News: Tim Gill, Penis Thieves, Singapore, Anti-Gay T-shirt

Gay activist and philanthropist Tim Gill scaring the crap out of the religious right. Pat Robertson: "What are the Christians doing about this? The answer is 'absolutely zip'. There was an organization that I founded but it's not there anymore. To my knowledge, there is no other Christian grassroots organization that is even coming CLOSE to what Tim Gill is doing on the left for homosexuals."

Brazilian gay magazine DOM launches online.

Police arrest 13 men in the Congo for stealing and shrinking penises.

Toby Maguire gets his bear on.

Singapore's state-owned television station was fined $11,040 for broadcasting a program that featured a gay couple and their adopted child: " The Straits Times reported that Singapore's Media Development Authority said the episode of home and decor series Find and Design, in which the host helped the couple decorate a nursery, 'normalizes and promotes a gay lifestyle.' The pro-government newspaper said the censor had also objected to scenes of the couple and their baby as well as the host's acknowledgement of them as a family, because it broke a rule 'which disallows programmes that promote, justify or glamorize gay lifestyles.'"

Pittsburgh gay rights advocate Randal G. "Randy" Forrester dies of cancer at 60.

UK mother jailed for anti-gay abuse, daughter given supervision: "Canterbury magistrates heard the pair, both of The Halt, Whitstable, carried out a campaign of hate between 13 March and 17 May 2007. They called the men names and Reeves drove her car at one of them. The court was told that the pair began abusing Michael Harris and Shires Crichton, of Kingston, Kent, when both men sided with another neighbour in an ongoing dispute. During the sentencing, the chairman of the magistrates told Reeves: 'Although there was no evidence of violence, the psychological affect on the victims has been far reaching. In your case there are strong aggravating factors. Those factors are that you made homophobic gestures and remarks over an extended period and you showed no remorse.'"

Neil Patrick Harris opens up to Howard Stern about his sexuality.

Lipstick Jungle hottie Robert Buckley may want to use some sunscreen.

Cynthia Nixon making plans to marry.

Is Chace Crawford being gay framed on Craigslist?

Now that's a chest.

Greg Siff talks about his new play The Nothing Boys opening on May 3 in L.A.

Court rules that teen can wear "Be Happy, Not Gay" T-shirt, reversing two earlier rulings: "In issuing this reversal, though, the court basically upheld the validity of the Naperville school's rule forbidding derogatory comments, oral or written, that refer to race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation or disability. 'High school students are not adults, schools are not public meeting halls, children are in school to be taught by adults rather than to practice attacking each other with wounding words, and school authorities have a protective relationship and responsibility to all the students,' says the court's opinion, written by Judge Richard Posner."

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Colorado Gay Activists Bypass Gay Candidate in House Race

Jared Polis, a web entrepreneur who launched his bid for a Colorado U.S. House seat last May and has received the endorsements of openly gay Rep. Tammy Baldwin as well as the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, was bypassed by top gay fundraisers and activists in his home state in favor of Joan Fitz-Gerald, a former Colorado Senate President.

The Rocky Mountain News reports: "At a fundraiser Thursday night at the Bonnie Brae home of activist Scott Coors and his partner, Dave Hurt, gays young and old wrote checks to help Fitz-Gerald's campaign. 'Kick Jared's ---,' one donor wrote on the memo line of his $250 check. 'This is obviously an interesting race for gay people,' said Scott Miller, whose partner, Tim Gill, is well-known nationwide for helping liberal and gay causes. 'There's an expectation we have to support our own, and there is a sense of disappointment that we didn't endorse Jared.' But Fitz-Gerald's legislative record could not be ignored, Miller and Gill said. 'I think no one has done more for the gay community legislatively than Joan Fitz-Gerald,' Gill told the crowd."

Polis appeared unruffled in a statement to the News: "No one should support a candidate just because they are gay, just as no one should support a candidate just because they are women."

Gill cites loyalty as the reason for his decision. Tough apparently cordial so far, the race, which also includes Will Shafroth, of Boulder, may "be one of the costliest and ugliest primaries in the nation in 2008" according to the paper.

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News: Brandon Flowers, Rudy Giuliani, Genetic Cleansing, Brazil

Rudy Giuliani's gay talking points.

Rufus Wainwright claims Brandon Flowers is salty, and perhaps a bit stale: "I don't know [Brandon] that well, but I wrote this song about him which is kind of hilarious - it says he tastes like potato chips in the morning."

Gays with money stopping the Rick Santorums of tomorrow: "a group of rich gay philanthropists...quietly joined forces last year, under the leadership of a reclusive Colorado technology mogul, to counter the tide of antigay politics in America that has generated, among other things, a succession of state ballot initiatives banning gay marriage. Carroll had sponsored such a bill in Iowa and guided it to passage in the state House of Representatives, the first step toward getting it on the ballot."

Trent of Pink is the New Blog" survives plane fire drama over the Mojave Desert!

The real War on Christmas: Thomas Kinkade painting to become holiday movie.

Illinois parents protest school panel featuring gay students talking with freshman students about their experiences: "'We have a great deal of pride in the program and don't feel we are overstepping any boundaries that [most] parents would feel are inappropriate,' [assistant superintendent Suan] Hebson said. But Ellen Waltz, a Deerfield mother of eight, said the climate has changed so much that students who believe that homosexuality is immoral and violates their religious beliefs are now the ones being bullied."

Southern Baptist wingnut calls for genetic cleansing of original sin.

Thousands protest Bush arrival in Sao Paulo, Brazil. And Brazilian reactions to the U.S. president, then and now: Clinton vs. Bush.

Fans freak to meet Jackson.

Obama and Clinton battle for Chicago: "Mike Bauer, for example, decided to use his years of fundraising experience and contacts in Chicago's gay community to raise money for Obama. He helped with Obama's first fundraiser after the campaign's official launch last month -- a huge Chicago event that Bauer says was intended to make a statement. 'Clearly there was a desire, an intent, by the Obama campaign to hit the ground first in Barack's hometown,' he said. 'It was important, both for financial reasons and psychological reasons, to show that he has tremendous support from the people who know him the best.' Bauer said he knows several of the presidential candidates and decided to help Obama after a personal request from the senator. Obama contacted him around Thanksgiving to discuss a possible run for president and seek Bauer's support if he did run."

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News: Independent Spirit Awards, Gay Millionaires, Bears

Independent Spirit Award nominees announced: American Gun, The Dead Girl, Half Nelson, Little Miss Sunshine, Pan’s Labyrinth up for Best Feature.

The nation's first openly lesbian fire chief Bonnie Bleskacheck steps down after lawsuits accuse her of harassment and discrimination: "Three female firefighters have sued, alleging various acts of discrimination and sexual harassment. Two of the lawsuits were settled, but earlier this month, a male firefighter brought another lawsuit alleging he was denied advancement because he is male and not gay. A city investigation is still under way. This summer, a separate investigation by the city's Department of Civil Rights into a 2003 complaint by a male firefighter _ brought when Bleskachek was a battalion chief _ found it 'likely' that the department gave preferential treatment to lesbians or those who socialized with them."

Timothy Boham (aka porn actor Marcus Allen) was scheduled to appear in a Denver court today on charges he murdered his boss, openly gay businessman John Kelso.

Ricky Martin gets cheeky in Ocean Drive photoshoot.

Is gay as a film genre dead? Brent Hartinger looks at how other genres may be co-opting gay characters: "We've had gay mysteries (here! Networks' Donald Strachey mysteries), gay horror (Hellbent), a gay teen sex comedy (Another Gay Movie), a gay boxing movie (Fighting Tommy Riley) and even a gay science fiction movie (here! Networks' Deadly Skies, about a gay scientist, played by Antonio Sabato Jr., who helps prevent a meteor from crashing into Earth). None of these projects are 'about' the gay experience, even if the gay element sometimes adds an interesting thematic twist. Except for the gay characters, these are mostly the kinds of stories we watch when we're not busy being gay consumers."

Fighting anti-gay candidates with the pink dollar: Salon reports on wealthy donors like Coloradan and Quark founder Tim Gill who poured millions into the recent election to defeat anti-gay measures and candidates around the country.

Hazing charges against Vermont fraternity thrown out: "UVM officials suspended the fraternity based on rumors the pledges had been forced to dress up as Brokeback Mountain cowboys -- subjected to homophobic insults -- and forced to drink at a party in February."

Two bears meet in the woods...

Report: Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams to marry.

The Top 10 naked people on Google Earth.

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