News: Sweden, Morrissey, Cameroon, Walmart, Kris Allen, Kenya

Straight ex-spouses speak up for marriage equality: "They are federal workers and professionals, men and women who share little except that their former spouses tried to live as heterosexuals but at some point realized they could not."

British town mourns albino squirrel.

WATCH: Morrissey storms off stage after fan hits him on head with bottle of beer.

POLL: Majority of Californians oppose putting marriage equality on the ballot in 2010. "Overall, 51% of California voters favored marriage rights for same-sex couples and 43% were opposed. Strikingly, however, almost 60% of Californians did not want to revisit the issue in 2010, just one election cycle after it last hit the ballot."

Conservatives up in arms over gay-friendly recommendations in Fort Worth Rainbow Lounge police raid report.

Asheville, NC city council to take up extending benefits to same-sex partners.

Manchester, UK closes gay village to cars in weekend experiment.

Wingnut Peter LaBarbera calls FBI on gay blogger Joe.My.God over reader comments he characterizes as "domestic terrorism".

Popular DJs Fernando and Greg back on the air in San Francisco: "Fernando Ventura and Greg Sherrell had been the most recognizable voices on KNGY's gay-themed programming schedule since 2005. Last year they received the Fall Honors award from northern California chapter of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association, and in 2007 they were named to OUT Magazine's Top 100 most influential people in gay culture."

WATCH: Kris Allen's new music video for "Live Like We're Dying".

Shortened, revised trailer "de-gays" Tom Ford's A Single Man?

Gay activist detained in Cameroon after dispute with taxi driver.

Cleveland City Council to get mass postcard delivery on transgender rights ordinance.

Male model fix: Parker Gregory.

Gay couple, twin sons banned for life from Walmart over BIC lighter dispute: "'They asked if I had Bic lighters. I said, 'Yes,' and handed them over,' Paolucci said. 'Then they asked if I had a receipt. I said, 'Yes, you're holding it.' Then this group of Wal-Mart employees started forming around us.' Paolucci and Hitchcock said the employees were threatening and that one used a vulgarity. Their accusations frightened the boys, who began 'crying, screaming and freaking out,' they said."

The Guardian profiles fashion designer Henry Holland: "I think it [being gay] makes you more experimental. There's not that whole thing of, 'I can't wear that, I'd look like a poof', because you are a poof."

Master performance: "Tardy for the Party".

Sweden's Lutheran Church ordains first openly lesbian bishop: "Eva Brunne was ordained as bishop of Stockholm's diocese in a ceremony on Sunday. She lives in a "registered partnership" with another woman, a civil union between gays used in Sweden before same-sex marriages were legalized this year. The couple also has a child. 'It is very positive that our church is setting an example here and is choosing me as bishop based on my qualifications, when they also know that they can meet resistance elsewhere,' the 55-year-old Brunne told The Associated Press by phone."

Possible gay element investigated in murder of 55-year-old man in India.

More info on Kenya's plans to conduct "census" of gays for HIV/AIDS purposes: "Initial media reports said the project, which was announced last week, would be a gay census — raising fears that gays could be exposed against their will and questions about whether such a count could possibly be accurate. But Muraguri says all information collected by the government will be kept confidential and officials will not seek to contact all men who have sex with men in Kenya. The government will also seek to interview both male and female sex workers and intravenous-drug users."

Lutheran Church of Sweden to Marry Gay Couples

In a vote this morning, the Lutheran Church of Sweden approved wedding ceremonies for gay couples:

"The decision, which is based on a proposal from the church’s governing board, means that the Church of Sweden will conduct wedding ceremonies for both heterosexual and homosexual couples. The proposal was approved by 176 of 249 voting members. The decision comes just three days after the 30th anniversary of the date when homosexuality stopped being classified as a disease in Sweden. 'The Synod’s decision takes a stance in favour of an inclusive view of people. Regardless of whether one is religious or not, this affects the entire social climate and the view of people’s equal value,' Åsa Regnér, head of the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education (RFSU) - the country's largest gay rights group, said in a statement."

The church has offered gay couples religious blessings of their unions since 2007.

Sweden began recognizing same-sex marriage following a vote by parliament in April. The law went into effect a month later.

News: Robert Novak, Guam, Celine Dion, Comet, GLSEN

Chicago Sun-Times columnist Robert Novak dies at 78...

David Mixner scolds Bill Clinton on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" explanation: "President Clinton blaming us for "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is simply wrong, insensitive and outrageous. He should step up to the plate, accept responsibility for this huge mistake and then he can lead with dignity the battle to repeal it."

GLSEN launches new 'Think B4 You Speak' campaign to battle "That's so gay" slurs.

Madonna swims.

Guam considering civil union bill.

A round-up of links on the health care debate.

Fort Worth changes bar inspection policy following Rainbow Lounge raid: "The report says [Police chief Jeff] Halstead has told the department to add specific guidelines for officers and supervisors to follow during bar checks. He said the policy will be implemented by Sept. 1. 'Under the new policy there will be three distinct differences between an actual bar check, bar inspection, and bar investigation,' he writes."

SALON: 'Fag hags' dying out.

Ballot battle: 77 days till marriage equality vote in Maine.  Let the money laundering begin.

Study: men with sleep apnea twice as likely to die early.

Celine Dion pregnant.

Brian Austin Green gets a kryptonite heart.

Derek Barrett, former consultant to Australia's Labour government, jailed for two and a half years for attempted rape of man: "In evidence, Barrett's victim told prosecutor Andrew Miller that he and Barrett had been at a social evening along with a number of others.  During the night bottles of Veuve Clicqueot and Bollinger had been drunk and the 25-year-old had fallen asleep fully clothed in a bed.  He told the jury he woke up naked with Barrett was touching him on the chest and kissing him."

Eric McCormack, Timothy Olyphant, Dan Futterman, Zachary Quinto and Robert Gant join all-star staged reading of Celebration: The Gay Marriage Plays, in L.A.

Thank you for being a friend: NYC homeless shelter for LGBT youth to be named for Bea Arthur.

Twilight: New Moon gets a new trailer.

Glycine, building block of life, found in comet: "The latest findings add credence to the notion that extraterrestrial objects such as meteorites and comets may have seeded ancient Earth, and other planets, with the raw materials of life that formed elsewhere in the cosmos."

Bowling Green, Ohio bans discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Sweden called on to halt deportations of gay Iraqis seeking asylum.

Swedish version of iTunes censors "gay", allows "fag".

Signature check of Washington state anti-gay Referendum 71 is half-finished: "David Ammons, secretary of state spokesman, said the latest tally shows 58,306 signatures accepted...'They need 120,577 valid Washington voter signatures to qualify,' Ammons said. 'Overall, the error rate is currently 11.03 percent, considerably lower than the 20-year average of about 18.5 percent, and still below the maximum error rate the sponsors can absorb, about 12.4 percent.'"

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #524

REP. PATRICK MURPHY: Pam Spaulding interviews the sponsor of legislation to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" at Netroots Nation.

FLASH MOB: Swedish dance group Bounce makes a surprise appearance at an amusement park.

TRANSSEXUALS: Offer some answers.

LIZA MINNELLI: Her recent appearance on Craig Ferguson's late night show.

For recent Guides to the Tube, click HERE.

News: Australia, Sarah Palin, Terence Koh, Baltimore Firefighters

Gay couples stage mock weddings across Australia: "In the largest protest, about 2,000 people, many in bridal veils, marched on the Labour Party's national policy-making conference in Sydney, chanting 'gay, straight, black or white, marriage is a civil right.' Similar rallies and mock weddings were held in the southern capital of Melbourne and the Queensland city of Brisbane."

Obama "Joker" posters turning up around L.A.

Jessica Simpson wants to know if "asks" is a word.

vUS. Commerce Dept. will report same-sex couples in the 2010 census.

Todd and Sarah Palin to divorce: affairs on both sides. Denials.

August Provost murder probe to remain open despite suspect's suicide.

James Kirchick: Don't trust Obama on gay marriage. "Even if Obama does in fact believe in marriage equality, he hasn't done -- and is unlikely to do -- much to forward the cause. And apart from some toothless sniping from a handful of gay activists and donors, he seems to be getting away with it."

Giraffe and goat love one another.

Music industry unraveling at "utterly breathtaking" speed. Here's a fascinating chart.

Broadway performer Nick Adams to make solo cabaret debut at Birdland on August 17.

Giorgio Armani performs his annual Speedo promenade.

Baltimore police officers Jeffrey Chaney and John Kowalczyk are making things better for LGBT folks in Baltimore.

Gay Pride marked in Stockholm, Sweden and Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Air Force One flyover: Scenes from inside a PR disaster.

Human Rights Watch urges Burundi to reverse new law making homosexuality illegal: "The government needs to listen to these voices to understand the harm it is doing to Burundians with its state-sanctioned discrimination. The government should rescind this law and instead work to promote equality and understanding."

Madonna shares her spiritual awakening with the world, or at least Israel, where she's to have a concert.

Artist Terence Koh and his partner Garrick Gott "marry" in East Hampton, NY, honeymoon in Tahiti. Koh: I designed the dress myself. It was my mom’s dress, and I just went and bought $50 of tulle. Then Jen Brill, Stella Schnabel, and Kathy Grayson—they were the bestest bridesmaids—helped me sew it on last minute. It felt like a floating snowball."

Senator Chris Dodd diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Jake Gyllenhaal hits the Elton John concert in Philly.

Pope Benedict to perform on record label founded by gay man: "The label said listeners would be 'shocked' by his 'incredible voice'. The album, which features the Pope using five different languages, will be released on 30 November."

Male model fix: Kyle Ledeboer.

One in ten people highly attractive to mosquitoes: "'People with high concentrations of steroids or cholesterol on their skin surface attract mosquitoes,' ]professor Jerry] Butler tells WebMD. That doesn't necessarily mean that mosquitoes prey on people with higher overall levels of cholesterol, Butler explains. These people simply may be more efficient at processing cholesterol, the byproducts of which remain on the skin's surface. Mosquitoes also target people who produce excess amounts of certain acids, such as uric acid, explains entomologist John Edman, PhD, spokesman for the Entomological Society of America. These substances can trigger mosquitoes' sense of smell, luring them to land on unsuspecting victims."

Swedish AIDS Prevention Method: F*ck and Tell

A Swedish AIDS prevention organization wants to know when, where, and how these two football players had sex with one another. They've manufactured 100,000 numbered condoms and are encouraging users to f*ck and tell.

Watch the video, AFTER THE JUMP...