News: Sweden, Morrissey, Cameroon, Walmart, Kris Allen, Kenya

Straight ex-spouses speak up for marriage equality: "They are federal workers and professionals, men and women who share little except that their former spouses tried to live as heterosexuals but at some point realized they could not."

British town mourns albino squirrel.

WATCH: Morrissey storms off stage after fan hits him on head with bottle of beer.

POLL: Majority of Californians oppose putting marriage equality on the ballot in 2010. "Overall, 51% of California voters favored marriage rights for same-sex couples and 43% were opposed. Strikingly, however, almost 60% of Californians did not want to revisit the issue in 2010, just one election cycle after it last hit the ballot."

Conservatives up in arms over gay-friendly recommendations in Fort Worth Rainbow Lounge police raid report.

Asheville, NC city council to take up extending benefits to same-sex partners.

Manchester, UK closes gay village to cars in weekend experiment.

Wingnut Peter LaBarbera calls FBI on gay blogger Joe.My.God over reader comments he characterizes as "domestic terrorism".

Popular DJs Fernando and Greg back on the air in San Francisco: "Fernando Ventura and Greg Sherrell had been the most recognizable voices on KNGY's gay-themed programming schedule since 2005. Last year they received the Fall Honors award from northern California chapter of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association, and in 2007 they were named to OUT Magazine's Top 100 most influential people in gay culture."

WATCH: Kris Allen's new music video for "Live Like We're Dying".

Shortened, revised trailer "de-gays" Tom Ford's A Single Man?

Gay activist detained in Cameroon after dispute with taxi driver.

Cleveland City Council to get mass postcard delivery on transgender rights ordinance.

Male model fix: Parker Gregory.

Gay couple, twin sons banned for life from Walmart over BIC lighter dispute: "'They asked if I had Bic lighters. I said, 'Yes,' and handed them over,' Paolucci said. 'Then they asked if I had a receipt. I said, 'Yes, you're holding it.' Then this group of Wal-Mart employees started forming around us.' Paolucci and Hitchcock said the employees were threatening and that one used a vulgarity. Their accusations frightened the boys, who began 'crying, screaming and freaking out,' they said."

The Guardian profiles fashion designer Henry Holland: "I think it [being gay] makes you more experimental. There's not that whole thing of, 'I can't wear that, I'd look like a poof', because you are a poof."

Master performance: "Tardy for the Party".

Sweden's Lutheran Church ordains first openly lesbian bishop: "Eva Brunne was ordained as bishop of Stockholm's diocese in a ceremony on Sunday. She lives in a "registered partnership" with another woman, a civil union between gays used in Sweden before same-sex marriages were legalized this year. The couple also has a child. 'It is very positive that our church is setting an example here and is choosing me as bishop based on my qualifications, when they also know that they can meet resistance elsewhere,' the 55-year-old Brunne told The Associated Press by phone."

Possible gay element investigated in murder of 55-year-old man in India.

More info on Kenya's plans to conduct "census" of gays for HIV/AIDS purposes: "Initial media reports said the project, which was announced last week, would be a gay census — raising fears that gays could be exposed against their will and questions about whether such a count could possibly be accurate. But Muraguri says all information collected by the government will be kept confidential and officials will not seek to contact all men who have sex with men in Kenya. The government will also seek to interview both male and female sex workers and intravenous-drug users."

News: Spain, Ryan Reynolds, Google Wave, Fort Worth, Bangladesh

Richard Hatch freed from prison.

Why is the investigation of the police raid on Fort Worth's Rainbow Lounge taking so long?

Marc Jacobs glams it up for Nars.

Get ready to see Ryan Reynolds in drag.

Pew poll on civil unions and same-sex marriage shows uptick in support for the former, but numbers virtually unchanged for the latter.

NYT hetero-normalizes David Hockney.

Senator Udall wants Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal plan from Pentagon within 30 days. Lieberman "committed".

Spanish court orders new trial in brutal murder of gay couple following protests and outrage over acquittal: "Yesterday, mincing no words, the Tribunal called the lower court ruling "defective, absurd, illogical and arbitrary"and ordered a new trial, according to El Pais. The Tribunal also dismissed petitions to reduce the sentence for setting the apartment on fire. The verdict is a win for efforts by Triviño's mother, Marta Pérez Triviño, to bring her son to justice. She will still have to withstand what must be the unbearable pain of seeing her son's murder go to trial a second time."

John Mayer on online outreach: "I would rather tell the world to eat my a**hole before I would delete my Twitter account."

Police: Attack on Jake Raynard not a hate crime.

Queer as Folk's Randy Harrison set to play Andy Warhol in Pop at Yale Repertory Theater.

Two gay Bangladesh refugees say they'll have sex to prove they are gay on their fourth attempt to get protection Visas in Australia: "A Federal Court judge recently criticised the Refugee Review Tribunal for its treatment of the pair, who first applied for asylum in 1999, finding it was deliberately biased against them. In a scathing summation, Justice Spender found three previous tribunals had unreasonably twisted facts to deny the men were homosexual, using unsubstantiated claims they were brothers who had been married to women."

Gallup: Hillary Clinton now more popular than Obama.

Kris Allen wants to hit you baby, one more time.

Ryan Gosling had a yummy show in NY last night.

Butt Magazine to publish 54-week 2010 pin-up calendar.

George Michael and Kenny Goss step out in London.

Arjan presents a guilt-free download of the Magistrates remix of Mika's new single "Rain".

Coalition of 17 international human rights groups strike out at Uganda: "Over the course of the last year, there’s been an increasing pattern of homophobic discourse at play in Uganda, including a conference that occurred several months ago, in which a number of US evangelical leaders came to Uganda to promote reparative therapy and other types of human rights violations against Ugandan LGBT people…and our feeling is that the bill is targeting not just LGBT people, but freedom of expression and a broad level of political discourse in general."

Google Wave acts out Pulp Fiction and Good Will Hunting.

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg again changes promises on what votes he can provide from  Senate Republicans on marriage equality: "Less than a month after defending his support for Republican state senators, saying he could get their votes for gay marriage, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said conservatives in that body will not support what the mayor termed 'our number one priority' at a recent campaign event with gay supporters. 'Those will not be the Republican votes that I will get, but they will be there for other things that are important to the city,' Bloomberg said in an hour-long interview with Gay City News and its sister papers, The Villager, Downtown Express, and Chelsea Now.

News: Kris Allen, Facebook, Grizzly Bears, Mark Foley, Houston

Project Gaydar: Your secret, if you have one, is not safe with Facebook.

Meet the father of Prop 8.

Anderson Cooper needs a ride.

Ossett, UK man targeted by three men in attack: "All I can think is that they picked on me because I am gay. It's all a bit of a blur, all I remember is being laid out on the floor and waiting for the ambulance to arrive."

Grizzly Bears face huge population drops in Canada.

Command Sergeant Major Teresa L. King is the Army's first female top drill sergeant: "The eighth of 12 children, the sergeant major is the daughter of a sharecropper who grew cucumbers and tobacco near Fort Bragg, N.C. Her first job in the Army was as a postal clerk, a traditional position for women in those days."

Guess who's returning to Melrose Place?

Lindsey Graham on Obama: “If you asked me if the president of the United States is a socialist, I would say no. I think he’s an American liberal, that’s what I think he is. You know, Ted Kennedy was an American liberal, but we found ways to work together.”

Listen: Kris Allen drops first single.

Human Rights Campaign "endorses" National Equality March. AIDS rally and candelight vigil scheduled.

South Florida radio listeners to get inside Mark Foley's mind tonight.

Australian politico comes out, wins praise.

Houston mayor candidate Annise Parker attacked by anti-gay group: "Annise Parkers lifestyle that of being a HOMOSEXUAL is not the proper role model to lead the fourth largest city in the United States. The Bible speaks clearly against the lifestyle she represents, James 1:8 says, ‘A double minded man is confused in all his ways’. She does not believe in what the scripture says about her lifestyle which in return means she doesn’t believe in God."

Netflix awards million dollar prize to team for improving its online recommendations system.

Hugh Jackman kicks off Climate Week NYC.

Robbie Williams to reunite with Take That for one night only?

Montana gays and lesbians hold summit in Bozeman: "The first [summit] was to start networking so we’re not inventing the wheel, to see what everyone’s doing in the area and see what resources are available in the state. This year we’re bringing together up to 35 or 40 organizations to identify common challenges faced by the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community, so we can come together and support ourselves throughout the state. It’s been very fragmented in the past."

GYM sportsbar opening in Los Angeles, in the old Normandie Room space.

Buju Banton show axed in Richmond, Virginia.

Tom Cruise shows off his jogging hair.

20 protest outside "ex-gay" conference near Melbourne, Australia: "They waved placards that read 'Hands off queer kids' and 'You can’t straighten me out', and had a heated debate with organisers about whether it’s possible to become straight."

Watch: Adam Lambert 20/20 Interview Preview

#adamlambert

I know some of you have an Adam Lambert headache. If so, kindly skip to the next post.

Here are a couple more unseen shots from Lambert's Rolling Stone Matthew Rolston photo shoot. Two more here and here.

A preview of tonight's 20/20 interview, AFTER THE JUMP...

In related news, Kris Allen tells People that he's "flattered" that Lambert had a crush on him.

News: Michigan, Kris Allen, Boston Gay Bars, Kathy Griffin

3GS: Apple releases follow-up to iPhone. 3G now $99.

GALLUP POLL: 58% of conservatives favor gays in the military.

 Tween Idol.

Kris Allen signs record deal, discusses album.

Pat Steadman, first out gay man in the Colorado senate, sworn in.

Proposition 8 protest in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Faces of Us: "a photo campaign created with the purpose of bringing the fight for LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) rights to the National spotlight. The campaign is still small, but growing, and shows the faces and identities of members of the LGBT community and allies who care about these issues."

Gay porn actor Timothy Boham (aka Marcus Allen) murder trial goes to jury: "Twenty-eight-year-old Timothy Boham testified Thursday that Denver businessman John Kelso committed suicide and that they had planned to make it look like a robbery for life-insurance purposes. But prosecutors say Boham shot Kelso during a robbery and a police detective testified this week that Boham confessed to the killing."

Two U.S. journalists sentenced to 12 years hard labor in North Korea.

Is the gay bar scene in Boston finished?

Kathy Griffin's My Life on the D List returning tonight at 10 pm: "Since 'D-List' premiered in 2005, Griffin’s career has moved in a different direction. So she thought her show should, too. 'It’s kind of silly to make the show about what it was four years ago, which was I can’t get a job, I’m going to go do stand-up at gay rodeo,' she said. 'It’s a very different place than I was in four years ago.' So this season, Griffin visits, among others, Lily Tomlin, Paula Deen, T.I., Gloria Estefan and Paris Hilton to get a glimpse into their lives."

Male model fix: Christopher Fawcett.

Signature collectors begin drive to recall Portland Mayor Sam Adams. Organizer Jasun Wurster: "This is a positive, non-partisan and intelligent campaign that is comprised of very talented volunteers who are solely focused on holding Sam Adams accountable for his civic transgressions."

Images from a cocktail party held by the New York Times in honor of same-sex couples that have made their wedding announcements in the paper.

Snow falls in North Dakota in June.

Cristiano Ronaldo exposed?

Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway reuniting on screen for Love and Other Drugs.

Michigan shift in public opinion on gays called 'seismic': "In October 2004, a Glengariff poll showed 24% of Michiganders supported marriage rights for same-sex partners, and only 42% supported legal recognition of civil unions. In the new poll, support for same sex marriage was 46.5% and for civil unions 63.7%. Forty-eight percent of state voters said they opposed adding marriage rights, the only one of nine gay rights issues not winning majority support."

UK Catholic mother launches legal battle after son is placed with gay foster parents. Catholic church says adoption rights for gays amount to child abuse.

American Idol Judge Kara DioGuardi Outs Adam Lambert on The View

#idol

In an appearance on The View airing today, American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi outs Adam Lambert.

ABC News reports: "Asked by Barbara Walters whether Lambert's perceived sexuality may have influenced 'Idol' voters, DioGuardi said, 'Well, first of all, I hope not ... because we should be judging on talent and viability in the music industry and they both [Lambert and Allen] had that.' Either way, she said, 'I don't think that Adam [Lambert] was ever in [the closet],' DioGuardi continued. 'I think he was always openly out.'"

What we do know is that DioGuardi always openly wants attention.

Also, here's a high-larious interview with Lambert by Michelle Collins at Best Week Ever.

And interview with Lambert and Kris Allen, in which Lambert admits he is a top,
AFTER THE JUMP...