News: Venezuela, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Chapel Hill, Mormons

Marriage Equality New York holding rally tonight to protest anti-gay vote in Maine: "Please join us at a rally on Nov 4th in Union Square on 14th Street side at 5:30pm urging the NYS Senate to vote and in response to the votes on marriage equality across the United States."

50 Cent is a power ______.

Venezuelan police harassing and arresting LGBT citizens: "Like most of those arrested, our identity documents and mobile phones were taken away, we were beaten, our sexual orientation was insulted in degrading language, and we were refused permission to speak to the Justice Ministry officials and members of the National Guard who were present."

Mark Kleinschmidt becomes openly gay mayor of Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Just Jared interviews Glee's Mark Salling.

Author details how Tom Cruise personally audited him for Scientology: "You tell the ashtray, 'Sit in that chair.' Then you actually go over and put the ashtray on the chair. Then you tell the ashtray, 'Thank you.' Then you do the same thing with the bottle, and the book. And you do this for hours and hours."

Fort Worth, Texas task force makes recommendations on expansion of gay rights in the city: "Jon Nelson, an attorney and chairman of the task force, called the recommendations 'one of the most far-reaching actions this city has taken, in the shortest amount of time.'"

Louisiana Justice of the Peace Keith Bardwell, who refused to marry an interracial couple, has resigned.

Female Spectacled Bears suddenly go bald in Leipzig.

Carrie Prejean - Miss California USA settlement details revealed: "We've learned the Pageant will fork over around $100,000 for Carrie's lawyers and publicists connected with the public battle royale. That money goes directly to her flacks and not into her bank account. We're told Carrie personally gets zilch. What Carrie walks away with: Her book comes out on Monday and we're told the Pageant won't fight her for writing it without its permission."

Sean Penn's son arrested at school.

Blu Dot tracks NYC abandoned chairs in "curb-mining" experiment.

Foundation for Reconciliation to deliver 2,000 signatures to Mormon leaders: "About 50 people are expected to deliver the petition to the offices of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Wednesday. Organizer Cheryl Nunn of Santa Cruz, Calif., says the petition is a reaction to the Salt Lake City-based church's support for Proposition 8, a 2008 ballot initiative that banned gay marriage in California."

Brad Pitt dresses up his beard with beads.

Facebook: the movie?

Seattle gay rights pioneer Paul Barwick reflects on applying for a marriage license in King County, Washington in 1971: We knew they weren't going to give us one, but damn it, they were going to have to tell us no to escort us out the door."

Early marriage equality advocates?

Gay Annapolis alderman candidate to file complaint over gay 'child molester' smears.

Dallas Morning News corrects article labeling OUT and The advocate "alternative lifestyle magazines."

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison recommends gay man as U.S. Attorney: "Some Republicans are vehemently and unapologetically not ready for that. That could make it even harder for Hutchison to woo social conservatives in her bid to outflank and oust Gov. Rick Perry in March. "

Cyndi Lauper and Lady Gaga to hawk MAC lipstick for AIDS fund: "MAC Viva Glam Gaga Lipstick and Viva Glam Cyndi Lipstick, $14 each, will launch in North America on March 18 and globally throughout the month, with 100 percent of the proceeds being donated to the MAC AIDS Fund."

Interracial Couple Denied Marriage License in Louisiana

Terence McKay and Beth Humphrey, an interracial couple from Hammond, Louisiana, were denied a marriage license by Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish.

Said Bardwell: "I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way. I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else."

Bardwell claims that Black society does not accept mixed-race offspring and his denial was for the welfare of the child: "There is a problem with both groups accepting a child from such a marriage. I think those children suffer and I won't help put them through it."

The couple is exploring the possibility of filing a discrimination complaint through the Justice Dept.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Ellen DeGeneres Gives Commencement Address at Tulane University

Ellen DeGeneres gave the commencement speech at Tulane University over the weekend in which she talks about her girlfriend who was killed in a car accident when she was 19, her stand-up comedy path, coming out as a lesbian, and living one's life with integrity.

Amazing speech!

Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...

Gay Louisiana Couple Files Suit Over Denial of Marriage License

Kristoffer Bonilla, 33, and John Thomas Wray, 18, a gay New Orleans couple, have filed suit because they were denied a marriage license in Louisiana.

 Via NOLA.com: "he men filed the lawsuit against several state and local officials on April 2, the same day they said they were denied a marriage license. It claims the state's marriage amendment violates the First Amendment 'by curtailing the right to marry based upon a religious interpretation of the nature and purpose of marriage itself...By failing to articulate a legitimate, compelling and secular interest for the restriction on marriage, the state has necessarily established a wholly religious civil institution,' it says. Bonilla, who said he graduated from a New Orleans law school but isn't a practicing attorney, drafted the lawsuit before they applied for the license."

The case is the first of its kind in Louisiana.

(image via facebook)

Stunning Pink Dolphin Photographed in Louisiana

Check out these photos of an albino bottlenose dolphin with a pink rather than white skin pigmentation. The dolphin lives in an estuary in Louisiana. It's unclear if this photo is recent — as the dolphin has been photographed before — but it's definitely gorgeous.

Said Charter boat captain Erik Rue, who shot the photo: "The dolphin appears to be healthy and normal other than its coloration, which is quite beautiful and stunningly pink. The mammal is entirely pink from tip to tail and has reddish eyes indicating it's albinism...I have personally spotted the pink dolphin 40 to 50 times in the time since the original sighting as it has apparently taken up residence with its family in the Calcasieu ship channel. As time has passed the young mammal has grown and sometimes ventures away from its mother to feed and play but always remains in the vicinity of the pod. Surprisingly, it does not appear to be drastically affected by the environment or sunlight as might be expected considering its condition, although it tends to remain below the surface a little more than the others in the pod."

UPDATE: Just found some video of the pink dolphin, captured in Cameron, Louisiana in late October. Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...

Video: Josh Brolin Played 'Kissy' with Jeffrey Wright After Arrest

New video shot in the police car following the July arrest of Josh Brolin and Jeffrey Wright at the wrap party for W, shows Brolin in a 'relaxed state,' discussing the arrest (in which Brolin was pepper-sprayed and Wright tasered), and trying to comfort Wright by giving him kisses and at one point, leaning over and putting his head in Wright's lap.

In the video, Brolin says it's his seventh time being arrested: "My wife's gonna be so happy."

Watch the video here.

Previously
Video Reveals Chaotic Arrest of Josh Brolin and Jeffrey Wright [tr]
George W. Bush and Colin Powell Actors Arrested in Bar Fight [tr]