Unbelievable: In a highly unusual move, U.S. Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has asked his colleagues on the court to consider the request of an East Brunswick, N.J. attorney who has filed a lawsuit challenging President-elect Barack Obama’s status as a United States citizen. Thomas’s action took place after Justice David Souter had rejected a petition known as an …

A case which dominated the NYC tabloids in early 2004 has finally been settled as a firefighter who was left with permanent injuries after being smashed in the face with a metal chair has agreed to accept $3.75M from the city. The firefighter claimed that the brawl was the culmination of the two years of anti-gay slurs he’d suffered as …

Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R) hung up on Barack Obama twice yesterday, believing him to be a radio station prankster. When a man sounding remarkably like President-elect Barack Obama called a Florida congresswoman Wednesday, she assumed it was a crank call. So Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen hung up. But, the Miami Herald reports, this was no prank. “I thought it …

StrangeMaps tips us to this 1983 graphic from the Dallas Morning News which shows the relative size and populations of some major cities. Obviously, the populations have increased for some of these cities, but like the StrangeMaps dude, I’m more fascinated by their relative sizes and densities. What remains striking about this map, even though we’re talking about populations and …

In a case that may have far-reaching implications regarding the practice of “doorbuster” sales, the family of the Wal-Mart employee killed in the Black Friday stampede on Long Island is suing the company over its marketing tactics. Security should have been better, but advertising also helped kill a temporary worker at Wal-Mart, according to a lawsuit filed by the estate …

Conservatives within the Episcopal Church have announced they are forming a new denomination specifically to separate themselves from those willing to accept gays. Conservatives alienated from the Episcopal Church announced on Wednesday that they were founding their own rival denomination, the biggest challenge yet to the authority of the Episcopal Church since it ordained an openly gay bishop five years …

The latest poll of California voters reveals that education and income were the strongest factors in the Prop 8 vote. The new survey by the Public Policy Institute of California of 2,003 Californians who voted Nov. 4 found significantly less support for Prop. 8 among blacks than had been indicated by exit polls. Election Day exit polls triggered recriminations between …

San Francisco Archbishop George Niederauer, who is slowly being revealed as the chief architect of organized religion’s opposition to same-sex marriage in California, has issued his first statement since the vote. “Religious leaders in America have the constitutional right to speak out on issues of public policy,” Niederauer wrote in a statement posted on the archdiocese’s Web site. “Catholic bishops, …

Speaking at an AIDS conference of all things, the mayor of Moscow promised that he will continue to oppress Russian homosexuals. Speaking at an international conference on HIV/AIDS, Mayor Luzhkov said: “So-called democrats consider that sexual minorities can be the main indicator and main symbol of democracy, but we will in future continue to ban propaganda of the views of …

Openly gay Australian singer Sam Sparro received a Grammy nomination for Best Dance Recording last night for his single Black And Gold (above), which was released at the start of the year. Even though the single has had 8 million views on YouTube, somehow I’d never heard of Sparro until the Out 100 Awards last month where he was a …

A certain noted member of my blogroll confided to me yesterday that he had become obsessed with sudoku, so much so that he found himself doing the puzzles at work and even dreaming about it. What’s your current obsession?

At Davies Symphony Hall on Monday night, I attended the sold-out world premiere of Steve Schalchlin’s New World Waking!, performed by the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus on their 30th anniversary, with Jennifer Holliday appearing as their guest vocalist. I was there because I’ve been a huge fan of Steve’s work for years, but also (as I semi-bragged here) because …

Back in May, the University of Toledo’s head of human resources, Crystal Dixon, was fired from her job after she penned an anti-gay column in the Toledo Free Press which read in part: As a Black woman who happens to be an alumnus of the University of Toledo’s Graduate School, an employee and business owner, I take great umbrage at …

Rolling Stone has published a lengthy piece by Tim Dickinson about the campaign to fight Prop 8. A small excerpt: “This was political malpractice,” says a Democratic consultant who operates at the highest level of California politics. “They fucked this up, and it was painful to watch. They shouldn’t be allowed to pawn this off on the Mormons or anyone …

The gay Rockettes? The gay Riverdancers? As a commenter on Dan Savage’s post just said, “I think I gained a Kinsey point just watching this.”

New research suggests that an ancestor to HIV may have existed millions of years ago. An ancient predecessor to the virus that causes Aids evolved in wild primates many millions of years earlier than previously believed, according to research published yesterday by the Stanford University School of Medicine. The findings open a critical new avenue in the quest to understand …

The NY Daily News demonstrated how easy it is to commit property fraud by falsely transferring the ownership of the Empire State Building to themselves. In one of the biggest heists in American history, the Daily News “stole” the $2 billion Empire State Building. And it wasn’t that hard. The News swiped the 102-story Art Deco skyscraper by drawing up …

Bill Richardson has been tapped as Obama’s Secretary of Commerce. President-elect Barack Obama will name New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to head the Commerce Department at a news conference today in Chicago, according to transition sources. Richardson will appear alongside Obama at 11:40 a.m. Eastern time, and his nomination will mark the latest in a series of moves by the …

A study from the University of Toronto concludes that gay men considered sexually undesirable tend to have riskier sex. Gay men who are not considered sexually desirable are more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviour, according to new research out of the University of Toronto. They may also develop psychological problems as a consequence of feeling undesirable. Professor Adam …

Labor activist Mary Beth Maxwell, who is openly lesbian, is reportedly being considered for Secretary of Labor in Obama’s cabinet. For the rainbow cabinet of the nation’s first African American president, Mary Beth Maxwell is the perfect labor secretary you’ve probably never heard of: a gay woman, community organizer and labor leader with an adopted African American son. And this …