Big news! A New York judged has ruled that the state retirement system must treat all legally married same-sex couples from outside of New York the same as opposite-sex couples, dismissing a challenge from the Arizona-based anti-gay Alliance Defense Fund. The ADF filed suit based on a 2004 decision by then State Comptroller Alan Hevesi to recognize gay couples married …

October 8 San Diego CA Civic Theatre 10 San Francisco CA Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium 11 Los Angeles CA Wilshire Theater 14 Dallas TX McFarlin Memorial Auditorium 16 Boulder CO Macky Auditorium 18 Minneapolis MN State Theater 19 Chicago IL Cadillac Palace 22 Detroit MI Music Hall 23 Toronto ONT Massey Hall 25 Washington DC Lisner Auditorium 28 Nashville TN …

My dear hometown homey Thomas, who as “Terrence” was the title subject of my portion of the book linked in my sidebar, has long performed as the host of BoyTV, a traveling videography of gay events and parties. The eternally fabulous Thomas just returned from New Orleans’ notorious Southern Decadence and with the help of our friend, vlogger Tony Hayden …

California legislators have approved a bill called the “Student Civil Rights Act” to protect all California students from harassment and bias in public schools based on their gender identity or sexual orientation. A similar bill was passed last year but vetoed by Gov. Schwartzenegger. Of course, the right-wing is going apoplectic (see graphic), claiming that gay sex will now be …

Some interesting stats are coming from Canada’s 2006 census report, released today: The 2006 Canadian family portrait shows that the number of same-sex couples surged by 32.6 per cent since 2001, five times the pace of opposite-sex couples. Of Canada’s 45,345 same-sex couples, 16.5 per cent were married, according to the first-ever census count of same-sex marriages, reflecting their legalization …

The broad, tree-lined sidewalk of Fifth Avenue along Central Park is one of the loveliest places for a Manhattan stroll.

Young men who have sex with men are contracting HIV at a rate 33% higher than five years ago, according to recent figures released by the NYC Health Department. For men who have sex with men (MSM), the under 30 age group experienced almost 500 reported new cases of HIV last year, versus 374 in 2001. Perhaps even more frightening, …

Lady R’s glittery wheel landed on Michael of Akron, Ohio, who won last week’s Swag Tuesday prize, the 4-disc first season box set of Showtime’s Dexter, which starts its second season on Sept.30th. Michael sez: “Thanks for the DVD, and also thanks for all the effort you put into your blog, it is very appreciated.” Publicists: if you’d like to …

In addition to finger length and the direction in which your fingerprint whorl spins, scientists are theorizing that a person’s body shape and gait can be indicators of sexual orientation. Researchers at NYU and Texas A&M measured the bodies of eight male and eight female subjects, half of whom were gay. The subjects then walked and ran on treadmills as …

In an attempt to staunch the flow of red ink, the music industry has come up with the “ringle“, a slip-sleeved CD single of a hit song that will feature a couple of bonus tracks from the same artist and a code to allow buyers to go online and download a “free” ringtone of the main song. Cost: $6-$7. User-created …

Today’s Swag Tuesday prize is the brand new novel from gay stand-up comedian and writer Bob Smith, Selfish & Perverse, courtesy of the author and Carroll & Graf Books. Standup comedian and television writer Smith, who published the Lambda Award–winning memoir Openly Bob in 1997, throws his hat into the gay fiction ring with this absorbing, funny and smoldering romantic …

Six years. It doesn’t seem possible, does it? It’s a dark, wet, gloomy morning in Manhattan today, which feels appropriate. In a way, it’s always going to be 9/11 in NYC as you can’t walk five blocks without coming across some marking of the day – a painted firehouse door or a memorial plaque. Here’s the story and photos I …

Despite his endorsing of candidates in 2004, Focus On The Family head James Dobson has been cleared of IRS charges that he endangered the group’s non-profit status, ruling that he acted as an individual, not on behalf of the ministry. Under IRS rules, non-profits can speak out about issues and lobby lawmakers, but they cannot back specific candidates. Liberal watchdog …

Two New York men have filed a $1.5M defamation lawsuit against American University after their alumni paper published a fake wedding announcement stating that the two “life partners” had married in Boston. American Magazine published the announcement apparently without fact-checking with the two men, who are not gay. The announcement also noted that one of the men was a founder …

Larry Craig’s lawyer will file court papers today, seeking to overturn Craig’s disorderly conduct conviction on the grounds that he was under extreme stress after being hounded by journalists about his sexual orientation. According to the lawyer, that pressure caused Craig to plead guilty to the lesser plea following his sex sting arrest. In other Craig news, Sun Valley Online …

A couple of weeks I mentioned that today would be the last day to object to Section 2257, the government’s plan to require that social networking/hookup sites have your driver’s license on file. If you have not yet done so, please go the the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force’s site for an easy to copy protest letter.

Blowoff’s first NYC event was fantastic, of course. Mouse over the pics for names.

Magical.

Andrew Sullivan married his boyfriend in Provincetown. More photos here.

For the second time, today the California legislature approved same-sex marriage. And Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to veto the gay marriage bill as he did in 2005. He has until October 14th to sign or veto. California presently permits same-sex couples to register as domestic partners. Equality California Executive Director Geoff Kors said, “We call on the governor to …