Towleroad Guide to the Tube #564

PROVINCETOWN THRILLER: Never a dull moment on Commercial Street.

BRUCE LA BRUCE: The trailer for his upcoming adult adventure, L.A. Zombie.

POKER FACE: Christopher Walken performs his version of the Lady Gaga hit.

SCARE: Ellen DeGeneres freaks the crap out of Taylor Swift.

For recent Guides to the Tube, click HERE.

Provincetown Gay Basher Eric Patten Gets 30 Days, 2 Years Probation

Eric Patten, the Winthrop, Massachusetts man who assaulted two lesbians in Provincetown over Memorial Day weekend after mistaking them for gay men, has been sentenced to 30 days in the Barnstable house of Corrections, Wicked Local reports :

"Judge Donald Carpenter issued a one-year sentence, with Patten ordered to serve 30 days in jail with two years of probabtion. Patten also will be subject to regular drug and alcohol screening tests during the probation period. Tara Miltimore, assistant district attorney, argued for six months in jail, based on the violent nature of the crime, to which Patten pleaded guilty. However the two victims, who attended Thursday’s disposition in Orleans District Court, had submitted statements to the court asking for a 30-day jail sentence because Patten had no previous record of violence."

News: Autumn, Provincetown, Starbucks, Trevor Donovan, Lutherans

Is the Westboro Baptist Church distributing flyers that read "Kill Jews" around Brooklyn? Sounds like it.

Guess what? It's leaf peeping time.

Anderson Cooper, swine flu victim?

Capital Territory tries again for marriage equality, again faces government opposition.

This is it: Michael Jackson media blitz begins.

Elizabeth Taylor wants to be buried next to MJ? "After sitting through Michael's funeral service at the Great Mausoleum, with its magnificent stained-glass windows and replicas of Michelangelo's artworks, she later told friends, 'I felt a sense of peace there that I've never experienced before.'"

Chapel Hill, North Carolina to woo gay travelers: “We are looking at this from a purely economic perspective.”

Michelle Phillips says Mackenzie is lying about the incest.

Disgusting: NOM targets Californians Against Hate activist Fred Karger with subpoena in retaliation for his investigations of their spending toward anti-gay ballot measures.

Provincetown gay basher Eric Patten slapped with civil rights injunction. You may recall that Patten beat up a lesbian on Commercial Street and pushed her through a window after mistaking her for a gay man.

Office of Special Counsel reopens to federal workers who face anti-gay harassment on the job: "The decision effectively puts to an end any confusion caused by a directive instituted under the Bush administration that had restricted the federal agency from representing certain anti-gay discrimination cases sought by employees of the U.S. government. In 2004 then Office of Special Counsel head Scott Bloch declared that federal law did not protect workers who faced on-the-job discrimination based on their sexual orientation or 'status' as gays and lesbians."

Ian McKellen honored at San Sebastian Film Festival.

90210 hunk Trevor Donovan flashes A/X shoppers.

Starbucks app uses iPhone to pay for lattes.

Long tarmac delays to be banned: "The Capitol Hill event drew both supporters and critics of the legislation, which would force airlines to create plans to deplane passengers after three hours and would require them to provide basic services such as food and water while they are waiting on planes."

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America begs its members not to withhold donations over its recent decision to allow gay and lesbian clergy: "Although these actions are promoted as a way to signal opposition to churchwide assembly actions or even to punish the voting members who made them, the result will be wounds that we inflict on ourselves, our shared life, and our mission in Christ."

Australia's first gay retirement home hits roadblocks: "Those interested in buying off the plan will now have to wait until early 2010 for the Ballan-based village. The $26 million Linton Estate project has experienced a series of delays since it was announced in July last year, with the global financial crisis and thrashing out suitable floor plans being blamed."

News: India, Mary Travers, Provincetown, Kellan Lutz, Outfest

University of Alaska Fairbanks hosting "ex-gay" evangelist Ernie Delgado: "His visit is being promoted by Campus Bible Ministries as an example of someone who escaped a gay lifestyle, and how others can do the same. Some students and faculty are offended by the visit. A few students silently protested outside 1 of this week's lectures."

Who is that masked man?

Indian government defers taking stand on High Court decriminalization of gay sex ruling.

Outfest to honor Alan Poul and Clear Channel.

Gay ministry candidate in Scotland pulls out for fear of splitting church: "Dmitri Ross, who was put forward as a candidate for the ministry by the Presbytery of Hamilton, said he believed his withdrawal was in the best interests of the Church. If ordained, he would have been the first Church of Scotland minister in a civil partnership to be approved since a two-year moratorium on gay appointments was agreed at the General Assembly in May."

Mary Travers of Peter, Paul, and Mary dies at 72.

Coach store manager accused of gay harassment over Hershey Kiss puns.

363 swimmers Swim for Life in Provincetown AIDS fundraiser.

Executive Director of Equality Federation Toni Broaddus criticizes Cleve Jones over his remarks that a state-by-state strategy for the gay rights movement is a "failed" strategy: "So let me make a very public request of you, Cleve. Could you please stop saying that the state strategy is a failed strategy? Instead, could you acknowledge that we have achieved key victories for equality in the states? I understand that you believe the time has come for a federal strategy, and I'm not challenging that opinion here or suggesting that you modify your views. I am, however, asking that you get your facts straight."

Taunton, UK man assaulted in homophobic attack.

GLBT Atlanta's gentle reminder: Atlanta Eagle still open.

$100,000 more pledged for Cleveland, Ohio's Gay Games bid.

Twilight's Kellan Lutz checks himself out at a gym in Vancouver.

Matt Damon on gaining 30 pounds for The Informant: “You know, I liked parading around the house with my belly hanging out. I would do like kind of the sexy walk, but I clearly shouldn’t have been doing that type of thing."

VIDEO: Chris Brown begins community service for beating Rihanna.

Calgary, Canada judge rules letter to the editor calling gays "immoral" is free speech: "In 2002, Reverend Stephen Boissoin sent a letter to the Red Deer Advocate which claimed that 'homosexual rights activists and those who defend them are just as immoral as pedophiles, drug dealers, and pimps who plague our communities.'"

News: Tel Aviv, Chip Kidd, Provincetown, Tim Gill, Saskatchewan

Activists demand British government apologize for treatment of mathematician Alan Turing.

Cambridge mayor Denise Simmons to marry longtime partner Mattie Hayes on August 30: "The wedding will take place at the historic St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, which has predominantly been serving Cambridge’s African-American community for over 100 years, and is presided over by the Rev. Leslie K. Sterling. The wedding ceremony shall be conducted by Rev. Irene Monroe."

Lady Gaga wants to be a fangbanger.

Another lawsuit: Oklahama couple's challenge to DOMA resurfaces.

Project Runway pulls highest ratings in bow on Lifetime.

Onion: Obama bipolar.

Tim Gill talks money and activism: "The Gill Foundation won’t last forever, and it was never designed to.  Its mission in life is to spend down the assets in my lifetime.  How soon that happens has less to do with the economy and more to do with the opportunities that arise in a given year.  Spending may very well go up and shorten its duration.  But there should be some other gay entrepreneur that replaces me over time."

A look inside John Mayer's apartment.

Provincetown holds annual Carnival parade.

Dan Savage taping Savage Love HBO pilot on August 27: you can get tickets by clicking here.

As adoption rights for gay couples are proposed in New Zealand, the nation is divided.

Benicio del Toro is in a hairy situation.

Alycia Lane, the Philadelphia news anchor known for calling a female NYPD officer a "fucking dyke bitch", has been hired by L.A.'s NBC affiliate.

NYCLU files suit against school for failing to protect student: "In a statement on its website, the NYCLU says the harassment started for the student when he was in seventh grade. They say he was harassed by other students because he is gay, dyes his hair, and wears eye makeup. The NYCLU says the fourteen-year-old was regularly pushed and had things thrown at him. At least one teacher allegedly told him he should be ashamed of himself for being gay."

The Moment talks to book cover designer Chip Kidd about comics.

The next Brazilian Idol may be a transsexual.

Gay resident of Sault Ste. Marie in Canada gets called "faggot" by passersby once every two months.

Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" smashes billboard record: "At 70 weeks, it’s now the longest-running song on the Hot 100 chart in Billboard’s 51-year history."

For gay homeless youth in Toronto, street is the only option: "If there had been an acceptable shelter when I was 16, I would have run earlier. But there wasn't. So I lived with it. It was horrible."

Gay youth retreat opens in Saskatchewan: "Camp Fyrefly is aimed at helping young people cope as they develop their identities during the challenging times of adolescence and young adulthood."

Ultra orthodox Jewish website: arrest managers of Tel Aviv gay center for running "club of perversion". Haredi writer: "These perverts take everything out into the street, into the public domain. A child, religious or secular, doesn't need to know they exist. [Homosexuals] are worse than beasts, at least a beast knows it's [homosexuality] wrong, or not natural.[The managers of the gay center] should be forced to face a firing squad."

News: Caster Semenya, Lockerbie, Ted Kennedy, Shark, Marc Jacobs

Lockerbie bomber freed...

Terminally-ill Ted Kennedy wants his replacement chosen swiftly. Deval Patrick: "It’s typical of Ted Kennedy to be thinking ahead and about the people of Massachusetts, when the rest of us are thinking about him."

New 800m World Champion Caster Semenya asked to take gender test: "The South African athletics federation insist it is "completely sure" that the 18-year-old Semenya is a female. 'We would not have entered her in the female competition if we had any doubts,' said a statement. Semenya won World Championship gold in impressive fashion on Wednesday."

Revolutionary pair of pants makes your ass wink.

Domestic partner registry in Nevada to begin next week.

Tom Ford's A Single Man vies with 13 other films for Queer Lion prize at Venice Film Festival.

Gay and lesbian residents of NYC apartment building file discrimination lawsuit: "Tensions boiled over when a flyer Uhrin had distributed in January 2004 about the repairs was taped to his door with the word 'fags' written on it, Uhrin said. 'It's like being raped,' said Uhrin, who claims he's been called homophobic slurs by former board members and heard his floor referred to as the 'AIDS floor.'"

First look at Madonna's "celebration" promo.

Oprah to kick off 24th season with Whitney Houston.

Fired Miami newsman Charles Perez wins two-year restraining order against ex-partner believed to have leaked an email which was intended to hurt him professionally.

TIME: Why does Obama keep flip-flopping on gay marriage?

Ryan Gosling out and about but refuses to show off the guns.

Great White Shark attack on seal observed by kayakers off Chatham, Cape Cod.

Police promise to uphold order during Belgrade Pride parade in September: "In this country, no one is allowed to threaten or bother anyone."

Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo Martone to wed this weekend in Provincetown.

Justin Timberlake refused to be on the D List.

Swimmers to take on 3 1/2 mile bay between Sayville and Fire Island Pines for Stonewall Foundation benefit.

New app: Browse the photos on your home computer from your iPhone.

The latest on gay One Life to Live cop Scott Evans.

Michael Moore to the Hollywood Reporter: "I'm still in a stupor of stunned ecstasy that Obama won. And I approve of most everything he's done, from apologizing to the Iranians for America overthrowing their democratically elected president in 1953 to appointing Kumar to a White House position. He is doing the best he can with the mess he inherited, and I and millions of others are counting on him never to forget that he came from the working class and that his people need him now more than ever. As for the congressional Democrats, what a bunch of losers -- weak, scared, stupid. They had better get a clue pretty quick or the Dark Forces will return."