News: Rick Astley, Zimbabwe, Fat Joe, David Cook, Karl Lagerfeld

Zimbabwe: Intelligence officers for the government of Robert Mugabe force opposition supporters to take down their posters and eat them. "Amnesty International cited a case on March 7, when three members of the Morgan Tsvangirai-led faction of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) were ordered by intelligence officers to take down election posters. According to Amnesty, the officials forced the opposition supporters to chew the posters and swallow them."

Fat Joe and Suge White mock fellow hip-hop artists 50 Cent and G-Unit with 'Gay-Unit' mix tape: "Featuring a Photoshoped image of 50, Yayo and Banks tightly embraced, all three rappers are portrayed with smeared lipstick on the face, as Yayo was tattooed with a "I Miss Jail" on his right shoulder and Banks sporting a portrait of Curtis on his left shoulder with 'Delicious' tagged under." (image via Rod 2.0)

American Idol: Is David Cook an 'original', or just a really good cover artist?

University of Pittsburgh study: LGB youth report higher rates of drug and alcohol use. "The odds of substance use for lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) youth are on average 190 percent higher than for heterosexual youth...What's more, for some sub-populations of LGB youth, the odds were substantially higher, including 340 percent for bisexual youth and 400 percent for lesbians, researchers found. 'Homophobia, discrimination and victimization are largely what are responsible for these substance use disparities in young gay people,' said Michael P. Marshal, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of UPMC, who led the study. 'History shows that when marginalized groups are oppressed and do not have equal opportunities and equal rights, they suffer. Our results show that gay youth are clearly no exception.'"

The second coming of Rick Astley: the "Never Gonna Give you Up" singer talks about the RickRoll.

Apparently they are remaking the 70's kids TV show Land of the Lost at the La Brea Tar Pits, but I don't know how you can ever replicate the wonderfully bad fake dinos and the Sleestaks...

Ellen Degeneres top television host in new poll.

'Domestic partnership' to become 'mutual commitment' in Salt Lake City? "Some legislators argued that the term 'domestic partnership,' at least in spirit, violated Utah's constitutional Amendment No. 3, which bans same-sex marriage and substantially similar civil unions. Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker said Tuesday he will recommend to the City Council that the name be changed to the mutual commitment registry. The City Council likely will consider the recommendation at its April 1 meeting. If approved, the registry could be up and running as soon as April 7."

Ronald Haines, Episcopal Bishop who ordained lesbian in 1991, dies in Pennsylvania.

Karl Lagerfeld the subject of new documentary: "The film is Lagerfeld Gone Wild, with delights such as Lagerfeld discussing how gay people suck nowadays because they no longer outrage 'bourgeois social norms' and why prostitution should be legal. He's full of opinions."

Mario Lopez hawks abtastic new fitness book.

Vienna LGBT group announces poster competition to raise awareness about homophobia in football: "With the European championships to be held in Austria and Switzerland this summer, Qwien said it wanted to draw attention to homophobia in football. 'By launching a Europe-wide poster competition, we will make an otherwise taboo topic public' during the championships, it said. Posters had to be submitted by the end of May. The best 50 would be selected and then a jury - including Icelandic film director Robert Douglas, Life Ball organiser Gery Keszler, the president of Hamburg's FC St. Pauli football club Corny Littmann, pop singer Jimmy Somerville and Tanja Walther of the the European Gay and Lesbian Sports Federation - would pick the best three. The winner would be announced on June 4. The 50 best posters would be displayed "at a public venue" during the championship itself, which runs from June 7-29." (official site)

More gay looks for Jay Leno.

L.A.'s first openly gay police officer seeks new trial in discrimination suit: "Former Sgt. Mitchell Grobeson wants a rehearing of a discrimination suit that sought up to $4.4 million in damages. A jury ruled for the city last year. A Superior Court judge on Tuesday took under submission Grobeson's motions for a new trial and reinstatement to the LAPD. Grobeson did two stints with the LAPD in the 1980s and 1990s before retiring on a psychological disability. The LAPD settled a previous suit by Grobeson in 1993 by promising to improve its hiring and training of gay officers."

Remember Aquaman? Alan Ritchson a superhero again.

Sphere: Related Content

Harry Potter Does Drag for Manila Gay Bar

Looks like good old Dumbledore has cast a spell!

Harry Potter now works his wand in that schoolmarmish demanding dominatrix kind of way.

BED, a gay bar in the Philippine capital of Manila, has taken a few icons of pop culture and done a switcheroo, dressing Darth Vader in Princess Leia attire, and Superman in Wonder Woman's sizzling get-up to advertise a drag night.

And you thought the Larry Craig doll was gay.

Sphere: Related Content

News: Norway, Spice Girls, Talan Torriero, Gregg Araki, Taipei

University of Virginia attempts to deal with anti-gay football chant: "After a Cavalier touchdown, the marching band strikes up what, to an outsider, sounds like 'Auld Lang Syne.' But, to its tune, students and alumni sing the 'Good Old Song,' its lyrics written by Edward A. Craighill in 1895, its mention of all being 'bright and gay' a throwback to when 'gay' meant 'happy,' the line a launching pad for what’s since become a university tradition of negating the word 'gay' with gleeful (often drunken) shouts of 'not gay!'"

Spice Girls lipsync their way through Victoria's Secret fashion show.

Is Laguna Beach's Talan Torriero the next Aquaman?

Norway's Lutherans vote to allow clergy in same-sex partnerships to serve: "The compromise decision reflected the realization that the church may have to live with a deep split over the issue. After an anguished week of debate at its annual meeting, the church's 86-member governing synod voted 50-34 to make the change. Two members abstained. The meeting, which ended Friday, was held in the town of Lillehammer. The decision means that six of Norway's 11 bishops are likely to open the pulpit to gay clergy in partnerships. In a vote earlier in the year, those six bishops voted in favor of easing the ban. The church already allows gays to serve in the clergy as long as they are not living in a homosexual partnership."

Amherst College students apologize to five Hampshire College students who "were allegedly called names, threatened, spit at and were blocked from leaving the dorm" following a gay party at which they were guests: "Dozens of students gathered outside Valentine Dining Hall at the college yesterday carrying signs that said 'We're Sorry Hampshire' and "I don't want to be 'tolerated.' They also asked passers-by to sign a banner that said 'Please Come Back.'"

IndieWire chats with filmmaker Gregg Araki about his film Smiley Face. We previewed a couple John Krasinski stills from the movie in October.

AfterElton talks to Van Hansis and Jake Silbermann about their gay storyline as Luke and Noah on As The World Turns. Hansis: "My parents are so proud of me it sort of embarrasses me. My mom cried on the red carpet at the Emmys this year when she was asked about how she felt for her son to be nominated. It was actually really nice. It’s great to see your parents so proud of your accomplishments. Both my parents now go through the soap magazines at the grocery store and point to pictures of me and tell the cashier 'That’s my son!' They are generally busy during the day so I think they watch the show online. But they have always been my biggest fans and I couldn’t ask for anything more."

From the just-don't-get-it dept: Taipei restaurant gives a completely new meaning to potty-mouthed.

Esteemed design group Pentagram takes a look at the redesigned Advocate: "Today gays and lesbians are no longer an ignored minority, and the younger generations have experienced a saturation of media both from and about the community. Activism, while still important, is less in the mix, and issues like gay marriage, medicine and civil rights have shifted to the mainstream press. At the same time, the circulation of newsweeklies is changing as news and information is more readily available online. The magazine’s redesign reflects these transformations. The new Advocate is modern and vibrant while continuing to confront politics and difficult LGBT issues. Impressively, it manages to successfully straddle the line between opinion leader and entertainment magazine without losing its journalistic integrity and with a tone that is sophisticated, but not frivolous."

Rod McCullom on HuffPost: John Edwards and Barack Obama make mistake of repeating Republican talking points to attack one of their own. "...something funny happened to Senators Edwards and Obama on their way to Las Vegas. Maybe the high-roller suites have complimentary testosterone and egos on the pillows, or, possibly they bumped into Elvis, who told them, "A little less conversation and a little more action." They lost their mojos. Instead of throwing the hungry audience sound bites that were wrapped in juicy, red meat, the two candidates tossed stale, Republican talking points at frontrunner Hillary Clinton and the audience booed and hissed."

Without fanfare, Nicaragua drops anti-sodomy laws: "In adopting a new national civil code on Monday, the Nicaraguan National Assembly sidestepped the longstanding law that penalized sodomy between members of the same-sex with up to five years in prison by overwhelmingly voting to approve a new civil code that simply did not mention it."

Bah Humbug: The Bill O'Reilly Christmas Store is now open!

Sphere: Related Content

Greg Berlanti to Helm Green Lantern Movie

Gay writer/director Greg Berlanti (Everwood, Broken Hearts Club) has signed on to co-write and direct a live-action feature film adaptation of DC Comics' superhero comic Green Lantern.

According to SciFi.com, "The first incarnation was radio engineer Alan Scott, who was the Green Lantern during the Golden Age of Comics. Alan Scott found that, because he was holding a mysterious green lantern, he was the only survivor of a horrible accident involving a train and an exploding bridge. This lantern and ring were powered by the mysterious 'Green Flame', whose origins were linked to a space meteor that fell to earth in ancient China." The Hollywood Reporter notes that "The biggest challenge in setting up 'Lantern' was waiting for the technology to become available to create fantastical worlds as well as overcoming the prejudice of a ring-bearing hero."

Berlanti told the Reporter: "To me, this was on the last great comic book movie that hasn't been made. It was a comic book with a real mythology that you would see in a lot of the space operas and the sci-fi books. The best part about it, anybody can be become one of the Green Lanterns because anyone can end up with that ring. The danger and the fear from a lot of people is that it would be silly. In these post-'Harry Potter' and 'Lord of the Rings' days, it's not any more fantastical than that. It's taken movies like that to make it feel as if a Green Lantern film is possible."

Incidentally, in 2002 Green Lantern became the first major comic series to introduce a storyline based around an anti-gay hate crime.

Sphere: Related Content

Jesse Metcalfe's Dark Knight Fantasies

Jesse Metcalfe envisioned himself as the Dark Knight yesterday at a party celebrating the LG VX9400, a new mobile phone reportedly capable of delivering TV shows to your phone (watch out Apple), but he'll have to start thinking a lot differently to catch up with the real Batman.

The new bat vehicle, which will be driven by Christian Bale in the new film scheduled to open on July 18, 2008, was shown off yesterday by Warner Bros.

It's called the Batpod. No word on whether its dashboard has a YouTube hook-up.

You may have missed...
Jesse Metcalfe and Friend Get Their Tans On [tr]
Jesse Metcalfe: Dolled Up [tr]

Sphere: Related Content

Chris Evans Has Really Been Working Out

And may have visited the Mystic Tan booth a few too many times.

Actually, it's a moment from the new Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer trailer, just released... Click images to enlarge.

You may have missed...
Chris Evans' Fantastic Four 2 Man-Crush Moment [tr]
The Silver Surfer's Easter Eggs [tr]

Sphere: Related Content

Flashback: Heroes' Sylar Hits the Sauna

Over the weekend I was reminded where I'd seen Zachary Quinto, who plays the superhuman serial killer Sylar in the NBC drama Heroes. He played one of Tori Spelling's gay friends in the short-lived, nominally entertaining scripted reality series So NoTORIous. Quite a different challenge from playing a superhuman-murdering, skull-slicing, brain-removing killer.

One more shot and scene, after the jump...

(via superherofan)

Sphere: Related Content

Chris Evans' Fantastic Four 2 Man-Crush Moment

As you may know, actor Chris Evans is quite popular here at Towleroad, so I was pleased to catch this light moment from a brand new Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer TV spot in which Evans, who plays The Human Torch, responding to a comment from Jessica Alba's Invisible Woman, offers a bit of jokey affection to Mr. Fantastic, played by Ioan Gruffudd. Since it flies by, I've screencapped it for you. Don't miss Gruffudd's saucy look at the end.

Of course, Evans does play the flaming superhero. See the full spot below.

And don't miss...
The Silver Surfer's Easter Eggs [tr]
Fantastic Form: Chris Evans [tr]
Chris Evans in London [tr]
Chris Evans in Flaunt [tr]

(thanks, Nathan!)

And the latest teaser poster (minus the nads) after the jump...

Sphere: Related Content

The Silver Surfer's Easter Eggs

Time for something much lighter. Here's one in honor of the folks with way too much time on their hands.

American fans recently got their first glimpse of the trailer for the upcoming film Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and some meticulous trailer-diggers have revealed that the animators may have inserted a secret frame — what video game developers would call an 'Easter Egg' because it's hidden — in a scene in which the Silver Surfer is being pursued through a tunnel.

While most of the time the Surfer has the emasculated anatomy of a Ken doll, in a screen-grab sent in to us by a diligent Towleroad reader, the fluid, mercurial superhuman appears to briefly possess the anatomical parts of a mere mortal.

More after the jump...

A trick of the animator, or a trick of the eye? You be the judge. Here's the trailer, which also features the far more appealing Chris Evans.

You may have missed...
Peter Parker Revealed: Spider-man is Gay Too [tr]
The Real Justice League [tr]

Sphere: Related Content

Superman <3 Aquaman featuring Tom Welling and Alan Ritchson

Today we're going to feature a couple of homemade productions from Towleroad reader Alan Light. In the first he mashes up Smallville's flirting glances and wet showers to come to the conclusion that yes, there is something to the theory that all superheroes are just a little bit (or maybe a lot) gay.

you may have missed...
Aquaman: One Day You're In, The Next You're Out [tr]
Superman: Can Beefcake Kill a Blockbuster? [tr]

Sphere: Related Content

News: Attorney Ambush, Hefty Models, Sexy Green Arrow

Apple developing GPS/camera device that integrates with Google maps?

Gay activists ambush former Ga. Attorney General Michael Bowers at luncheon, present him with Gross Hypocrisy Award. A Southern Voice reporter, who was there taking photos of the incident and talking to Bowers, was escorted out of the luncheon. SoVo: "In the 1986 U.S. Supreme Court case known as Bowers v. Hardwick, Bowers successfully defended Georgia’s anti-sodomy law against a challenge by Michael Hardwick, a gay man who was arrested inside his Atlanta apartment for engaging in consensual oral sex with another man. The 5-4 decision in Bowers v. Hardwick made it illegal to be a sexually active gay man or lesbian in Georgia, until the Georgia Supreme Court struck down the state sodomy law 12 years later."

Smallville's latest sexy superhero.

She's a big-boned gal. Jean-Paul Gaultier makes runway statement about thin models in Paris.

Conservative wingnuts overjoyed by "HIV is a Gay Disease" campaign. Ex-gay: "To watch the gay identified community of today take personal responsibility for this issue was astounding to me, and something that affected me personally."

AfterElton talks to Oscar Nunez, focus of The Office's "Gay Witch Hunt."

Sphere: Related Content

News: Boxer Briefs, Barry Manilow's Hip, Moustaches

Hundreds took to the streets on Friday night in San Diego's Hillcrest neighborhood to rally against the hateful attacks that took place near Balboa Park over Gay Pride weekend.

Remember the 14-year-old gay Iraqi boy murdered on his doorstep? Evidence shows increase in Iraqi Shia death squad executions of homosexuals: "There is growing evidence that Shia militias have been killing men suspected of being gay and children who have been sold to criminal gangs to be sexually abused. The threat has led to a rapid increase in the numbers of Iraqi homosexuals now seeking asylum in the UK because it has become impossible for them to live safely in their own country."

Hugh Jackman's lucky charm: a pair of ten-year-old boxer briefs.

Marvel Comics Editor in Chief says that due to "ridiculous" pressure from "pro-family" groups like Traditional Values Coalition, the company will not be publishing titles with gay and lesbian characters without an "explicit content" label: "The last thing we want to do is have everybody come down on the entire comic book industry."

Barry Manilow to undergo hip surgery.

What your facial hair says about you: “You’ve got some who are hairy and do nothing about it, some who are almost obsessive about being clean-shaven, and some who just keep their facial hair neatly trimmed—and what goes on up top is usually a good indication of what goes on below."

World's first gay motor show set to start its engines in Cardiff, UK.

Western Australia National Party passes motion supporting gay and lesbian civil unions: "This move by the National Party shows that there is an increasing level of support within the party to secure fairness and certainty for same-sex couples and their families, especially those in rural and regional Western Australia."

Sphere: Related Content

News: T-Mobile, Johnny Depp, Superman, Cyndi Lauper...

Following pressure from the anti-gay American Family Association, T-Mobile has pulled ads from two FX channel shows: "The move appears to be another victory for Wildmon's group, which has made a habit of going after advertisers in shows that offend its sensibilities. In the case of the two FX shows, the AFA has complained to advertisers supporting the programs that that the shows are 'over the edge in sex, violence and profanity.'"

He came from the mist...

Too gay? Filmmaker Kevin Smith says Bryan Singer's Superman not gay enough: "You look at the X-Men movies and it's an allegory for what it's like to be gay, like, if you take the word 'mutant' out of that movie and stick 'gay' in, the movie still works. I was really looking forward to him doing the third one because it would be an out-and-out gay fantasia - I was hoping that the dude would go for a kind of Brokeback Mutant kind of movie, but he opted to do Superman. I thought he'd make a really gay Superman but he didn't; it was more JESUS' Superman... - a lot of Messianic poses and what not and I was hoping for a little more gay action."

Cyndi Lauper, Mayor Daley wrap up Chicago's Gay Games for crowd of 20,000+. Sun-Times: "The event belonged to one singer, however. The entire crowd was silent as a violinist, dressed as Abe Lincoln, began to play the opening notes of Cyndi Lauper's 'True Colors.' Proving she is still so unusual, Lauper entered barefoot from the dugout, dressed as the Statue of Liberty wrapped in the rainbow flag and carrying a torch. She ended the set by telling the crowd to 'stand tall and together pass the flame on.' It was the kind of high note you wish the games had begun with."

Orlando Bloom on his Pirates co-star Johnny Depp: "He is always trying to kiss me. I'm like, 'No tongue!'"

Gay soldiers live life of secrecy and isolation within the Canadian Forces. Soldier: "I am part of a same-sex common-law couple within the Canadian Forces, and after declaring common-law status, I found that my situation is very common across the Canadian Forces, although many couples prefer to remain in silence about their relationship and lifestyle. From personal experience, I know there are young soldiers who feel they don't belong, and there are no resources within the military community or the Family Resource Centre to reach out to them."

Richard Hatch has been sent to a federal prison in Oklahoma while serving his 51-month sentence for failing to pay taxes on his $1 million Survivor winnings. Hatch Lawyer: "He should be in a camp. The camps are the most comfortable of the uncomfortable. They are still jails, but they get to see the sky and be outside. It's bad for Richard, who is an outdoor person."

Father and son taking Jack Twist's Brokeback truck, the one sold at auction, on tour of Alberta, Canada where the movie was shot.

Chicago radio DJ told Jody Watley she was not to speak about the Gay Games during a radio interview, despite the fact she was in the city to perform at them.

AfterElton profiles Rex Lee, who plays Jeremy Piven's assistant on Entourage: "Even now, I'm on this show, I play a gay character, I talk about being gay in real life. But I'm shocked at how many people don't get it. They're like ‘Hey! Bet you're really reeling in the women now that you're on this show!' And I'm like, ‘Do you live under a rock?'"

Sphere: Related Content

Brandon Routh: Man of Steel vs Man of Wax

Superman Returns' Brandon Routh sized up a wax figure of himself at Madame Tussaud's in New York yesterday, and made sure to check it up and down...

"No worries in that department."

"I'm a leeetle concerned about those eyebrows though. Are you sure this isn't Christopher Reeve?"

"I am so not letting this wax dude steal my thunder."

You may have missed
Brandon Routh: "I'm Not Gay" [tr]
Superman: Can Beefcake Kill a Blockbuster? [tr]
Superman: Just One Elbow Flex from Jazz Hands [tr]
Superman Returns and Brandon Routh Flies [tr]
The Man of Steel Returns [tr]

Sphere: Related Content

REPORT: Gay Tucson man lured from car, then beaten, sexually assaulted, and robbed at gunpoint. The incident allegedly happened early this month but the victim has been to afraid to come forward until now. Police: "Since he won't file an official report on this we don't have an active case; however, we have been made aware this occurred."

On the eve of NYC's gay pride weekend, The Villager honors 80-year-old gay activist Bob Kohler: "Kohler has been an active fighter for gay rights since the 1960s, when he played a large part in founding the Gay Liberation Front, which was born out of the Stonewall riots, where a routine police raid of the popular Greenwich Village gay bar turned into a three-day-long riot when gays, for the first time, fought back. 'The G.L.F. — we did some pretty ballsy things…. We were very fierce and we were very angry, and we didn’t take any s—t from anybody.'"

Hair don't: Is Jon Bon Jovi turning into Barry Manilow?

How 'bout a little game of Gyllenball?

Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich replaces Metro board appointee Robert Smith after Smith labels gays and lesbians "sexual deviants": "Robert Smith’s comments were highly inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable,” the Republican governor said in a statement released by his office. They are in direct conflict to my administration’s commitment to inclusiveness, tolerance and opportunity." An interesting comment coming from a governor who vetoed a gay rights bill that would have granted medical and funeral-related rights to unmarried couples in the state.

Anderson Cooper gets "giddy like a schoolgirl" with Jon Stewart.

Superman's gay headache: how to market a more manly spandex-wearer.

More than 150 English football fans will travel to former concentration camps in Dachau today to pay respect to holocaust victims in anti-racism, anti-homophobia initiative. Organizer: "The Dachau event will help to raise awareness amongst football fans about those who lost their lives during the holocaust. It is important that they understand that gay people were also persecuted and murdered as part of the holocaust. We hope the initiative will help to enhance people's understanding of different forms of discrimination that threaten the future of the game."

Sphere: Related Content

Brandon Routh: "I'm Not Gay"

This shot is an outtake from the upcoming issue of Vanity Fair. See the full set here.

Brandon Routh, in Australia for promotion of Superman Returns, told the Sydney Morning Herald that he is prepared for the onslaught of fame: "It will be different. Every day I am learning how to deal with it and make it work for me ... I don't have any secrets so it will be fine."

Of Superman's gay vibe, Routh said: "You find whatever message you want. Everybody is going to interpret the film differently...People will see the movie and realise that Superman is certainly not gay. And I am not (gay) as well, but people will have that discussion as much as they want - it is a topic for people to talk about."

Actually, I wasn't planning on talking about it, but now that you bring it up...

You may have missed...
Superman: Can Beefcake Kill a Blockbuster? [tr]
Superman: Just One Elbow Flex from Jazz Hands [tr]
Superman Returns and Brandon Routh Flies [tr]
The Man of Steel Returns [tr]

Sphere: Related Content

Peter Parker Revealed: Spider-man is Gay Too

Forget about those pesky Superman rumors.

When Spider-Man is unmasked for the first time in his 44-year history, readers may draw some new conclusions about Peter Parker:

The hair perfectly coiffed (and highlighted), the eyebrows plucked with Metcalfe-ian precision, the lips shining with gloss, and the skin mystic-tanned to a luscious, caramel-honey shade.

Gay or just gay vague? You be the judge.

Sphere: Related Content

The Fabulous Adventures of Captain Queer

Gay superheroes are really hot right now. The SF Chronicle profiles Prince Gomolvilas, whose new play, The Fabulous Adventures of Captain Queer, takes no prisoners in that area.

In Gomolvilas' play, Captain Queer must contend with Reginald Screamingbottom, the leader of an ex-gay ministry, and Screamingbottom's sidekicks, Dr. Octopussy and Nazi war criminal Gustav Lederhosen.

Gomolvilas won't give up all the play's secrets, however, particularly the ones surrounding his hero's special powers: "You just have to mull over, what kind of powers could a radioactive ladybug pass on to somebody?"

Gomolvilas recently adapted Scott Heim's Mysterious Skin for the stage. The Captain Queer play evolved from a suggestion he got from New Conservatory Theatre Center's artistic director Ed Decker. With Superman Returns on the summer docket, the idea couldn't be more prescient:

"Gomolvilas thinks the idea of a secret identity also takes on a particular resonance in the gay community, in which so many people have at one time or another felt they had to hide their sexual identity from the world at large. But he also says he hasn't put too much effort into analyzing his comic book habit as a gay Thai American kid growing up in Indiana and Southern California. 'I think it was mostly me escaping from reality more than anything else, as a kid who was very closeted and repressed,' he says. 'Maybe subconsciously a lot of the secret identity stuff? I don't know.'"

Queer Hero [sf chronicle]

Sphere: Related Content

Wayne Besen forms Truth Wins Out, a national organization that will counter the "ex-gay" movement:" With the president embracing the leader of the ex-gay ministries, there has never been a more crucial time to expose the faith-based folly of these harmful programs."

Let's face it: Most superheroes are kinda gay.

Your 2006 Tony Award Winners: Jersey Boys, The History Boys, Awake and Sing. Openly gay playwright Alan Bennett's The History Boys picks up its second major award.

26-year-old priest-to-be Mark Paris not afraid to kiss his partner for the camera, plans to open first gay church in Cardiff, Wales. Paris: 'Nowhere in the scriptures of the Bible is there any reference to homosexuality - Jesus himself did not mention it at all. I believe that this prejudice has to stop. People have got to stop judging others. In my eyes the only person with the right to judge is our Lord.People need to stop worrying about homosexuality and focus on the texts by Jesus about how to live life.' 'I will be an independent priest who will support every faith, every colour and especially the gay people of Cardiff, so they can feel welcome in the house of God like any other person. My ambition is to make gay marriages legal in the eyes of the church, not just a civil ceremony.'

Michael Brown is tired of being the Katrina scapegoat. Over the weekend he released an email he allegedly received from "a high-level White House official" praising him for taking the heat off of dear leader. "I did hear of one reference to you, at the Cabinet meeting yesterday. I wasn't there, but I heard someone commented that the press was sure beating up on Mike Brown, to which the president replied, 'I'd rather they beat up on him than me or Chertoff.'...Congratulations on doing a great job of diverting hostile fire away from the leader."

Sphere: Related Content

Bryan Singer: Superman is Not Gay

Warner Bros. must be really worried about how Superman's gay image will affect box office if they're sending Bryan Singer out to make statements. The director came out late last week and said that Superman "is probably the most heterosexual character in any movie I've ever made."

The studio doth protest too much. As does DC Comics: "Paul Levitz, president and publisher of Superman owner DC Comics said: 'We were all scratching our heads. He's not a gay character.'" I haven't read a single story that has said that Superman is gay, but there's no denying that the character, with his secrets, his tights, the fuss about the size of his package, his jazz hands, and his co-stars, gives off a distinctly gay vibe, and what's wrong with that?

Warner Bros. should just shrug off the worry and move on. They're only fueling the gay flame by allowing the movie's gay director to continue commenting on it.

Superman 'Not Gay' Says Director [bbc]

Sphere: Related Content

Gay Rugby Icon Ian Roberts in Superman Returns

Kudos to Bryan Singer for offering gay rugby icon-turned actor Ian Roberts a Hollywood break, though his casting in Superman Returns does little to quash the movie's gay vibe. Roberts, who has been in the news recently for his appearance at a recent inquest in the murder of Arron Light, says he's thrilled about his stint as a henchman to Kevin Spacey's Lex Luthor.

He'll head to L.A. for the movie's June 21 premiere: "I'm just getting so excited about the trip [to LA] now, it's going to be the absolute highlight of my career."

And just for the record, here's one of the most well-known pin-ups of the hunky Ian Roberts.

And a particularly relevant shot follows after the jump...

Previously
Gay Rugby Icon Ian Roberts Testifies About Abuse [tr]

Sphere: Related Content

Superman Returns Trailer

Superman may be heterosexual, but his issues are as gay as can be...

Lex: "Tell me everything."

Clark: "It's not easy for me to live my life being who I am, keeping secrets."

Superman Returns [trailer]

Previously
Superman: Just One Elbow Flex from Jazz Hands [tr]
Superman Returns and Brandon Routh Flies [tr]
The Man of Steel Returns [tr]

Sphere: Related Content

The Real Justice League

Tired of all the objectification of female breasts that goes on in the comic book industry? This blogger has decided it's time justice was served.

(via boingboing)

Sphere: Related Content

Superman Returns and Brandon Routh Flies

This appears to be the first clip of Brandon Routh in flight, from the upcoming Bryan Singer-directed Superman Returns. It's a clip from an Australian Coke commercial. I think in these close-ups Routh looks distinctly like a young Kyle McLachlan.

In the clip, Superman is flying over a freeway when the tail section of an airliner bursts into flame and breaks off. Superman must then save the beleaguered airliner.

(via brandonrouth.com)

Routh appeared at L.A. boutique Kitson yesterday, where a ton of new Superman swag went on sale.

No xtra large sequined codpieces though.

Previously
The Man of Steel Returns [tr]
Superblog [tr]

Sphere: Related Content