-Towleroad News- [#gay]

Naked: An EXCLUSIVE Interview with Gay Hero Daniel Choi

Matthew Rettenmund — 2009-07-10T19:30:27-04:00

When President Obama took office, he did so with the high expectations of his supporters in the LGBT community...and with the equally low expectations of his detractors among us. While the acknowledgment he has given to our issues may have surpassed that of previous presidents, it's fallen short (so far) of satisfying any of his major LGBT campaign promises. Worse, a number of questionable signals have been sent, the most controversial being the Department of Justice memo on same-sex marriage, which has been widely interpreted to compare marriage equality with incest in its defense of the Defense of Marriage Act.

Perhaps most surprisingly, President Obama has shown a troubling lack of resolve in repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell—he insists it is something he wants gone, but also insists that it be done via a bill that arrives on his desk from Congress, refusing to exercise his apparent authority as Commander-in-Chief to put a stop to any expulsions while the law is being reviewed and eventually, we presume, rescinded.

If it sometimes feels like you're either a Kool-Aid drinking apologist about to be excommunicated from the LGBT ranks (a literal ex-gay) or a histrionic, tantrum-throwing child with no regard for the president's full plate—you're not alone. The middle ground is rapidly disappearing.

As a big supporter of President Obama's (full disclosure: I've cut off the DNC but would have attended the Stonewall event), I've been disappointed by and at times angered over his inactivity on gay issues. It's not that I don't have patience, but when he is taking a passive approach to even a slam-dunk issue like Don't Ask, Don't Tell, it's impossible for any thinking person not to begin to worry that all those anonymous, seething Internet commenters claiming that Obama will be all talk and no action will have the last laugh. It doesn't matter if the more far-fetched accusations of the LGBT people who despise this president the most ("he's a lying closet bigot who hates us!"), those whose vehemence, if not related to, certainly matches that of the right-wing birthers and conspiracy theorists and racists, are never proven true.

But what will matter to all of us is if the president fails to make progress on our issues, because that will be not only his failure, it will be ours if we allow it to happen.

Speaking to Daniel Choi—the now-famous Arab linguist and Iraq War veteran with a distinguished career in the New York Army National Guard who on June 30 was recommended for discharge after coming out as gay earlier this year on The Rachel Maddow Show—it is very hard to think in terms of pro-Obama or anti-Obama. His approach to the DADT issue is as pure as it gets and does not take politics into consideration.

For Dan, it's simply about telling the truth.

When I first called him, I was a bit nervous. I don't know too many army guys and this one has become a gay hero for bucking a wildly unpopular policy and a wildly popular president, all in the name of what is right. The first thing he told me is that he was naked, which broke the ice (shattered it, really), but which later seemed so appropriate to me even if it was a joke, because at no time during our interview did I get the impression that he was feeding me talking points or that he had any agenda outside of the one that all of us, the nutty Obama lovers and the nutty Obama haters, should embrace come what may: It's wrong to discriminate against LGBT people, and it has to stop.

With a grace the Obama haters should study, a resolve the Obama lovers should adopt and with a surprising sense of humor, Dan spent just over 40 minutes making nothing but sense.

I've uploaded my interview to YouTube in 18 separate files so you can hear Dan in his own voice as I heard him earlier today. He tells a great story about coming out to his West Point roommate, stresses he's coming out "for the next guy," says he's not angry at the military, wonders aloud where he's going to live and speaks of how his first real relationship taught him the importance of doing what he's been doing for the past several months.

All of Matthew Rettenmund's interview after the jump...

1 What drew you to a career in the military?

2 Did 9/11 strengthen your resolve to serve?

3 Dan's emphasis: The truth.

4 Why is it important for gay people to be honest about who they are?

5 How do you react to being called a hero?

6 Son of a minister, Asian-American, military...not a recipe for an easy coming-out?

7 Why would a gay person join the military under DADT?

8 You had a religious upbringing...what do you tell religious, anti-gay people?

9 Do you mind my asking if you voted for President Obama?

10 How do you react to the "let's give it time" argument?

11 Where are YOU with this president right now?

12 What did you think of the White House Stonewall event?

13 "We're going to get this done"...encouraging, or hollow?

14 How does DADT hurt military preparedness?

15 What did you make of Defense Secretary Gates's "humane" DADT comment?

16 Is there a "generational gap" in the military brass?

17 Have you considered running for office?

18 Does your "heartthrob" status give you helpful visibility?

Choi For Now

Matthew Rettenmund — 2009-07-10T16:25:02-04:00

I am nearing the end of my stay at Towleroad; Andy will be back next week, and I just have another couple of things to post.

One item I'll be posting later on is another interview, this one with the heroic Dan Choi—he had a lot of very interesting things to say in our phone conversation, and I'm hopeful that I asked him some good questions. The first thing he told me was that he was naked, but we'll get into that and issues with more substance soon enough.

It's been a pleasure and a nightmare taking over in Andy's absence, a pleasure as always to read the variety of comments and to have the ability to reach a large, appreciative, critical audience, and a nightmare trying to keep up with the day's news and maintain Andy's level of excellence.

If you like, please visit my blog Boy Culture, friend me on Facebook and/or follow me on Twitter.

Thanks to you and to Andy and Mike for having me.— Matthew Rettenmund

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #507

Matthew Rettenmund — 2009-07-10T14:19:58-04:00

HOW YOU VANT IT TO BE: "...Baby One More Time" re-invented.

THE SWIM OF THINGS: More on that racist episode at a Philly club.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE: Michael Buble's racy joke on Chelsea Lately.

"BEHIND" THE SCENES: Armani's shoot with Posh & Becks.

Same-Sex Kiss: Prelude to a Diss

Matthew Rettenmund — 2009-07-10T14:07:21-04:00

Two men who kissed at one of five Chico's Tacos restaurants in El Paso, Tex., were kicked out by guards—and local law enforcement supported the ejection, citing non-existent laws regarding homosexual conduct in public.

The men and three friends were asked to leave after the kiss when security personnel told them they didn't allow "all that faggot stuff" in the establishment, according to Carlos Diaz de Leon, a member of the group.

The men refused to leave, instead calling the police. One hour and multiple slurs later, police arrived and one officer told the men same-sex kissing is illegal in public, and that they could be arrested. (The Supreme Court needs a better publicist—they threw out Lawrence v. Texas six years ago.)

Outrageously, Detective Carlos Carrillo said the restaurant had every right to "refuse service to whoever they don't want there. That's their prerogative." The irony was apparently lost on him.

In 2003, the chain's fiftieth anniversary, the Texas House of Representatives honored the family who founded the business.

Some mostly encouraging local reactions here. Contact info and way to "review" Chico's here.

News: Senators Do the Darnedest Things, The Jackson 3 & A New Zealand Travesty

Matthew Rettenmund — 2009-07-10T11:47:29-04:00

In honor of Bruno's opening today, check out this love him/hate him piece from the New York Daily News. "Show me someone who's really offended by [the character] Bruno and I'll show you a highly self-righteous person," says psychiatrist Mark Goulston.

President Obama met with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican. (Pictured: Obama being greeted by Bishop James Harvey.) Despite their differences (to put it mildly) on abortion and stem cell research (and don't forget the gays), Obama thanked the Pope for receiving him and said, "It's a great honor."

Senator Roland Burris, controversially appointed by then-Governor Rod Blagojevich to fill a vacancy in the Illinois Senate created by the election of President Barack Obama, will reportedly not seek a full term in 2010.

Senator John Ensign (R-NV) has admitted that his parents (they're alive???) paid his mistress's family nearly $100,000 "out of concern." Concern for their son's career and reputation? The money was allegedly not taken from campaign funds.

Senator John Kerry has announced his support for Massachusetts A.G. Martha Coakley's federal lawsuit challenging DOMA.

Convicted American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Iee were supposed to be sent to a prison labor camp in North Korea, but rumor has it they're at a guest house while officials seek talks with the U.S.

Gay Panic on Holiday: In New Zealand, 32-year-old Hungarian tourist Ferdinand Ambach beat 69-year-old Ronald Brown to death with a banjo and then rammed the instrument down his throat. He's just been found guilty...of manslaughter.

The ladies who Tweet.

Naked!—an exhibition of art that exposes "sundry flesh"—opened last night and runs through September 19 at the Paul Kasmin Gallery in New York. "Naked is not nude nor 'naturalist'—it is altogether more intriguing, predicating perhaps a state of desire, whether narcissistic or voyeuristic, that sense of being naked as an active, self-conscious state of heightened awareness if not arousal." The show features contributions from Jack Pierson (work pictured), Andy Warhol, David LaChapelle, Charles Hovland and many others. (Site is art, not porn, but is still probably NSFW.)

The Amateur Gourmet's singing, dancing tribute to...cooking fish.

In males, sexuality can be determined by birth order. The more older brothers he has, the more likely he is to be gay. Wait, I think I saw this movie—wasn't it pre-condom?

Michael Jackson's dermatologist may or may not be the father of his children, but he doesn't want them turning into "the next version of the Jackson 3."

Singapore will keep homosexuality illegal. But don't worry—they won't prosecute you for it.

According to Levi Johnston, Sarah Palin resigned for one reason only—greed. Palin's spokesman Meghan Stapleton fires back: "It is interesting to learn Levi is working on a piece of fiction while honing his acting skills." Oh, snap. But if Levi's working on a piece of fiction, Sarah's Barbara Cartland.

Was Ernest Hemingway a failed KGB spy?

The Monroe Doctrine

Matthew Rettenmund — 2009-07-10T10:04:57-04:00

Queerty turns in a fascinating and lengthy interview with gay TV pioneer Jim J. Bullock, most famous as Too Close for Comfort's sexually ambiguous Monroe.

"I didn't perceive myself as gay," he says. "I just thought of myself as funny."

Bullock officially came out of the closet on The Joan Rivers Show in 1990, and came out as HIV-positive in 1997.

"People were thinking you might not get hired because you might touch a bagel or whatever."

The piece is filled with Bullock's reminiscences about his eager beards, his time on The Jim J. & Tammy Faye Show with the late Tammy Faye Messner and what it was like having fans of Too Close for Comfort writing in asking if Monroe was gay...and hoping he wasn't.

Law Dork on Olson-Boies "Turf War"

Matthew Rettenmund — 2009-07-10T09:07:33-04:00

Chris Geidner at Law Dork has an exclusive read on that explosive letter from American Foundation for Equal Rights that was obtained by Towleroad yesterday, along with some reactions from the letter's recipients.

Geidner notes that Chad Griffin's letter makes clear that "far from being blindsided by the Perry lawsuit—the LGBT legal organizations were well aware of and chose not to participate in the filing of this lawsuit."

Regarding Griffin's point that the groups seeking to intervene had earlier opposed AFER's efforts and so would not be effective in litigating, James Esseks, co-director of the ACLU LGBT Rights Project, says, "People can disagree about when and whether to jump into the pool, but once you do it makes sense to swim as hard as possible to get to the other side...We're all in the pool; it's not just those plaintiffs."

Highlights of Law Dork's take:

"This is, in part, a turf fight, and there is no denying it. But it is a legitimate turf fight. These three groups and their boards have been involved in dozens of lawsuits relating to marriage equality. They have, for the most part, been well-planned and carefully strategized cases that have resulted in great forward movement in a relatively short time...
"The lawyers for the proposed intervenors might be coming late to the party, but the reality is that the groups they are representing have the right to seek intervention in the case and to have counsel of their choosing in such an intervention effort...
"In light of the very diversity of the LGBT community that the proposed intervenors claim to represent, this intra-LGBT fight might have been inevitable. Regardless, though, here's to hoping that everyone sits down in the coming days and weeks and figures out the best way to move forward with this case to help advance equality for all the Californians and LGBT people across the country who are watching this lawsuit with bated breath."

Nobody's Role Model: An Interview with Out Actor Stephen Guarino

Matthew Rettenmund — 2009-07-09T23:12:40-04:00

Thirty-three-year-old Florida native Stephen Guarino is a versatile out performer who just happens to be best known for a few deftly executed screen queens so flamboyant even Bruno might be tempted to bully them. In selected sketches from Logo's The Big Gay Sketch Show—on which he's been a series regular for all three seasons—and in the films Confessions of a Shopaholic and the Nia Vardolos romantic comedy I Hate Valentine's Day (in theaters tomorrow), he's the go-to girl for gay, gay, gay.

But along with spinning gold from stylized sissies (I'll never forget his tragic boa boy, barely rescued from savages by Super Liza), Guarino is The Big Gay Sketch Show's best straight man and has played characters as diverse as Russian dancer Svetlana, vapidity poster child Chad Michael and Ron Odyssey, a customer-service rep more confounding than anything on TV since Miss Swan. The third season of The Big Gay Sketch Show will air on Logo in January 2010.

Towleroad talked with him this week in advance of the July 24 Los Angeles debut of his Off-Broadway improv musical The Nuclear Family, featuring Guarino, Jimmy Ray Bennett, John Gregorio and Matthew Loren Cohen, at needtheater. It's a show close to Guarino's heart, one he describes as not being "comedians joking around about singing and dancing; we actually sing and dance and do improv."

Read quotes from Matthew Rettenmund's interview with Stephen Guarino after the jump...

Say What You Mean, Be Mean With What You Say

"I would say I had a class-clown defense-mechanism thing. Unfortunately, it was that '90s thing where you were funny because you were sarcastic and cruel, so I did that for a long time and then that kinda bit me in the ass after a while because I only really made a lot of friends by being relentlessly mean. I was really a mean girl in high school...even though I was a goofy-looking drama boy."

A Popular Hang-Out

"I remember having sexual feelings on boy scout trips toward some of the older guys that would chaperone us, though I didn't know sort of what that meant. Although I do remember I spent one trip when I was 12 or 13 sitting in the middle of the canoe because I was the fat kid and the older guy that had accompanied us who was steering the canoe, his whole nutsack was hanging out of his shorts the entire ride. That was my first sexual image, before I saw tits or anything."

Confessions of a Teenage Queen's Drama

"I was really popular—I was runner-up Mr. Deltona High. I would've won...I was supposed to win. Veronica from the Juniorettes asked me to run and of course I accepted because if you go with the Juniorettes, you win. But as the president of the drama club, it was apparently my duty to have drama club sponsor me. I had a big fight with the drama teacher because I literally yelled in her face, 'Well, if I go with drama club, I'm gonna lose!' She eventually convinced me and I told Veronica at lunch and she said, 'Well, I guess Jean-Claude just won.' And Jean-Claude did win."

Too Busy Coming to Come Out

"It was very popular to be gay in my high school I was very talkative about being gay. Everybody had a boyfriend and everybody was bisexual. My friends all knew and I was hooking up with guys. I actually told my parents legitmately—they already knew—when I was 15 or 16."

Off the Top of His Head

"I got into improv when I joined a group in college named for our Frisbee we would throw around—Wham-O. What drew me to it is it really curbs my A.D.D. because it's instant gratification. I can get a laugh out of an audience without doing any rehearsal or preparation, which has really hampered and fragmented my theatrical training. It's when I have to learn lines and be something in particular that gets me nervous."

Openly Gay for Pay

"When I auditioned for The Big Gay Sketch Show. I had done gay stuff, but hadn't really exposed myself in a gay way. I knew if I got it they'd push a prideful, out agenda. I just thought, 'Well...? Who the hell cares? 'Cuz I want the money.' [Laughs] Doing that show, it's like everyone's your friend and you're all gonna go to the same bar after. I literally was working coat check if not at a restaurant for the last seven years before I got it. The moment I got it I stopped working a regular job ever and that was like five years ago. And because of it I got Law & Order and because of that I got The Wedding Bells and because of that I got a movie. I'm gonna be 34 and I'm a little stuck in a gay corner, but I would never say it wasn't worth it. I was up for and was first choice for a straight detective on an ABC show and ended up not being able to do it because of my contract with Logo, but I just remember confidently auditioning, getting it and having the director and everyone know I was gay and not caring."

Bearded and with beard (the raised foot cancels her out) Nicol Paone at the Confessions premiere.

The Typecasting Couch

"The queen is not my normal temperament, but I'm good at performing it in the same way that an American-born Pakistani-looking guy gets really good at performing a Pakistani accent. My friend Amir [Arison] and I are the same person—he gets cab drivers, terrorists. This guy is stuck in Brownland, he calls it. [Laughs] I can walk into an audition and do a great fuckin' receptionist, hairdresser, florist. I know how to do it and make it original."

The Gay BFF Role—Our Own Worst Enemy?

"We get to a point where we can pick and choose quality parts. But we can't all be Debra Winger and pick nothing and 20 years have gone by. I like to pretend I have integrity, but it's like saying, 'Wow, Butterfly McQueen shouldn't have taken that part in Gone With the Wind!'"

Big Gay Fans

"I always had moderate notoriety from The Big Gay Sketch Show here and there, but when I went to Columbus Pride it was just outta control! Maybe they watch more TV in Ohio, but everybody knew me and my characters. No one, like, cried and told me I changed their lives while they were lying in bed with cancer, I just got, 'We think you're cute and you make us laugh.' And lots of, 'Thanks for coming to Columbus!' I'll go anywhere if there's a ticket and a hotel. I love getting validated anywhere."

Size Matters

"On a massive movie like Confessions of a Shopaholic [$100 million worldwide gross], that was the highest-stakes thing I've done, but also the least creative—200 people on set, trailers, businesspeople, assistants, baby handlers, cars, paparazzi...it was intense. We had one read-through. Still, I enjoyed the task of a huge-set environment like that. My default when I'm nervous is to consume everything. I do the opposite of shying away—I eat everyone alive."

Loves Hate

"I Hate Valentine's Day was fuckin' wonderful. I was so thankful because I didn't get it at first. It was down to two bears—Danny Burstein from South Pacific and this guy Carl—and Amir and I. I thought, 'Oh, fuck, I would hire them.' And they got it, but Danny couldn't leave South Pacific if he got nominated for a Tony, so it was a win-win. He got the nomination and we got the parts. I showed up very humble to a low-budget situation where everybody was working in 110-degree heat and working with a director who's so busy because she's in front of the camera, too. On top of it all, it was all improv."

Single White Female

"I'm single. Desperately. 'Desperately' implies I don't wanna be, which is not necessarily true. I'm single because I'm sexually compulsive, so it's hard to just have sex with one person. What else? [Laughs] I travel so much and since I don't do drugs and I'm trying not to drink a lot, my only vice is cruising for fun sex. I've always found sex to be my favorite hobby. But I'm up for a boyfriend. I used to go for damaged goods, the whacked-out, random guy, kinda poor. Now I'm turning into an upper middle class white lady who needs a man whose schedule is defined and has time off to travel and has affluent friends who I can go to interesting dinner parties with. [Laughs] I also want a boyfriend who can only see me once a week because he's so busy. I always meet guys with seven nights free and they're like, 'Call me.' And I'm like, 'I can't. That's my night to sit in my house and masturbate to someone else.'"

Feets, Don't Fail Me

"Physically, you have to be non-tall, non-blond, short, have dark hair, squatty-to-beefy, and I'm willing to accept everything, little dicks, whatever—except they have to have hot feet. Otherwise, I'm going to cheat on them. You can not sexually satiate me without them."

His Privates Aren't

"How stupid for famous people to be upset when their sex pictures leak? If you look hot in them, it can only help. I have every intention of releasing a sex video. I've already got it ready. I do have an anonymous one on Xtube—no one can tell at all. But I don't care—I look great in it and I'm having sex with the hottest guy I've ever seen. What am I auditioning for that's morally conscious? I'm nobody's role model...and I hope I never am." [Laughs]

Movies: It's a Gay, Gay, Gay, Gay Weekend

Nathaniel_R — 2009-07-09T19:19:33-04:00

NATHANIEL ROGERS

Nathaniel Rogers would live inside a movie theater but for the poor internet reception. He blogs daily at the Film Experience.

Now Playing
When it rains, it pours. After months of gay-free movies, this weekend is curiously homo-saturated: Outfest began in Los Angeles, QFest began in Philadelphia and at least three of the week's new releases are touched by the gay. I Love You, Beth Cooper, a new high school "comedy" -- that's in quotes because it sure ain't funny -- has a totally obnoxious running gag about whether or not the hero's best friend is gay. And the weekend has two highly discussable homo-adjacent movies. The big wide hyped release is of course Brüno, Sacha Baron Cohen's satire of homophobia or Sacha Baron Cohen's gay minstrel act depending on where your sense of humor lies. Brüno's gotten a lot of play here at Towleroad, with presumably more to come. Also worthy of discussion is the micro-indie Humpday, the story of straight best friends who decide to have sex for an "art project".

MORE after the jump

The art project in question is "Hump Fest", an annual amateur porn contest with delusions (?) of artistry. Ben (Mark Duplass) and Andrew (Joshua Leonard), old college friends, end up stoned at a rather bohemian party early in the film. Under the influence and giddy from their reunion (they were once close but haven't seen each other in many years), they dare each other into a commitment to have sex on camera. The rest of the movie details the countdown to this event and how it affects their friendship and Ben's marriage. Humpday's homo-squirmishness (both men are straight) fortunately avoids the typical homophobic pandering most movies lean toward when grazing the subject of gay sex or love and the movie is often quite funny. Not everyone who gives the movie a chance will be satisfied by the anti-climactic wrap-up, but the movies strength is in its ambiguity and the accumulation of details. This juvenile sexual dare illuminates everything from male friendship and rivalry to lifestyle and identity choices (not simply gay or straight, the movie is more expansive than that) and the capacity and limits of intimacy in friendship and marriage. Good movie. Here's the trailer.

Bonus Scenes

It's the first photo from Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, a roller derby comedy called Whip It! . Ellen Page (Juno) is the lead but the supporting cast includes fantastic faces like Kristen Wiig, Marcia Gay Harden, Eve and Juliette Lewis playing characters with names like "Malice in Wonderland", "Dinah Might" and "Smashley Simpson" (the latter is Drew's character. Love the rainbow socks, Drew). We hope it's as fun as it sounds.

Hmmm. What would Oprah Winfrey's Netflix queue look like?

A "conversation" between Megan Fox and Cate Blanchett.

Is this new poster for the Jim Carrey / Ewan McGregor prison romance I Love You Philip Morris, hiding its gay content? Stale Popcorn thinks so even if "...the yellow is a bit fruity"

Out actor Tom Lenk ("Andrew" from Buffy the Vampire Slayer), whose next film role is in Joss Whedon's horror flick Cabin in the Woods, did a hilarious "Last Minute Show" at Don't Tell Mama's in NYC last night. He kicked things off singing Britney's "Gimme More" (here's the same number from an earlier show) and got big laughs reading from men seeking men ads and recounting a failed relationship with a young Buffy fan. The humor leaned heavily towards the self-deprecating.

26 AIDS Activists Arrested Protesting Needle-Exchange Waffling

Matthew Rettenmund — 2009-07-09T17:04:48-04:00

The Obama Administration went back on Candidate Obama's pledge to end a ban on needle-exchange funding, with a spokesperson saying, "We have not removed the ban in our budget proposal because we want to work with Congress and the American public to build support for this change."

In protest, 26 AIDS activists chained themselves together in the Capitol Rotunda this morning, causing quite a scene.

All were arrested and booked on charges including disorderly conduct, loud and boisterous behavior and unlawful assembly.

As AmericaBlog points out, the scenario of a campaign pledge put off for an indeterminate time while garnering support (with no signs of action) might ring a few bells.

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #506

Matthew Rettenmund — 2009-07-09T16:50:27-04:00

MIKE DIAMOND LOVES BALLS: In search of realness at the Love Ball.

THAT BITCH IS ALL PLASTIC: Aunt Barbara is the queen of Tupperware.

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS MATT LAUER?: With Bruno.

THE RESOLVE OF A MOTHER: Hoover's mom testifies before Congress on bullying.

Sarah Palin's Fish Story

Matthew Rettenmund — 2009-07-09T16:33:02-04:00

Shockingly, one of they key reasons Sarah Palin gave for quitting as Alaska's governor—that "insane" ethics suits were costing the state millions—probably isn't even true.

Left, Right, Left: Espada Back to the Democrats

Matthew Rettenmund — 2009-07-09T16:21:13-04:00

New York State Senator Pedro Espada—who helped engineer a coup to flip control of the Senate from Democratic to Republican hands—is apparently ready to switch back to the Democrats now that he has a "handshake deal" to be Majority Leader.

The double-double-cross comes after New York Governor David Paterson's bold move to appoint Richard Ravitch as lieutenant governor, a power that Senate Republicans (and a judge) don't believe Paterson has in the first place.

The fate of a host of issues hangs in the balance, including a bill to bring marriage equality to New York.

P.S. It may (or may not) help the marriage-equality cause, but...who would trust a handshake deal with this shady character?

UPDATE: A deal has been reached in the New York Senate. Should be a wild ride.

News: It's Jackson By a Nose, Heteroflexibility & Meloni's Top Guns

Matthew Rettenmund — 2009-07-09T15:09:45-04:00

Another actor makes weird comments about on-screen kissing...a dozen years after the fact.

Soap star Michael Muhney (also from Veronica Mars) talks "heteroflexibility" with AfterElton.

Was Canada's Federal Tourism Minister Diane Ablonczy punished for approving a fund that provided $400,000 to Toronto's pride festivities?

Rapamycin, an antibiotic, shows signs of delaying the aging process.

It's safe to say that John Micklow (pictured) might not have the sexiest name for a male model, but he's in the right line of work.

Metrosexual manual Details wonders if straight men will take to wearing male engagement rings. Marriage is sacred, but must it also be so precious?

Come Together: Madonna's new single "Celebrate" from her career-spanning hits package Celebration will hit airwaves July 28.

Miami Social, Bravo's latest reality show, debuts Tuesday, July 14, at 10 p.m. ET/PT, featuring two out men. One is HuffingtonPost blogger Michael Cohen, who will be launching Style Lab, a sort of fashion/style version of MySpace in the fall, and the other is Ariel Stein, who I hear you might not love to hate so much as just hate.

Announcing the arrival of Icarus, "the first magazine devoted to gay-themed speculative fiction and writing—from fantasy to horror to science fiction, and all the weird tales that fall between the cracks." The first issue features stories by Jameson Currier, Jeff Mann, Tom Cardamone and Joel D. Lane, interviews with Dan Stone and Peter Grahame and poetry by Lawrence M. Schoen.

A frighteningly detailed portrait of the late Michael Jackson taken for Q Magazine's August 2009 cover reveals the netting of his wig, salt-and-pepper stubble, the most surgically tortured nose since Ann Miller and a telltale gauntness. How could people around him not have feared the worst?

No-Brainer: Jackson's family will not bury him until the L.A. coroner is done with his brain, which they're still examining. Also of note, his sister La Toya was the family member who signed his death certificate. (She infamously agreed her brother may have been guilty of molestation charges, but later recanted, saying an abusive husband had driven her to say it.)

A lawyer who prosecuted an infamous 1983 gay-bashing case in Ireland (the unrepentant perps were convicted but a judge decided nothing would be served by jailing them) passes away.

Swami Baba Ramdev has filed suit in India to reverse the decriminalization of homosexuality, which he terms a "disease" that "can be treated by yoga, pranayama (breathing exercises) and other meditation techniques."

Christopher Meloni—have guns, will travel.

ROCKSTAR Disavows Michael Savage, Asserts LGBT Support

Matthew Rettenmund — 2009-07-09T13:59:21-04:00

After netroots and community action, ROCKSTAR Energy Drink (the company accused of an affiliation with hatemonger Michael Savage, the father of ROCKSTAR's founder) is addressing LGBT concerns by releasing a statement affirming its support for gay rights, is expanding its LGBT-friendly policies and will donate $100,000 to various LGBT organizations.

ROCKSTAR's CEO Russell Weiner says, "It has recently come to ROCKSTAR's attention that there might be a misconception about our company's policy and my personal support for LGBT rights. We apologize for that misunderstanding, and want to make clear today that our company fully supports our LGBT employees and our LGBT customers."

Change.org first posted concerns about ROCKSTAR in April, and has been instrumental in making this come about, with assistance from The Bilerico Project, The Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada, The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, The Trevor Project and PageOneQ.

I'll drink to that.