News: Chuck Bass, Taiwan, Authors, Male Escort, 'Dictatorship'

Rather than discussing US-Taiwan relations with King Pu-tsung, their representative to the US, Taiwanese lawmakers were more interested in asking him questions about rumors that he's gay and having an affair with President Ma Ying-jeou: "King said it was 'unfair' that people have claimed that his political progress has been spurred along through sexual relationships, adding that the insinuation was also insulting to homosexuals."

Senate Majority leader Harry Reid is blaming GOP House Speaker John Boehner of running the House like a "dictatorship" and intentionally obstructing fiscal cliff negotiations. "Everyone knows that if they had brought up the Senate-passed bill, it would pass overwhelmingly. But the speaker says, no we can't do that," Reid said today. "It's [the House] being operated by a dictatorship of the speaker."

Lindsay Lohan got a bit of a break on the tax lien on her home.

Johnny Depp's 2012, a photo essay.

"How An Author Should Be." (Good at building anticipation.)

Presenting "The Fabulous Fags of the Steambath."

Don't you wish you would find British Olympic diver Tom Daley under your mistletoe?

Puppies in the snow.

A look back at 2012 in celebrity fashion.

Nick and Nate Montana show off their football bodies on the beach.

Following in Richard Hanna and Ileana Ros-Lehtinan, a third GOP congressman has come out against the anti-gay DOMA: "U.S. Rep. Charlie Bass, R-Peterborough, took a symbolic step this week by being the first Republican member of Congress from New England to sign on to an effort that would allow the federal government to recognize same-sex marriage."

"A Gay Male Escort Recalls His Craziest Client Request."

Anti-gay conservative MP Tim Loughton: "[Marriage is] a gift of God in creation through which husband and wife may know the grace of God."

Men said to be Romanian Orthodox priests posed suggestively for a calendar being described as "homoerotic."

The Journal-News, a newspaper for New York's Westchester and Rockland Counties, is at the center of a privacy debate after publishing the names and addresses of gun-owning residents. "Turns out the stunt was so unpopular — with gun owners and privacy advocates alike — that a blogger named Christopher Fountain took it upon himself to dig up and organize the names, addresses, and phone numbers of the Journal-News staff, starting with editor Cyndee Royle."

Brian Schatz has been sworn in to replace late Hawaiian Sen. Daniel Inouye. "I am honored to serve in this capacity, and I can assure you that if given the opportunity, I will make Hawaii proud," he said. "I'm going to work very hard, and I understand the road ahead is going to be challenging for all of us, but it also is potentially a hopeful time to rebuild as a united congressional delegation."

Tom Daley is a Sexy Shirtless Santa: PHOTO

Who's first for his lap?

And how about the sexy Olympic diver under the mistletoe?

Waiting for you, AFTER THE JUMP...

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #1256

ARMANDO AND SCOTT: The Rainbow Roots project profiles a couple who just celebrated their fourth anniversary.

AMERICA'S SOUTHWEST: A time-lapse.

SPEED DINING: Corn on the Cob.

TOM DALEY: The Mobot.

For previous Guides to the Tube, click HERE.

News: Pipsqueak, NFL, Sandy's Full Moon, Scotland

You'll be happy to hear that Pipsqueak the adorable goat has been adopted.

Massachusetts Congressional candidate Richard Tisei again says that more voters have an issue with his GOP status than his being gay. "Being gay in Massachusetts isn't a problem," he told CBS News. "Being Republican is much more of a hurdle."

Female members of the Israel Gay Youth are lobbying for the group's senior leadership to appoint more women. "In recent days we find ourselves in a familiar state of agitation, after another woman is fired in order to make way for a ‘more suitable’ man," the women wrote. "This is even more outrageous than in other cases, since this is taking place in a relatively small gay organization, where most activists are volunteers; unfortunately, the move reflects an all-too-familiar alignment of the social power hierarchy."

LGBT activists in South Florida are mourning the death of Richard Cimoch: "A politically active Dolphin Democrat, who won their Volunteer of the Year Award in 2001, Cimoch had served for many years as the enthusiastic and energetic co-chair of Pride South Florida."

Take a listen to Lenny Kravitz and Aerosmith's new song for the NFL, written as a replacement for the one sung by homophobe Hank Williams Jr. That was dropped after Williams compared President Obama to Hitler.

Let it be known that Olympic diver Tom Daley has a Keek account.

Two New Zealand parliamentarian's, the National Party's Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi and Labour's Su'a William Sio, attended a protest against gay marriage this weekend. Bakshi is on the committee that considers civil rights legislation.

The Boston Globe covers the thawing relationship between evangelical and LGBT communities: "Another hopeful sign is that some evangelical leaders understand that they have a problem, too. 'We, the church, had utterly failed to reflect Jesus to gay people,' says Bill Henson, founder of the Acton-based Lead Them Home Ministries, which trains evangelical leaders to minister to gay, lesbian, and transgender people."

A new poll puts Obama three points ahead in Minnesota, where a question on defining marriage as one man, one woman will also be decidd.

Alex McQuillan on the secular nature of France's anti-gay movement: "The French Republic was founded on the ideas of equality and a French concept called laïcité—the complete absence of religion in governmental affairs. This means political discourse in France must be entirely free of religious rhetoric. So what you have in France is a large group of old people battling civil rights, not with religious ideals, but with science, sociology, and cold, reductive rationality."

The full moon may enhance Hurricane's Sandy impact. "When the moon waxes to its full phase Monday afternoon, high tides along the Eastern Seaboard will rise about 20 percent higher than normal, even without the help of Sandy's storm surge..." Stay safe out there!

Lady Gaga has a slew of great Halloween costumes to choose from.

John Deighan, the Catholic Church's Parliamentary Officer in Scotland, wrote a letter accusing LGBT activists of "intolerance". "Cultivating victim status has effectively put Stonewall beyond reproach in the public square. An attempt to counter their antagonistic ‘some people are gay, get over it’ bus advertising campaign was halted before it could even get off the ground by London Mayor, Boris Johnson," he wrote. "The constant promotion by the media and entertainment industry that anything gay is good has caused informed public debate to be dropped. In its place we have intolerance and intimidation."

British Gas Finds an Appropriate Area of Tom Daley to Sponsor

Hard to think of better product placement.

(via WOW)

News: 'Ex-Gay' Suit, Altitude, One Billion, '30 Rock'

A California counseling student named Aaron Blitzer claims he was "cured" of his gay desires by "ex-gay" reparative therapy, wants to spread the practice as his career, so now he's suing the state to overturn their recently passed law banning the notably harmful therapy for minors.

This picture of the Helix Nebula is NASA's image of the day.

Check out the interview our friends from Occupy the Disco did with legendary NYC DJ Honey Dijon.

Country crooner and Nicole Kidman husband Keith Urban loves all the "passion" seen on American Idol. Oh, and he thinks Randy Jackson is "the craziest."

As NBC's hit sitcom 30 Rock begins its final season, AfterElton compiled its gayest moments.

This is old, but I haven't seen it anywhere and it's worth a look because it's so ridiculous. An anti-gay activist in Maine claims marriage equality leads to socialism. "Eleven other countries have passed gay marriage: Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, South Africa and Sweden," writes Erick Bennett. "Passing gay marriage is not the only thing they have in common: They are also ranked the most socialist countries on earth. So what does socialism have to do with same-sex marriage?"

Marriage numbers.

There are now officially one billion people on Facebook.

An estimated 47,000 women die while getting unsafe abortions each year.

Karl Frisch breaks down the numbers on equality-related laws, and reminds the presidential candidates that gay and lesbian people, particularly parents, are voters too and concerned with issues other than just marriage: "With so much at stake for LGBT people and numerous historic electoral wins on the horizon this fall, shouldn’t President Obama and Mitt Romney have a frank discussion about issues important to LGBT Americans and their families?"

In other number news, about 30,000 people are expected to attend Disneyland's 15th annual gay day this year.

Al Gore blames President Obama's poor debate performance on Denver's altitude, which is plausible.

Problematizing Johnny Depp as Tonto.

Logan Lerman chats about The Perks of Being a Wallflower with Jimmy Fallon.

The men of Dieux du Stade. [Link FIXED and not work friendly.]

British diver Tom Daley recently romped around the beach and looks as good dry as he does wet. Well, almost.

Francois Lebel, mayor of Paris' 8th district, has come out against gay marriage there, saying that allowing same-sex nuptials would open the door to bestiality and the such: "Why [if gay marriage passes] would the legal age for marriage be maintained? And why forbid marriage between close relations, paedophilia or incest which are all still common currency in the world."

Which LGBT people oppose marriage equality? "Only 20% of LGBT respondents self-identify as Republicans but 51% of LGBT people opposed to marriage equality are Republicans. Looking at it another way... while only 9% of LGBT Democrats oppose marriage equality, 35% of LGBT Republicans oppose it."

Well, at least Joe Biden thinks President Obama did a good job during the debate: "I thought the president did a great job last night making clear that our country faces the starkest choice in my memory."

Nicole Kidman as Princess Grace.