News: Rick Astley, Zimbabwe, Fat Joe, David Cook, Karl Lagerfeld

Zimbabwe: Intelligence officers for the government of Robert Mugabe force opposition supporters to take down their posters and eat them. "Amnesty International cited a case on March 7, when three members of the Morgan Tsvangirai-led faction of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) were ordered by intelligence officers to take down election posters. According to Amnesty, the officials forced the opposition supporters to chew the posters and swallow them."

Fat Joe and Suge White mock fellow hip-hop artists 50 Cent and G-Unit with 'Gay-Unit' mix tape: "Featuring a Photoshoped image of 50, Yayo and Banks tightly embraced, all three rappers are portrayed with smeared lipstick on the face, as Yayo was tattooed with a "I Miss Jail" on his right shoulder and Banks sporting a portrait of Curtis on his left shoulder with 'Delicious' tagged under." (image via Rod 2.0)

American Idol: Is David Cook an 'original', or just a really good cover artist?

University of Pittsburgh study: LGB youth report higher rates of drug and alcohol use. "The odds of substance use for lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) youth are on average 190 percent higher than for heterosexual youth...What's more, for some sub-populations of LGB youth, the odds were substantially higher, including 340 percent for bisexual youth and 400 percent for lesbians, researchers found. 'Homophobia, discrimination and victimization are largely what are responsible for these substance use disparities in young gay people,' said Michael P. Marshal, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of UPMC, who led the study. 'History shows that when marginalized groups are oppressed and do not have equal opportunities and equal rights, they suffer. Our results show that gay youth are clearly no exception.'"

The second coming of Rick Astley: the "Never Gonna Give you Up" singer talks about the RickRoll.

Apparently they are remaking the 70's kids TV show Land of the Lost at the La Brea Tar Pits, but I don't know how you can ever replicate the wonderfully bad fake dinos and the Sleestaks...

Ellen Degeneres top television host in new poll.

'Domestic partnership' to become 'mutual commitment' in Salt Lake City? "Some legislators argued that the term 'domestic partnership,' at least in spirit, violated Utah's constitutional Amendment No. 3, which bans same-sex marriage and substantially similar civil unions. Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker said Tuesday he will recommend to the City Council that the name be changed to the mutual commitment registry. The City Council likely will consider the recommendation at its April 1 meeting. If approved, the registry could be up and running as soon as April 7."

Ronald Haines, Episcopal Bishop who ordained lesbian in 1991, dies in Pennsylvania.

Karl Lagerfeld the subject of new documentary: "The film is Lagerfeld Gone Wild, with delights such as Lagerfeld discussing how gay people suck nowadays because they no longer outrage 'bourgeois social norms' and why prostitution should be legal. He's full of opinions."

Mario Lopez hawks abtastic new fitness book.

Vienna LGBT group announces poster competition to raise awareness about homophobia in football: "With the European championships to be held in Austria and Switzerland this summer, Qwien said it wanted to draw attention to homophobia in football. 'By launching a Europe-wide poster competition, we will make an otherwise taboo topic public' during the championships, it said. Posters had to be submitted by the end of May. The best 50 would be selected and then a jury - including Icelandic film director Robert Douglas, Life Ball organiser Gery Keszler, the president of Hamburg's FC St. Pauli football club Corny Littmann, pop singer Jimmy Somerville and Tanja Walther of the the European Gay and Lesbian Sports Federation - would pick the best three. The winner would be announced on June 4. The 50 best posters would be displayed "at a public venue" during the championship itself, which runs from June 7-29." (official site)

More gay looks for Jay Leno.

L.A.'s first openly gay police officer seeks new trial in discrimination suit: "Former Sgt. Mitchell Grobeson wants a rehearing of a discrimination suit that sought up to $4.4 million in damages. A jury ruled for the city last year. A Superior Court judge on Tuesday took under submission Grobeson's motions for a new trial and reinstatement to the LAPD. Grobeson did two stints with the LAPD in the 1980s and 1990s before retiring on a psychological disability. The LAPD settled a previous suit by Grobeson in 1993 by promising to improve its hiring and training of gay officers."

Remember Aquaman? Alan Ritchson a superhero again.

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News: Son of JFK, Kevin Rudd, Alabama, Writer's Strike

Australia issues official apology for mistreating Aborigines: "Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told parliament that past policies of assimilation, under which aboriginal children were taken from their families to be brought up in white households, were a stain on the nation's soul. 'Today, the parliament has come together to right a great wrong,' Rudd said. 'We apologize for the laws and policies of successive parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.'"

Yep, that's a look of pure hate if I've ever seen one.

Brad Pitt to renege on promise that he would not be getting married until gay people can?

Back to TV: The writer's strike is officially over!

Brazilian gay rights leader Alexandre Peixe dos Santos bashed: "gagged, hooded and beaten by an unknown number of attackers."

London to host 2009 European gay rugby Union Cup: Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, said: 'The tournament will provide a platform to introduce lesbian and gay sport to new audiences.' The first Union Cup was held in 2005 in Montpellier, France and then in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2007."

Man claims to be JFK's son, wants DNA TEST from Kennedy clan.

Scottish police station hoists rainbow flag. Chief Inspector: "The contribution of LGBT people is often forgotten or ignored. It's great the police is able to recognise those efforts. It sends out the message of support to staff members and the wider public that the force is committed to diversity and equality. I'm sad if some people are unhappy about the flag for religious reasons, but I know many religious people who do not feel it goes against their faith and they are very supportive."

Court orders $3100 fine for Swedish kennel owner who refused to sell a puppy to a woman because she was a lesbian.

Hod: Jewish Orthodox gay group's web presence is born: "We are being watched with a magnifying glass right now. We have to be careful not to ruin our relations with the Orthodox establishment. Besides, we are not at the stage where we can express our opinions about same-sex partnerships and families. Our battles are at a much more elementary level. We are trying to convince rabbis, educators, lay leaders and even the general public that homosexuality is not a mental sickness."

CLASSY: Paparazzi snaps Michelle Williams beside skeleton on first day back from Heath Ledger funeral.

Patron turned away from South African gay bar because of his race.

Birth of gay group at University of Alabama remembered with exhibition: "25 years later, a collection of everything relating to the group — papers, posters, letters, shirts — has been donated to the university's archives. 'No school is fully represented by its official records. We need the unofficial record, too,' said Clark Center, curator of the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library. 'The collection is important in that it represents a student group's activities and their intersection with the wider world.' The collection was gathered by Josh Burford, who was approached about a year ago by students wanting to research homosexuals in Tuscaloosa for a paper in his class on modern gay America. By calling on past faculty advisors and members of the group, he was able to collect boxes of papers still kept in basements and offices."

Listen to Mariah Carey's new track "Touch My Body".

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News: Alfie Allen, Huckabee, Alabama, Justin Chambers, Spiral Jetty

Theory that mass grave found in Fort Myers, Florida could be the remains of a serial killer's gay victims gains traction...

Woo! New shrew!

Singer Lily Allen's brother Alfie has taken over Daniel Radcliffe's role in London's Equus. Unlike, Radcliffe, full monty shots of Allen have quickly made it to the internet.

Memorial to gay Holocaust victims in Berlin should be ready within months: "The $890,000 memorial to gay victims will be located in Berlin's Tiergarten Park, across from the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Culture Minister Bernd Neumann said."

Iowa's Quad-City Times celebrates the gay American Idol contestant I posted about earlier in the week, Leo Marlowe: "Gwen Costello, librarian and drama director at Northeast High School in Goose Lake, Marlowe’s alma mater, remembers the young thespian playing the jester in 'Once Upon a Mattress' and receiving awards on the speech team. In his high school yearbook, Marlowe, who was voted 'Most Likely to be Famous' from the Class of 2002, was asked to pontificate on what he would do if he could not sing. 'I don’t know what I’d do,' he responded. 'I guess I’d be lost.'...'He’s just so down to earth and can make anybody laugh,” Costello said. “We noticed that right away last night, how he made everybody laugh and made everybody comfortable. That’s what he does best besides singing.' Costello said Marlowe comes from 'a wonderful family. We’re thrilled, we’re just thrilled. I thoroughly expect him to be schmoozing with the big guys soon. He’ll probably be Simon’s best friend someday.'"

Paula: dancing like there's no tomorrow.

Grey's Anatomy's Justin Chambers admitted to same psych ward as Britney Spears — for sleep disorder.

Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty threatened by oil drilling.

Gay populations booming in Alabama and Utah: "In the past 17 years, Utah's gay population has shot from the 38th largest in the country to 14th. Birmingham, Ala., meanwhile, is now home to all-night gay bars and pride parades; the South's gay tally has outpaced any other region. 'What many of the bigger cities like New York were experiencing during the late '60s and '70s is happening here now, but quietly,' says Danny Upton, the head of Equality Alabama."

Pro-gay bills advance in Virginia legislature.

Jesse Metcalfe: Single, hating it.

Oregon fans target UCLA basketball player with homophobic chants: "The target was Kevin Love, the gifted freshman who grew up near Portland but left his home state last year for Westwood. Some Ducks fans, lost in their immaturity, view Love as a traitor. From the warm-ups to the final seconds, they heaped scorn on the Bruins' No. 42 and his family. There's cheering and booing that is within the bounds of civility. But sometimes it goes out of bounds, into a realm society should not condone. You know it when you see it, know it when you hear it. This was out of bounds. There were stabs at Love's looks, at his mother, father and the history of mental illness in his family. This was disgusting. What drew my ire the most were reports of long, loud, homophobic chants directed at UCLA's young center."

Straight teen sues high school, claiming she was prevented from peacefully supporting gay rights: "Heather Gillman, who is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, filed suit in federal court against the School Board and Ponce de Leon High School Principal David Davis. According to the complaint, Davis suspended several students for 'expressing their support for the fair treatment of gays and lesbians.'...'I think everybody should be able to support what they believe in and not be punished for it,' Gillman said Thursday during a conference call with reporters."

Mike Huckabee on what's beautiful about America: “The beauty of America is that a person can come and even make a disruption, and you know what, that person is not going to be taken out and shot.”

The power of persuasion: reality show supermodels sittin' in a tree...

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News: South Korea, Seattle Bingo Drag, Richard Simmons, UFOs

An entire blog devoted to men who look like old lesbians.

Porn star (link NSFW) who won Mr. Gay Argentina draws attention to legitimacy of Mr. Gay competition: "In the United States, gay porn is often looked upon as representing the gay community in a negative light, but other countries like Argentina have less hang ups about allowing their community to be represented by someone who has participated in the industry. For most naysayers, the problem isn't so much that a porn star will be representing a country at the competition as it is about the validity of the competition itself...The organizers say they are "looking for all types of guys, from gym-bunny to math geek with a passion to lead," but the math geeks seem to have taken a much further back seat to the gym bunnies... like perhaps on a different bus."

GLAAD President Neil Giuliano on the proliferation of same-sex commitment announcements: "Today, every state in the union and Washington, D.C., has at least one paper with an inclusive policy for their weddings and celebrations pages -- for a combined national circulation of over 37 million in nearly 900 outlets, reaching almost 75 percent of total newspaper readers."

Christina Aguilera or pregnant drag queen?

Drag queen host no longer welcome at Seattle's gay bingo. Thom Hubert: "As a drag queen, if I stuck to this stuff by the letter, why, I’d have to wear a black robe and stand behind a podium and just read the numbers out. The contract said, ‘the host will not act in a flirtatious manner, will not wear reveailing clothing, will not make sexual gestures or comments.’ How could any drag queen appear or perform under these guidelines?"

As promised, North Carolina Baptists vote to expel Myers Park church for welcoming gay congregants and not trying to change them: "The liberal church of 1,970 members became the first to be kicked out under rules passed at last year's meeting that said any Baptist church that affirmed or endorsed homosexual behavior would be considered 'not in friendly cooperation with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina.'"

Eight cows in Utah attempted to make a break for it when the trailer they were in pulled in to a McDonald's restaurant. Lt. Kevin Burns: "They didn't like their future."

What's an episode of Heroes without some additional Milo Ventimiglia skin scenes.

Gay activists in South Korea request international support: "They want to mobilise international support for the restoration of sexual orientation as a protected category in the proposed anti-discrimination legislation (ADL) recently drafted by the Ministry of Justice."

Richard Simmons brings Jennie Garth to tears on Dancing with the Stars (video).

NYU's plans for a campus in the United Arab Emirates angers LGBT students: "Now, a month after administrators announced plans for the university's first full-fledged satellite campus, some students have raised questions about the partnership, saying it is at odds with NYU's support for rights for lesbian gay, bisexual and transgender students. NYU has a reputation for being one of the U.S.'s most gay-friendly schools; the Princeton Review has ranked it 'Most Accepting of the Gay Community' two years in a row. At a town hall meeting last week, two students sharply questioned NYU president John Sexton about the plan and voiced their concerns about LGBT students at NYU Abu Dhabi. U.A.E. federal law does not outlaw homosexuality outright, but it does define 'acts of homosexuality' as illegal, said Simon Pearce, the director of strategic communications for Abu Dhabi's Executive Affairs Authority."

19 former pilots and government officials call on United States reopen investigations into UFOs: "We want the US government to stop perpetuating the myth that all UFOs can be explained away in down-to-earth, conventional terms."

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News: Britney Spears, Matthew Shepard, Soft Cell, Gay Cruising

Retrial begins over gay Tucson murder: "For the second time, a jury will decide whether a disabled gay Tucson man was stabbed to death over a TV and VCR or as the result of an impulsive rage. Nine years after Mark Truesdell, 29, was slain in his North Campbell Avenue apartment, Ronnie Gene Sartin Jr., 30, is being tried on a first-degree murder charge. Sartin was living in Tucson at the time of the slaying. Sartin was convicted by a jury in 1999 of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. The Arizona Court of Appeals ordered the case returned to Superior Court last year for retrial after changes were made to the law regarding how premeditation is explained to jurors."

Halloween scare-a-thon: Chris Crocker recreates Britney Spears cooch flash.

Britney Spears' new album Blackout being called the best of her career.

Utah lawyer on crusade to testify against gay marriage in Vermont: "Monte Stewart will travel more than 2,300 miles this weekend to appear before the Vermont Commission on Family Recognition and Protection as the only lawyer opposed to same-sex marriage scheduled to speak Monday at its second public meeting. Stewart, the president of the Utah-based Family Marriage Law Foundation, will explain to the 11-member legislative committee why marriage rights should not be extended to gay and lesbian couples in Vermont. 'The law has clearly been decided in favor of marriage being between one man and one woman,' Stewart said Wednesday morning, from his office in Orem, Utah. 'There are clear reasons why this institution needs to be preserved.'"

Matthew Shepard foundation launches new community site for LGBT youth.

British group Soft Cell to release remix album.

REPORT: Beckham miserable in the U.S.

UK: Police add to patrols at Hampstead Heath's gay cruising spots.

Gay lawyer Aaron Charney settles bias lawsuit with NY firm Sullivan & Cromwell, where he worked: "The settlement, the terms of which are confidential, brings to a close a dispute that had fascinated the New York legal community over the past several months, both with its allegations concerning partners at one of the city’s most prestigious firms and its bizarre twists and turns in the courtroom. In January, Mr Charney, who had worked in the firm’s mergers and acquisitions practice, sued the firm, accusing several partners of discriminating against him because he is gay and then papering over his complaints."

U.S. asylum denied to gay Mexican.

Lithuanian gay rights conference attacked with smoke bombs.

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News: Herbert Muschamp, Utah, Dexter, Britney Spears,

Russian gay activist Nikolai Alexeyev to speak in Chicago on Saturday at Matthew Shepard March.

Noted Broadway actor George Grizzard dies at 79: George Grizzard, a versatile actor who achieved his greatest renown on the stage, playing everything from Shakespeare to Shaw, from Neil Simon to Edward Albee, died yesterday in Manhattan. He was 79 and lived in Manhattan. His death, at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, was caused by complications of lung cancer, said his partner, William Tynan, who is Mr. Grizzard’s only survivor."

New York Times architecture critic Herbert Muschamp dies after cancer battle.

Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for Harlow Raymond Cuadra and Joseph Manuel Kerekes in the January slaying of gay porn producer Bryan Kocis: "Prosecutors said they have two legal reasons to put the two Virginia Beach, Va., men to death in the slaying. One, they said, is the men killed Kocis while perpetrating another felony. In this case, the other felonies are robbery, arson, theft and criminal conspiracy, the prosecutors said. Two, they said, is that the men created a grave risk to other people while committing the killing."

Harvey Fierstein reinvents A Catered Affair.

Republican state Senator Jeannemarie Devolites Davis and Democratic challenger J. Chapman Petersen battle for the gay vote in Virginia: "Davis is fighting for her political life against what all agree is an overwhelming Democratic advantage. As a result, her race with Petersen at times looks more like a nomination fight between progressive Democrats than a Virginia general election. Davis talks often of her support for greater gun restrictions and increased transportation funding. And in front of some audiences, she talks about her belief in gay rights."

More Milo all tied up.

Pianist Marc Peloquin premieres work based on gay sadomasochism: "Its rigor, its rugged insistence and its almost painful pianistic difficulties bring to my mind the intensity of the S-M experience."

University of Utah Pride Week images censored by school in agreement with the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Resource Center for being overtly sexual.

A group of San Diego clergy protest at City Hall over the city's support for overturning same-sex marriage ban: "The group was led by Bishop Roy Dixon from Faith Chapel Church of God in Christ, Pastor Timothy Winters of the Bayview Baptist Church and Bishop George McKinney of St. Stephen's Church of God in Christ. They touted the 2000 passage of California's Proposition 22, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman only."

Director Q. Allan Brocka (Eating Out) documents the recent art gallery opening of "Just Britney".

Michael C. Hall's Dexter returns for second season with record-breaking ratings: "Showtime’s 'Dexter' returned with a vengeance Sunday, becoming the cabler’s first series to score more than 1 million viewers with a premiere seg. Skein’s second-season opener snagged 1.09 million eyeballs at 9 p.m., a whopping 67% above the serial killer drama’s 2006 series premiere. More impressively, seg was up nearly 40% over the show’s 2006 season average of 624,000 viewers, according to Nielsen data." Dexter is great. If you have a chance to watch it, do.

Second death twist in mysterious case of NYC club icon Dean Johnson.

Britney Spears is not a Chris Crocker fan: "She thinks he's creepy and that all his videos are an obvious attempt at fame. She finds it insulting and difficult to watch."

Ubisoft, makers of a Scrabble game for the Nintendo DS, has apologized after some users became offended that the game contained the word "lesbo" as an allowable word choice: "In the game there is a 'junior' version that omits offensive words, but lesbo is not considered an offensive word in the Scrabble dictionary. Ubisoft merely apologized if offense was caused, they are not pulling the game."

Finding a letter from Joan Crawford in the trash.

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News: Sanjaya, Hugh Jackman, Great White Shark, Wegman

High school in South San Francisco celebrating 'Gay-Straight Alliance Week' and observing the national 'Day of Silence' this Wednesday is vandalized with anti-gay, racial epithets: "There was Nazi symbols on some teachers' doors, there was the Star of David circled and then crossed out. There were a couple Bible versus which I found personally offensive. On the side of the gym there was a big hand spray painted with the middle finger sticking up saying 'Day of Silence This."

P-A-R-K - early William Wegman film online.

You're on the air: Canada's first radio station for gays and lesbians, Proud FM, goes online, and over the airwaves in Toronto: "The people behind 103.9 Proud FM say they hope to add diversity to the radio dial by exploring issues and stories relevant to Canada's gay and lesbian community — voices they say are largely unheard elsewhere....Proponents of the new station have been working to get the project off the ground for about 10 years."

Maxim names Sanjaya its "Girl of the Day".

Musical theater reality show underway: 'Life is a Song' will give people who have major announcements to make or questions to ask the opportunity to do so via an elaborate song and dance number. It's based on the tuner tradition of characters breaking into song when emotions become too strong for words. Each half-hour seg will chronicle the backstory behind the person doing the singing, as well as show that person learning how to sing and dance. Scout's Metzler and Collins came up with the idea for 'Life' and then recruited Zadan and Meron because of their decades of experience with musical productions. Zadan and Meron in turn enlisted help from past collaborators, including 'Footloose' writer Dean Pitchford. Scout has brought on Evan Weinstein to serve as co-exec producer." Imagine coming out to your family like this! Now that's gay.

2007 Pulitzer Prize winners named.

Hugh Jackman hits the beach in Sydney, Australia.

Great White Shark let loose in Northern California turns up in Cabo San Lucas.

BBC to broadcast mass from predominantly gay Catholic church in San Francisco's Castro district: "In the service to be broadcast on BBC Radio 4, Fr. Donal Godfrey SJ of the University of San Francisco will preside. James Alison, Catholic theologian and author of 'Is it ethical to be Catholic? – Queer perspectives', will be preaching. 'It is the style of ministry and liturgy at places such as MHR that influenced many of us familiar with these parishes, and so inspired us to develop the kind of parish-set ministry with LGBT Catholics that we now celebrate in Central London' said a statement from the Roman Catholic caucus of the lesbian and Gay Christian Movement in the UK."

John Amaechi to serve as Grand Marshall for Equality Utah Pride Festival.

Work Out: New shots of the cast and of the late Doug Blasdell.

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Brigham Young University Changes "Honor Code" on Gays

Brigham young University has made what the Salt Lake Tribune is calling "a small but significant change" to its honor code which one former student and blogger they spoke with says is a reflection of the fact that visibility, awareness, and education are having an impact on tolerance.

The Tribune reports: "A former BYU student who is now an attorney in Seattle, Nick Literski was among bloggers buzzing about the news. Literski, a gay man who has withdrawn his membership from the church, said his daughter will attend the school this fall. 'What it's reflecting is there's a growing disconnect between church position on homosexuality versus what individual members are coming to see,' he said in a phone interview. 'As more and more members of the LDS Church are coming to know individuals who are gay and finding out that they're human, that these are people just like them, that they're good people, it becomes difficult for them to demonize homosexuality the way the church positions do.'

The section of the BYU Honor Code in question previously read like this:

"Brigham Young University will respond to student behavior rather than to feelings or orientation. . . . Advocacy of a homosexual lifestyle (whether implied or explicit) or any behaviors that indicate homosexual conduct, including those not sexual in nature, are inappropriate and violate the Honor Code."

It now reads like this:

"Brigham Young University will respond to homosexual behavior rather than to feelings or orientation and welcomes as full members of the university community all whose behavior meets university standards. . . . One's stated sexual orientation is not an Honor Code issue. However, the Honor Code requires all members of the university community to manifest a strict commitment to the law of chastity."

The changes now condemn behavior rather than orientation. Baby steps, but ones that should be noted. One current student told the paper that the changes "remove a lot of the Gestapo atmosphere from the campus."

Last year, five members of the gay Christian activist group Soulforce were arrested at the University after yelling that the policies of the Church of Latter Day Saints were "killing gays."

BYU changes honor code text about gay students [salt lake tribune]

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News: Tony Dungy, Clinton Requiem, Nip/Tuck, SA Divorce

As a sixth paper drops Ann Coulter's column, the AP wonders if she's reached a tipping point.

Madonna to guest star on Nip/Tuck, possibly opposite Rosie O'Donnell.

One of the first gay couples to register for a civil union in South Africa, Richard Thornton and Andries Jacobs, have filed for divorce: "Barely a month after a chance encounter in a West Rand shopping mall, they exchanged rings and vows of fidelity on January 5, one of the first same-sex couples to be married in South Africa under the then newly enacted Civil Unions Act. Ironically, they could become the first divorced under the legislation. Just two months later, the marriage has crumbled and 52- year-old Thornton has filed for divorce on the grounds of irreconcilable differences and desertion. Jacobs, 20, packed his bags in the dead of night just weeks into the marriage as arguments over coming home late and overpossessiveness escalated."

Hilary Duff hits the gay bar circuit.

Beckham impostors attempt to crash Hollywood power lunch spot The Ivy. This time they weren't hawking fragrance.

Priest in Saskatchewan cut from church for performing gay marriages. Rev. Shawn Sanford Beck considers his position an act of civil disobedience: "I felt unable to say no to those requests. That goes against everything else I'm about in my ministry and everything else that the church stands for...I have no desire to get myself off the hook. I'm trying to send a very strong message to the gay and lesbian community, and to other communities that have been alienated from the church, that we don't all think the same and there are people willing to go to the wall."

House conservatives attempt to neuter global warming committee by appointing chief climate skeptic.

Ford Motor Co. said that American Family Association had nothing to do with their decision to cut ties with GLAAD Media Awards.

Roxy R.I.P. - a New York Times obituary.

David Mixner's requiem for the Clinton era: "Today, the Clintons run the political machine trying to save the status quo in the Democratic Party. Their fundraising operation is notorious for its ruthlessness and elitism. Their circle of advisors and friends are tough and aggressive with anyone who refuses to pledge allegiance. They are surrounded by money collectors like Terry McAuliffe who shakedown donors with warnings that they will be punished if they give to another candidate. Senator Clinton’s position on the Iraq War is by far the most calculated of any candidate. And on so many other issues, her positions are measured and break no new ground. Each appearance is predictable and perfectly arranged. Whether by necessity or choice, the spontaneity, exuberance and hope we saw in both of the Clintons in 1992 is gone."

Sick mugger attacks 101-year-old woman in Queens.

Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy back under the microscope for anti-gay Indiana Family Institute fundraiser. Colts release statement: "Coach Dungy's feelings on the importance of marriage and family are well known. He, of course, is free to speak to any group he wishes. The club does not take positions in political issues in which it is not directly involved. The Colts do not endorse any political or religious position taken by any group that any Colts employee decides to speak or lend his or her name to."

Utah Governor Jon Huntsman signs bill targeting gay-straight alliances. The legislation would allow school districts to ban them should they not "maintain the boundaries of socially appropriate behavior." According to the AP, "The new law has more than a dozen pages of regulations, including requiring parental permission to join a club, a faculty sponsor for the club, prohibiting students at another school from joining the club and submitting written materials to the principal within 24 hours after a meeting so parents can review them."

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