News: George Michael, Moon, Sonia Sotomayor, Iraq, Dinosaurs

George Michael denies split with partner Kenny Goss.

NASA probe takes aim at Moon.

D.C. police investigating man's death at "JO party": "The organizer of the men's parties, who asked that he be identified only as David, said the victim appears to have fallen on a cement floor in the basement of the house about 5 a.m. and possibly hit his head on a metal pipe or a brick wall. He said he does not believe the victim fell down a flight of stairs, as some have speculated in postings on Craigslist."

Gossip Girl ménage à trois in the works.

Chicago police officer Richard Fiorito trumped up charges against gays and lesbians, video shows.

Shepard Fairey and the art of the election to be featured in new book, Manifest Hope.

WATCH: Joe the Plumber's stand-up comedy routine.

Florida student teased for being gay breaks, assaults another student: "He said he had been teased for two days and that he was upset and lost control. He said he was sorry if he hurt anybody, but when he gets angry he cannot control himself and that it runs in the family, according to his Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office report."

David Beckham hangs out with his in-laws.

Spice Girls plotting reunion?

New York magazine takes a lengthy look at the danger faced by gays in Iraq.

Gavin Newsom struggling with fundraising in California gubernatorial bid?

Former Boston City Councillor sues police department, alleging gay bashing following sting over liaison with teen.

Sharon Lettman named Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition.

Largest ever dinosaur footprints found in France: "Imprints measuring up to 2 metres (6ft 6in) in diameter and stretching over a vast area of land have been uncovered near the village of Plagne, 30 miles west of Geneva, according to the National Centre of Scientific Research. In a statement, the centre said the significance of the prints could not be overestimated. 'According to the researchers' initial work, these tracks are the biggest ever seen,' it said."

Sonia Sotomayor begins work as SCOTUS justice: "in the two cases on the docket, she asked as many questions and made as many comments as Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. The only sign of her newness was that she at times forgot to turn on her microphone before posing a question."

Backstage with Rufus Wainwright at last night's benefit for New York's Ali Forney Center.

David Letterman apologizes on air to wife and staff.

Tasmania to allow same-sex couples to register relationship.

Whitney Houston to join Desperate Housewives?

Dr. Erik Steele on marriage equality in Maine: "In the end, though, gay marriage is not about marriage or teenagers, and it is not even about gays as much as it is about us. Over the last 250 years, Americans have slowly chipped away the bias and ignorance used to deprive almost every American except wealthy, white men of equal standing before the law. The right of civil marriage for gays is about continuing that same march toward 'one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.' You cannot oppose it without betraying American values and the rights hard won for you by those victims of prejudice in almost every family tree who fought in their time for the rights we have in ours."

News: Catholics, Malaysia, Barbra Streisand, Wisconsin, The Moon

WaPo: 7,000 gay men have helped study AIDS in the past 25 years.

Facebook kills poll asking if Obama should be killed. Secret service investigates. UPDATE: Secret Service tracks down user who posted it.

Too Much! Salaries of The Hills cast per episode.

"Ex-gay" group calls hate crime laws "anti-ex-gay": "According to PFOX, hate crime laws protecting gays and lesbians themselves constitute hate crimes against ex-gays. Because if you tell people that they can’t beat up people because they’re gay, you discriminate against the people who beat up gay people because they are gay! It is you who are committing the “anti-ex-gay hate crime,” because if people aren’t allowed to hate gay people, how will PFOX ever find any ex-gay people?"

Atlanta Eagle court hearing postponed a second time.

Malaysia bans Sacha Baron Cohen's Bruno: "It's banned because the story is based on gay life ... There are a lot of sex scenes. It's contrary to our culture."

Isn't it a little early to hit the pumpkin patch, Hugh Jackman?

DJ AM death ruled accidental.

The Vatican defends its sexual abuse scandals by saying other churches are far worse, then claims their priests aren't pedophiles but homosexuals attracted to young men: "In a defiant and provocative statement, issued following a meeting of the UN human rights council in Geneva, the Holy See said the majority of Catholic clergy who committed such acts were not paedophiles but homosexuals attracted to sex with adolescent males.…The statement said that rather than paedophilia, it would 'be more correct' to speak of ephebophilia, a homosexual attraction to adolescent males."

Maine's Catholics fast to save marriage.

Janet Jackson makes amfAR appearance in Milan.

NYT Consults blog on questioning teens: "In trying to understand sexual orientation, it can help a person to think about who he or she has crushes on and fantasizes about being with. A person doesn’t necessarily need to have a 'full' sexual experience in order to understand his or her sexual orientation."

Australian court hears gay panic defense from two men in murder trial.

Gerard Butler pigs out, shows off his cock.

Mattel to offer Barbra Streisand doll.

Billboards in Wisconsin highlight LGBT neighbors: "The campaign is a first in Midwest history to be translated to Spanish, and one of the firsts across the country. Digital billboards will be featured on major commuter freeway paths, which include ads in Ozaukee, Racine, Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties. The accompanying websites, GayNeighbor.org and MiVecinoGay.org, answers basic questions in Spanish and English about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender (LGBT) community and issues they face."

The speech William Safire wrote for Richard Nixon if the astronauts were left stranded on the moon.

Rufus Wainwright: Cheese-eating Ken doll.

OMG interviews Karin Dreijer Andersson of Fever Ray and The Knife.

Graham Norton given warning about lesbian remark: "Norton, 46, and his programme team have now been warned about 'being seen to endorse offensive sexual stereotypes' after a BBC investigation. This comes after a viewer complained about the remarks made about an illustration of a jump suit invention, which showed a large woman with short hair. The comic described the picture as showing a 'strange lesbian' and when asked what a lesbian looks like, he pointed at the picture and said 'That!'."

Rufus Wainwright Reveals New Opera, New Beard

The opera that Rufus Wainwright has been working on for some time now recently debuted in Manchester, UK.

Wrote the NYT: "There are inspired touches and disarmingly beautiful passages in this mysterious, stylistically eclectic work. With a libretto in French by Mr. Wainwright and Bernadette Colomine, 'Prima Donna' depicts a turning point in the life of a prematurely retired opera singer, a day when she confronts the demons that drove her from the stage and finds new resolve. But Mr. Wainwright’s score and his attitude toward the drama often seem muddled, as if he were relying too much on his keen musical and theatrical instincts lest he overthink and impede his imagination."

The BBC recently broadcast a documentary on Wainwright, his family, and the making of the opera, which you can watch, in six parts, AFTER THE JUMP...

Y3 Line-Up: Kanye West, Reggie Bush, Ian Thorpe, Slava Mogutin

An interesting line-up at the Y-3 show yesterday at Pier 40 for Mercedes-Benz fashion week in New York.

From left to right: Hip-hop artist, Lupe Fiasco, "gay dresser" Kanye West, Milla Jovovich, Kim Kardashian, football pin-up Reggie Bush, "not gay" Aussie swimmer Ian Thorpe, and model Veronica Webb. And then directly behind Thorpe are NYC-based artist and photographers Brian Kenny and Slava Mogutin.

Rufus Wainwright also apparently showed, New York's The Cut reports. They add: "Aussie Olympic legend Ian 'the Thorpedo' Thorpe['s]...arms are as long as you’ve heard but [he] wasn’t nearly as bloated as recent rumors have suggested."

Thorpe was looking sharp (where's travel companion Daniel Mendes?). Another shot of Thorpedo as well as Rufus Wainwright and Yohji Yamamoto, AFTER THE JUMP...

Inauguration Extras:Towleroad Talks to Rufus Wainwright

Towleroad stopped by the 'Out for Equality' Ball on Tuesday night at the Mayflower Hotel (where former Governor Eliot Spitzer had his affairs in Room 871) and we were able to sit down for a few brief moments with Rufus Wainwright, following his performance, to get his thoughts on the new administration.

The ball was sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign, PFLAG, GLAAD, the Service Members Legal Defense Network, and nearly two dozen other organizations. Megan Carpentier has a report at The Daily Beast.

At right, a video of Cyndi Lauper, Wainwright, Thelma Houston, and Catie Curtis, who gathered on stage following Lauper's performance to join her in a rendition of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" which turned into an impromptu celebration of the new president and first lady. Below, a photo I shot during that moment.

Watch Corey Johnson's chat with Rufus, in which he talks about visits to various inaugurations, his strapping German boyfriend, and what he's working on, AFTER THE JUMP...

Rufus Wainwright Clarifies Position on Marriage Equality

A week and a half ago the New York Press asked Rufus Wainwright how he felt about Proposition 8's reversal of same-sex marriage in California, to which the singer replied:

"Oddly enough, I’m actually not a huge gay marriage supporter. I personally don’t want to get married but I think that any law or amendment to the constitution that deals with sex and love should just be banned in general. I don’t think any government should encroach on what goes on in the bedroom at all. Frankly, if you want to marry a dog, why don’t you go ahead and marry a dog, I don’t care. I’m a complete libertarian and so I really disagree with it."

Wainwright sought to clarify that statement with a blog post of his own yesterday:

"Recently, a quote from an interview was taken out of context and as these things go, it has appeared on many internet sites. So, to set the record straight (or shall we say gay?), I am not nor have I ever been opposed to anyone's right to marry - straight or gay. I myself just don't want to at the moment and feel a strong tie to the traditional bohemian concept of being a homosexual, ie: the last thing we want is to be like everybody else. But who knows, a girl likes options. Maybe someday I will want to marry! Plus, in terms of practical issues such as citizenship, taxes, inheritance, etc...it is appauling (sic) that LGBT couples don't have the same rights and options that other people have and compared with Europe and Canada, the US should be ashamed of how they treat love. I have voiced my strong opposition to Prop 8 on many occasions and will continue to do so until that referendum is reversed. OK? I've got to get back to work now. Love, Rufus..."

In other news, Rufus and family appeared on Martha Stewart last week.
Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...