News: DNC, Enceladus, Boyzone, NOM Woes, Rihanna, Sports Bar

Email reveals deception on the part of the DNC with regard to assistance of Question 1 in Maine and lies about directing Mainers to vote for progressive causes.

Jon Hamm in high school.

What does Maine's marriage loss mean to California?

Vermont lawmaker relieved of masturbation charges: "Perkett said his review of the evidence found that Flanagan did engage in the conduct alleged — masturbation in open view inside a men’s fitness room at the YMCA — in late July but did not do so intentionally. 'I don’t believe beyond a reasonable doubt that he intentionally engaged in the conduct,' Perkett said. 'More importantly, I don’t believe I could prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.'” 

UK man sentenced to six years in prison for targeting gay men on the internet with the intention to rob them.

Pastors planning to "incite hate crimes" to test Matthew Shepard Act?: "We're going to declare the whole counsel of God, including those parts that some may consider 'inciting a hate crime' to see if the attorney general is going to come down and arrest a group of peaceful clergy exercising their First Amendment rights."

Mariah shoots H.A.T.E.U. video.

 NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks out about cabbie who ejected gays for hugging: "I thought the taxi driver's behavior -- if it is as reported -- was a disgrace. Somebody's orientation has absolutely nothing to do with whether they can ride a taxi. That kind of attitude doesn't fit with what this city's become."

Just Jared interviews Alexander Skarsgard.

GYM sportsbar a hit in West Hollywood. "...a dedicated sports bar, where the audio and video are played simultaneously, is something most people haven't seen before, says Gym co-owner Rich Schmutzler: "When we first started, I got a lot of Scooby Doo faces, like, 'huh?' "

The National Organization for Marriage is short on cash.

An update on the anti-gay charges against NBA player Drew Gooden.

WATCH: Rihanna describes assault by Chris Brown on Good Morning America.

One of the enigmatic plumes on Saturn's moon Enceladus, shot as the Cassini probe made a pass about 120,000 miles over the moon.

Beyoncé at the EMAs.

Chelsea erotica shop putting massage on display tonight: "Manworks.com, the leading erotic male masseur listings company in New York City, will host a live erotic massage demonstration in the window of The Blue Chelsea, an erotica shop on 8th Avenue NYC on Friday, Nov 6th from 6pm-10pm. Every hour, a new male masseur will demonstrate the rubbing techniques he uses to calm and relax his clients."

Go-ahead given for Britain's first underground mansion.

Boyzone honored by UK gay rights group Stonewall: "The late singer and his Boyzone bandmates were hailed as entertainers of the year at the high-profile gay event. Mr Cowles fought back tears as he collected the award on behalf of the band – and received a standing ovation from the crowd. He said: 'Hi everyone, I'm Stephen's man, husband, whatever. You know what I mean. Thank you everyone for voting.' He said that the Irish group had always 'loved and supported' his husband in everything he did."

News: Spain, Ryan Reynolds, Google Wave, Fort Worth, Bangladesh

Richard Hatch freed from prison.

Why is the investigation of the police raid on Fort Worth's Rainbow Lounge taking so long?

Marc Jacobs glams it up for Nars.

Get ready to see Ryan Reynolds in drag.

Pew poll on civil unions and same-sex marriage shows uptick in support for the former, but numbers virtually unchanged for the latter.

NYT hetero-normalizes David Hockney.

Senator Udall wants Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal plan from Pentagon within 30 days. Lieberman "committed".

Spanish court orders new trial in brutal murder of gay couple following protests and outrage over acquittal: "Yesterday, mincing no words, the Tribunal called the lower court ruling "defective, absurd, illogical and arbitrary"and ordered a new trial, according to El Pais. The Tribunal also dismissed petitions to reduce the sentence for setting the apartment on fire. The verdict is a win for efforts by Triviño's mother, Marta Pérez Triviño, to bring her son to justice. She will still have to withstand what must be the unbearable pain of seeing her son's murder go to trial a second time."

John Mayer on online outreach: "I would rather tell the world to eat my a**hole before I would delete my Twitter account."

Police: Attack on Jake Raynard not a hate crime.

Queer as Folk's Randy Harrison set to play Andy Warhol in Pop at Yale Repertory Theater.

Two gay Bangladesh refugees say they'll have sex to prove they are gay on their fourth attempt to get protection Visas in Australia: "A Federal Court judge recently criticised the Refugee Review Tribunal for its treatment of the pair, who first applied for asylum in 1999, finding it was deliberately biased against them. In a scathing summation, Justice Spender found three previous tribunals had unreasonably twisted facts to deny the men were homosexual, using unsubstantiated claims they were brothers who had been married to women."

Gallup: Hillary Clinton now more popular than Obama.

Kris Allen wants to hit you baby, one more time.

Ryan Gosling had a yummy show in NY last night.

Butt Magazine to publish 54-week 2010 pin-up calendar.

George Michael and Kenny Goss step out in London.

Arjan presents a guilt-free download of the Magistrates remix of Mika's new single "Rain".

Coalition of 17 international human rights groups strike out at Uganda: "Over the course of the last year, there’s been an increasing pattern of homophobic discourse at play in Uganda, including a conference that occurred several months ago, in which a number of US evangelical leaders came to Uganda to promote reparative therapy and other types of human rights violations against Ugandan LGBT people…and our feeling is that the bill is targeting not just LGBT people, but freedom of expression and a broad level of political discourse in general."

Google Wave acts out Pulp Fiction and Good Will Hunting.

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg again changes promises on what votes he can provide from  Senate Republicans on marriage equality: "Less than a month after defending his support for Republican state senators, saying he could get their votes for gay marriage, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said conservatives in that body will not support what the mayor termed 'our number one priority' at a recent campaign event with gay supporters. 'Those will not be the Republican votes that I will get, but they will be there for other things that are important to the city,' Bloomberg said in an hour-long interview with Gay City News and its sister papers, The Villager, Downtown Express, and Chelsea Now.

NYC Mayor Debate: Bloomberg and Thompson Split on Obama's Gay Rights Progress

Gay rights came up once (in a 'lightning round') during tonight's mayoral debate between NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his Democratic opponent, Comptroller William Thompson (who was recently endorsed by Obama).

Moderator:  “Has President Obama done enough for gay rights?”

Mayor Bloomberg:  “No.”

Bill Thompson:  “He’s been there nine months. Yes.”

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

NYC Mayor Bloomberg Backtracks on Marriage Equality Doubts

At an LGBT reception for his reelection campaign at City Winery in Manhattan, NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg backtracked on remarks he made in an interview with Gay City News in which he said there was no way a marriage equality bill would be passed in New York this year, calling its chances "zero, zero."

Said Bloomberg last night at the reception, according to Gay City News: "I was asked by one of the newspapers if I think it’s going to pass, and I said, ‘You know, I am so worried about it. I don’t think it’s going to pass, but I think we have to work as hard as we can to make it pass.’"

He added, of near-term prospects: "I actually think in my heart of hearts that this is going to get done."

Bloomberg's original remarks have been criticized by his opponent, comptroller William Thompson, as well as the bill's sponsor Senator Thomas Duane, NYC City Council Speaker, Christine Quinn, and Empire State Pride Agenda executive director Alan van Capelle. All refuted the mayor's remarks and expressed optimism that marriage equality could be passed in New York this session.

NY Politicos: Bloomberg Wrong About Marriage Equality's Chances

Earlier this week, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg told Gay City News that the chances of marriage equality happening in New York were "zero, zero".

Said Bloomberg: "I don’t know how to get it to come up [ on the Senate floor]. If you want my honest opinion, [the Senate leadership is unlikely to move a gay marriage bill] when I don’t see these guys willing to stand up for less controversial issues."

Now, three prominent New York politicians and a gay rights leader have stated just the opposite — that marriage equality may very well be up for a vote this fall.

Bloomberg's Democratic opponent, comptroller William Thompson, responded: "Once again Mike Bloomberg is talking out of both sides of his mouth. The fact of the matter is Mike will stand up in press conferences and talk the talk but at the end of the day he never walks the walk. Mike Bloomberg has consistently supported the Republican Party and its anti-gay marriage agenda."

State Senator Thomas Duane said: "As far as I know, the mayor hasn’t been in on any discussions with Senate Democrats or with Senate Republicans on strategy for getting marriage passed. There have been people involved with his administration that I’ve talked with and others may have spoken to, but I don’t know of the mayor personally speaking to anyone. I remain confident it will get done this fall...His offer to come testify is the easiest political commitment to make, but the time for hearings is past. I held hearings on the bill years ago. I can’t say he’s expended much political capital on this."

Empire State Pride Agenda executive director Alan van Capelle was equally dismissive of Bloomberg's remarks: "We don’t agree with Mayor Bloomberg’s statement that marriage equality does not have a chance of coming up for a vote this fall. The mayor is focused on New York City and his race for re-election, and not on the details involved in moving the marriage bill forward in Albany. We know from the work that we do daily on this issue that marriage equality is still very much in play in 2009.”

And NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn chimed in as well: "I disagree with the mayor. I do believe that there is a real potential and a very real potential in the near future...If I knew exactly when [the measure would move] I would probably know who was going to win the trifecta at Belmont. I don’t see any reason to think that there is not potential to have this vote."

Bloomberg also claimed in the interview that he could sway key GOP Senators (specifically Brooklyn’s Martin Golden and Queens’ Frank Padavan) to make a 'yes' vote when marriage equality comes to the floor, however, Gay City News reports that Padavan's office says that the Senator and the mayor have not had any discussions about the issue.

The Empire State Pride Agenda recently launched a new 'Call Your Senator' campaign. Hope lives.

Duane, Thompson, Come Out Swinging on Bloomberg Comments [gay city news]

Diaz Sr.: Bloomberg to Blame for NY's Lack of Marriage Equality

Homophobic state Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. (who has rallied clergy against same-sex marriage and fought tooth-and-nail against it in negotiations with party leaders) recorded a video for New York local station NY1 calling out Mayor Michael Bloomberg for obstructing marriage equality in the state by appealing a 2005 court decision declaring the same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional.

Diaz Sr. calls Bloomberg's decision to use marriage equality as a key reelection issue "pure hypocrisy."

Says Diaz: "I think that the gay community should be angry at Mayor Bloomberg and don't support him, because if they are not getting married it is not because Senator Ruben Diaz, it is because Michael Bloomberg stopped YOU from getting married. So don't get angry at me, get angry at Michael Bloomberg."

Diaz has likely done more to stop marriage equality from happening in New York than any other politician in the state. What a joke.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...