News: Maine, Pete Wentz, South Park, Thomas Perez, Brokeback

Focus on the Family donated $115,000 to stop marriage equality in Maine. Check out how much the Catholic Church donated here (it was a lot more).

300 protest play featuring transsexual Jesus in Glasgow.

Was Adam Lambert's Halloween chum his new boyfriend?

Salt Lake City elects first openly gay city council member: "Stan Penfold, a gay man and the director of Utah Aids Foundation, has won the race to fill Salt Lake City’s District 3 council seat. Penfold outpaced Phil Carroll to represent the Avenues and Capitol Hill, replacing outgoing Councilman Eric Jergensen."

WaPo: Gay groups say Maine loss won't alter strategy. NYT: Gay rights rebuke may change approach.

Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, testified today on ENDA before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Here's his testimony.

Rue McClanahan hospitalized: "I'm currently having some maintenance on the old ticker"

Mariah Carey visits Ellen DeGeneres.

Dede Scozzafava opens up about campaign drop-out: "There were calls going that were calling me a child killer, there were pieces of mail that said I was a homosexual lover."

Pete Wentz got punched by some guyliner.

South Park runs "fag" episode.

Eastern Pacific Great White Sharks hang out in "shark café."

Brokeback Mountain author Annie Proulx donates early draft to New York Public Library: "The early draft shows that the story, which was later adapted into an Oscar winning hot film starring the late Heath Ledger, had early working titles such as Bulldust Mountain and Swill-Swallow Mountain."

Since God hates shellfish, why aren't right-wing religious conservatives in Maine boycotting the lobster industry?

Kathy Griffin celebrates her birthday at The Abbey.

Pat Buchanan thinks Charlie Crist has a gay rights problem.

150 people rally in L.A. on Prop 8 anniversary, including openly gay Los Angeles Police Commissioner Rob Saltzman: "Also among the rally speakers were Robin Tyler and her (legal) wife Diane Olson, and their attorney Gloria Allred, who has filed several marriage lawsuits on their behalf. Matt Weinstein from the US Department of Commerce also urged same sex couples and domestic partners to fill out the 2010 US Census forms when they come around – noting the historic change in policy of now including gay people."

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."

Death of the Emo Haircut: Pete Wentz Sheared on Stage

Pete Wentz had his hair cut by Blink 182's Mark Hoppus at Madison Square Garden last night.

Wentz later wrote on his blog: "jay-z had the death of autotune. this is the death of the emo swoosh."

Watch a video, AFTER THE JUMP...

 
(image flickr user artistapproach)

Pete Wentz Has a Man on Hand to Handle His Underpants

Fall Out Boy singer Pete Wentz has an underwear assistant, according to TFL Scandalist:

"The singer had a slippage issue in the clothing department while on-stage at the Leeds festival in the UK — and on came an accommodating roadie to pull up little Petie’s jeans for him."

News: Tel Aviv, John Berry, Betty White, Miami, Lobster, Mercy

Five gay couples wed in ceremony on Tel Aviv beach as Pride celebration climaxes.

Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson tape for No H8.

WATCH: Betty White plays beer pong.

City of Miami passes Domestic Partner ordinance: "The domestic partners benefits measure extends to unmarried gay and straight employees of the city who register their relationships with Miami-Dade County's domestic partner registry."

White House Office of Personnel Management head John Berry delivers impassioned speech at Justice Dept: "My family has never known divorce. Were we married? No, but I dare anyone to say that we were not in love.... Where do you stand? Honoring love as precious and true wherever you find it, or with those who would demean or deny it? I urge you: Stand where you can be proud. Stand with service and truth. Stand with love. Stand for liberty and justice for all."

San Diego County school district apologizes for refusing to let student deliver report on Harvey Milk during class time: "In a letter to Natalie and her parents, Supt. Robert Graeff and Mt. Woodson Principal Theresa Grace apologized and said they had acted out of an abundance of caution for the 'tender sensibilities' of Natalie's fellow students. 'It is our hope that -- together -- we can all view this incident as a learning experience and emerge wiser from the entire experience,' wrote Graeff and Grace, on behalf of themselves and the school board."

Bret Michaels releases lengthy statement on Tonys mishap that left him bloody.

Yellow lobster is 1 in 30 million.

On the bus to Kayseri, Turkey: "Kayseri is home to a group of gay men and lesbians who have fled Iran and are now waiting in Turkey to be resettled in a Western country. The government of Turkey does not allow non-European refugees to stay in Turkey, and it is the responsibility of UNHCR to find a host country to take them in. Currently there are over 18,000 refugees in Turkey, some of whom have been waiting for over 2 years to be resettled elsewhere. While in Turkey, the authorities insist that refugees can only stay in one of 30 designated small cities. These locations are assigned based on the asylum seeker’s nationality, gender, age, and reason for seeking asylum."

Madonna confirms Mercy adoption.

Anti-gay hate graffiti under investigation in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Hate crime charges against Staten Island man dropped: "A spokesman for District Attorney Daniel Donovan would not comment because the case is sealed, but confirmed the hate crime case against James Champagne, 24, of Stapleton, has been dismissed. Champagne had been accused of beating up another man in West Brighton July 29, and during the attack he allegedly yelled, 'we don't like faggots on Barker Street.'"

GQ interviews Barney Frank.

Beyond Hatred: PBS to air documentary about French gay man murdered by skinheads.

The Daily Beast interviews openly gay Iraq vet and candidate for Congress Anthony Woods, who was discharged under 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell': “I knew getting into it that if I took a stand, it would be a costly decision and it certainly has become one. But people have to take a stand for what's right. There's a reason this policy is on the front burner now... We're a country fighting two wars, having trouble recruiting, yet we want to turn away some of our most talented, most well-trained soldiers?”

Pete Wentz Plays Russian Roulette Drinking Game with His Urine

Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz posted a video on YouTube of a recent game of Russian Roulette which involved drinking his own urine on stage at a concert. Why Wentz would want to do such a thing is not immediately clear but it's certain to be the most-viewed concert footage since Britney Spears announced her wardrobe function over an open mic last week.

Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...