News: Brooklyn, Jim Carrey, Asteroid, Jodi Rell, Subway Drama

This is how an American soldier is made.

Brooklyn's oldest gay bar, The Starlite Lounge, in danger of closing: "The Starlite Lounge has been a Crown Heights fixture since the 1960s, serving gays and non-gays. In recent years, the venue has become a destination for neighborhood folks looking for a casual daytime hangout, as well as revelers who frequent the dance parties and karaoke nights, according to Leviticus."

WATCH: Drunk Boston woman almost gets run over by subway.

Jim Carrey's new website is pretty fantastic.

Gay man running for Toronto mayor.

Rhode Island domestic partners bill awaits anti-gay governor Carcieri's signature: "An opponent of gay marriage, Carcieri has not yet stated whether, he will sign, veto or allow to become law without his signature a bill to provide domestic partners with the right to make funeral arrangements for their partners."

How same-sex marriage has worked in The Netherlands.

Excellent chart on same-sex marriage and age.

Gays are not welcome at Vatican City, but what about all the gays who are already there?

Madonna is in Brazil to meet Jesus Luz's mother, who is 14 years her junior.

Andy Warhol's "jock" Polaroids are on display in NYC.

A previously-undiscovered asteroid came within 14,000 km of Earth last week and it was only noticed 15 hours before its closest approach: "This is the third-closest known non-impacting Earth approach on record for a cataloged (sic) asteroid."

David Beckham got a post-Halloween buzz.

Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell says she's not running for reelection: "Rell choked up while listing her favorite memories while in office, including meeting those affected by the passage of public health insurance for the poor, updates to mass transit, and improvements to the state's education system. She cited a gay couple who hugged her at Stafford Motor Speedway after she signed the nation's first voluntarily passed civil union bill."

Westboro Baptist Church protests outside of Sasha and Malia Obama's school in D.C..

James Franco's General Hospital role: graffiti artist?

Paris Hilton threatening to sue for being made the spokesmodel for vacant space - literally.

New York Army specialist in Baghdad being discharged under 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell': "Nathanael Bodon of Marlboro is a specialist in the Army Reserve stationed in Baghdad, Iraq. He has been in the reserves for about a year-and-a-half and in Iraq for some four months. The Army found out about Bodon when a fellow soldier found his blog with a picture of him kissing a former boyfriend and tipped off the Army brass."

Sally Kern's husband to join religious groups for Monday rally in D.C. against marriage equality.

Brazilian model Miro Moreira lowers his rate.

N.Y. Posts' Andrea Peyser defends cabbie who kicked out gays for hugging: " Mohamed faces the indignity of having his cab license yanked by the Taxi and Limousine Commission. He's already lost his job. But Medhat Mohamed is no bigot, and he's not a disgrace. He's also not a prude, a gay basher, a homophobe or the more colorful invective that's been lobbed in his direction by a chorus of yuppies with a large bone to pick."

Mayor of Amsterdam Weds Gay NY - Dutch Couples in Boat on Canal

Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen married several couples including five gay couples, each with a partner from Amsterdam and New York, on a boat in a canal during the city's Gay Pride festival on Saturday.

Reuters reports: "Tens of thousands of spectators cheered as Mayor Job Cohen performed the ceremony on a cruise around the city's canals to celebrate the high point of the city's gay pride festival. Eight years ago Cohen presided over the first legal Dutch gay marriage. All five couples had at least one partner from New York, where a battle over the legalization of gay marriage rages on. 'For me it's a message to New York, the most liberal state, the most hip state, to get with it,' said Ira Siff, an opera professional from New York who was about to marry his partner, opera singer Hans Heijnis. The New York-Amsterdam connection is much in the news this year, with the cities celebrating a 400-year relationship in 2009. Cohen called the couples a 'figurehead' for that bond. 'Your transatlantic love is proof of the lasting connection between old and new Amsterdam,' Cohen said in the service."

This year's Canal Parade attracted a record 560,000 spectators.

Watch a video of Cohen marrying Jorge Vazquez (right) of the U.S.and his dutch partner dutch Stanley Doorn (above), AFTER THE JUMP...

Leaked Dutch Govt Memo Suggests Schools Can Ban Gay Teachers

A memo detailing recommendations from the Council of State of The Netherlands was leaked to Christian newspaper Nederlands Dagblad this week suggesting that schools there can ban gay teachers. The memo is the result of a study undertaken following the firing of a gay schoolteacher in the central Netherlands village of Emst

NRC Handelsblad reports: "The Council of State, the highest advisory body to the Dutch government, says religious schools can exclude gay teachers if they behave in ways that go against what the institution stands for, even if it’s outside the classroom. According to the advisory paper, schools are not allowed to discriminate, but they do have a right to make specific demands of their staff. European guidelines entitle schools to 'demand explicit loyalty from their staff' to pass on their values, the council says. Those demands have to be directly related to the foundations of the school or other religious institutions. The current anti-discrimination law in the Netherlands states that even religious schools are not allowed to let the "single fact" of someone's sexual preference, race or gender be a factor in the hiring or firing process. But the law leaves room for so-called "additional behaviour" to be factored in. A teacher could be dismissed for "a certain lifestyle" that goes against what the institution stands for; a relationship with someone of the same sex could be qualified as such."

Dutch Queen Beatrix Targeted in Car Attack

Six people including the driver of a car targeting the Dutch royal family were killed as the car swerved through a crowd of people striking a monument during a Queen's Day holiday parade yesterday.

The Guardian reports: "The suspect, a 38-year-old man identified by Dutch media as Karst Tates, had been in a critical condition since the attack during the Netherlands' Queen's Day holiday yesterday. Tates told one of the first police officers to rush to his car that the attack was aimed at the royal family, prosecutor Ludo Goossens said. Neighbours in the village of Huissen told Dutch media he had been fired from his job as a security guard and was facing eviction from his home. But police said he had no history of mental illness or criminal record. Twelve other people were hurt when Tates rammed his car through police barricades and into onlookers towards an open-topped bus carrying Queen Beatrix. The car ploughed through police cordons metres away from the royal bus before crashing into a stone monument to the late Queen Wilhelmina."

Watch video, AFTER THE JUMP...

News: Ann Coulter, Indonesia, Piano, Marc Jacobs, Pat Buchanan

Piano found in perfect working condition deep in woods of Cape Cod: "The Baldwin piano, which had a matching bench, was set up as if someone was about to sit down and play, reported WCVB-TV in Boston. Despite efforts by police to locate its owner, or at least explain how it came to be in a conservation area, police Monday said no one has contacted them...The piano is so heavy that it took more than a half-dozen men to load it onto a truck."

Ann Coulter's mouth wired shut. Image from a conservative women fur calendar.

SICK: Indonesian province moves forward with microchip implant proposal for people with HIV/AIDS. "Since the plan was initially proposed, the government has narrowed its scope, saying the chips would only be implanted in those who are 'sexually aggressive,' but it has not said how it would determine who fits that group. It also was not clear how many people it might include."

Britney Spears rolls the Stone back.

Amy Winehouse back in the hospital.

Brazil's DOM magazine halting publication.

Westboro Baptist Church flee after being met by hundreds of student counter-protestors in Omaha: "Students threw hamburgers and bottles of lemonade and milk at several members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., students said after the protest. A video of the protest was” recorded by 16-year-old student Mason Hartwell that” showed one counterprotester on the ground, seated with his hands behind his back and flanked by two law enforcement officers."

For the Gaybies: Marc Jacobs-designed Bugaboo stroller. "What would you pay for this hot new limited edition stroller? What if we told you there are only 15 available? How about if you knew it was designed by Marc Jacobs? If $1500 was the number you came up with, you know your luxury sedans."

Hillsborough County, Florida swears in first openly gay commissioner: "Democrat Kevin Beckner took the oath of office before a standing-room-only crowd that spilled into the first floor at County Center. Like the two other commissioners sworn in, Beckner thanked his parents and supporters. He singled out a 96-year-old activist who collected 400 signatures to get his name on the ballot and another woman who campaigned for him while battling cancer. As he joined a commission that three years ago voted to ban gay pride displays on county property, he also recognized his partner of 10 years."

A-Rod to help stuff Madonna's turkey.

Some 16-year-olds have all the luck.

New iPhone app helps you calculate whether or not you might be in danger of getting a DUI or endangering someone should you get behind the wheel after a holiday party. If so, it will call a taxi for you. Of course if you're that gone, will you have the foresight to use it?

World's largest cruise ship hits the water.

New documentary explores gay rights: "The rebirth of the gay rights movement and the battle over legalizing same-sex marriage will be the focus of the new indie documentary 'A Non-Issue?' The doc will follow Dr. John Corvino, a philosopher, lecturer and author of 'The Gay Moralist,' as he crisscrosses the nation engaging and debating those most against gay marriage."

"Ex-gay" groups receiving government subsidies in The Netherlands.

A look back at Pat Buchanan in 1977.

SX interviews Matthew Mitcham: "In a world where everyone seems to be on the make, Matthew Mitcham is a refreshing change. Unlike some other athletes that come to mind, he’s not milking his Beijing experience like a frenzied bovine. He’s not selling his story to the highest bidder, for instance, but is instead speaking to the gay press, and a community that has strongly supported him. He’s not hitting the party circuit, but has slipped back comfortably into his training at the Sydney Aquatic Centre, practising the sport he loves, spending his spare time (what little there is) doing ordinary things like catching up with friends and family, and hanging out with his partner."

I Found a Costume for Earth Day

In Dutch artist Levi van Veluw's new series, he recreates two dimensional landscapes in 3-D, on his head. Pretty trippy stuff.

Check out the video AFTER THE JUMP, in which a train is added to the mix.

(via design scene)