Hate crime charges filed against Tacoma man for threats against woman in Seattle: “Prosecutors assert that Salway threatened to stab her in the eyes before asking ‘did you hear me lesbian?' The woman told him to leave, drawing more threats from Salway. ‘I'm going to hurt you lesbian,' Salway said, according to the woman's statements to police. ‘Lesbian, I'm going to get you.' Fearing for her life, the woman ran from Salway as he gave chase. She and several other witnesses phoned police, who arrested Salway minutes later.”
Damien Hirst paints cover art for new edition of Darwin's On the Origin of Species: “The painting sits firmly in the tradition of ‘still life' and is made up of objects I've come to imbue with my own meanings, some of them Darwinian in origin, and that I guess are seen in other areas of my work. The painting has an X-ray-like quality to it, as if it is revealing something about the structure of the objects painted.”
THE FAME: Lady Gaga meets Paris Hilton.
Sam Adams confronted during council meeting; absent from Mayors Day at state capitol. NYT: The Great Gay Hope.
Rights for same-sex couples expand in Colombia: “The high court ordered changes to 42 norms that range from Criminal, Civil and Disciplinary Codes, to the special health plan available to military forces. The Magistrates embraced a position paper submitted by their peer, Rodrigo Escobar Gil. They ruled that the challenged dispositions did not justify the discrimination they instituted, or that the variances with regards to same-sex couples placed these people in a position of vulnerability before the law. And in both cases, the Constitutional Court held that the right to equality was violated.”
Terre Haute: Edmund White's play based on imagined conversations between Gore Vidal and terrorist Timothy McVeigh comes to NYC.
Vancouver gay man's killer up for parole: “Cran, now 27, was one of three people convicted in the killing. The attackers used a golf club, pool cues and baseball bats at Second Beach in Stanley Park to kill [Aaron] Webster near the entrance to the park's gay cruising trails. At Cran's trial, witnesses —including two of his accomplices who can't be named because they were under 18 when the incident took place —told BC Supreme Court Justice Mary Humphries the group had gone to the park to beat up ‘peeping toms and voyeurs.' Instead, they found Webster, naked except for his shoes. They pursued him through the park to his car, striking him with weapons while they ran.”
Jake Gyllenhaal kicks paparazzo outside jury duty.
Pete Wentz misses his old trashy pornstache.
Lutheran minister in Namibia suspended over alleged gay activities: “It is alleged Tjongarero has been involved in a series of intimate homosexual affairs, which go against the provisions of the church at which he is a pastor. The alleged infidelities have been going on in Omaruru for some time, but ELCRN's head office failed to take action as they had inadequate evidence to prove that Tjongarero is in fact gay. Recently however, a worshipper of his congregation allegedly caught Tjongarero with his pants down, reportedly having sex with a young male member of the church choir.”
Virgin America sues blogger over fake ad.
Threatening ‘straight power' discussion removed by Facebook: “The Facebook discussion is dated Nov. 13, but it wasn't brought to Jackie Kittrell's attention until Jan. 13, when a friend showed it to her son Conrad Honicker, a junior at West High School. The group: W.A.S.P., aka We Are Straight People. The topic: ‘gay kids at school.' A typical post from the discussion: ‘At west high school the GSA [Gay Straight Alliance] is getting on my nerves, they are banning phrases such as ‘thats so gay.'' The post that really caught Kittrell's attention: ‘f—ing fagots sucking dick and what not. we need assassinate conrad. … just needs to f—ing choke to death on a …'”
Advocate: The new wave of ‘post-gay' filmmaking.
Timberlake not intimidated by Madonna: “She's short, so I wasn't afraid at all.”
Life goes on for months around frozen body in vacant Detroit warehouse.
Obama drafting letter to Iran's Ahmadinejad: “Diplomats said Obama's letter would be a symbolic gesture to mark a change in tone from the hostile one adopted by the Bush administration, which portrayed Iran as part of an ‘axis of evil'. It would be intended to allay the suspicions of Iran's leaders and pave the way for Obama to engage them directly, a break with past policy. State department officials have composed at least three drafts of the letter, which gives assurances that Washington does not want to overthrow the Islamic regime, but merely seeks a change in its behaviour. The letter would be addressed to the Iranian people and sent directly to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, or released as an open letter.”
T.I.'s drawers really droop.