News: Barney Frank, Astronauts, The Unborn, Mark Sanford, Mariah

Michelangelo Signorile talks to Barney Frank on gay rights issues, DOMA, etc.

Astronaut Alan Bean now paints the moon.

Mariah Carey wins Photoshop Lifetime Achievement Award for new album cover.

Queens, NY man killed over gay hustler fee.

If Daniel Radcliffe wanted to shock people, he wouldn't go nude, he'd play a gay drug dealer.

Thousands march peacefully in Jerusalem Gay Pride parade: "In past years, the gay pride event in the holy city provoked violent protests, even stabbings, by ultra-Orthodox Jews and extremists. But this year, except for one egg-throwing incident, there were no clashes. Police said they arrested the egg-tossing protester. Others put up signs and demonstrated in an ultra-Orthodox section of Jerusalem, far away from the parade."

Poland gets openly gay rabbi.

New technology creates model of unborn child using ultrasound.

Perez Hilton sues Black Eyed Peas manager, apologizes for using slur. Matthew Shepard Foundation rejects donation from Hilton: "We do not know the details of the lawsuit, whether it has been filed, the nature of his claims or the likely outcome. But because the lawsuit presumably involves the physical attack prompted by Mr. Hilton's admitted use of an anti-gay slur, the Foundation will be unable to accept any funds obtained in such a manner."

Madonna reveals title and release date of upcoming greatest hits album.

Nicole LeFavour, D-Boise, Idaho's only gay legislator, kicks off first-ever Pride Week in Twin Falls: "Tuesday's evening event downtown at Pandora's drew about 60 people. LeFavour commended the group on holding the event in a conservative area not known for progressive politics. 'To see this community do what you are doing this year - and against all odds - is so powerful,' she said. 'And I can't overstate how powerful it is to changing policy in the state of Idaho. Nothing gives me more hope than what is happening this week.'"

Governor Mark Sanford and mistress: emails. Rush Limbaugh says South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's infidelity is Obama's fault.

Almost Famous: 24 hours with Max Steele.

In case you were wondering: models do diet.

More insight into the phone call the Obama administration had with senior members of the LGBT Caucus: "We expect our president to lead, not follow. Support is something you do when you run for president. Actually work towards passage of legislation is something you do when you ARE president. What has Barack Obama done since taking office to advance ENDA? And finally, not a word about the anti-gay DOJ brief comparing us to incest and pedophilia. Apparently, we don't even merit an explanation, let alone an apology."

Eddie Cibrian tools around on his hog.

Alexis Arquette hangs around with 'Hung' dude Thomas Jane.

Randi Reitan: I ask President Obama for full equality for my gay son. "My youngest child is gay. As parents we were ignorant about homosexuality when Jacob came out to us as a 16 year old young man eleven years ago. We embraced him and we told him we loved him that night, but we were clueless about what it meant to be gay. We had to educate ourselves. Another part of your message on Sunday addressed the importance of education. I ask you now to educate yourself about homosexuality."

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #496

BILL MAHER: Takes on Obama. Stay off TV, get some work done.

ROSIE O'DONNELL: Life after The View, a CBS profile.

PROJECKT P.I.W.O.: Polish students create stunning light show in 11-storey building.

THE POLITE UMBRELLA: Excuse me, can I get by?

For recent Guides to the Tube, click HERE.

Rome, Zagreb, Warsaw, Athens: Gay Pride Across Europe

Many Gay Pride celebrations are taking place this weekend. One is in Rome:

"Costumed demonstrators carrying rainbow flags and signs reading 'freedom for all' attacked the conservative government of Premier Silvio Berlusconi. They demanded rights for same-sex couples and the recognition of gay marriage. Activists dressed as fake clergy with colorful hats and signs reading 'No Vatican' protested what they say is the church's excessive influence on Italy's policies."

One thousand took to the streets in Warsaw (right), 2,000 in Athens.

Zagreb, Croatia had a similar spirit but a much different tone (photo below):

"In Croatia, another mostly Roman Catholic country, about 500 gay activists marched through Zagreb. No violence was reported, but about 50 people held a counterdemonstration and shouted anti-gay slogans. One was led away by police after trying to break through a cordon that authorities had created around the Gay Pride parade to protect it."

Video of today's parade in Rome, AFTER THE JUMP (warning: nsfw moments)...

News: Bret Michaels, D.C., Jesse Helms, Dan Choi, Connecticut

D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics hears four hours of testimony on anti-gay referendum: "Both sides presented legal and political arguments about whether the same-sex marriage issue should be in the hands of voters or the politicians who represent them."

Bret Michaels says the Tony Awards people would have cared more about his self-inflicted on-set accident if it had happened to Liza Minnelli, Dolly Parton, or Elton John.

Transgender woman beaten at bus stop in Seattle: "The victim, who told police that she sometimes wears a skirt, said the attack was a result of that, the report stated. During the confrontation, several of the victim's assailants uttered a slur for a gay man as they struck and kicked the victim, then knocked her to the ground, the report says. The attacking youths also tried to pull off her backpack. The group then fled."

Researcher: Cougars love Adam Lambert. What about Cougays?

Oceanside, California resident pleads "not guilty" in assault on gay rights activist during recent torch relay protesting Proposition 8.

Living Sasquatch!

Britney Spears announces second round of tour dates.

Dan Choi joins No H8 Campaign.

City of Seattle fights to keep identities of its LGBT employees private after request from City Light employee affiliated with conservative Christian organization opposed to gay rights.

Cristiano Ronaldo bought by Real Madrid for world record transfer fee of £80million, spends night with Paris Hilton.

Paul Schindler at Gay City News does an excellent job of summing up the chaotic events that have occurred this week with regard to marriage equality in New York.

Man arrested for 'revenge' pissing at Motor City Pride in Detroit.

Something is happening in Iran.

North Carolina resolution in honor of Jesse Helms inspires mass walkout, vote of "no" from gay lawmaker.

Kellan Lutz gives good tank.

Virginia prison segregated women who "looked gay": "For more than a year, Virginia's largest women's prison rounded up inmates who had loose-fitting clothes, short hair or otherwise masculine looks, sending them to a unit officers derisively dubbed the "butch wing," prisoners and guards say."

Greenwich, Connecticut a magnet for NYC same-sex weddings.

British ambassador to Poland in hot water for promoting gay pride march in Warsaw: "Ric Todd has been told by the country's civil rights ombudsman that he has 'exceeded his authority' and Roman Catholic groups have accused the ambassador of representing the 'homosexual lobby'. The problem arose after Mr Todd, who has been our man in Warsaw for almost two years, gave gay rights leaders a UK Guide To Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual And Transgender People And Their Rights, translated into Polish, earlier this week."

Polish Govt Reaches 'Over the Rainbow' to Gay New York Couple

In March 2008 I posted about Tom Moulton and Brendan Fay, whose wedding photos were used without permission in a nationally broadcast address by Polish President Lech Kaczynski warning the nation that supporting the Lisbon Treaty, which is linked to the EU Charter of Human Rights, would mean that same-sex marriage could come to Poland.

Yesterday, the NY Daily News reported that the couple have been invited to Poland: "It's short of the apology and face-to-face meeting Brendan Fay and Tom Moulton were seeking from President Kaczynski, but it's 'a great first step,' Fay said. 'There is silence in the letter about the rights of lesbians and gays in Poland, but the fact that we got a response says something.' Fay said he was also heartened by the tone of the letter sent by Polish secretary of state Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka, in which she writes of reaching 'over the rainbow' and of 'breaking stereotypes.'"

Fay told the NYDN that they're planning a trip to Ireland and will go on to Poland if they can meet with the president. Fay, an activist, helped organize the NYC demonstration I posted about on Wednesday being held today in front of the Iraqi mission to the United Nations meant to raise awareness about the recent executions of gays in Iraq.

Polish Politician Outraged Over Zoo's Gay Elephant

Michal Grzes, a councillor from the right-wing opposition Law and Justice party in the city of Poznan, Poland is outraged that the Poznan Zoo purchased an elephant for 37 million zlotys (approximately $11 million) because the male elephant prefers the company of other males.

Said Grzes: "We were supposed to have a herd, but as Ninio prefers male friends over females how will he produce offspring?"

Russian news agency RIA reports: "Visitors have been flocking to a zoo in the western Polish city of Poznan to catch a glimpse of an elephant, who it is claimed is homosexual, Polish media said. The ten-year-old African Bush elephant, Nino, has had to change zoos three times in the past five years because of his aggressive behavior toward female elephants, including pushing them into the pool. However his attitude to male elephants is described as 'affectionate.' ... 'He only liked his buddies and hit the cows with his trunk, and was very disrespectful on the whole,' Michal Grzes, the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) deputy for Poznan said."

The zoo's director notes that elephants don't reach sexual maturity until the age of 14.