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Yesterday my mother’s neighborhood association performed a ritual burning of a banner bearing the names of this year’s hurricanes. This new tradition began last year, which turned out to be the first in several years that Orlando was not clobbered. Mom’s not claiming that this bit of homeowner voodoo worked, mind you. But it does make everybody feel a little …

Private equity sharks are circling the near-dead carcass of Bally’s Total Fitness as the gym chain prepares to enter bankruptcy with its shares trading at 31 cents. Bally’s has been for sale since last year. If no buyer emerges before bankrupcty, all common stock will be wiped out and the owners of the company’s debt will become the new owners …

AOL’s Queersighted is running a neat promotion: How were gays portrayed in classic Hollywood? Find out this month when Turner Classic Movies airs 44 films covering six decades of gay pride and prejudice in cinema. Starting with Algie the Miner from 1912, the series takes viewers through the film eras of Pre-Code, Classic Hollywood, Code-Busters and ends up in the …

You gotta hand it to the Red Sox fans for their evil taunting of Yankees star Alex Rodriguez, who made the tabloids over the weekend after being photographed cavorting with a chestally-enhanced blonde stripper who was Not His Wife. Hundreds of fans at Boston’s Fenway Park showed up with these masks during this weekend’s game in a promotion run by …

The Human Rights Campaign has released the results of its questionnaire (PDF) posed to all Democratic presidential candidates, where they express universal support for ENDA, the hate crimes bills, gay adoption, same-sex spousal immigration rights, increased AIDS funding, the repeal of DADT, and science-based sex education and disease prevention. All candidates also support changes in how the federal government recognizes …

President Bush has nominated an anti-gay religious whack-job to be U.S. Surgeon General. Dr. James Holsinger, the man to be put in charge of the health of all Americans, runs a little side project with his wife called Hope Springs Community Church in Lexington, Kentucky, where in addition to helping those with alcohol and drug problems, he ministers to people …

Exit at the grubby 14th Street station for the LGBT Community Center.

The height limit for the Lincoln Tunnel is exactly 13 feet. Not 13 feet, six inches. Now you know. And so does a certain Texan plumbing supplies deliverman.

Last night I trekked down to Soho to meet From Boys To Men editors Ted Gideonse and Rob Williams at the launch party for Bob Smith’s new book Selfish And Perverse. Great party, tons of gay lit bigwigs in attendance, with Michael Musto lurking in a corner. The loft was stiflingly hot, but I lucky enough to spend a few …

Google Map’s new Street View feature is quickly raising privacy concerns from people dismayed to find they can zoom right in on their homes, with one woman even spotting her cat sitting in her window. At the present, Street View only has complete street-level images of New York, San Francisco, Denver, Las Vegas and Miami, with more cities to be …

A California lesbian is suing dating site eHarmony.com for discrimination because it does not offer any not-hetero options. Linda Carlson is citing California law that prohibits sexual orientation discrimination in business and is moving to make hers a class-action suit, with a jury trial and unspecified damages requested. Recently, competing dating site Chemistry.com launched a widely praised ad that mocked …

After viewing RuPaul’s Starrbooty yesterday afternoon, I hopped an uptown train and met Aaron to attend Grey Gardens, currently celebrating 10 Tony nominations, including Best Musical, Best Score, and Best Leading Actress (Musical) for Christine Ebersole. Looking around the gorgeous Walter Kerr Theatre, I tried to remember when I was last there. Could it have been waaaay back in ’91 …

Yesterday I attended a screening of RuPaul’s new movie Starrbooty, which makes its debut at NYC’s NewFest film festival this Saturday. Produced by RuPaul and directed by Mike Ruiz (above right), Starrbooty follows the title character, the world’s leading supermodel and secret agent, as she goes undercover as a Meatpacking District hooker to find her adopted niece Cornisha who has …

Built in 1930, Time Square’s Brill Building, at 1619 Broadway, is where a massive amount of American pop songs were written, home to the offices of such luminaries as Leiber & Stoller, Bacharach & David, Carole King and Neil Sedaka. By the early 60’s, the work done in this single building so influenced American pop that many music historians charcterize …

Remember Cpl. Adam Kokesh, USMC? Last month I blogged about the sexy Iraq war veteran, photographed here at the Alberto Gonzales hearings. Because of his anti-war protests, Kokesh is now facing a revocation of his honorable discharge from the Marine Corps and a discharge from the Individual Ready Reserves. On June 4th, Kokesh will face a military tribunal in Kansas …

David Hyde Pierce’s publicist confirmed yesterday that the multi-Emmy winning actor is a homosexual. Was there ever any doubt? Previously Pierce had declined to discuss his personal life, taking the Sean Hayes “my private life is personal” route, although his gayness was well-known to friends and industry associates. I think Pierce is a fantastic talent, yet I can only offer …

“If there’s anyone to blame for size zero, it’s not women. Blame gay men who work in the fashion industry and want these women as dolls.” – Lesbian rocker Beth Ditto, lead singer of The Gossip, saying that gay men are responsible putting anorexic models on runways.

New Hampshire Governor John Lynch signed that state’s civil unions bill into law today. When the law goes into effect in January, NH will join Vermont, Connecticut, and New Jersey as the 4th state with civil unions available to same-sex couples. A total of 10 states now offer gay couples some sort of state-level recognition.

Last night Little David and I attended a preview of Xanadu, joining an audience that seemed to be 50% gay men. When the house lights went down, a roar of anticipation went up. David said, “Rowdy crowd!” And they were not disappointed. Thanks to brilliant book by Douglas Carter Beane (The Little Dog Laughed), a show that could have been …

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