News: Gay Exorcism, Father Cutie, Rosie O'Donnell, Neda, Nixon

Karger: Is the Mormon Church hiding its funding for the National Organization for Marriage?

Exorcism in Connecticut: Getting the gay demon out.

Senate Judiciary Committee holds hearings on hate crimes bill.

Body of pilot Marc Dubois and flight attendant among those recovered from Air France crash site. Black boxes not found. Will ping for only a few more days.

Transgender in a virtual world.

Rosie O'Donnell to host Sirius XM radio show.

Iran: Neda's family forced from home. "The Iranian authorities have ordered the family of Neda Agha Soltan out of their Tehran home after shocking images of her death were circulated around the world. Neighbours said that her family no longer lives in the four-floor apartment building on Meshkini Street, in eastern Tehran, having been forced to move since she was killed. The police did not hand the body back to her family, her funeral was cancelled, she was buried without letting her family know and the government banned mourning ceremonies at mosques, the neighbours said."

Is Father Cutie gay?

Amsterdam Deputy Mayor Carolien Gehrels flies to New York City in support of marriage equality: "Mrs. Gehrels brings a personal perspective to the issue: she is married to a woman. She said that while the approval of gay marriage in the Netherlands that took effect in 2001 was 'a milestone in equal rights,' even eight years later 'equality and freedom are never self-evident.' Same-sex partnerships were legalized in 1998."

Douchebag warns that straight men will give up women once they try the gay.

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford was pushed into confessing affair: "As the newspaper disclosed on CNN tonight, it has since December had emails between Sanford and his Argentine mistress, it's just been trying to authenticate them. Then this morning the paper busted Sanford returning on an airplane from South America when he was supposed to be on the Appalachian Trial. The paper then informed Sanford it would finally be publishing the emails, exposing his adultery, according to The State writer John O'Connor."

Whitney Houston announces title of new album.

Seattle's The Stranger publishes Queer Issue 2009. NY's Village Voice goes Queer too.

Delaware General Assembly passes bill protecting gays and lesbians from discrimination after ten-year battle.

City investigation of Canterbury UK finds that, yes, the city is gay enough.

Adam Lambert collaborating with Sam Sparro on new album.

Violence not expected at this year's Jerusalam Gay Pride: "Amit Lev, a spokesman for the gay rights group behind the parade, said organisers had been negotiating with ultra-Orthodox leaders in Jerusalem after "long years of silence" between the two communities. 'We've agreed that violence doesn't serve any of us or any of our goals,' he said."

And even more skin from men's fashion week in Milan.

New batch of Nixon tapes reveal more homophobia: "Discussing Nixon's political opposition, Colson says it included 'the blacks and the poor.' Nixon adds: 'And the intellectuals.' Colson goes on to say that it also included 'the lavender shirt mob . . . the homos and the queers.'" Previously: Nixon understood homosexuality but didn't want it on TV.

News: Bret Michaels, D.C., Jesse Helms, Dan Choi, Connecticut

D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics hears four hours of testimony on anti-gay referendum: "Both sides presented legal and political arguments about whether the same-sex marriage issue should be in the hands of voters or the politicians who represent them."

Bret Michaels says the Tony Awards people would have cared more about his self-inflicted on-set accident if it had happened to Liza Minnelli, Dolly Parton, or Elton John.

Transgender woman beaten at bus stop in Seattle: "The victim, who told police that she sometimes wears a skirt, said the attack was a result of that, the report stated. During the confrontation, several of the victim's assailants uttered a slur for a gay man as they struck and kicked the victim, then knocked her to the ground, the report says. The attacking youths also tried to pull off her backpack. The group then fled."

Researcher: Cougars love Adam Lambert. What about Cougays?

Oceanside, California resident pleads "not guilty" in assault on gay rights activist during recent torch relay protesting Proposition 8.

Living Sasquatch!

Britney Spears announces second round of tour dates.

Dan Choi joins No H8 Campaign.

City of Seattle fights to keep identities of its LGBT employees private after request from City Light employee affiliated with conservative Christian organization opposed to gay rights.

Cristiano Ronaldo bought by Real Madrid for world record transfer fee of £80million, spends night with Paris Hilton.

Paul Schindler at Gay City News does an excellent job of summing up the chaotic events that have occurred this week with regard to marriage equality in New York.

Man arrested for 'revenge' pissing at Motor City Pride in Detroit.

Something is happening in Iran.

North Carolina resolution in honor of Jesse Helms inspires mass walkout, vote of "no" from gay lawmaker.

Kellan Lutz gives good tank.

Virginia prison segregated women who "looked gay": "For more than a year, Virginia's largest women's prison rounded up inmates who had loose-fitting clothes, short hair or otherwise masculine looks, sending them to a unit officers derisively dubbed the "butch wing," prisoners and guards say."

Greenwich, Connecticut a magnet for NYC same-sex weddings.

British ambassador to Poland in hot water for promoting gay pride march in Warsaw: "Ric Todd has been told by the country's civil rights ombudsman that he has 'exceeded his authority' and Roman Catholic groups have accused the ambassador of representing the 'homosexual lobby'. The problem arose after Mr Todd, who has been our man in Warsaw for almost two years, gave gay rights leaders a UK Guide To Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual And Transgender People And Their Rights, translated into Polish, earlier this week."

Report: Woman in Anti-Gay Assault at Samantha Ronson Gig in Seattle

Samantha Ronson's posted a photo to Twitter of a woman who was allegedly attacked for being gay at a party she DJ'ed in Seattle.

I have been able to find no official reports on the attack but here is Ronson's statement from her MySpace account:

Rant Of The Day 5.19.09

i wish it surprised me more to hear about people being attacked for things beyond their control. a person's skin colour, faith, sexual orientation, or nationality are not reasons for persecution- i would say that this is my personal belief- however, it shouldn't be up for discussion. 

NO ONE should have to suffer any sort of attack, verbal or physical, for any reason. there are no excuses for violence- people say "well they're just ignorant or uneducated" - so what??? i don't know how to speak chinese, i haven't studied hinduism, i've never been to brazil, that doesn't mean that i feel that it's ok for me to hate what i don't understand, least of all resort to violence when challenged. 

unfortunately people are killed, beaten and attacked daily for a number of ridiculously irrational reasons. it's frightening to me that when i hear a story about someone being beaten up i am not as shocked by it as I should be- purely due to the fact that these incidents, as horrifying as they may be, are not isolated. 

it's 2009 people, why are we still fighting each other? the whole world is a damn mess and we're too busy hating to come together and change it. President Obama ran a campaign based on hope- not hope for any group of people in particular- hope for everyone. His message was embraced worldwide, so why can't we, here in the US, fight together instead of with one another? I'm not saying that everyone has to love everyone individually, i'm no hippie, but seriously people, no one should ever resort to violence. What if your sister, mother, brother or father were being pummeled for wearing a red sweater? would you stand by and do nothing? well, we are all someone's child, sibling, or friend! Open your eyes! 

sorry to vent, but that picture above was taken after a girl was attacked at a party i dj'd in seattle, simply for being gay. it's disgusting. 

sorry for rambling, but it makes me so sad that this sh*t happens today.

UPDATE. Capitol Hill Seattle has a different report: "The responding officer said he was unable to locate the victim and describes a scenario in which nobody was able to provide details of the person or persons who beat the woman. Included in the report are details about two men the officer talked to that night, two white 23-year-olds, one from Seattle, the other from Tacoma."

Suspect Arrested in West Seattle Anti-Gay Graffiti Hate Crimes

Earlier this month I posted that a West Seattle couple was being targeted by an anti-gay graffiti vandal who tagged their property with slurs including the phrase "faggots rape kids."

There are now reports that a suspect has been arrested. Via West Seattle blog:

"Seattle Police have released a bit more information about today’s arrest, which is also now posted on the SPDBlotter site. The suspect is described as a 31-year-old man, booked for investigation of property damage, still under investigation for possible 'malicious harassment' — as in, hate crime. Detective Jeff Kappel in the media unit told WSB that since this is an “active investigation,” he isn’t releasing more details such as where and how the man was taken into custody, which the SPDBlotter item says happened just after 1 this afternoon."

Gay Seattle Couple's Home Targeted with Graffiti: 'Faggots Rape Kids'

A disgusting hate crime out of West Seattle:

"Seattle Police are looking for the vandals that have written anti gay slurs on the home of a gay West Seattle Couple. The victims told police the same homophobic tag has showed up several times. The victims have painted over the graffiti and the next day it reappears. The 54 year old victim told Q13 Fox News that the vandals wrote the hateful graffiti on his garage 3 times in the last 4 days. 'As a gay man I cannot live in a house where someone is writing this on the side of my house.' The West Seattle man has asked to have his identity concealed. According to him the vandals were so brazen that last time they hit his home in broad daylight...The victim told Seattle Police Officers he believes he and his partner are being targeted because of their sexual orientation. 'Now, I feel like I'm living in a fish bowl. Someone is constantly watching me I feel very uncomfortable in my house. I hardly slept at all last night.'"

The couple now fears that the perpetrator has poisoned their dog, who has been sick for a week.

Watch video reports from KOMO and from Q13 FOX, AFTER THE JUMP...

Lesbian Refused Access to Dying Partner Meets Heart Recipient

You may remember the story of Janice Langbehn (above, left)  the Seattle woman whose partner Lisa Pond suffered a stroke in July 2007 right before the couple and their three kids were scheduled to leave on a cruise vacation from Miami. Even after a power of attorney naming Langbehn was sent to Jackson Memorial Hospital, the hospital refused to allow Langbehn access to Pond, who died of a brain aneurysm about 18 hours after being admitted. Langbehn was finally allowed to see Pond as a priest delivered last rites.

Langbehn recently had a bit more closure to that horrific episode. At a reception in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday, she was able to meet Jerry Lawrence (above, right, with wife Maxine), whose life was saved after receiving Pond's heart in an organ donation.

Said Langbehn: "This is the best outcome I could hope for. Lisa is inside of him.”

Lambda Legal has filed suit on behalf of Langbehn and her three children.