Queer Day

Heath Ledger to play Rock Hudson?

ledger Heath Ledger is in negotiations to take on another big gay movie role that isn't entirely clear cut. The Brokeback Mountain star who earned himself a Best Actor Oscar nomination is currently the frontrunner to play Hollywood icon and rather legendary closet case Rock Hudson who died of an AIDS-related illness in 1985. According to Aint it Cool News, a major movie spoiler site, an inside source said, "After playing a straight man who has a gay relationship, Heath Ledger will do a 180 and play a gay man who has a straight relationship." His next role is playing a heroin addict in Neil Armfield's "Candy." The film is based on a Luke Davies novel.

Feast of Fools does gay Podcasting proud

Feast of Fools has truly become a driving force in the world of Podcasting. Co-hosts Fausto Fernós and Marc Felion spend their weekdays crossing global lines and barriers while striving to reach listeners from all walks of life via the internet. As thousands of new podcasts have become available for download the boys remain on top. Feast of Fools is Chicago's #! Podcast, regularly ranked in the top 15 comedy podcasts on iTunes, and is the only gay-themed production to make iTunes “Top 100 Podcast" list - and with good reason. Whether it's an intimate rummage through Illinois State Representative's Sara Feingenholz’s office refrigerator, a walk through the deep parts of the Puerto Rican rainforest or a frank discussion of Chicago's sexual underground at the world's largest Leather Conference, Queer Day thinks you should be giving these Fools a listen.

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Colorado gay rights measure gains interesting support

colorado church window Colorado based Focus on the Family, the wingnuts who've made it a mission to teach the world that gays and lesbians lead dangerous and deviant lifestyles, the same ministry that has long lobbied against recognizing same-sex couples as spouses or even parents, has endorsed a bill that would give same-sex couples in the state some of the same rights as heterosexual spouses. For the record the bill's GOP author, Senator Shawn Mitchell, doesn't support gay marriage or even civil unions. Colorado Clergy for Equality and Marriage has announced its opposition to the proposed state constitutional amendment that would place a ban on gay marriage in the state. Gil Caldwell says, "My concern as a civil rights activist is that we have not learned lessons from our history," Caldwell said. "We've been through the segregation of women, the segregation of African Americans. Now it appears we want to segregate same-gender loving couples."

World of Warcraft's gay drama brings apology

World of Warcraft's online game community, which draws more than five million players worldwide, has found itself in the middle of a big gay controversy. A player, Sara Andrews of Nashville, Tennesee, was threatened with expulsion from the virtual Warcraft world after she sought to recruit others into her gay-friendly team. An uproar ensued, spurring the game's maker to review its treatment of gay players. Blizzard Entertainment, the game's maker, apologized to Andrew, saying the warning was a mistake and that it will make some changes to prevent a repeat. Of course Andrews' attorney from Lambda Legal may have had something to do with that too.

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Ian McKellen calls Hollywood on its homophobia

Speaking at the Berlin Film Festival where he received a lifetime achievement award, out gay British actor Sir Ian McKellen lashed out at Hollywood saying that openly gay US actors are prevented from having successful careers. "It is very, very, very difficult for an American actor who wants a film career to be open about his sexuality, and even more difficult for a woman if she's lesbian. It's very distressing to me that that should be the case. The film industry is very old fashioned in California," McKellen said. As for the lifetime achievement award, McKellen says he's enjoying a late burst of global fame and that he still has a lot of life left. He told the audience, "I still hope I've got a lot of life left on stage and making films." Queer Day hopes he'll keep telling it like it is as well.

Hey Kids - It's the Queer Day Mailbag!

mailman · #1: Remember the shootings nightmare earlier this month at Puzzles Lounge? A fund has been set up for the victims. Send donations to: St. Anne's Credit Union, Puzzles Victim Fund, P.O. BOX 0 (zero), Fall River, MA 02724.

· #2: Garrett, a long time reader of Queer Day, writes: "Can you help spread the word that the GLBT-SA at the University of North Carolina is hosting the 4th annual UNITY Confernce on April 7th-9th and already over 150 students have registered!" Consider it done Garrett and it's great to see the such hardcore support from the administration.

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Gay marriage takes hit in New York, ACLU vows to continue the fight

new york wedding case couple Vitale and Tripi The state Appellate Division, combining three separate cases brought by gay couples, rejected the argument that New York's marriage law is unconstitutional, throwing out the lawsuit - but the American Civil Liberties Union made a promise to appeal to New York's highest court after an intermediate court refused to strike down a state law that bars same-sex couples from marriage - and the hundreds of family protections afforded to married couples. Jeanne Vitale and Amy Tripi, pictured, want their relationship legally recognized. The New York Court of Appeals has already accepted review of the issue of marriage for same-sex couples in another case, Hernandez v. Robles, which was brought by Lambda Legal.

That's one expensive homophobic military policy

The financial costs to the U.S. military for discharging and replacing gay service members under the nation's "don't ask, don't tell" policy are nearly twice what the government estimated last year, according to a new University of California report. I find it odd that South Korea only discharged eight gay servicemen last year by comparison. Anyway, speaking of protecting the homeland, on the backs of people of color, I find it very disconcerting that the Justice Department asked a judge to approve Patriot Act e-mail monitoring without any evidence of criminal behavior - and instead of asking to eavesdrop on the contents of the e-mail messages, which would require some evidence of wrongdoing, prosecutors requested the identities of the correspondents. [Gay terrorist photo snagged from Robotic Kid's rather genius self-portrait collection.]

Bush gives $500 Million to fight gay marriage as deficit reduction tactic

bush President Bush signed legislation giving $500 million to faith-based programs to promote and strengthen opposite-sex marriage, a provision that's part of the deficit reduction bill passed by Congress. How this reduced the deficit is anybody's guess. Bush himself noted, “It allows faith-based groups that provide social services to receive federal funding without changing the way they hire,” Bush noted at the White House signing ceremony. Translation: We're giving money to groups that specifically discriminate in their hiring process. Assistant Health and Human Services Secretary Wade Horn said that the financial windfall is not intended to specifically oppose same-sex marriage, although the President is a major supporter of a proposed amendment to ban gay marriage in the Constitution. Like I said yesterday, Bill Frist is bringing it in June. Yep, it's happening all over again.

First Indian drag queen film The Pink Mirror (Gulabi Aaina) now on DVD

Quite awhile ago I told you about India's first film about drag queens - The Pink Mirror (Gulabi Aaina). Sridhar Rangayan�s debut film even won the best feature award at the Fire Island film festival. Well, the Bollywood comedy is finally available for purchase on DVD. While I don't ordinarily plug such sales, I've had particular interest in this film and supporting it supports queer cinema in India while providing funds for more future endeavors. Watch the trailer here.

Chi Chi Larue leaves Vivid over policy change to condom optional

Our favorite drag queen porn director Chi Chi LaRue has stopped directing straight productions for Vivid because they've changed their condom-only policy. "As a person who has been very vocal about condom usage in every aspect of the gay business as well as the straight, and as a person who went to work for Vivid because of their mandatory condom policy, I had to stop directing for them once it became condom-optional." Larue said, adding, "It's my policy to use condoms and it would be very hypocritical of me after how vocal I've been in this industry in the gay and straight sides to continue to do movies and not use condoms. Vivid's Howard Levine said, "My hat is off to Chi Chi for his commitment to his beliefs and I wish him the best, but I do wish he would return the dress he borrowed from me for the AVN Awards." (Thanks Dan-x)

Russian cleric calls for gays to be thrashed, and other world news

talgat · Russia: Talgat Tadjuddin, pictured, Russia's senior Muslim cleric, called on Muslims and Orthodox Christians to "thrash" homosexuals yesterday if the gay pride parade that is scheduled to take place in Moscow this May takes place. "This should in no case be allowed, but if they still take it to the streets, then one will have nothing to do but thrash them," he said.

· Botswana: The Voice newspaper earlier this month published an advertorial on gay life, breaking a long standing journalistic taboo against positive representations of gays and lesbians in the country. The advertorial was sponsored by LEGABIBO (Lesbians,Gays and Bisexuals of Botswana).

· United Arab Emirates: An United Arab Emirates court sentenced each of 26 men to five years in prison for participating in a gay wedding. They were "busted in a hotel 'dressed in women's clothes and make-up in preparation," the Emirates Today newspaper reported." The November arrests took place when police raided the hotel. You may recall that a cop who took photos was arrested.

Pete Burns to marry Michael Simpson

pete burns and michael simpson Fresh from his big stint in the Big Brother Celebrity UK house, Dead or Alive singer Pete Burns has announced that he's tying the knot with his partner Michael Simpson. For those who watched Big Brother, Burns always had a photo of Simpson attached to his person throughout the series. The couple showed off their identical diamante skull rings - designed by Vivienne Westwood - live on Richard and Judy's show (pictured). Regarding the rings Burns explained, "It symbolises that underneath all this there is bone and underneath that is soul." On the show Burns also told the world, "I lost him a lifetime ago and I've been looking for him ever since. He's a physical part of me." It's enough to make a person misty.

Massachusetts gay marriage decision on 1913 law delayed

massachusetts supremes · Massachusetts: The state's highest court announced that their decision regarding out-of-state same-sex couples being allowed to marry there has been delayed and it would be weeks, possibly months before a decision. The court will not be meeting its 130-day self-imposed deadline for ruling on a challenge to the 1913 law that prevents clerks from issuing marriage licenses to people from states where that marriage would be illegal. You probably recall, but in case you don't, the nearly hundred-year-old law, previously ignored for decades, was written when most states did not recognize interracial marriage. After the US Supreme Court ruled that laws barring interracial couples from marrying was illegal the Massachusetts statute fell into disuse.

· Iowa: Governor Tom Vilsack says he supports allowing civil unions in the state, noting that the Legislature would never pass civil unions.

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Willie Nelson sings for gay cowboys

nelson Willie Nelson has released a new song about the kind of love that happens between two men on the wide open range. The Texas country music icon says of "Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other" that "the song's been in the closet for 20 years. The timing's right for it to come out. I'm just opening the door." Nelson recorded a song for the Brokeback Mountain soundtrack, a melancholy ballad entitled "He Was a Friend of Mine."

Two years ago, David Anderson, Nelson's friend and tour manager of three decades, told his boss that he's gay. Last year when Nelson recorded a batch of previously unreleased songs for iTunes, he discovered the song in a stack of demos he had tossed into a drawer. It was written in 1981 by Lubbock-born singer-songwriter Ned Sublette and Anderson says it's Willie's way of letting him know everything is ok. Lyrics such as "I believe to my soul that inside every man there's the feminine" and "What did you think all them saddles and boots was about?" are delivered deadpan, giving the song an air of seriousness. If you have iTunes, download the song here for only 99 cents. I have to say it's truly a classic. Nelson's song, according to the Dallas News (Thanks Dan-x), is the first gay-themed release by a major country music artist, but haven't there been others by women?

Freedom To Marry: Same-sex couples stand for marriage rights

same sex marriage san francisco · California: And the debate over whether San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's actions helped or hurt the cause, a debate I personally find to be a ridiculous in that it's expertly designed to distract from the real issue. While busy defending whether he did the right thing, one is typically not debating the real issue at all. Making the Valentine's Day activism in Napa, rural Nevada County, Humboldt and Placer Counties, San Diego and all over the state all the more vital (all five links have photos). I particularly applaud Terry McClaren who stood for hours silently on the steps of San Mateo County's Government Center yesterday wearing her wedding dress.

· UK: A new Journal of Epidemiology and Community Heath report in the UK has revealed that same-sex marriage and civil partnerships are good for our health. The report says they reduce the prejudice and social exclusion that same-sex couples feel and should help to cut the high rates of depression and drug-taking, promiscuity and sexually transmitted diseases - a suspect list in my book, yet very similar ones are used by the wingnuts as cause to deny such partnerships. Interesting, eh?

· New Jersey: New Jersey could become the second state in the US to legalize gay marriage in a case presented to the State Supreme Court today. "New Jersey is a unique state nationally when it comes to this issue," said Lambda Legal lawyer David Buckel. "That became very clear with a governor's race in which candidates on both sides opposed an amendment to the state constitution that would limit marriage to a man and a woman." I have to say I'm eagerly anticipating the verdict.

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Milla Jovovich's lesbian secret love interest

I know you're excited to find out Milla Jovovich has spent time thinking about who her secret lesbian dream love is, and luckily for all of us it turns out that it's someone who ranks pretty high in the girl-most-likely-to department. That's right, the bisexual Courtney Love. I'm not sure, but I think Love has stalked people for less so stay tuned! Jovovich is currently in Berlin where she and Richard Gere hosted the Cinema for Peace Gala black tie bash - held in conjunction with the Berlin International Film Festival - a major fundraiser there in the fight against AIDS. And for those who are Resident Evil fans, Milla just signed on to kick even more ass in the third film in the series retitled "Resident Evil: Extinction".

Queers on campus

lydon state gsa · Ontario The University of Western Ontario's new Pride Library computers have a unique search engine that accommodates "queer lingo" - just one of the features of Canada's first library devoted to the academic study of "diversexuality." It opens today.

· Connecticut/Massachusetts: While we're still wondering if 25 percent of Yale students are gay (seems unlikely?), Harvard's Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and Supporters Alliance (BGLTSA) kicks off its second-annual “Bisexuality Weeks” program addressing the marginalization of bisexuals within the larger queer community.

· California: While California State University, East Bay, kicks off its first weeklong Queerfest today, University of California Riverside's Graduate Student Research Conference is digging deeper into sexuality. Conference highlights include Whitman’s obsession with masturbation, Queer Asian perspectives in contemporary literature, masculinity in film noire and sexual deviance in society. Sounds like my kind of crowd.

· Hawaii: And sadly the high school years are still a nightmare/endurance test for teens like "Shane", a transgendered sophomore who says, "Being queer in high school here is really hard. It makes you scared, like you can't even walk down the hall without being thrown against a locker."

· Vermont: Photos from Lyndon State's Gay Straight Alliance.

Andrew Morton's Tom Cruise biography heats up over the gay question

cruise Andrew Morton is writing a biography on Tom Cruise and everything was going rather well until Cruise found out that Morton gay porn actor Paul Baressi to shine some light on his private life. Apparently Baressi is mostly a private investigator and Morton wanted him to do some digging on all the gay rumors. It's being reported that Baressi has "already given Morton letters from Cruise's attorney insinuating the star enjoyed a homosexual liaison while shooting Eyes Wide Shut in the UK." All of this prompted Cruise's lawsuit happy lawyer, Bert Fields, to write Morton saying, "he obviously was entitled to write the book but make sure you check your facts. If he tries to use my letter to create the impression that Mr. Cruise did have a gay affair, we will certainly sue... because the story is false. Mr. Cruise is not gay." Right. And Katie Holmes isn't his beard, alright?

Margaret Spellings loves Brokeback, and other movie related news

· Margaret Spellings may have caused quite a ruckus over a couple of lesbians and an animated bunny, but one of the favorite films of President Bush's Education Secretary is none other than Brokeback Mountain. She actually says, "I enjoy all sorts of things, and I consider myself to be quite open-minded." She then went on to contend that "there is a difference between the personal money she uses to buy a movie ticket and the taxpayer dollars spent on children's programming."
· "Brokeback Mountain" director Ang Lee, who also directed "The Hulk," said recently, "The head of Marvel Comics sent me a note congratulating me on my recent success, with a P.S.: 'If we make the Hulk gay, would you come back and make a second for us?'"
· Brokeback star Anne Hathaway revealed to a mostly gay audience, "My older brother, Mike, is getting married to his partner of five years, Josh, this fall. I'm gonna be a bridesmaid!"
· Two men's shirts from the film that were worn by Jake Gyllenhaal are being auctioned on eBay for charity. You can access the auction here, but be aware. Bidding is already at $20,450.
· The New York Book Review argues against the way Brokeback was marketed as a "universal romance." (Thanks Todd)
· Nevertheless, the Brokeback Mountain book is a big hit in Hong Kong.

A Moving Experience

I know, you think I've been fooling around on you and playing the field, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I've been here at the computer dealing with server madness. A few months ago I started having problems with Queer Day's host timing out while trying to publish. As the weeks went on it just grew worse and worse until early last week when I couldn't even log into Movable Type, my publishing system. A few times I did manage to get in late at night and did a test post just to see if it would publish and a couple of times it got through, only to shut down afterwards. I've been telling Mr. Tech Support here, Jamison, about it for awhile and he looked at it last week and was amazed. "You've actually been trying to keep Queer Day going in this mess?" Needless to say it was time to move.

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Celebrity Gossip

· Pete Doherty, Kate Moss' ex-boyfriend and bisexual Babyshambles' lead singer escaped a jail term yesterday when he was sentenced to 12 months of community service for seven separate drug-related charges.
· Nathan Lane held his 50th-birthday bash at the Rainbow Room and everybody sang for their supper. Matthew Broderick dedicated "Sonny Boy" to his "Odd Couple" spouse. Mario Cantone, channeling Judy Garland, called Lane a naughty Munchkin and told him to "Get Happy." Sounds like a big gay night in showtunes hell.
· When it comes to the Winter Olympics that kick off on Friday, if you're more interested in who you'd like to take home than who will take home the gold, here's a handy guide to the crucial players.

Studio nixed James Dean & Sal Mineo gay kiss plan in Rebel Without a Cause

The latest issue of Entertainment Weekly look back at Rebel Without a Cause and reveals that there was a plan for the film to include a kiss between James Dean and Sal Mineo. Warner Brothers, however, wasn't up for it. “While vetting the Rebel script, Warner honcho Steve Trilling made it clear - in writing - that a kiss between Dean and Mineo would not be tolerated." It didn't stop Director Nicholas Ray from painting the portrait though. He asked asked a teenage Mineo what he wanted most in life. “‘My driver’s license," Mineo said. "Fine," Ray said. "Look at Jimmy as if he’s your driver’s license." Beyond the obvious adoration, the film is chock full of clues regarding Plato’s sexual preference too, like the 8x10 glossy of Alan Ladd hanging in his high school locker.

Queer World News Snapshots

· Australia: While it's winter here in San Francisco, it's summer in St. Kilda, making it an ideal time for their Pride March featuring, well, mostly just a bunch of very ordinary-looking people walking down the street without a float in sight. Gay Aborigines marching under the Outblack flag received a rousing cheer. Photo Gallery.
· Iran: A transgendered male torture victim of the government's lethal homophobic program speaks from Mashad of his arrest, torture, imprisonment, and the incessant gang rape encouraged by his jailers.
· Ireland: A landmark case calling for full gay marriage rights here began its slow process through the courts this week. The case was brought by Katherine Zappone and Ann Louise Gilligan who were married in Canada in 2003. They're suing Ireland’s tax service for refusing to acknowledge them as a married couple. The outcome will have much broader implications.

Gay bar terrorist Jacob Robida dies in police shootout

Jacob Robida, 18, entered Puzzles Lounge last week and asked the bartender if it was a gay bar. When he learned that it was, he pulled out a hatchet and struck a man in the head, then struck another man who tried to help the first victim. He then pulled out a gun and opened fire, shooting the man who tried tried to help as well as another patron. The bartender named Phillip says Robida aimed the gun at him, but he said that the gun failed to fire. "I heard a click, and his eyes were just squinted," Phillip said. Robida fled the scene and led police to Arkansas where he was killed during a shootout with police officers. Some believe Robida, a neo-Nazi, traveled to the area, headquarters of the Ku Klux Klan, in search of "safe houses" for those in the white power movement.

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Delegate Mark Cole is in an idiot, and other political snafus

In the Virginia General Assembly, which previously passed the most restrictive gay marriage ban in the country, Senate Bill 700 would make permanent discrimination safeguards for gays and lesbians in state employment and extend them to local governments and school boards. Enter Delegate Mark Cole, total idiot, who explained, "Sexual orientation is a broad term. There are eight different sexual orientations, including pedophilia and bestiality. I think we'd be opening up Pandora's box and allowing judges to interpret what that means." Meanwhile Senator Brownback now says that he meant no offense to "homosexuals" when he used the word "fruits" in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine. How exactly did he mean it then?

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Transcendence documents the Transcendence Gospel Choir, the award-winning first all trans chorus

Todd Holland met Ashley Moore a year before her transition and while Moore was preparing for her gender reassignment surgery, she was also starting The Transcendence Gospel Choir, the first entirely transgender Gospel choir. Holland asked if he could film the whole process of creating the choir and now, four years later, the result is a new documentary called Transcendence (view trailer here.) The choir won an Outmusic Award in 2004 for its album "Whosoever Believes" and Moore says the response to the choir has been overwhelmingly positive.
Short Takes:
· Bryan McKay on Judith Butler and Gender Performativity.
·: A series of transgender presentations educate those at the University of North Texas.

Catherine Zeta-Jones to take transsexual lead role in April Ashley story

It seems I was just talking about April Ashley, and now it looks like Britain's first transsexual will be getting her wish. Mark Sennet, an American film producer, has optioned the film rights to Ashley's story and it looks like Catherine Zeta Jones is going to take on the title role. Ashley says it would be completely fitting. "I said in an interview several years ago that I would like her to play me in any film about my life. I like to think that she epitomizes everything I stood for when I was young - which was sheer old-fashioned Hollywood glamour. And she's very much like me physically, when I was that age. If you look at any of my old photographs, you will see the resemblance.'' And with no disrespect, I too can't help but recall Zeta Jones' husband Michael Douglas joking that he thought Catherine was a man in drag when they first met because they didn't kiss until they'd been dating for nine months. And with Felicity Huffman's Transamerican Oscar nod, leave it to Zeta Jones to be taking on a real story.

Branded a devil worshipping lesbian, Tresa Waggoner knows why God doesn't belong in school

Tresa Waggoner, the Colorado music teacher who tried to introduce her students to opera and wound up forced to take administrative leave, is taking legal action against the Bennett School. Teaching at a K-12 school 25 miles east of Denver, Waggoner chose a video of Gounod's Faust, from the classroom shelf, to teach about bass and tenor voices, the use of props and trouser roles in opera. The latter resulted in the married mother of two accused of being accused of being a lesbian promoting homosexuality to school, and her choice of Faust got her labeled as a devil worshipper. Which trouser role are you?
And speaking of insanity in our schools, the Day of Truth folks are back and do they ever have an uncanny knack for mislabeling bullshit on their video.

Brokeback inspired Brad Pitt wants to play gay

Brad Pitt is on the hunt for his own “Brokeback Mountain." In fact he's told his people to find the right gay love story script for him. A source told The Sun, "Brad has asked his people to find him a script to play a gay man. He wants it to be a story that appeals to both men and women and he wants it to be the edgiest work he's done. He's seen the critical acclaim that Brokeback Mountain has won and he wants a piece of it. Brad knows it would be seen as shocking to take on a gay role because he’s seen as such a heartthrob.” Maybe he's fishing for an Oscar, and with eight nominations for the top-grossing Brokeback, he may be on the right track.

Other takes:
· Larry Gross: "How far we think we've come with movies like 'Brokeback Mountain' may well signify how far we have to go" in Hollywood's Year of the Queer.
· David Ehrenstein shares his views on Why "Brokeback' isn't so 'radical'.

Gilbert and George fight back - with gay religious art

At one end of Gilbert and George's street in the East London suburb of Spitalfields is a mosque; at the other, a church. Their home features a front door of plain board, the original pushed in last year by local Muslim youths. And now the artists are fighting back - with a series of pictures questioning religion. The new "Sonofagod Pictures" have subtitles like, "Was Jesus Heterosexual?" with "Jesus Says Forgive Yourself" written atop the largest. Two crucified figures dominate the page surrounded by objects which, on closer examination, turn out to be crucifixes. Gilbert Proesch and George Passmore appear in their work (as they usually do) near the bottom looking like two bank managers with halos, and beneath them the inscription: "God Loves F---ing! Enjoy."

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Lesbian scene bans Vagina Monologues at Providence College

It's hard to imagine much of a fuss over The Vagina Monologues at this point, particularly in Rhode Island at Providence College where the play has been staged four years in a row. But add a new school president by the name of Rev. Brian Shanley to the Dominican run campus and anything can happen. In fact the play has been banned with Shanley's primary objection being the tale of a sexual encounter between a woman and a teenage girl. While the teen narrator describes the episode as “a kind of heaven,” Shanley said it’s “abusive, exploitative and morally wrong” and that the church teaches that being gay or lesbian is “intrinsically disordered.”

Bravo milks Project Runway for an extra week

The second season of Project Runway has turned out to be such a cash cow for Bravo that they've decided to milk it for an extra week. The show, hosted by Heidi Klum, now will include a special reunion episode on Wednesday, February 22 at 10pm - and the season finale is being extended to two hours airing over two weeks. They're elated, I'm annoyed. Watch as Bravo President Lauren Zalaznick tries to pass the move off as community service:

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Queer Eye's Teeson outed as Mr. Six Flags

I'm not sure which is more disturbing, Mr. Six Flags whom I have to admit routinely makes my skin crawl as the dancing senior citizen in the Six Flags amusement park television commercials who lures all the children away and onto a bus, or the news that his long secret identity has turned out to be none other than Queer Eye For The Straight Girl's hunkariffic Danny Teeson. Paul Davidson first outed the rubber legged man on his website, prompting Mark Evanier to do some digging and the New York Post confirming the info with "knowledgeable industry sources."

PlanetOut Inc. and NBC head into the Outzone

PlanetOut Inc., the rather scary gay media superpower that has been buying up everything, now has it's sights set on gobbling up another market. Partnering up with the NBC owned Bravo cable network, they will soon be launching OutzoneTV.com, a broadband site targeting our community. Sure, of course we can expect to see reruns of "Boy Meets Boy" and the Queer Eyes online - but with PlanetOut Inc. behind it, the ongoing media conglomeration takeover isn't a matter to be taken lightly.

Farewell to the incomparable Coretta Scott King

Coretta Scott King has passed away, which has us remembering that even when there were splits within her own family over same-sex marriage, she stood tall with us and defended our rights publicly - calling it a civil rights issue. "I have been an outspoken supporter of full civil and human rights for gay and lesbian people for many years," she told the press, "A constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages is a form of gay bashing and it would do nothing at all to protect traditional marriages."

Jenny McCarthy expands her bisexuality off screen

While porn star Jenny McCarthy has had her fair share of woman-on-woman action on screen, she hasn't let that be a part of her personal life at all, or so we thought. When porn queen Jenna Jameson dropped by the Sirius studios to tantalize Howard Stern's horny listeners, on the air Jameson revealed that her and fellow blond bombshell McCarthy have had their quiet time together off screen as well. Page Six reports that McCarthy, who recently divorced husband John Asher, was with Jameson at a party at the Hard Rock. Jameson told listeneers, "and afterward the two of us went into a secluded booth . . . Jenny kicked back . . . and I'm just, like, 'Oh, here we go. It's on . . .' and she was great!" Now the real question is, does Jameson deserve a toaster oven?

Lee Tamahori arrested in transgender prostitution sting

Lee Tamahori, the major film director who brought the James Bond hit "Die Another Day" and "XXX: State of the Union" to the big screen, was arrested on a sex charge - while wearing a black off the shoulder dress and a wig. The Los Angeles Police Department has reported that Tamahori, 55, was arrested during a police sting operation and he was charged with prostitution and loitering, apparently after he offered to perform oral sex on an undercover cop for cash. He faces a maximum of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine if convicted.

BACK IN BLACK - and red and pink!

Okay kids, I'm back from my major life transition (and subsequent hiatus) and let's just say I feel fabulous, free and I'm ready to rock! And if I may take a queer non-queer-specific moment, I'm really thrilled about having the cover story in the San Francisco Chronicle's Datebook this weekend. It's all about getting into hot water, which is something I'm sure you can relate to. Thanks for all the comments and emails and news tips - to some truly amazing stories I'll probably drag out even if they are a little dated. As I told a friend this weekend - if you're not outraged or amused then you're not paying attention, so here's to more time well spent disturbing the comfortable and comforting the disturbed. I've been busy coding and it's time for bed, but I love you madly, have missed you desperately and the Day will be rolling again shortly.

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February 17, 2006