Joe.My.God. LGBT News

“I have my partner here on the phone and he just asked me to marry him. My answer, Madam Speaker, is yes.” – New York State Assemblyman Matthew Titone (D-Staten Island), cellphone in his hand, moments after the Assembly passed its same sex marriage bill. The chamber gave Titone a round of applause. One day after passing through the Assembly …

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg threw a huge honkin’ monkey wrench into the presidential campaign today when he stunned politicos by announcing he was no longer a Republican. Bloomberg told the press today that he was now independent after switching his voter registration last week. With a personal wealth estimated at over $5B, he could easily underwrite his own presidential campaign, …

Paging the Conde Nast art department: Father Tony (NSFW) has some mad photoshop skillz, evidenced here by the creamy complexions of Superdaddy and myself. My skin hasn’t looked this baby-smooth since spring break ’81 when I passed out drunk in the Marlin Beach Hotel and awoke to find that my friends had entertained themselves by giving me a cucumber-avocado facial. …

At last night’s Garden Party, the NYC LGBT Community Center’s annual Pride kick-off gala, the audience got a wonderful surprise when Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer (above, right) announced a $1 million grant to the center’s capital improvements fund. Nice, huh? But heads really swiveled when City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (above, left) announced an additional $8 million dollar grant …

Sad news. Famed Castro tour guide Trevor Hailey died unexpectedly in San Diego last week. When I lived in San Francisco, Hailey was a familiar sight around the gayborhood as she led enthusiastic visitors on her “Cruisin’ The Castro” tours. More than a couple of times, I happened to be on the sidewalk behind Hailey’s group, eavesdropping as she regaled …

Well, I guess I spoke too soon about John Travolta keeping his crazy to himself. Speaking to W Magazine about the Virgina Tech shootings, Travolta says, “I still think that if you analyze most of the school shootings, it is not gun control. It is [psychotropic] drugs at the bottom of it.” You may recall Tom Cruise’s famous anti-psychiatry diatribe …

The bill to legalize same-sex marriage made it out of New York State Assembly’s judiciary committee today, passing 16-5. The bill must now make it past the rules committee before it is put up to a general vote on the Assembly floor. Over on the state Senate side, majority leader Joseph Bruno (R) has said many times that he will …

The newest addition to the madness of Times Square is Spotlight, a karaoke bar where you are joined onstage by in-house back-up singers and background dancers. There’s even a “green room” with a make-up artist to prepare you for belting out Flashdance. Audience members can send the performers Simon Cowell-worthy snide comments from their tableside interactive consoles. Spotlight also features …

Courtesy of Showtime, this week’s Swag Tuesday giveaway is a special advance DVD box set of the full first season of their hit series, The Tudors, starring Jonathan Rhys-Meyers as Henry VIII. In March, I attended a screening of the first two episodes of The Tudors and I was immediately reeled in by the lush photography and uber-hot cast. Steve …