News: Taylor Lautner, Harrah's, Swaziland, Gay Ice Cream Truck

Lesbian couple in Swaziland bids to become country's first same-sex marriage.

NY Governor David Paterson shaves his beard.

La Toya Jackson makes video she promised not to make because she just can't help herself.

"Marriage Minutemen" form in New Jersey to oppose marriage equality: "We want to stop any redefinition of marriage that happens without a public vote."

Is this what life without Britney does to a man???

America's first black lesbian mayor, Denise Simmons of Cambridge, Massachusetts, marries her partner Mattie Hayes.

Big Gay Ice Cream Truck a finalist in NYC's Vendy "street food" Awards.

Harrah's Atlantic City casinos in bid to draw gay and lesbian tourists: "Harrah's has been catering to gay and lesbian travelers at its Las Vegas casinos for a few years, but will launch a similar campaign in the country's second-largest gambling market with an 'Out in Atlantic City' weekend of partying Sept. 25-27. The event, expected to draw more than 1,000 people, will bring some of the best-known names in the gay and lesbian entertainment scene to the Harrah's casinos."

Quadriplegic sails around Britain solo.

Renzo Piano's "Shard" to dominate London skyline: "Construction has begun on the Shard, a skyscraper that will be the tallest building in Western Europe and will provide amazing views of London...inspired by towering church spires and the masts of ships that once anchored on the Thames."

Thousands call for Turing apology in Britain.

Possible arson investigated at Stereo nightclub in Montreal.

Sex club planned for historic hotel in Gloucester, UK.

Truman Capote signed one of his books...to Harry Potter: "Howard Rose of Brier Rose Books in Teaneck, N.J., is selling a first-edition copy of Truman Capote’s 1967 book The Thanksgiving Visitor, autographed by the author in January 1978 'for Harry Potter with gratitude.'"

Cranberries to reunite.

Bruce Weber points his lens at Twilight's Taylor Lautner.

And that other vamp, Robert Pattinson, does Premiere.

Gay Big Brother contestant Kevin finally wins Head of Household competition, reads letter from partner of nine years.

Maine governor Baldacci to appear at marriage equality fundraiser.

Full slate of LGBT candidates vie for NYC City Council seats.

Transgender teen in Vermont makes plea for genderless bathrooms: "Kyle Giard-Chase, 16, asked the Vermont Human Rights Commission on Thursday to endorse the effort. He said that before he came out last year as transgendered, he was a three-sport athlete and the co-captain of the field hockey team, a girls' sport, at South Burlington High School. At an away game, he said he was verbally harassed and threatened by the members of the host school's football team for using the girls' restroom. 'The harassment only stopped when I was reduced to tears and told them I was in fact a female,' said Kyle, now a senior."

Former Truman Capote Hamptons Home on Market for $14.6 Million

Artist Ross Bleckner has put Truman Capote's former Hamptons saltbox house, which he purchased for $800,000 in 1993 from the Nature Conservancy, on the market for $14.6 million, according to the Wall Street Journal:

"The artist restored and enlarged the home, which is in Southampton's hamlet of Sagaponack and sits on four acres near the beach, adjacent to a nature preserve. The main house, now 2,000 square feet, has a view of the ocean. There's also a 1,900-square-foot studio, a two-bedroom guest house, a detached garage and a pool. The author of "In Cold Blood" and "Breakfast at Tiffany's," Mr. Capote purchased the Sagaponack home in the early '60s and was a high-society fixture until he published 'Answered Prayers,' an exposé of his wealthy friends, provoking a scandal. He died in 1984 and left the house to his longtime companion, Jack Dunphy, who died in 1992 and left the property to the Conservancy."

According to DansHamptons: "Capote commissioned the two-story, flat-roofed, saltbox studio near Gibson Beach in 1961. He liked to emphasize that he decorated the home himself: 'For me it's a bore to use a decorator...I just don't care to have someone come in and tell me what I need to live with. I know.' He would remove his shoes upon entering the house, trying to preserve the highly-polished floor coated with blue boat-deck paint. 'Truman had his own style,' continues Clarke, 'he liked to combine very elegant things with sort of absurd bric-a-brac that caught his fancy. It was characteristically eclectic.'"

(images DansHamptons, middle image horst, 1965)

News: China Moon, Kevin Rudd, Spice Girls, Kentucky, Truman Capote

Philadelphia Boy Scouts facing eviction for their anti-gay bigotry: "The Cradle of Liberty Council—Philadelphia's Boy Scout chapter—has been housed in an historic building in downtown Philly for almost 80 years, paying almost nothing for the prime piece of proprety under the terms of a 100-year sweetheart lease it inked with the city in 1928. But that lease is set to expire, and city officials say the taxpayer's shouldn't be footing the Scouts rent bill because of it's national policy banning openly gay members and leaders. The Scouts must either pony up the fair market rent for the space—about $200,000 a year—or find a new home."

Back to 1996: Spice Girls kick off world tour in Vancouver, with real live vocals! "There is a click track for the band to keep them in time, which is standard, but all of the girls' vocals were live."

British Panto theatre comes out of the closet: "Panto has cross-dressing, innuendo and glitter, so maybe we've reached the point where we've stopped pretending that it's just camp and really it's as gay as you like. It's built into the form."

The NYT takes a look at the difficulties of being gay in Newark, New Jersey: "Sharrieff Baker and his partner, Edwin Rosario, who own a house in the North Ward, said they had a very different experience when one of their tenants found out they were a couple. Last month, they said, the tenant tore up a shared bathroom, called them 'faggots' and threatened to blow up their house. When they called 911, they said, Vincent Cordi, the responding police officer, appeared unconcerned and agreed only reluctantly to take their complaint. Back at the station house, they said, Officer Cordi sniggered with co-workers as he typed up the paperwork, at one point blurting out, 'How do you spell 'faggot'?'"

Truman Capote, New Orleans, 1946: First chapter of new book Portraits and Observations: The Essays of Truman Capote (Review)

Beckham makes the sponsorship switch: Emporio Armani undies spotted in New Zealand

Homophobic, racist flyers found on Canada's University of Windsor campus.

A look back at Saturday Night Fever on its 30th anniversary: "Lapels aside, the film seems strangely prescient -- a road map to the income inequality, the ethnic and racial politics, and the lure of celebrity that we see today. Culturally speaking, the '70s are back. As we grapple with soaring gasoline prices, tune in to 'Dancing With the Stars' and work through a new kind of national malaise, we would do well to heed the cautionary lessons of the young man in polyester."

Gay census study sees closets emptying in Kentucky.

Watchdogs question authenticity of Chinese Moon photo, say it may be plagiarized from NASA. China denies.

Australia's new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd makes his first act ratifying the Kyoto Treaty: "Australia's new stance on Kyoto will isolate the US as the only developed nation not to have ratified the treaty. Mr Rudd is due to attend the UN climate change conference in Bali next week with four of his ministers. When they heard of Mr Rudd's decision, delegates at the conference erupted in applause. Mr Rudd's appointment as prime minister ends more than 11 years of conservative government under his predecessor John Howard. As well as signing up to the Kyoto Protocol, the new government is committed to withdrawing Australia's combat troops from Iraq."

Brokeback Mountain costume designer Marit Allen dies of brain aneurysm at 66.

Mitt Romney to deliver major speech on Mormonism. AmericaBlog calls him out: "You can't give a speech about being an oppressed religious minority in America only 5 days after you oppress another religious minority in America. Romney can't tell us that the religion of his cabinet is relevant but the religion of the cabinet's president isn't. It just doesn't work that way. Either a candidate for high office's religion is relevant or its not. This week Romney is going to tell us that it's not, though I suspect he's also going to try to con everyone into thinking that Mormonism IS Christianity, so at the same time he's telling us to ignore his religion he's going to be telling us that he's a bigger Christian than we are and that that is the reason we should vote for him. In other words, Romney is going to try to have it both ways this week, lying all the way. So what else is new?"

Pam Spaulding posts a wrap-up of the 2007 International Gay & Lesbian Leadership Conference and a new interview with Representative Tammy Baldwin.

Fixer-upper: Richard Neutra house goes on market in Santa Monica.

News: GLAAD Awards, Military Hillary, Tapir Massage, Asteroid

Hillary Clinton learns her salute: "For Mrs. Clinton, exhibiting a command of military matters is not just about learning from her husband’s experience. It could be vital to her, as a woman seeking to become a wartime commander in chief, to show the public that she is comfortable with military policy and culture — and with the weight of responsibility that accompanies life-and-death decisions."

Patti LaBelle and Jennifer Hudson stole the show at this year's GLAAD awards. LaBelle: "I didn't know you were this nice. I thought you were a bitch."

New York's Black Party: a wholesome romp.

Global warming may kill certain climates and create entirely new ones: "Species living in tropical areas may be less able to adapt, he said, adding that that is speculative and needs further study. Areas like the Southeastern United States and the Arabian Peninsula may also be affected, the researchers said. And they said mountain areas such as in Peruvian and Colombian Andes and regions such as Siberia and southern Australia face a risk of climates disappearing altogether. That doesn't mean these regions would have no climate at all -- rather their climate would change and the conditions currently in these areas would not occur elsewhere on Earth."

The Beckhams' wild night with Diddy.

Stepford Wives museum director claims harassment from gay colleagues who wanted her to resign: car vandalism, threatened with poisoning, being forced to look at graphic gay photos, and being poked in the eye.

YouTube announces first annual Video Award winners. Here are the videos...

Cleaning day: Mario Lopez has some junk in the trunk, er, garage.

Cute video of the week: tapir gets a massage. I get relaxed just watching it.

Deep impact: U.S. and China at most risk for damage from wayward asteroid. "The team focused on smaller asteroids because they hit the Earth more frequently. An asteroid a few hundred metres across hits the planet about once every 10,000 years, on average, while those larger than 1 kilometre hit only every 100,000 years or so. Small asteroids are also harder to spot. 'We're more likely to be hit by one without much warning,' Bailey told New Scientist. Using maps of population density, the researchers charted the places likely to suffer the most casualties. As might be expected, countries with large coastal populations turned out to be most vulnerable, with China, Indonesia, India, Japan and the US in the top five spots."

Capote producer Michael Ohoven sues fellow producer William Vince for profits: "The complaint, filed Thursday in British Columbia Supreme Court, claims that Vince convinced Ohoven to agree to a 60-40 split of revenue from Infinity films to take advantage of Canadian tax credits. Later, Ohoven alleges, Vince transferred the other 40 percent to himself without Ohoven's knowledge or consent. Ohoven is now seeking 50 percent of all past and future revenue from Infinity films, including Capote."

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In the Spirit of Capote, Plaza Hotel Gets Versace Makeover

New York's famed Plaza Hotel has been undergoing massive renovations as much of the hotel is being converted into luxury condominiums.

In March 2006, Christie's held a massive auction of items from the hotel including a parquet dance floor, candelabras, leather club chairs, a Steinway grand piano,and the humidor which used to house cigars in the Oak Room.

Now available for viewing at the Plaza are a set of prefab residences designed with items almost exclusively from the Versace home collection.

As NYC real estate blog Curbed notes, perhaps the black and white motif is an homage to the Plaza's most famous event — Truman Capote's 1966 Black & White Ball.

Well, at least that painting over the bed is symbolic of some sort of gay angst.

Versace at the Plaza: Making Capote Proud [curbed]

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Plaza Hotel Holds Massive Garage Sale [tr]
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Truman Capote Auction Pulls in $242,000

The Truman Capote auction that I posted about in October went off yesterday at Bonhams, and the items, previously owned by Capote's close friend Joanne Carson, sold for $242,000. The funds went to canine epilepsy and greyhound rescue, a cause close to Carson's heart.

Capote's manuscripts failed to generate the interest from bidders and were withdrawn. His 'collage boxes', "made from cigar-box-like snakebite kits embellished with images cut from magazines," drew heavy interest. His tux from the Black & White Ball was withdrawn when bidders expressed little interest.

Bloomberg reports on miscellaneous other items: "Two photographs of Capote by Richard Avedon sold for $2,750 and $3,250, respectively. Several of the lots included 'souvenirs' from hotels where Capote had stayed. His passport sold for $3,000, and an expired credit card sold for $2,750. A letter from the late agent Irving 'Swifty' Lazar telling Capote he could not bring Joanne Carson as his guest to a party, for fear of upsetting her former husband, sold for $550. A scrap of paper, on which Capote had written in red ink, 'I know what I'm doing, except sometimes' sold for $1,700."