The 2007 murder stats have been compiled and once again New York City has the lowest homicide rate of the 25 biggest cities in the nation. New York’s safe, but not this safe: There are nine big cities in the United States where not a single murder occurred last year. Ann Arbor, Mich.; Cambridge, Mass.; and Provo, Utah; are among …

Another great viewer-created clip from CurrentTV: “Because same-sex marriages are not recognized in the United States, certain marital benefits, like the advantage of permanent residency for a foreign born partner, are denied to bi-national spouses. This commonly results in the foreign partner being forced to leave the United States, and their loved ones, behind. Brittany and Joanna’s story is one …

The Family Research Council ran this bit of loveliness in some California newspapers over the weekend.

Those of you who engaged David Benkof in the comments of last week’s HomoQuotable post about him will be interested in Timothy Kincaid’s exhaustive expose’ on Benkof over at Box Turtle Bulletin. Go read Kincaid’s post – it’s a corker.

An interesting confirmation of Simon Levay’s work: Scientists have recently found that the brains of homosexuals have structural and functional differences from those of their straight counterparts. The Wellcome Trust Centre for neuro-imaging at University College London used magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI to look into the brains of 80 men and women, including 16 gays and 15 lesbians. They …

This little gem appeared in yesterday’s new etiquette column in the New York Times: You’re at someone’s house who starts talking about how wrong gay marriage is. You are gay. What do you do? Anonymous Assuming you’re an advocate of gay marriage, you should calmly make your best argument for equal treatment. Your host may not have heard a persuasive …

Fred Phelps and his Westboro loonies will be picketing at San Francisco City Hall today to picket the wedding of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, the couple that was first to marry there back in 2004 and who will repeat their history ceremony legally today at 5:00PM. But in a way, having a raving nutjob like Phelps there may actually …

Dammit, I forgot to record the Tony Awards. How was it? Major winners here. Best Musical: In The Heights. Best Play: August: Osage County. Nothing for Xanadu. Boo. “August: Osage County” came out as a big winner at the 62nd annual Tony Awards on Sunday. It won five awards in all, including Best Play. The darkly comedic play, which focuses …

Breaking news: Tim Russert, NBC News’ Washington bureau chief and the moderator of “Meet the Press,” died Friday after a sudden heart attack at the bureau, NBC News said Friday. He was 58. Russert was recording voiceovers for Sunday’s “Meet the Press” program when he collapsed, the network said. He and his family had recently returned from Italy, where they …

Courtesy of Fly Life Inc, today we have a special swag giveaway: two tickets to any show (except Toronto) on George Michael’s North American tour. The North American leg of the 25 LIVE tour will kick off in San Diego on June 17th and will continue through San Jose, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Seattle, Vancouver, Minneapolis, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, New …

South Carolina will become the first in the nation to issue Christianist license plates. South Carolina’s lieutenant governor announced Thursday that he is willing to put up $4,000 of his own money so his state can become the first in the nation to issue “I Believe” license plates with the image of a cross and a stained glass window. The …

“The religious right is in no position to talk about seedy lifestyles. How many of them have gotten caught with their pants down with some hooker (female or male) over the years? People who live in glass brothels shouldn’t throw stones. As for gays who want to get married, I call them Borg homosexuals. They want to assimilate us, destroy …

– Over “200 of Broadway’s hottest bodies” will be on display when the 18th annual installment of Broadway Bares takes place Sunday, June 22nd at the Roseland Ballroom. Benefitting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, this year’s show stars Cheyenne Jackson, Nathan Lane, Andrea Martin, Matthew Morrison, NateKid, AntiGravity, and the Living Art of Armando. Showtimes 9:30pm and midnight. Tickets $55 – …

A cute bit on internet discourse, sent to us by its creator, Kirby Ferguson.

Joe Birdsong and the folks at the late great Rapture Books have found an interesting venue for their Reading For Filth series – the West Village loft where scenes from Cruising were filmed. At the new venue, the performers read naked. Oh, and if you attend, you can be too. On Saturday, June 28th, the folks from Rapture present another …

Supposedly the U.S. economy will lose $800M -$900M today because of it. Probably less than John Carpenter has made from it. Bah.

“It is because of me. I definitely think my show has helped the movement. Before it came out, everyone was still a little apprehensive about it. Then they realized, ‘Wow, everyone is really into this stuff, and it is fine.’ The next thing you know, gay marriage is legal.” – Reality show star Tila Tequila, taking credit for the legalization …

Check this out: A conservative Christian legal group on Thursday made a last-ditch effort to stop gay marriage from becoming legal in California by asking a midlevel appeals court to temporarily prohibit county clerks from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The Virginia-based Liberty Counsel, in a petition with the 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco, argued that …

The whimsical sculptures of Tom Otterness‘ Life Underground installation are scattered throughout the subway station at 8th Avenue and 14th Street. They always make me smile.