Towleroad Guide to the Tube #557

JOE SOLMONESE: Speaking at the hate crimes bill presser this morning. Sorry, can't find clips of other speakers.

ALAN GRAYSON: FOX News is the enemy of America.

ARMARIO: Ad for Gay Pride in Salvador, Brazil says come out of the closet.

MICROSOFT: Entering the first Microsoft store. Rip-off much?

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Microsoft Donates $100,000 to Referendum 71 in Washington State

According to a report filed yesterday, it appears that Microsoft has donated $100,000 to efforts to pass Referendum 71 in Washington state, which would retain the "everything but marriage" domestic partner law there.

Slog reports: "Microsoft's brazen role in R-71 will outrage the Ken Hutchersons of the world, who pressured Microsoft for years to back off from supporting gay-rights legislation. And it could also summon conservative interests—e.g., the Mormon Church—to dump money in on the other side. After October 12, state rules block any person or group from donating more than $5,000 to the campaign. Microsoft's donation is larger than all the contributions combined for the campaign to reject R-71, called Protect Marriage Washington, run by a handful of Christian extremists who have reported only $55,217 in contributions."

You may remember back in 2005 when Microsoft quietly withdrew its support of Washington state anti-discrimination HB 1515, and was accused of doing so because of pressure from right-wing religious leader Reverend Ken Hutcherson. In November 2007, Hutcherson appeared to be back for another round, threatening executives at a shareholders meeting that he would be their "worst nightmare" if the company continues to support gay rights. Wonder if we'll hear from him now.

News: Collegiate Gays, Ivri Lider, Brangelina, Raleigh, Joe Jonas

Reporters ejected from Meet in the Middle 4 Equality leadership summit.

STUDY: Gay male college students get better grades, study harder, party less than straight men. "According to the research, which is apparently the first of its kind, gay male undergraduates appear to be doing quite well: Their grade point average is about 2 percent higher than that of straight males at the same institution."

Jonas Brother is a Single Lady.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie SPLIT!?!

History is on Portland Mayor Sam Adams' side in recall attempt.

Immigration reform in trouble over gay partner language. Catholic bishops protest...

WhoSigned71: Washington state group to publicize names of people who sign Referendum 71, which would put the state's "Everything but Marriage" Domestic Partners bill on the fall ballot.

Björk is back.

Dan Savage's book The Kid: What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Go Get Pregnant to premiere as musical.

Former mayor of Raleigh, North Carolina Tom Fetzer sues radio host for forwarding email insinuating he is gay: "The suit comes in the middle of Fetzer's campaign against three other men to lead the state's Republican party, which will be decided at the state GOP convention June 12 - 14. The suit seeks damages of $10,000 or more from Curtis Wright...Wright is accused of forwarding an email that included allegations that Fetzer is gay, though Wright is not thought to be the author of the anonymous email, according to the lawsuit."

Project Natal: A first look at Microsoft's Wii killer?

New York Law Professor Arthur Leonard's research on Judge Sonia Sotomayor and gay rights.

Head of new gay Republican group GOProud Jimmy LaSalvia signs on to support filibuster of Sotomayor.

Gay Israeli pop star Ivri Lider hits NYC.

Chicago HIV study released: "A first-of-its-kind study looking at HIV infection rates found that half of gay men in Chicago who have HIV did not know they were infected, and two-thirds of infected black men were unaware. In addition, infection rates for black men were more than twice the rates for whites and Hispanics. The results of the Chicago Department of Public Health survey are sobering, officials say, but not unexpected."

Young Iranians looking for the change they can believe in?

Sequel to Heathers in the works.

Most homophobic hate crimes in Northern Ireland go unreported: "The survey of more than 1,000 people compiled by the Rainbow Project found that 64% of homophobic incidents in the last three years were not reported. The study was commissioned by the police and while gay rights campaigners recognised the efforts of officers to reach out to the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual (LGB) community, they said more work needed to be done."

News: GLSEN, RuPaul's Drag Race, Hawaii, John Mayer Twitter

GLSEN meets with Education Secretary Arne Duncan to discuss bullying in schools. Exec. Director Byard: "It was moving to witness these students and teachers sharing their personal stories of pain, rejection, resilience and hope with the nation’s top education official. Secretary Duncan showed great compassion for their experiences, respect for their perseverance and dedication to identifying effective responses to school climate issues."

Complex: Kanye West does whiteface.

Jake Gyllenhaal dines out with Amazing Race contestant Mike White.

Lesbian named head of U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

Anchorage, Alaska drag bars change to appeal to straight customers.

Straight bachelorette parties putting strain on gay bars in Chicago. "The women are a hoot, and some can be just delightful. But because not everybody can get married, watching them celebrate, it's such a slap in the face. Prop 8 just reopened the wound."

UK Videogame designer suing Microsoft: "He said mocking emails were sent around his workplace with headings such as 'I'm Jim and I'm Gay' and 'Me and My Favourite Men'. He said the firm did not have policies to deal with his complaints."

REPORT: John Mayer chose Twitter over Jennifer Aniston: "The source said: 'John suddenly stopped calling her or returning her emails and when she would finally catch up with him, he'd say: 'I've been so busy with work. I'm sorry I haven't had time to call you back.' The source added: 'Jen was fuming. There he was, telling her he didn't have time for her and yet his page was filled with Twitter updates.'"

Zac Efron won't be taking the Kevin Bacon route.

Democrats seek to break deadlock on Hawaii civil unions bill: "Opponents, led by conservative Christian church groups, have lobbied against the bill, saying Hawaii voted against gay marriage in 1998 and that the issue should not be taken up again. Now supporters of the bill say a recent statewide survey done by QMark Research and Polling shows 81 percent support for equal treatment for couples no matter what their gender. For the Senate Democrats, the issue is whether they have enough votes to either pull the bill from the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is deadlocked 3-3, or fashion a compromise by amending the bill in committee. An amended bill would require passage by the Senate, sending it back to the House for either approval or a conference committee later this spring."

The Indigo Girls are back.

And a four-piece Ukranian band covers Katy Perry's "Hot & Cold".

Inspired by an Iron Age fertility symbol, UK teen proceeds to create his own on the roof of his parents' home so he can see it from Google Earth.

Hate crimes surge in Kent, UK.

Jennifer Hudson taping secret Idol concert tonight.

RuPaul winning dance chart drag race?

OUT interviews the real winner of RuPaul's Drag Race (spoilers).

Police to receive honor from Sacramento gay group.

Sarah Palin a hypocrite on "special needs" children.

Former Gawker editor Choire Sicha penning book on 'death of New York': "It used to be, you came to New York and you got a job as an assistant, and sooner or later you got to have part of your boss’s job and you moved up. There was sort of a continuum. There was a thing called a career in New York...For me, what the recession for young working people reminds me of is HIV in the early 90s, when my generation of gay men decided there wasn’t much of a future. I feel like I hear from people now, and they’re like, 'fuck tomorrow!' Which seems completely reasonable to me. And whether that’s based on a real understanding of the economy or on what we’re getting through the filter of the media, it doesn’t matter– it’s a completely appropriate response to the moment we’re in."

News: Tom Brady, Gay Bashings, Obama Threat, Providence, XBox

Chicago man targeted Obama with letters containing HIV-infected blood?: "In the weeks leading up to Obama's inauguration, Saad Hussein, an Ethiopian refugee in his late 20's, sent an envelope addressed to 'Barack Obama' to offices of the Illinois government in Springfield, Ill., according to court documents. The envelope contained a series of unusual items, including a letter with reddish stains and an admission ticket for Obama's election-night celebration in Chicago's Grant Park."

A wealth of new Wolverine images.

Tom Brady says "I Do".

Skip Bayless stands by Troy Aikman gay rumor.

New York gay group expresses optimism over marriage equality chances this year.

Rihanna photographed in Mexico for first time following Chris Brown attack.

Same-sex marriage arguments heard in Providence, Rhode Island.

Openly gay Liverpool City Councilman Steve Radford speaks out about acquittal verdict in hate crime killing of teen Michael Causer: "The question has to be asked whether the 10-2 jury not-guilty verdict into Gavin Alker means Merseyside society thinks it’s acceptable to beat up gay people? Because, if the evidence was so clear and the people involved acknowledge their part in the attack, we need to ask if the real problem is in Merseyside society. This signals that being gay means you don’t have the right to be free on the street, that’s the sad fact."

Trial to begin for Jonathan Russell Gunter in brutal beating of gay man in Oak Lawn neighborhood of Dallas: "Dean, 43, is awaiting yet another surgery to repair and replace teeth, but perhaps the most devastating  impact of the brutal gay-bashing he suffered seven months ago has been psychological. Once a very active, fun-loving person, according to his friends, Dean said he now has little energy and suffers from depression. 'Anybody who’s been around me before and gets around me now is going to realize that I’m different,' Dean said recently...Jonathan Russell Gunter, 32, is charged with aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony punishable by five to 99 years in prison." 

Vigil set for Seattle gay bashing victim at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 28 by the pillars on Boren Avenue and Pike Street.

Rehab for Jonathan Rhys-Meyers.

Microsoft stands by as lesbian harassed on XBox 360.

PBDs, McAllen, Texas gay bar, celebrates 25 years: "The bar, located at 2908 N. Ware Rd., has done some re-inventing since owner Drew Clark on February 18, 1984, choosing to brand it with the acronym for his nickname, poor baby Drew."

Fred Phelps and the WBC to be counter-protested at Chicago-area university this Sunday. Incidentally, River Forest is this blogger's home town.

Supreme Court ruling suggests Casper, Wyoming may never have to accept Fred Phelps' hateful Matthew Shepard in hell monument.

Karl Lagerfelt finger puppet does New York Fashion Week.

Pro-gay Catholic Brazilian priest suspended for supporting free distribution of condoms: "The Rev. Luiz Couto has been suspended from his work in the northeastern state of Paraiba. Archdiocese spokesman Eisenhower de Albuquerque says the church took the action because of Couto's public stance 'in favor of the use of condoms, his support of gay marriage and his opposition to priestly celibacy.' Couto spokesman Jose Moreira says the priest is not a gay-marriage advocate but is an opponent of discrimination 'including discrimination against homosexuals.'"

Homophobic workshop held in Uganda: "Stephen Langa, Executive Director of a Ugandan group, Family Life Network, has announced that his group will be holding a workshop from March 5th to 7th to provide insight on the causes and treatment of homosexuality; provide practical tips on how to prevent homosexuality behaviour in youth; expose the homosexual agenda, their tactics, strategy and methods of recruitment; and provide information and guidelines on how to respond to the homosexual agenda in an organization, community or nation."

Microsoft Bans More "Gay" Names from XBox Live

In last Friday's tech column, I noted that Microsoft had banned a gamer from Xbox Live for using the gamer handle "theGAYERgamer", apparently because it has the word "gay" in it.

Today, Kotaku reports that the homosexual 'cleansing' continues. They've also banned "RichardGaywood", an Xbox Live player from the UK, who is actually using his real name.

Microsoft explained the ban on "theGAYERgamer" last week: "We recieved a complaint on the Gamertag and determined that it did indeed contain sexual innuendo. Now granted, there could be an argument that the text is not pejorative to homosexuality and should therefore be allowed. But there is no context to explain that. Gamertags are visible to everyone and it would be hard for me to defend to a parent of a young child who saw it that the name did not contain content of a sexual nature."

(via good as you)

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