Last night NYC-based gay journo Michael Luongo won the Reporting Award at the Society for Professional Journalist’s New York Deadline Club Awards, for his November 2007 story Our Man In Baghdad, which was published in the Gay City News. The story focuses on the hidden gay life in Iraq, with Luongo meeting some of the hundreds of Iraqi men with …

Via JMG reader Greg, here’s a shot of a furry would-be groom at last night’s impromptu party in the Castro. From all accounts, it was quite a thrilling night to be out on the street with our people. I wonder how many folks didn’t make it to work this morning?

-American Idol winner Taylor Hicks will succeed Stephen Buntrock as Teen Angel in Grease, beginning next month. Hicks is slated to be with the show until September 7th. Hicks: “The Soul Patrol’s gonna invade Broadway!” Ugh. -BASH’d, a “gay rap opera” will be an official event of NYC’s Heritage of Pride, kicking off June 12th at Off-Broadway’s Zipper Theatre. “BASH’d …

Anderson Cooper hosted Dan Savage and Family Research Council spokes-twat Tony Perkins to spar over gay marriage. Cooper lets Dan Savage get the final word.

A conservative group is already petitioning the California Supreme Court to delay any same-sex marriages until after November’s ballot measure vote. Even as same-sex couples across California begin making plans to tie the knot, opponents are redoubling their efforts to make sure wedding bells never ring for gay couples in the nation’s most populous state. A conservative group said it …

During a taping of her show yesterday, Ellen Degeneres announced that she would be marrying her partner Portia de Rossi. The announcement came hours after California’s Supreme Court issued their ruling. The show will air today. I’ll have the clip for you later today. Kudos to Ellen and Portia for wasting no time. This immediate announcement by America’s most popular …

Meanwhile: After a series of disclosures forced the resignation of two McCain campaign aides with ties to unsavory regimes, the campaign has decided to scrutinize the background of the entire staff to ferret out connections to lobbyists. This morning, according to two Republicans with direct knowledge, Rick Davis, the campaign manager, e-mailed to McCain’s entire staff a memo entitled “McCain …

Hey, remember last year when we all laughed at the Kindle? Said e-books would never take off? Especially with such a fugly e-reader? Via CNET: Calling it the iPod of the book business, CitiGroup analyst Mark Mahaney says the Kindle e-book reader will generate three-quarters of a billion dollars for Amazon.com in less than two years. CNET thinks the analyst …

“Historical Note: Weehawken is the smallest street in Manhattan. Help keep the beauty of it. Do not urinate or litter.” I don’t know about the “beauty” of Weehawken, which is almost just an alley that runs between the Dugout and a porn shop. But it IS the shortest street on the island.

The decision comes at the 3:30 mark. Grab a Kleenex.

Some reactions to the ruling…. Obama campaign: Barack Obama has always believed that same-sex couples should enjoy equal rights under the law, and he will continue to fight for civil unions as President. He respects the decision of the California Supreme Court, and continues to believe that states should make their own decisions when it comes to the issue of …

An update via the GB:NYC5 blog: Friday night. 9PM. HK Lounge. 405 W39th St @ 9th Ave. Password is GB5. Weather forecast for Saturday in Central Park: 70s, but 30% chance of rain. Possible alternative rain plans are under discussion. Stay tuned. More details for this year’s meet-up are on the blog. We’re hoping the weather holds for the Saturday …

Via SFGate.com: The California Supreme Court has overturned a ban on gay marriage, paving the way for California to become the second state where gay and lesbian residents can marry. The case involved a series of lawsuits seeking to overturn a voter-approved law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. With the ruling, California could …

A 42 year-old HIV-positive Texas man has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for spitting into the eyes and mouth of the Dallas policeman arresting him for public intoxication in 2006. “He turns and spits,” Officer Waller said. “He hits me in the eye and mouth. Then he told me he has AIDS. I immediately began looking for something …

The online game site Xbox LIVE caused some controversy this week after telling a player that he could no longer use his screen name “theGAYERgamer”, saying that the player community found his user name offensive. After receiving complaints, an Xbox rep explained the ruling on his blog: We recieved [sic] a complaint on the Gamertag and determined that it did …

“Tell Tyra that the Queen has returned, and while you’re at it have Heidi clear the runway. I’m going to pump some ‘realness’ into reality. To be a winner on this show the contestants need to be a fashion designer, an American Idol, and a top model all rolled up into one. And they definitely have to be smarter than …

Last week Washington DC approved 39 additional provisions to existing domestic partners laws. Provided that Congress doesn’t interfere, the new provisions will bring DC’s gays “very close” to marriage equality. Similar to its approval of earlier domestic partner law updates over the past several years, the Council passed the latest measure, the Omnibus Domestic Partnership Equality Amendment Act of 2008, …

A new report from the ILGA has raised the number of countries that criminalize same-sex act to 86. The International Lesbian and Gay Association’s 2008 report on state-sponsored homophobia says that being lesbian or gay is risking jail time in 86 countries and death penalty in seven. The figure normally quoted is 77 countries. The research deals only with legislation …