News: Ken Cuccinelli, Detroit, Rumer Willis, Malaysia, Britney Spears

Gay Detroit City Council candidate Charles Pugh under scrutiny after Detroit Free Press pulls endorsement because of foreclosure on condominium.

Kathie Lee Gifford as a gay droid for Halloween.

Watch: Britney Spears' new video for "3".

Homophobic bigot Randy Thomasson is urging his followers to call schools and school boards and force them to erase Harvey Milk Day from their curricula.

NYT looks at Annise Parker's race to be the mayor of Houston, Texas: “I always told voters the truth. There is an element of, ‘Well, if she will tell us the truth about her sexual orientation she will tell us the truth about anything.’”

LOL: ChristWire on how the Golden Girls turned an entire generation of American boys gay.

WATCH: Brand new trailer for James Cameron's Avatar, starring Sam Worthington.

ICANN votes to liberalize country web domains: "This means that in a few months, folks will finally be able to type URLs in languages using non-Latin alphabets. For instance, in China, websites will be able soon be in Chinese; in the Middle East they might be in Arabic or Hebrew; in Greece in Greek letters, Russia in Russian letters."

Pete Wentz got a tattoo of Cobra Starship's Gabe Saporta on his leg.

Autistic artist Stephen Wiltshire draws 18-foot mural of New York City from memory after 20 minute helicopter ride.

Body 2 Body: Malaysian queer anthology is first of its kind.

Rumer Willis to play a lesbian on 90210: "This isn't a fling. We're coming at this [relationship] from a genuine place and not going, 'Let's do a titillating story that will grab some promotion.' This is a real aspect of teenager life that's interesting...And there's been a real void in the 90210 universe in terms of gay and bisexual characters."

Indiewire looks at this year's gay Oscar hopes: "This year could also find as many as three best pictures helmed by gay men. In addition to 'A Single Man,' there’s Rob Marshall’s 'Nine,' and Lee Daniels’ 'Precious: Based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,' the latter of which also features a major gay character.  What I think is really interesting here - and what speaks volumes to social systems in behind-the-scenes Hollywood - is Lee Daniels’s prospective nomination.  If he gets nominated for best director, it would be much more monumental because he is African-American than it would be because he is openly gay."

Twilight's hunk wolf Alex Meraz takes it off.

First look: Cheyenne Jackson on 30 Rock.

The Real World: Starship Enterprise.

Birmingham school board enacts LGBT-inclusive anti-bullying policy.

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli: "My view is that homosexual acts, not homosexuality, but homosexual acts are wrong. They’re intrinsically wrong. And I think in a natural law based country it’s appropriate to have policies that reflect that. ... They don’t comport with natural law. I happen to think that it represents (to put it politely; I need my thesaurus to be polite) behavior that is not healthy to an individual and in aggregate is not healthy to society."

Ever want to hear from a Tired Old Queen who loves movies? Here's your chance.

True Life: MTV looking for athete coming out stories.

Esera Tuaolo on Larry Johnson's "faggot" slur: "What is also crippling to an athlete is hearing slurs like that thrown around like it's just the thing to do. When you use (gay slurs) and you use it in a negative term, it's the same as calling a woman a (expletive). Or the same as calling an African-American the (expletive). It's demeaning to another human being. And it's not right."

$30M Gay Defamation Case Thrown Out on Technicality in Malaysia

A Malaysian court has thrown out a $30 million lawsuit brought by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim against former premier Mahathir Mohamad. Ibrahim wanted $30 million because Mohamad said he was gay:

"Anwar served as deputy premier to Mahathir until he was sacked in 1998 and jailed on sodomy and corruption charges. The sex conviction was later overturned and he was released after serving six years in jail. Anwar lodged the defamation case in 2006 after Mahathir said he could not have allowed his former deputy to become prime minister because he was a homosexual, a comment the lawsuit said was 'false and malicious'. The case, which was rejected by the High Court in 2007, was thrown out by the Appeals Court Tuesday on technical grounds after Mahathir's lawyers complained the application was lodged in English, and not Bahasa Malaysia. Anwar's counsel Sankara Nair said the case should not have been dismissed on the grounds of irregularities, which were common and should be easily overcome by the court. 'It should go on the merits of the matter. So that's why we were most disappointed that the court decided to dismiss the matter on technicalities,' he told AFP."

News: Catholics, Malaysia, Barbra Streisand, Wisconsin, The Moon

WaPo: 7,000 gay men have helped study AIDS in the past 25 years.

Facebook kills poll asking if Obama should be killed. Secret service investigates. UPDATE: Secret Service tracks down user who posted it.

Too Much! Salaries of The Hills cast per episode.

"Ex-gay" group calls hate crime laws "anti-ex-gay": "According to PFOX, hate crime laws protecting gays and lesbians themselves constitute hate crimes against ex-gays. Because if you tell people that they can’t beat up people because they’re gay, you discriminate against the people who beat up gay people because they are gay! It is you who are committing the “anti-ex-gay hate crime,” because if people aren’t allowed to hate gay people, how will PFOX ever find any ex-gay people?"

Atlanta Eagle court hearing postponed a second time.

Malaysia bans Sacha Baron Cohen's Bruno: "It's banned because the story is based on gay life ... There are a lot of sex scenes. It's contrary to our culture."

Isn't it a little early to hit the pumpkin patch, Hugh Jackman?

DJ AM death ruled accidental.

The Vatican defends its sexual abuse scandals by saying other churches are far worse, then claims their priests aren't pedophiles but homosexuals attracted to young men: "In a defiant and provocative statement, issued following a meeting of the UN human rights council in Geneva, the Holy See said the majority of Catholic clergy who committed such acts were not paedophiles but homosexuals attracted to sex with adolescent males.…The statement said that rather than paedophilia, it would 'be more correct' to speak of ephebophilia, a homosexual attraction to adolescent males."

Maine's Catholics fast to save marriage.

Janet Jackson makes amfAR appearance in Milan.

NYT Consults blog on questioning teens: "In trying to understand sexual orientation, it can help a person to think about who he or she has crushes on and fantasizes about being with. A person doesn’t necessarily need to have a 'full' sexual experience in order to understand his or her sexual orientation."

Australian court hears gay panic defense from two men in murder trial.

Gerard Butler pigs out, shows off his cock.

Mattel to offer Barbra Streisand doll.

Billboards in Wisconsin highlight LGBT neighbors: "The campaign is a first in Midwest history to be translated to Spanish, and one of the firsts across the country. Digital billboards will be featured on major commuter freeway paths, which include ads in Ozaukee, Racine, Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties. The accompanying websites, GayNeighbor.org and MiVecinoGay.org, answers basic questions in Spanish and English about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender (LGBT) community and issues they face."

The speech William Safire wrote for Richard Nixon if the astronauts were left stranded on the moon.

Rufus Wainwright: Cheese-eating Ken doll.

OMG interviews Karin Dreijer Andersson of Fever Ray and The Knife.

Graham Norton given warning about lesbian remark: "Norton, 46, and his programme team have now been warned about 'being seen to endorse offensive sexual stereotypes' after a BBC investigation. This comes after a viewer complained about the remarks made about an illustration of a jump suit invention, which showed a large woman with short hair. The comic described the picture as showing a 'strange lesbian' and when asked what a lesbian looks like, he pointed at the picture and said 'That!'."

Rare Yellow Hairy Malaysian Spider Named for David Bowie

The Guardian reports on Heteropoda davidbowie: "The giant yellow – and very hairy – spider...is the most recent discovery of German spider specialist Peter Jäger, who has found 200 new species in the past 10 years. Most of these arachnids are endangered, and by naming spiders after celebrities Jäger hopes to attract public attention to the dangers facing each species. 'It is working against time,' he says. 'Along with the species, we are also quickly losing genetic resources that have evolved over more than 300 million years.'"

News: Mount Redoubt, Cal Thomas, McGill, Matt Drudge, Malaysia

Conservative columnist Cal Thomas: Same-sex marriage battle lost. "To those on the political and religious right who are intent on continuing the battle to preserve 'traditional marriage' in a nation that is rapidly discarding its traditions, I would ask this question: What poses a greater threat to our remaining moral underpinnings? Is it two homosexuals living together, or is it the number of heterosexuals who are divorcing and the increasing number of children born to unmarried women, now at nearly 40 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention"

The Big Picture looks into the cone of the Mount Redoubt Volcano.

Ever been to a penis festival?

Iowa same-sex marriages delayed by three days.

Russian court finds activists guilty of "popularizing" homosexuality.

From the diaries of Matt Drudge's gay ex-roommate.

White House advisory panel on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships: Anti-gay former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy declines, openly gay director of the religion and faith program at Human Rights Campaign, Harry Knox, accepts.

Robert Pattinson injures his arse.

Advocate: Is porn recession-proof? "Jet Set and others in the adult industry are facing a double whammy: the worst recession in decades coupled with nothing less than a tectonic shift in the way people are consuming their products. Much as Napster did to the record industry 10 years ago, websites like XTube are shaking traditional porn businesses to their core. And now an industry that is perhaps best known for going for broke could go, well, broke."

Newsweek on LGBT youth and the search for a welcoming college.

Ronson family issues restraining order against Lindsay Lohan.

McGill student writes about being targeted in anti-gay hate crime in Montreal: "It seemed it was not a joke, or at least not one my friend and I were allowed to laugh at. These four men were quite serious. They had identified us as gay, and they were not okay with that."

Madonna goes out on the town following return from Malawi.

Vandals desecrate park dedicated to Matthew Shepard in West Hollywood: "The trees, one a flowering Chinese Magnolia and the other a California Live Oak, suffered considerable damage in the attacks. Morris Kight, who died just weeks after his tree’s planting in 2002, was honored at that time for his pioneering of the gay movement; founding Gay Pride, co-founding the LA Gay & Lesbian Center, Stonewall Democratic Club are just a sampling of his achievement."

Rose McGowan discusses her gays.

Mike Alvear: At least have the decency to lie about your sexuality.

Gay, singer/serial killer receives death sentence in Malaysia: "A self-confessed Indonesian serial killer who recorded a pop album and wrote a grisly tell-all book from his prison cell was sentenced to death on Monday for the murder of a romantic rival.A district court in Depok outside the Indonesian capital found Verry Idham Henyansyah, known popularly as Ryan, guilty of murdering and dismembering Herry Santoso and dumping of his body in bags on a Jakarta roadside last year."

Gay and Lesbian Content Censored in Asia Oscar Re-Broadcast

Monday I posted a note from a reader that Lance Black's speech and other gay content in Sunday's Academy Awards presentation had been cut from broadcast in India.

Now, the AP reports the censorship took place on a much broader scale:

"The speeches by actor Sean Penn and writer Dustin Lance Black — who won Oscars for their work in 'Milk' — were shown in full during live broadcasts of the Oscars that were screened across Asia on Monday morning. But viewers who caught recorded telecasts in the evening on STAR, an Asian satellite TV service that says it reaches more than 300 million viewers in 53 countries, noticed that the sound was removed whenever both men mentioned 'gay' or 'lesbian.' ... 'As a gay man, I am truly offended,' Pang Khee Teik, a prominent Malaysian arts commentator, wrote in a letter sent out to several media organizations. 'Stop censoring the words that describe who I am.' Pang said the move 'sent a message ... that gays and lesbians are still shameful things to be censored from the public's ears.' Users of Internet forums in Singapore and India also complained about the censored speeches. Jannie Poon, STAR's Hong Kong-based spokeswoman, stressed that the company had no intention of upsetting any viewers, but said it has 'a responsibility to take the sensitivities and guidelines of all our markets into consideration.' Poon said she was not immediately aware that the speeches had been censored, but noted that STAR's preliminary ratings for the Oscar broadcasts indicated 'record-breaking' audiences, especially in India and Taiwan."

Viewers apparently saw Black and Penn speaking, but heard nothing coming from their sets.