News: Bruno, EHarmony, Cuba, Eric Balfour, Old New York, Footloose

EHarmony launches gay matchmaking service as a result of settlement in discrimination lawsuit: "It's not a comfortable fit for EHarmony's founder, Neil Clark Warren, who based the original service -- which requires applicants to fill out lengthy questionnaires -- on his own practice as a psychologist. 'It's what I did for 40 years,' said Warren, 74, who is retired but remains on the board. 'I never had a gay couple.'"

Sacha Baron Cohen's Bruno slapped with NC-17 rating over gay sex.

"Ex-gay" therapy group can't rid themselves of shame: "The assumption of these men is that if they can work through a childhood issue that they believe led them to being attracted to other men, they will be able to live as heterosexuals. That notion runs counter to the notion that people are born gay and can't change. None of the men in the group felt comfortable to talk with The Bee."

Wingnuts Lou Sheldon and Andrea Lafferty on what might happen if gays are allowed in the military: "Imagine the impact that the rampant spread of STDs, including HIV would have on the military? How will the military handle the spread of these diseases in the barracks? How will the military handle sodomy in battlefield situations?"

Do-It-Yourself: Is this where magazines are headed?

STUDY: Police across Europe unequipped to deal with homophobic crimes. "The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights said police in most countries were incapable of dealing with homophobic crime -- ranging from verbal abuse to deadly attacks -- and said many governments and schools failed to take it seriously enough. This creates a vicious circle, with victims preferring to remain 'invisible' rather than being open about their sexual orientation or reporting abuse to authorities, the study showed."

Chace Crawford to replace Zac Efron in Footloose remake?

Mariela Castro launches anti-homophobia campaign in Cuba: "The 2009 campaign for respect for freedom of sexual orientation, under the slogan "Diversity is Natural", will try to contribute to 'the education of society in general, with an emphasis on university students, about respect for people's free and responsible sexual orientation and gender identity, as an exercise in equity and social justice.'"

Affleck and Damon, BFFs.

The UK has a gay Apprentice candidate.

Actor Eric Balfour wearing a sock during some strange Red Hot Chilli Peppers parody at Here lounge in L.A. (possibly NSFW)

Snow Patrol fight back against accusations they're dull: "Jonny fights fires. Tom (Simpson, keyboardist) toils shirtless on construction sites, Paul (Wilson, bassist) is in the Navy Reserve. Nathan (Connolly, guitarist) is a volunteer policeman and I explore my Cherokee ancestry. We're like the Village People, only slightly less gay."

Eddie Cibrian's boyband past comes back to haunt him.

Early daguerrotype image of New York City sells for $62,500 at auction.

California Libertarian Party backs effort to replace the word "marriage" with "domestic partnership" throughout California law.

L.A.'s Outfest Film Festival shakes up leadership: "Kirsten Schaffer, formerly director of programming and deputy director for the Los Angeles-based organization, replaces Todd Heustess who had been in the job just seven months." 

Oprah's boarding school in South Africa rocked by lesbian sexual harassment scandal.

News: Israel, Barack Obama, Pet Shop Boys, Harry Connick Jr.

Time magazine: Is it time to end marriage?

Lady GaGa breaks out the bubbly in San Diego.

Gay Israeli couple offered "maternity leave" for first time: "Yonatan Gher, director of Jerusalem's nonprofit Open House Pride and Tolerance organization, has received institute approval of a 64-day leave from work on the occasion of the birth of his biological son, born of a surrogate mother in India. His partner of seven years commenced formal adoption procedures, so that the child will be formally recognized as his as well."

Harry Connick Jr. lets it all hang out.

Our Towleroad correspondents Josh & Josh make the NYT and show how time can be well-spent during a recession.

Santa Clara County, California sees "surge" in anti-gay hate crimes: "Anti-gay incidents accounted for more than half of hate-crime cases last year — 56 percent — a big jump from only 15 percent in 2007. There were 14 anti-gay cases out of 25 hate-crime cases in 2008, compared with only 3 out of 20 in 2007."

The Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles are a bunch of Proud Marys.

Hard times shutter gay nightclub R-Bar in Vallejo, California.

Burundi restores bid to criminalize homosexuality: "Senators last month voted through a draft criminal code law that abolished the death penalty but they rejected an amendment that would make homosexuality punishable by a jail sentence of up to two years. The lower house National Assembly reinstated that clause to the draft on Friday."

NBC's Kings warps the Biblical tale of Jonathan and David in an anti-gay way.

Times are bad but likely worse for the homeless, runaway, and at-risk LGBTQ youth that go to the Ruth Ellis Center in Detroit 11,000 times a year. We hear that the center is facing some hard times right now (as many people are) but if you're looking for somewhere you might direct your philanthropy you might want to find out more about it.

Wanda Sykes wants to send Rush Limbaugh's big ass to Guantanamo Bay.

Matt Damon takes on rugby role in new film.

White House gives New York City Council speaker Christine Quinn an easy out from the city's anti-gay St. Patty's Day parade: "Quinn is one of the very few New York electeds who has been invited to President Barack Obama’s White House Saint Patrick’s Day party."

Sarah Palin's war on wildlife continues.

The Rochester cops that are suing the city of Rochester over the gay bashing incident don't want city lawyers to defend them, obviously.

The Guardian's Music Weekly Extra talks to the Pet Shop Boys. And the BBC spends five minutes with the pair.

Ryan Gosling offers two looks in new photo shoot: cute puppy and scary doll.

Post-Wright: Obama's circle of 5 pastors. "All are men, two of them white and three black — including the Rev. Otis Moss Jr., a graying lion of the civil rights movement. Two, the entrepreneurial dynamos Bishop T. D. Jakes and the Rev. Kirbyjon H. Caldwell, also served as occasional spiritual advisers to President George W. Bush. Another, the Rev. Jim Wallis, leans left on some issues, like military intervention and poverty programs, but opposes abortion. None of these pastors are affiliated with the religious right, though several are quite conservative theologically. One of them, the Rev. Joel C. Hunter, the pastor of a conservative megachurch in Florida, was branded a turncoat by some leaders of the Christian right when he began to speak out on the need to stop global warming."

News: Alfred E. Neuman, HPV, The Killers, Sarah Palin, Hate Crimes

Hate crimes down in 2007, except for those based around sexual orientation. Anti-gay bias crimes saw an increase of 6%.

Top McCain adviser calls Palin "a whack job."

This gallery contains nearly 100 parodies of the famous Shepard Fairey 'Obama Hope' poster. But the artist told BoingBoing that by far his favorite is the cover of the current issue of Mad magazine: "I loved Mad as a kid. I think Mad’s satire heightened my understanding of irony and hypocrisy. I’m very excited to be a part of Mad’s history."

New video: Christina Aguilera thinks she's Catwoman now.

Sarah Palin's favorite consignment store 'Out of the Closet' served with "cease and desist" order from The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which runs a thrift store by the same name in California and Florida: "We are grateful to Governor Palin for bringing the infringement of AIDS Healthcare Foundation's trademark on our eighteen year-old 'Out of the Closet' name to our attention. In addition to raising funds for the care and treatment of thousands of people with AIDS in the US and around the globe, several AHF 'Out of the Closet' sites also serve as free HIV and STD testing centers..."

Cindy Crawford does Amy Winehouse for Halloween.

In June 2007 I reported that Gus van Sant and Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black had attached themselves to Tom Wolfe's book The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test, for a feature film. FOX Searchlight has now picked up the project.

Joe Lieberman: McCain "will live to 85, at least."

The first track-by-track review of the new Killers album, Day & Age.

Lance Bass fights Prop 8 battle in guyliner.

90210 star Dustin Milligan says no to gay jokes: "My personal views on homosexuality and bisexuality and sexuality in general are so far from the dark place where these kinds of hateful terms come from and are not at all reflected accurately by such a statement. Especially now, when same-sex marriage is such a big issue in the US, I feel the days when jokingly calling someone a 'homo' or saying 'that's gay' are simply over." (via afterelton)

Nobel Laureate Dr Harald zur Hausen urges HPV vaccine for boys.

HELP: Im a gay married Mormon in the closet...

Gay MP in the UK attacked as he delivered balloons to his parents on their 50th anniversary: "Adam Price, the Plaid Cymru MP for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, and a friend were treated in hospital after the assault by four youths in Worcester on Saturday. Mr Price's spokeswoman, Heledd Fychan, said he received facial cuts and was unable to attend the party. 'A gang of youths set upon him randomly. They had no idea who he was. It was an unprovoked attack. He is a bit battered and bruised and has a black eye, but no broken bones.'"

Three Democratic operatives on what Obama needs to do to close the deal.

Jonas Brothers to make film debut in movie about farting dog.

Government orders Atlantis Dubai to free whale shark.

Matt Damon stumps for Obama.

London getting a new gay theatre: "...that's what's happening in Victoria, where the Shameless theatre company is taking over the 50-seat fringe theatre above The Stag pub in Victoria and rebranding it as the Above the Stag Theatre. Artistic director Peter Bull says the company plans on plays and musicals, focusing on new work loosely based around gay themes. The inaugural production will be American Briefs, a series of short works by US-based playwrights..."

UK Sunday Observer: 24% of British think gay sex should be criminalized?

The Sarah Palin Disney Movie Matt Damon Feared is Here!

Earlier this month, Matt Damon said he feared that Sarah Palin might become president:

"I think there's a really good chance that Sarah Palin could be President, and I think that's a really scary thing...cause I don't know anything about her. It's like a really bad Disney movie, 'The Hockey Mom.' Oh, I'm just a hockey mom from Alaska, and she's president. She's facing down Vladimir Putin and using the folksy stuff she learned at the hockey rink. It's absurd."

College humor decided to make that really bad Disney movie a reality.

Watch the trailer, AFTER THE JUMP...

Michael Douglas to Play Liberace in Soderbergh Flick

Director Steven Soderbergh will direct Michael Douglas as Liberace in an upcoming biopic, Variety reports:

"The filmmaker said he has drafted his 'Traffic' star Michael Douglas to play the flamboyant pianist. Richard LaGravanese is writing the script, and Jerry Weintraub will produce. Soderbergh is in discussions with Matt Damon to play Scott Thorson, who sued Liberace in 1982 for $113 million in palimony, claiming he was the entertainer’s companion for five years. Even though Liberace never wavered from career-long denials that he was gay, Thorson reportedly settled for $95,000 in 1986. Liberace died in 1987 of complications from AIDS at age 67."

Variety says Soderbergh has two films ready to go before this one, so it may be a while. Maybe by that time Clay Aiken will have aged enough to take over the role.

*NOTE - image for illustration purposes only (if you can't tell by my poor photoshopping), not any kind of official shot.

News: Al Franken, Basketball, Ralph Lauren, Big Macs, Maryland

Bush renews hunt to capture Bin Laden before November election.

Matt Damon: Sarah Palin pick is "like a really bad Disney movie."

Man claims to have eaten 23,000 Big Macs since 1972 — VIDEO.

Payoff: Alaska National Guard to Lieutenant General Craig Campbell receives promotion from Palin after going from critical to complimentary of her experience as governor. The Next Cheney?

Episcopal bishops of San Francisco and Los Angeles to oppose ban on same-sex marriage: "The Right Rev. Marc Handley Andrus, Episcopal bishop of California, and the Right Rev. J. Jon Bruno, Episcopal bishop of Los Angeles, are scheduled to join other faith leaders and gay couples Wednesday in speaking out against Proposition 8. The measure, which would amend the state constitution to limit marriage to unions between a man and woman, is also being opposed by individual churches and clergy through a group called California Faith for Equality. Their work is designed to counter the huge organizational and financial push the amendment is receiving from leaders of the Roman Catholic and Mormon faiths."

Drag queen dies during performance: "Chip Doran (a.k.a. Ilene Alloverya) was 55 years old - a retiree and former Dallasite who relocated to Austin and drove to Dallas for the Labor Day weekend fundraiser."

Ralph Lauren has put his name on a set of limited-edition balls: "Sales of the balls benefit the LeBron James Family Foundation (which, among other initiatives, supports fitness programs for kids). But unless your name is, say, Jay-Z, Andy Roddick, or Charlie Rose, you're not going to be able to buy it—the balls were produced for an invite-only shopping event at the Polo Mansion tonight."

South Africa sees first gay divorce.

Elbow wins Mercury Music Prize: "The five-piece group took the £20,000 award with their fourth album, The Seldom Seen Kid. The judges called it 'an epic rock record - triumphant, heartbreaking, unerringly melodic and life-affirming'. This year's 12-strong shortlist was dominated by glamorous young females, including R&B star Estelle and 19-year-old singer-songwriter Adele, and established acts such as Radiohead and Robert Plant."

Kylie Minogue says she'd have gone gay for Tallulah Bankhead.

Al Franken wins Democratic primary in Minnesota race for U.S. Senate.

Marijuana shows promise in fighting superbugs: "...researchers tested five major marijuana ingredients termed cannabinoids on different strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a "superbug" increasingly resistant to antibiotics. All five substances showed potent germ-killing activity against these drug-resistant strains, as did some synthetic non-natural cannabinoids, they say. The scientists also showed that these substances appear to kill bacteria by different mechanisms than conventional antibiotics, making them more likely to avoid bacterial resistance, the scientists note."

Chris Evans is the pits.

Maryland Court of Appeals strikes gender identity ballot referendum that would have repealed law forbidding discrimination.

Elton John scraps Lily Allen collaboration after onstage tiff: "The pair, who hosted the awards together, exchanged insults and slurs, culminating in Elton telling Lily he could 'snort her under the table'. Elton now says the spat has put him off collaborating with the 'Smile' singer. 'I was thinking about asking her to tour with me and maybe even do a duet. Obviously that won't be happening,' he told the Metro."

Choir in Fiji distraught at having to perform at a wedding demonstration where a female stood in for the groom, thus making it look like it was a gay wedding.