News: Santa Barbara, Outrage, Sacha Baron Cohen, Prop 8

Prop 8 boycott target Doug Manchester trying to make amends with LGBT community: "His plan – which his people warned this newspaper against publishing, even after a Hyatt representative discussed it – is to give $25,000 to a national organization that promotes civil unions and domestic partnerships. Manchester also is considering offering $100,000 in hotel credit to local gay and lesbian organizations so they can use the Grand Hyatt for events such as fundraisers. The $125,000 total matches what he gave to Proposition 8."

Sacha Baron Cohen bleached his nether regions for Bruno, but things went terribly wrong.

Towleroad's Corey Johnson profiled in Bay Windows, 10 years after making headlines by coming out to his high school football team.

McDonald's settles Louisville "faggots" case: "McDonald’s restaurant has agreed to pay $2,000 each to two Indianapolis men who complained they were subjected to anti-gay slurs and discrimination when they visited a McDonald’s restaurant on East Market Street last year."

NYT: Outrage review. LAT: Kirby Dick interview.

Grand jury indicts inmate for 2002 hate crime killing in Cincinnati: "A man already behind bars is now facing charges for allegedly killing a gay man in a hate crime six years ago. Gregory Beauchamp was shot and killed in Over-the-Rhine on New Year's Eve 2002 at the intersection of Vine Street and West Liberty. According to witnesses, a man yelled anti-gay slurs at three men wearing women's clothing, then opened fire. Beauchamp was 21-years-old when he was killed. Until now, the identity of the shooter has remained a mystery."

Robert Downey Jr.  is in a hole.

Dudes surf as Santa Barbara burns. Pool party!

ABC picks up sitcom featuring gay family: "Twentieth Century Fox TV is behind the show, which follows the lives of three American families, as seen through the eyes of a filmmaker. One home centers on a traditional nuclear family, another is a gay couple with a newly adopted Vietnamese child; and the third consists of an older man who has just married a younger Latina wife.

Hugh Jackman on Ellen.

Mario Cantone on NY Governor David Paterson: "You know, a lot of people don’t like him, but I think he’s a little tough bitch. I think he’s tough. I think he’s like, ‘I don’t care if you don’t like me, I’m going to do what I want."

Undersea volcano near Guam has massive cone.

Randy Blue actor appeals suspension from Christian college.

RuPaul's Drag Race 2 casting...

Gosling gets a shiner.

John Cameron Mitchell chats with Tilda Swinton.

Texas city council candidate admits using gay slur against opponent's supporters outside polling place.

Meet Millionaire Matchmaker's gay millionaire, Kevin Grainger.

ABC News: Gay advocates eye Supreme Court. Victory Fund's Dennis Dison: "There have been 110 Supreme Court judges and 106 of them have been straight, white men. So it's high time to look outside those institutions that produced Supreme Court justices in the past and find someone with different life experiences and different perspectives."

Police academy cadet in Peru fights dismissal over gay rumors.

Same-sex couples find difficulties in getting health insurance: " Even if the relationship is formalized with the state in a marriage or union, that does not always obligate the employer to cover a same-sex spouse. For one thing, self-insured employers are not regulated by the states. And other benefit-providing employers that choose not to offer such coverage can sometimes use the Defense of Marriage Act — a law that forbids the federal government to recognize same-sex marriage — to trump state laws, said Ilse de Veer, a principal with Mercer"

News: Cincinnati, RuPaul, Liverpool, Right Whales, Rihanna, Nepal

Cincinnati activists concerned about local NAACP chapter's hiring of anti-gay attorney. Attorney Chris Finney has a long history as an Anti-GLBT Rights Activist and is involved with such groups as the CCV (Citizens for Community Values which has ties to Focus on the Family) and was instrumental in making  sure that the original hate crime laws in Cincinnati did not cover sexual orientation.

Massive comeback of right whales seen in Cape Cod Bay: "An aerial survey done last week by the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies indicated there were 60 right whales swimming in the bay, chowing down on the buffet of zooplankton in the waters offshore. That's six times the number of the endangered whales surveyors saw last year at this time."

Rihanna gets gun tattoo.

McCain strategist Steve Schmidt comes out in support of marriage equality: “I’m personally supportive of [marriage] equality for gay couples and I believe that it will happen over time. I think that more and more Americans are insistent that, at a minimum, gay couples should be treated with respect and when they see a political party trying to stigmatize a group of people who are hardworking, who play by the rules, who raise decent families, they’re troubled by it.”

LOGO renews RuPaul's Drag Race.

Former publisher of Bay Windows, Jim Hoover, dies at 53.

Another kid? Madonna off to Malawi again.

Federer grabs some attention courtside.

Nepal opening up as gay tourism destination: "In a break from the traditional mindset, some of the country’s tour operators have now geared up to lure foreign gay and lesbian tourists. Earlier, this kind of travel used to be closeted. A number of restaurants, discos and hotels have been established in the country that cater to gay and lesbian couples. Employees in these establishments have been trained to behave better so that visiting couples get the respect they are looking for."

Reality explosion: Kathy Griffin and Paris Hilton.

L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center launches fourth episode of its AIDS prevention web soap opera "In the Moment".

Pam Spaulding had her eyes opened at the North Carolina Equality Day of Action in Raleigh: "We had people come from as far away as Duck (that's on the Outer Banks) and to the mountain town of Hendersonville to meet with the legislators to discuss pro-LGBT legislation in the queue and to urge them to oppose the marriage amendment."

Through My Eyes: New documentary from the Gay Christian Network looks at how the homosexuality debate within the Christian church affects young gay people who identify as both Christian and gay.

British synth-pop singer La Roux drives in to town.

Last week, Michelangelo Signorile interviewed Tennessee lawmaker Stacey Campfield, who spearheaded the "don't say gay" bill that would forbid any discussion of homosexuality in schools in that state. Listen to the audio HERE.

James O'Connor gets life sentence for slaying of gay Liverpool teen Michael Causer: "Sentencing him to a minimum of 11½ years in prison Mr Justice King accepted O’Connor did not act out of homophobic motives, but described him as 'ignoble' and 'cowardly'. Co-defendant Michael Binsteed, 19, who was accused of perverting the cause of justice, was sentenced to 34 weeks in custody, suspended for two years. He was ordered to carry out 200 hours of community service in 12 months. Speaking outside court, Michael’s parents, Marie and Michael Causer, said: 'This is another black day for Michael. It’s just pathetic.'"

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: Drag Race, Dow Jones, Tom of Finland, Hong Kong, Kanye

MTV's Graden: RuPaul's Drag Race "the widest hit" LOGO has had to date. AfterElton talks with the show's Ongina.

Virtual reality "cocoon" in development. Maker: "This will be a huge step forward in comparison to today's virtual reality devices. Combining the use of all five senses will make the experience feel totally real - it will be unlike anything previously available."

What is Kanye West's greatest pain in life?

Asteroid buzzes Earth: "The asteroid named 2009 DD45 was about 48,800 miles from Earth when it zipped past early Monday...That is just twice as high as the orbits of some telecommunications satellites and about a fifth of the distance to the Moon.

Britney Spears returns to Big Top in NoLa.

Wannabe supermodels return to the airwaves tonight.

St. Louis, Missouri candidate Shane Cohn on road to becoming city's first openly gay alderman.

Massive Ecstasy bust at Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras: "Ryan Kirkbride, from Wentworthville, was charged with selling a large commercial supply of a prohibited drug. Police will allege Kirkbride was organising the supply of 2000 ecstasy pills for Saturday's Mardi Gras. Worth about $80,000 on the streets, police, more importantly, believe the arrest has ended a valuable supply chain to this weekend's gay parade. NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Catherine Burn hailed the bust as a significant blow ahead of the parade."

Sean Penn's Milk suit auctioned at benefit for $12,500.

Anti-gay Mormon machine cranks up against Illinois civil unions bill: "In a private email sent out to LDS members of at least one ward in Illinois, church members are being encouraged to call their representative to voice their opposition to the bill, which would provide same-sex couples with recognition and limited protections under Illinois law. But the official LDS-sanctioned email to members is loaded with much of the same misinformation that was present in the campaign against California’s Proposition 8."

Weeklong DDoS attack launched on gay Russian websites: "Ironically, the attack was in fact coming from Russian, courtesy from a botnet operated by a DDoS for hire service. Here's a list of the sites that were subject to the DDoS, with the majority of them returning "503 Service Temporarily Unavailable" error message during last week : gogay.ru 1gay.ru androgin.ru boysclub.ru egay.ru gaylines.ru gaymoney.ru gayplanet.ru gayrelax.ru xabalka.ru On the 25th of January, gogay.ru was among the few sites to issue a statement and confirm the attacks offering financial reward for information leading to the source."

Similarities between today's Dow Jones and that of 1937 (via daily dish).

New Tom of Finland book muscles its way onto shelves.

Extreme fishing host gets back to nature.

REPORT: Rihanna marries Chris Brown.

HIV infections in Hong Kong surge in 2008: "The city recorded its highest-ever number of HIV infections in a single year, with 435 new cases recorded in 2008, up 5 percent from the previous year, the Department of Health announced yesterday. It is the highest number of HIV infections since records began in 1984, it said, adding most of the new infections were the result of sexual contact. Of the new cases, 145 resulted from homosexual relations, 131 from heterosexual contact, 40 from intravenous drug use and three from blood infusion. Causes of the remaining infections are unknown, it said.

Semi-colon in Times Square.

UK to get superfast broadband: "Download speeds across a new £1.5billion fibre-optic cable network will be more than 25 times faster than the current service most people get."

Ongina Delivers Gift of $25K from MAC to NY's Harvey Milk School

Earlier this week I posted a video of Ongina breaking down after winning a MAC Viva Glam cosmetics competition and revealing his HIV status on  RuPaul's Drag Race.

City Room reports that MAC had Ongina deliver a $25,000 gift to the Harvey Milk school in New York on Wednesday to help the school bridge a budget gap caused by the recession:

"Hetrick-Martin, which provides many services to the school, recently let go 20 percent of its staff in December because of a drop in private and government funds in its $5 million budget. At the same time, the institute has seen a surge in demand for its services for gay youth, such as hot meals and homeless support, since the summer. To help with the gap, the MAC AIDS Fund, a foundation arm of the makeup company, donated $25,000 to cover operational costs. “The funding is to support our relationship with the school,” Mr. Krever said. To make that gift, a 27-year-old drag queen who started his career in New York City visited Harvey Milk School on Wednesday. Ryan Ong Palao...started suffering harassment when he first became more flamboyant after coming out in high school in a small town in Washington State. He would have appreciated a 'school that provided me as much of an education as a comfort zone.' His drag identity is Ongina, a play off his middle name."

StyleItOnline interviews Ongina, AFTER THE JUMP...

50 Cent Ready to Sign Up for RuPaul's Drag Race

This clip is apparently related to some feud that 50 Cent is having with Foxy Brown but he could always re-use it as an ad for that "butch" line of male cosmetics he's introducing.

Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP (Warning: language NSFW)...