NEWS: George W. Bush To The Rescue, More Arrests In Russia, And A Long Goodbye To Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Brother of Gabriel Garcia Marquez publicly acknowledges that the author is suffering from dementia, and no longer writes:

"He has problems with his memory. Sometimes I cry because I feel like I'm losing him," he said.

... invited to talk about his relationship with Gabo, as the writer is affectionately known in Colombia, Jaime said he could not hold back from talking about his illness anymore.

"He is doing well physically, but he has been suffering from dementia for a long time," he said. "He still has the humour, joy and enthusiasm that he has always had."

Eight more gay activists arrested in St. Petersburg.

The New York Times on the fracturing of the "ex-gay" movement; and an interview with Exodus International's Alan Chambers:

Only a few years ago, Mr. Chambers was featured in advertisements along with his wife, Leslie, saying, “Change is possible.” But now, he said in the interview, “Exodus needs to move beyond that slogan.”

“I believe that any sexual expression outside of heterosexual, monogamous marriage is sinful according to the Bible,” Mr. Chambers emphasized. “But we’ve been asking people with same-sex attractions to overcome something in a way that we don’t ask of anyone else,” he said, noting that Christians with other sins, whether heterosexual lust, pornography, pride or gluttony, do not receive the same blanket condemnations.

London Pride.

CNN on the push to eliminate the United States' gay blood-donor ban:

... Since the 1980s, when the AIDS epidemic decimated their community, gay men -- or MSMs (men who have sex with men) as they are called by federal agencies -- have not been allowed to donate blood. In June, a group of 64 U.S. legislators led by Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Illinois, and Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services encouraging it to move forward with a study that may lead to the end of the decades-old ban.

"This is a matter of life and death and we are turning away over 50,000 healthy men who want to donate blood," Quigley told CNN. "A straight person who has unsafe sex with multiple partners can give blood, and that creates a greater risk than a gay person in a monogamous relationship."

Obamafan serves the President eggs, bacon, toast, grits; dies happy.

Henceforth, 17 Magazine shall use only un-airbrushed, well-fed models.

The Guardian's Tom Shone goes gay for Magic Mike, and a lot of other movies, too:

The screen is an equal opportunity seducer – polymorphically perverse. If you are a man (or a woman) and you watch the famous scene in Notorious where Cary Grant nibbles Ingrid Bergman's ear while she is answering the phone, you don't feel two different things depending on which half of the screen you look at. I don't look at Bergman and go "yummy" and then look at Grant and go "shame about him."  Such is the heat of the movie screen that every grain and pixel is suffused with longing. The fact is: I have spent as much time in the dark of the movie theatre watching men kiss and be kissed, and getting a kick out of it, as I have women.

Amazon to enter the smartphone market.

George W. Bush spent the 4th in Zambia:

He worked alongside other volunteers in Kabwe - Zambia's second-largest city - to renovate a health clinic which specializes in the early detection and treatment of cervical cancer.

“You're always the former president but I wanted to come here as a laborer...I do want to say that on this particular trip that myself and friends have left behind a clinic and hope to inspire others to come and refurbish clinics as well,” Bush said.

Bush is helping lead the fight against cervical cancer in his post-presidential years and has so far helped raise more than $85 million ...

 

British Government Lets Pride Flag Fly As Celebrations Crumble

It's a big moment in England, where gay-friendly Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg made sure the gay pride flag was flying above Parliament for this weekend's truncated World Pride event.

From Dawn.com:

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg requested the flag be flown on Whitehall, the central London street that houses several ministries, ahead of the World Pride parade celebrating gay rights in the British capital on Saturday.

“There has to be a first time for everything,” said Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrat party.

“Flying this iconic flag in the heart of Whitehall is a small but important emblem that the government and this country are behind equal rights,” added Clegg, whose centrist party is junior partner in a coalition led by the centre-right Conservatives.

As Clegg celebrates pride, though, others in London are furious over the growing calamity known as World Pride. Due to budget shortfalls and mismanagement, the planned parade has now become a "procession" and a number of events have been called off all together, including an event in the city's Soho district.

An official statement from Pride London organizers:

To create a safe and incident-free event for revelers in Soho, Westminster Council will need to close key roads and uphold parking suspensions in the area. Because we couldn’t provide the assurances required to pay the council for these closures, the application did not progress [and] we’re forced to cancel all official Pride London events for this reason.

.. Whilst the streets of Soho will not officially be closed, the Metropolitan Police will ensure the safety of all in the area and close roads where appropriate.

While organizers are bearing the brunt of the criticism for this calamity, activist Peter Tatchell also lays some blame on gay London Mayor Boris Johnson.

"Like Pride, the mayoral team failed to involve other LGBT stakeholders and financiers to raise extra cash and to draft a credible rescue plan," Tatchell says. "If the Mayor had acted weeks ago, we would not be in this mess."

BBC Releases Animated Olympic Opening Sequence: VIDEO

The BBC today unveiled its minute-long opening sequence for the London Olympic games. It's something of mix between a Pixar adventure flick on the highlands and an energy drink commercial.

Check it out AFTER THE JUMP.

Three Cheers For The U.S. Men's Gymnastic Team: PHOTOS

America's men's gymnastic team is apparently the guys to beat this year. They're so good that some are already predicting gold medals for the U.S. of A. And they'll look good doing it, too.

OutSports has gathered some pictures of the team, including Jake Dalton, Jonathan Horton, Sam Mikulak, Steven Legendre and Alex Naddour, whom you see above working the pommel horse.

Check out some more pictures of the gents AFTER THE JUMP and you can the rest of the team at OutSports.

WorldPride London 'Scaling Back,' And Participants Aren't Happy About It

According to reports out of London, this year's WorldPride event is falling apart at the seams. Though the event was meant to include cars and floats, it is now being billed as a foot parade and many of the planned activities have been called off, including a gathering in Golden Square.

Organizers are playing it as an economic "scaling back" that is more inline with earlier, less extravagant pride events. They are "returning to the roots of the original Pride London rallies," they said in a statement.

Potential participants, however, are having none of it, and are making no secret of their disdain. James-J Walsh, a former Pride London director, took to Pink News to voice his displeasure:

As a former Associate Director of Pride London, who was involved with the bid for the London WorldPride Event I can’t say I’m all that surprised, but what you might be surprised to hear is that the planning for this started almost five years ago.

We are at a point where the official festival fortnight has already begun and in little over a week, thousands will be making a national or international commute to London with nothing to see and nowhere to go beyond that of an ordinary Saturday night out in Soho. It’s a travesty for the UK’s LGBT Tourism and Hospitality industry, and a despicable wasted opportunity for the International LGBT Rights movement.

LGBT activist Peter Tatchell also spoke out about the WorldPride "chaos," particularly the time change: the event was meant to start at 1pm, but has been pushed up to 11am.

"Many people have booked coaches and trains to arrive at the original start time of 1pm, and it’s too late to ensure that everyone knows that the start time has changed," he said. "It is going to result in total chaos and gridlock throughout the West End. The police and the mayor are stark, raving mad to have agreed to this shambles."

Carrie Underwood Comes Out For Marriage Equality

In a move doomed to alienate a signiicant hunk of her fanbase, Carrie Underwood has revealed to the Independent that she is a strong believer in marriage equality:

"As a married person myself, I don't know what it's like to be told I can't marry somebody I love, and want to marry," she said. "I can't imagine how that must feel. I definitely think we should all have the right to love, and love publicly, the people that we want to love."

Ms. Underwood was speaking to the British newspaper in preparation for her first-ever concert in the UK, which shall be held at the Royal Albert Hall later this month. (Incidentally, Underwood isn't the first American country star to visit London and make statements which might annoy her red-state fanbase. It was there that the Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines famously voiced her unhappiness about the United States' rush to war in Iraq.)

From the Independent:

Underwood ... draws much of her fanbase from evangelical Christians, speaks frequently about her faith and has made religion the subject of several of her best-known songs, including the No 1 country hit "Jesus Take the Wheel".

She said, however, that her liberal attitude towards same-sex marriage comes because of her Christian values, rather than in spite of them. Though raised a Baptist, a church that tends to oppose homosexuality, Underwood and her husband Mike Fisher, a professional ice-hockey player, now worship in a non-denominational congregation.

"Our church is gay friendly," she said. "Above all, God wanted us to love others. It's not about setting rules, or [saying] 'everyone has to be like me'. No. We're all different. That's what makes us special. We have to love each other and get on with each other. It's not up to me to judge anybody."

Underwood, 29, swept to fame in 2005 after winning American Idol and has since drawn much of her estimated $20m (£13m) annual income from touring the US. In the interview, she condemned "people who use the Bible for hate", adding: "That's not how I would want myself as a Christian to be represented."

Underwood's new album, Blown Away, and her single, "Good Girl," currently occupy the top spots on the Billboard country charts.