson would be this hot, mean, butch top. I don't know about Lindsay, though. I'd have to see. I think the three of us would be great in a daisy chain." And here's a sneak peek at The Cho show. The girl's also rocking some major tattoos.

Karl Rove: Same-sex marriage won't be the issue it was in 2004...

An interview with Project Runway's Keith Bryce.

Robert Downey Jr. the latest star to adopt the pornstache.

Obesity linked to childhood ear infections: "Preliminary results from the University of Florida in Gainesville suggest that severe ear infections damage a nerve that transmits signals from the tongue to the brain, which then changes the patient's perception of tasteso that they prefer fatty foods. A team led by Linda Bartoshuk noticed the link by questioning 1300 subjects – 245 of whom had a history of ear infections – on their medical history, height, weight and taste perception. Of those who had had ear infections, those over 30 had higher body mass indices, with proportionally twice as many obese subjects.

Karl Lagerfeld wants to be a rapper.

House Panel Votes to Hold Karl Rove in Contempt

Contempt of Congress is punishable by up to a year in prison though the chance of him making it there is highly unlikely:

"The House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines, 20 to 14, to cite Mr. Rove for defying its subpoena to testify in an inquiry into improper political meddling in the department. 'Mr. Rove has left us no option,' said Representative John Conyers, the Michigan Democrat who is chairman of the committee. Mr. Conyers expressed regret that the committee had been forced to use its subpoena power. The panel’s top Republican, Representative Lamar Smith of Texas, accused Democrats of conducting 'witch hunts' and neglecting the people’s real business, like energy needs and border security. The committee recommendation now goes to the full House, which voted in February to hold two other former White House officials in contempt in connection with the same inquiry. The House’s votes against Joshua B. Bolten, the former White House chief of staff, and Harriet E. Miers, the former White House counsel, were the first Congressional contempt citations against the executive branch since the presidency of Ronald Reagan."

AFTER THE JUMP, Brave New Films' take on what Rove deserves...

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #328

DO NOT PASS GO: Brave New Films says send Karl Rove to jail.

PICKLE: Watch Grandpa John demonstrate the power of Christianity by electrocuting a pickle in a sling. Seriously.

ELIZABETH DOLE: Was Keith Olbermann's "Worst Person" on Wednesday for her attempt to add Jesse Helms to the Hyde-Lantos AIDS bill.

DAVID REMNICK: The editor of The New Yorker talks to Charlie Rose about the controversial Obama cover.

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here.