News: Burj Khalifa, Avatar, Seoul, Peter Corren, Casey Spooner

When Love Takes Over: Write your local newspaper.

Canadian gay activist Peter Corren dies after long illness.

Burj Dubai Khalifa, world's tallest building, opens.

Photos of every celeb dude nipple that hit the beach over the holidays: Gerard Butler, Jason Statham, Matthew Morrison, more...

D.C. gay bar Halo changes its name, goes green, commits to community pursuits: "The event is the beginning of a year-long process for Logan Circle Spectrum to institute a philosophical shift in corporate culture and set the foundation for national expansion of a new entertainment concept. The LGBT community today has evolved and we want to create a place where people can have fun while having the opportunity to make a more direct impact in our local communities."

Matthew Broderick misses being Bueller.

Washington Post blasts homophobic Virginia state senate candidate Stephen Hunt: "Although he was hardworking, his tenure is remembered mainly for his being unanimously censured by his colleagues after he sent a letter to high school principals denouncing homosexuality as a 'very destructive lifestyle' and urging them to expose students to former gays and lesbians who had rejected homosexuality."

Rosie O'Donnell and her new girlfriend, Texas-based artist Tracy Kachtick-Anders.

Casey Spooner (of Fischerspooner) wants you to hear his new track, "Faye Dunaway".

Jake Gyllenhaal receives a hot cop escort any time he wants one.

Male model fix: Noah Mills.

Seoul court rules in favor of Pakistani man seeking refugee status because he is gay: " The individual had petitioned the government for refugee status in February of last year. The Justice Ministry rejected his application four months later, however, saying his petition did not meet the criteria of a 'well-founded fear of being persecuted' as stipulated by the U.N. convention on refugees. The Seoul Administrative Court reversed the ministry's decision, saying that should he be repatriated 'there is a high likelihood that the plaintiff will be subject to persecution by the Pakistani government and Muslim society simply because he is gay.'"

North Dakota Lutheran church to leave ELCA over gay policies.

Man with world's largest recorded penis can't find work.

BBC presenter Jane Hill: I'm a lesbian.

Avatar is Pocahontas in space.

Rick Warren's urgent plea for $900K inspires windfall: "To no one's surprise, the congregation came through big time, even as Warren took a clubbing in the national media for the 'sky-is-falling' tone of his missive and his surprise that it made news. A spokesman for the church later said Warren also made clear that the ministry 'never asks -- or expects -- outsiders to give.' Saturday night, in the first round of weekend services, Warren announced more than $2.4 million rolled in through online offerings and envelopes delivered to the church's Lake Forest campus, south of Los Angeles."

Changes we can applaud.

The Oscar contenders as gay porn variants?

Steve Kornell, St. Petersburg, Florida's first openly gay elected official, sworn in.

New Jersey judge rules surrogate is legal mother: "In the New Jersey case, the surrogate, Angelia G. Robinson, agreed to have the children in 2006 for her brother, Donald Robinson Hollingsworth, an accountant in Manhattan, and his spouse, Sean Hollingsworth. The embryos were created from anonymous donor eggs and fertilized with sperm from Sean Hollingsworth. The girls were born in October 2006 and went to live with the Hollingsworths at their home in Jersey City. But in March 2007 Ms. Robinson filed a lawsuit seeking custody, alleging that she had been coerced into the arrangement."

News: Mary Cheney, Lutherans, DOMA, Mariah Carey, Detroit

Federal judge rules that gay couple denied benefits should receive compensation: "U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephen Reinhardt deemed the denial of healthcare and other benefits to the spouse of federal public defender Brad Levenson to be a violation of the Constitution's guarantee of due process and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, which is prohibited by California state law."

Mary Cheney and Heather Poe welcome new baby: "Sarah Lynne Cheney was born Wednesday morning at Sibley Hospital in Washington, weighing 6 pounds and 14 ounces. She is the seventh grandchild of the former vice president and his wife, Lynne."

Mariah Carey demands 20 fluffy white kittens, 100 doves, 80 security guards and more so she can turn on the Christmas lights at a London mall.

South African runner Caster Semenya keeps title after gender dispute.

Robert Pattinson can play things other than vampires.

Incoming gay Detroit City Council member Charles Pugh talks of AIDS crisis in city: “There needs to be more money targets at the crisis areas."

David Vitter won't comment on the Louisiana justice who refused to marry an interracial couple because he isn't familiar with Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court case which lifted the ban on interracial marriages.

Demi Moore has lost a chunk of her thigh!

WATCH: Band uses naked men as furniture in new video.

Levi Johnston never intended to go full-frontal in Playgirl.

Neil Patrick Harris has a signature pose.

Probably one of the skankiest beards in Hollywood.

Anti-gay evangelicals met with protest at Syracuse University: "Pesto, a junior from Westchester County, said he saw the Deferios’ signs earlier in the day. It made him uncomfortable, he said, so he made his own sign. 'Corduroy skirts are a sin,' it said, referring to what Michelle Deferio was wearing. 'I was just making a gay joke,' he said. But friends saw him and joined in, standing with him and making signs of their own. Other students came and, by 6:30, there were about 70 people at the scene, holding signs, cheering and challenging the Deferios."

If you were called "Mary" for 55 years would you really want your name changed to "Terry"?

Adam Lambert is starting to resemble a member of the Queen's Guard.

Gay vs Gay? Queer/trans anarchist group Bash Back protests Join the Impact demonstration in Minneapolis.

A guide to D.C. marriage equality discrimination.

Mall Santas and doctors neckties are to be avoided if you want to escape the flu.

Gay couples blast DOMA in new court filing: "DOMA marks a stark, and unique, departure from the respect and recognition the federal government has long afforded to State marital status determinations."

Via Boy Culture, Susan Boyle sings Madonna's "You'll See".

UK pit bull owner hunted after allowing his dog to attack blind woman's seeing-eye dog.

Get hubbied.

Lutherans upset over gay clergy split to form new denomination: "Leaders of Lutheran CORE said Wednesday that a working group would immediately begin drafting a constitution and taking other steps to form the denomination, with hopes to have it off the ground by next August. 'There are many people within the ELCA who are very unhappy with what has happened,' said the Rev. Paull Spring, chairman of Lutheran CORE and a retired ELCA bishop from State College, Pa."

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: H1N1, Banksy, Drew Gooden, Space Hotel, Justin Bourne

Wisconsin Supreme Court to hear appeal of lawsuit oever same-sex marriage referendum.

Dallas Mavericks Drew Gooden accused of calling fan a "faggot".

Lady Gaga found something else in her closet.

Census data: many similarities between straight married couples and gay married couples.

Gay candidate smeared as child molester in Annapolis election.

Anti-gay sign investigated as hate crime in Maine: "A hand-painted, plywood sign that had a threat directed at homosexuals was found nailed on a tree in the front yard of a Route 156 residence on Friday, police say."

Hypocrite: Rep. Joe Wilson blames Obama administration for vaccine shortage after voting no on funding bill to combat H1N1.

Space hotel to launch in 2012?

A look at Ultimate Fighting, its gay-friendly and not so gay-friendly fighters, and its gay fans: “Any guy involved in grappling is the furthest thing from homophobic in the world. I honestly think it would have no impact whatsoever with not only our fighters or our fan base. The guys in the UFC, everybody is so cool, it’s great sportsmanship, everybody has respect for each other. I honestly, it wouldn’t be a big deal to me and most of the guys I know in this sport, it wouldn’t be a big deal for them either.”

Circus: Kylie Minogue spent Halloween in NYC with Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo Martone.

Miss Gay America crowned in St. Louis.

Minor league hockey player Justin Bourne: End the gay slurs. "In my days as a hockey player, I did nothing but contribute to hockey's culture of homophobia and prejudice against gays. I used gay slurs more times than I'd like to admit. Six months after I left my last professional locker room, I felt a twinge of regret, followed by a full-out, stomach punch of regret. And by the time I finished the first draft of this column, I was disgusted with myself."

Is Precious this year's Slumdog?

Listen: Silverton, Oregon's transgender mayor Stu Rasmussen profiled on WNYC's Radiolab.

Dancing with the Stars' Derek Hough: I'm not gay, but I almost played one on Cougar Town: "It would have been perfect. With all the rumors going around, I thought it would be really funny because it's just not true. But I was like, you know what? If that's what you want to see."

Rihanna discusses assault: "I went to sleep as Rihanna and woke up as Britney Spears."

Banksy commentary on graffiti vandalism covered in graffiti by vandals.

Minnesota pastor quits over Lutheran position on gay clergy.

Mariah Carey nearly takes spill on Jay Leno.

Twitter war erupts after user calls British actor Stephen Fry's Tweets "boring."

Conservative Washington Times highlights Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James T. Conway's opposition to lifting ban on gays in the military: "But Gen. Conway has gone further than others in stating his opposition to a change in policy, according to the former official, who has been privy to private conversations on the matter. "He feels very strongly that [removing the ban] would be disruptive, and he opposes it," said the former official. Gen. Conway's private remarks stand in contrast to public utterances by other service chiefs, who have restricted themselves to repeating a well-rehearsed mantra: If Congress introduces a bill to repeal the ban, they will discuss it with the chain of command. If Congress changes the law, they will follow the law."

News: Autumn, Provincetown, Starbucks, Trevor Donovan, Lutherans

Is the Westboro Baptist Church distributing flyers that read "Kill Jews" around Brooklyn? Sounds like it.

Guess what? It's leaf peeping time.

Anderson Cooper, swine flu victim?

Capital Territory tries again for marriage equality, again faces government opposition.

This is it: Michael Jackson media blitz begins.

Elizabeth Taylor wants to be buried next to MJ? "After sitting through Michael's funeral service at the Great Mausoleum, with its magnificent stained-glass windows and replicas of Michelangelo's artworks, she later told friends, 'I felt a sense of peace there that I've never experienced before.'"

Chapel Hill, North Carolina to woo gay travelers: “We are looking at this from a purely economic perspective.”

Michelle Phillips says Mackenzie is lying about the incest.

Disgusting: NOM targets Californians Against Hate activist Fred Karger with subpoena in retaliation for his investigations of their spending toward anti-gay ballot measures.

Provincetown gay basher Eric Patten slapped with civil rights injunction. You may recall that Patten beat up a lesbian on Commercial Street and pushed her through a window after mistaking her for a gay man.

Office of Special Counsel reopens to federal workers who face anti-gay harassment on the job: "The decision effectively puts to an end any confusion caused by a directive instituted under the Bush administration that had restricted the federal agency from representing certain anti-gay discrimination cases sought by employees of the U.S. government. In 2004 then Office of Special Counsel head Scott Bloch declared that federal law did not protect workers who faced on-the-job discrimination based on their sexual orientation or 'status' as gays and lesbians."

Ian McKellen honored at San Sebastian Film Festival.

90210 hunk Trevor Donovan flashes A/X shoppers.

Starbucks app uses iPhone to pay for lattes.

Long tarmac delays to be banned: "The Capitol Hill event drew both supporters and critics of the legislation, which would force airlines to create plans to deplane passengers after three hours and would require them to provide basic services such as food and water while they are waiting on planes."

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America begs its members not to withhold donations over its recent decision to allow gay and lesbian clergy: "Although these actions are promoted as a way to signal opposition to churchwide assembly actions or even to punish the voting members who made them, the result will be wounds that we inflict on ourselves, our shared life, and our mission in Christ."

Australia's first gay retirement home hits roadblocks: "Those interested in buying off the plan will now have to wait until early 2010 for the Ballan-based village. The $26 million Linton Estate project has experienced a series of delays since it was announced in July last year, with the global financial crisis and thrashing out suitable floor plans being blamed."

Lutheran Decision on Gay Clergy May Split Church

Will the schism that occurred in the Episcopal Church over its decisions regarding gay clergy be repeated in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) as a result of Friday's vote to allow gays and lesbians in committed relationships to serve as rostered leaders?

It looks as if that may be happening:

"Golden light filtered through the stained-glass windows of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church [in Chicago] on Sunday, illuminating a congregation on its feet. Everyone in the pews of the Wrigleyville church stood, some with tears in their eyes, applauding the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's recent decision to allow gay men and women in committed relationships to serve as leaders. 'It's a good day to be a Lutheran,' said Patrice Macken, a member of Holy Trinity for six years. 'I feel like it's a long overdue decision ... it's just a human-rights issue.' Meanwhile, at St. Mark Lutheran Church in Lindenhurst, Rev. Bill Shields opened worship with a cry of anguish. 'Dear Father, we come to you with heavy hearts because our church is in turmoil,' he prayed."

Meanwhile, in Wausau, Wisconsin: "At least two Wausau-area pastors think their church leaders made the right decision when they lifted a ban that prohibited sexually active gay and lesbian people from serving as ministers in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America...The two Wausau pastors called the decision a necessary step as the Lutheran faith evolves in today’s society. 'Jesus forbid divorce, yet we let divorced people into our church,' said The Rev. Gary Froseth, the senior pastor at St. Stephen Lutheran Church. 'If you’re in a public, lifelong relationship, that should qualify you to be a pastor for a church.'"

And in Charleston, West Virginia: "A local congregation could break away from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, which voted Friday to allow sexually active, monogamous gays and lesbians to serve as clergy...Mahan predicts a majority of his congregation will want to leave the ELCA. 'I can't believe the church I loved and served for 40 years can condone what God condemns,' Mahan said after the vote to allow gay clergy."

The move by Lutherans has others wondering what will happen with other mainline denominations: "The Presbyterian Church (USA) has inched closer to joining the Episcopalians and Lutherans, but the latest effort to undo a policy requiring chastity of gay clergy was defeated this year. The nation's largest mainline denomination, the United Methodist Church, has moved in the opposite direction, hardening its opposition to non-celibate gay clergy...The ELCA's move is especially jarring and significant because 'it is viewed by all of us as one of the more Reformation-rooted, broadly orthodox denominations' and takes its theology seriously, said Richard Mouw, president of the multi-denominational and evangelical Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif. 'It's a huge, huge departure for a church like that,' said Mouw, who has urged fellow conservatives in the Presbyterian Church (USA) to stay in the fold despite concerns about a leftward shifts on sexuality. He said one possible outcome is a 'new ecumenical dialogue on the right' uniting beleaguered conservatives from various denominations — though not under the banner of a new one."