ISSUES: Family of Rutgers Suicide 'Heartbroken Beyond Words'

Nothing gets easier in this awful story: The picture emerging of Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers freshman who killed himself after someone posted a tape of him in a gay encounter, is that of a nice, quiet kid who was also a genuinely talented violinist. The family is "heartbroken beyond words," it said in a statement. Clementi's roommate and another student have been released by police but face charges of invasion of privacy for allegedly filming his encounter with a secret camera and posting it online. The most serious of the charges carries a sentence of 5 years.

The suicide coincided with the start of a campus program emphasizing the importance of civility, especially online, notes the New York Times. “It’s so painful. He was very friendly and had very good potential," said the director of the orchestra where he had played in high school. A peer who played with him tells the Star-Ledger that he "blew the audience away" at a concert last year. Clementi's last Facebook posting: "Jumping off the gw bridge sorry."

ISSUES: 50 Cent Tweet Encourages Gay Suicide!

Rapper 50 Cent's Twitter war against gay people continues, according .

The rapper earlier this month caused a stir by writing, "Perez Hilton called me douchebag, so I had my homie shoot up a gay wedding. wasnt his, but made me feel better."

Now 50 Cent has returned to Twitter to spread his deep philosophy on the prerequisites for manhood and apparently living, because men over 25 who don't perform oral sex on women should, he says, "kill your self damn it." What an absolute moron.

Mark Zuckerberg, Fashion Icon?

In The Social Network, Mark Zuckerberg explains that Facebook is like fashion—but he could be talking about The Social Network itself. Deep down, it’s “a fashion flick,” writes Rebecca Dana for the Daily Beast. Sure, Zuck’s entire wardrobe appears to consist of sweatpants, hoodies, and Adidas sandals, but “just as Oliver Stone did with the sharkskin-suited bankers of Wall Street,” she writes, “director David Fincher and his team have given us a new sartorial standard for success in the Internet age. And that standard is: dumpy.”

Wall Street defined the opulence of a different era; The Social Network, says the film's costume director, defines “the new banker”—tech geeks for whom "making it" means being allowed to not give a damn about how you're dressed. Writes Dana, "Are you smart and ambitious enough that you can waltz into a meeting with a top venture capital firm in your pajamas and still come away with a fat check? Do you care so little about how you look that you’ll wear the same sweats for a few days running?” Zuckerberg is, and that makes him our newest fashion icon.

OBIT: Tony Curtis Dead at 85!

Tony Curtis, the screen icon best known for starring in Some Like It Hot with Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon, has died of cardiac arrest aged 85 at his Las Vegas home. His daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis, confirmed to Entertainment Tonight that her father had passed away. Curtis—who appeared in more than 100 films in a screen career that spanned seven decades—was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in 1959's The Defiant Ones.

Curtis, born to a Bronx tailor, started his career as a '50s heartthrob before becoming a respected actor, the AP notes. After battling drug and alcohol addiction, he became a character actor in his later years and started painting, selling works for as much as $20,000. "I'm not ready to settle down like an elderly Jewish gentleman, sitting on a bench and leaning on a cane," he said at 60. "I've got a helluva lot of living to do."

Had the pleasure of meeting Curtis in 2003, when 'Some like it hot'. the musical was in town. He was very proud of his contributions to the gay audience. He will be missed.

CULTURE: Levi Johnston: Policy Questions 'Over My Head'!

Would-be Wasilla mayor Levi Johnston appeared on Lawrence O'Donnell's new show and was asked the same questions that seemed to stump Sarah Palin when Katie Couric asked them in 2008. Johnston didn't fare any better, telling O'Donnell a question about the teaching of evolution was "over his head" and he had "no idea" about the wisdom of raising troop levels in Afghanistan, demonstrating that the 20-year-old probably isn't ready to become vice president of the United States.

Johnston told O'Donnell that he would be in favor of a moratorium on foreclosures and that use of the morning-after pill should be "the girl's choice." Asked what newspapers and magazines he read regularly, Johnson said he reads his hometown Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman occasionally but certainly isn't a New York Times reader. Palin's response to the same question was "all of them."

POLITICS: Illegal Maid: Whitman Treated Me Like Dirt

Meg Whitman not only employed her despite knowing she was an illegal alien, the candidate used that knowledge to exploit her, Whitman's former housekeeper says. Nicky Diaz says her duties expanded to include looking after Whitman's children and running errands, and she was never paid for the many extra hours she worked. "I'm doing this because I know there are a lot of Megs out there who are mistreating the Nickys who work so hard for them," she tells the Los Angeles Times.

Whitman—who, during her campaign for California governor, has called for employers of illegal immigrants to be held responsible—has admitted employing Diaz from 2000 to 2009, but firmly denies that she knew the maid was in the country illegally. Both women give very different accounts of Diaz's firing. Diaz's attorney, Gloria Allred, says she will release evidence today showing that Whitman ignored warnings from as far back as 2003 that Diaz's Social Security number didn't match government records.

POLITICS: Christine O’Donnell Is MIA in Delaware!

You know that old saw, “all politics is local”? Well these days it seems that all politics is national, Matt Bai of the New York Times observes. Just look at Christine O’Donnell. She’s appeared on every national conservative media outlet that will have her, but has been all but absent in Delaware itself. Until this week, she didn’t even have a campaign office there, and almost all her campaign contributions have come from out-of-state donors.

O’Donnell doesn’t appear to be doing any traditional campaigning, either. Her website lists no upcoming campaign stops or public appearances. When Bai asked O’Donnell’s press secretary if she’d ever hold any, he “repeated my questions as if I were speaking in an unintelligible accent.” The strategy is especially odd in tiny Delaware, where retail politics are considered essential. “This is a job interview,” says her opponent, Chris Coons, who just last weekend hit up an NAACP dinner, an AIDS Walk, and something called a “mud run.”

ISSUES: Asst. AG Targets Gay Student in Odd Hate Campaign!

Andrew Shirvell is a “concerned alumnus” of the University of Michigan, and oh—he also happens to be the assistant attorney general of Michigan, which makes his extracurricular hobby even more disturbing. For almost six months, Shirvell has been running “Chris Armstrong Watch,” a blog campaigning against Chris Armstrong, the University of Michigan’s first openly gay student assembly president. Samples of Shirvell’s opinions: a picture of Armstrong with a swastika pasted over it, a post calling him a “racist, elitist liar,” and a comment that he’s “Satan’s representative on the student assembly.”

Shirvell accuses Armstrong of recruiting incoming students “to join the homosexual ‘lifestyle,’” and even convincing one “previously conservative student” to do just that (by seducing him). He also claims Armstrong hosted a gay orgy in his dorm room, among other things, CNN reports. Shirvell says he writes the blog during non-work hours; even so, the attorney general issued a statement referring to Shirvell’s “immaturity and lack of judgment.” Speaking to Anderson Cooper recently, Shirvell offered no apologies. Watch the interview in the gallery.

ISSUES: NJ student secretly taped having sex kills himself!

AP. - A college student jumped to his death off a bridge a day after authorities say two classmates surreptitiously recorded him having sex with a man in his dorm room and broadcast it over the Internet.

Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi jumped from the George Washington Bridge last week, said his family’s attorney, Paul Mainardi. Police recovered a man’s body Wednesday afternoon in the Hudson River just north of the bridge, and authorities were trying to determine if it was Clementi’s.

ABC News and The Star-Ledger of Newark reported that Clementi left on his Facebook page on Sept. 22 a note that read: "Jumping off the gw bridge sorry." On Wednesday, his Facebook page was accessible only to friends.

Two Rutgers freshmen have been charged with illegally taping the 18-year-old Clementi having sex and broadcasting the images via an Internet chat program.

Steven Goldstein, chairman of the gay rights group Garden State Equality, said in a statement Wednesday that his group considers Clementi’s death a hate crime.

"We are heartbroken over the tragic loss of a young man who, by all accounts, was brilliant, talented and kind," Goldstein said. "And we are sickened that anyone in our society, such as the students allegedly responsible for making the surreptitious video, might consider destroying others’ lives as a sport."

It wasn’t immediately clear what Clementi’s sexual orientation was, and a call asking the family’s lawyer about it was not immediately returned Wednesday.

One of the defendants, Dharun Ravi, was Clementi’s roommate, Mainardi told The Star-Ledger. The other defendant is Molly Wei. Ravi and Wei could face up to five years in prison if they’re convicted.

A lawyer for Ravi, of Plainsboro, did not immediately return a message seeking comment. It was unclear whether Wei, of Princeton, had retained a lawyer.

The Middlesex County prosecutor’s office charged the pair, both 18, with two counts apiece of invasion of privacy, claiming they used the webcam to view and transmit a live image of Clementi on Sept. 19. Ravi was also charged with two more counts of invasion of privacy alleging he tried to transmit another encounter of Clementi on Sept. 21.

Collecting or viewing sexual images without consent is a fourth-degree crime. Transmitting them is a third-degree crime with a maximum prison term of five years.

A Twitter account belonging to a Ravi was recently deleted, but in a cached version retained through Google he sent a message on Sept. 19: "Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into molly’s room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay."

Two days later, he wrote on Twitter: "Anyone with iChat, I dare you to video chat me between the hours of 9:30 and 12. Yes it’s happening again."

Clementi’s driver’s license and Rutgers ID were found in a wallet left on the bridge on Sept. 22 after two witnesses saw someone jump from it, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because Clementi’s body hadn’t been positively identified.

Mainardi issued a statement Wednesday confirming Clementi’s suicide.

"Tyler was a fine young man, and a distinguished musician," Mainardi said. "The family is heartbroken beyond words."

Ed Schmiedecke, the recently retired music director at Ridgewood High School, where Clementi graduated earlier this year, said Clementi was a violinist whose life revolved around music.

"He was a terrific musician, and a very promising, hardworking young man."

New York Police Department harbor officers recovered the body of a white man, clad only in pants, wearing a watch and without identification after a parks department employee spotted a body floating in the river, police said. The body was taken to the city medical examiner’s office; authorities hoped to use the watch as identification.

Britney Spears episode of “Glee” sets record ratings!

Enjoyed the heck out of last night’s Glee episode. It was really fun and genius the way the Britney Spears numbers were weaved in as the kids were at the dentist’s office.

Anyway, the episode averaged a whopping 13.2 million viewers last night and posted its best-ever rating among adults 18-49. According to Entertainment Weekly, this is the first time in 17 years that the highest-rated entertainment program of premiere week actually grew in week two among adults 18-49 and total viewers (since the Fall of 1993 with Seinfeld).

ISSUES: Andrew Shirvell Attempts To Explain Anti-Gay Blog to Anderson Cooper, Fails To Justify Bigotry

Anderson Cooper pulled no punches last night when he interviewed Andrew Shirvell, the Assistant District Attorney from Michigan who spends his time blogging about Chris Armstrong, the openly gay President of the University of Michigan's student body, according to Towleroad.

"The University’s first openly 'gay' student body president ... is actively recruiting your sons and daughters to join the homosexual 'lifestyle," reads a typical post on Shirvell's virtual digs, Chris Armstrong Watch, where he also calls Shirvell "Satan's representative." Again, homophobes can be so flamboyant!

The story has grown over the past few weeks, and Shirvell's looking more and more like a pariah. Even his boss, Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, has called him "immature," but, as with Saxby Chambliss, the Republican Senator whose staffer last week left a homophobic message on Joe My God, Cox doesn't seem inclined to punish Shirvell.

Asked about Shirvell, Cox simply said, "I don't agree with Mr. Shirvell's tactics, his judgment, or his word choice, but nonetheless I recognize his non–work-related blog is protected by our Constitution." Yes, well, so is free press, which is where Cooper comes into the story, ready to get to the nitty-gritty of what he calls a "strange" story. That's putting it nicely.

"Are you a bigot?" "Aren't you a cyber-bully?" "It appears, though, that you're obsessed with this young gay man." That's just a sampling of Cooper's exchange with Shirvell, who can't seem to understand why so many people are mad at him, because, as he puts it, he's simply playing politics.

"I sense anger in your voice," Shirvell tells a somewhat amused, and just as confused, Cooper.

SOAP Q: Out actress Clementine Ford leaving Y&R!

Clementine Ford, the beautiful out actress and daughter of Cybil Shepherd, will be written out of The Young and the Restless in early November, according to Soap Opera Digest.

Her character of Mackenzie Browning had been involved with JT played by Thad Luckinbill who is also leaving the show Nov. 5.

Clementine, who acted with her mother on Showtime’s The L Word, joined the show in March 2009. She told The Advocate shortly after being cast: “I am a lucky bitch! It’s so nerve-wracking. It’s like I felt on The L Word when I went into that core group who has been together forever. I was surprised because you hear horror stories about going in, and the intimidation of the group. I thought, “Well, this will never happen again,” and then I get this job. I am nervous, but my friend, Y&R’ s Greg Rikaart (Kevin), told me wonderful things about everyone on the show. And sure enough, everybody is great.”

SOAP Q: Gay storyline on “90210″ begins to unfold

Via Greg in Hollywood:

With As the World Turns now history, I think we all need a soapy gay storyline to get ourselves involved in and 90210 has come to the rescue. Teddy (Trevor Donovan) wakes up, hungover, and an empty bottle of champagne is next to the bed with a sweet love note from Ian.

Teddy takes in the scene and promptly throws up.

Now, I’m just going to believe it was the booze that caused him to upchuck and not the sleeping with another guy part. Even when I was a closet case teenager and felt really guilty about hooking up with a dude, I never, ever threw up!

Anyway, here are the Teddy scenes from last night’s episode on The CW. We see Ian (Kyle Riabko) at the end of them all happy as can be and even as Teddy threatens him, he touches his arm and says: “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone we hooked up.”

I love it!

CULTURE: GLAAD TV Study Reveals More Gay Characters, Mostly On ABC Or True Blood!

GLAAD today released its 15th annual "Where We Are On TV" review of LGBT television characters on broadcast and cable television shows. It's a mixed bag.

The good news: gay people are more visible on television than ever; the bad news: there is not one LGBT person of color on broadcast television. Actually, there's not a "T" either.

The report shows that 23 LGBT characters will account for 3.9% of scripted series regulars in the 2010-2011 broadcast television schedule, up from 1.1% in 2007, 2.6% in 2008, and 3% in 2009. The number of scripted LGBT series regulars found on mainstream cable networks has rebounded after a two year decline, from 40 in 2007, 32 in 2008, 25 in 2009, to 35 this year.

In cable realm, True Blood takes the cake for having the most LGBT characters, 6 regular, and network ABC wins, again, for having 7.2% of their regular characters -- eleven out of 152 -- be of the LGBT variety. CBS, meanwhile, came in dead last for having only one LGBT character, the network's first since 2006.

Meanwhile, not surprisingly, the queer characters on television remain mostly white and male:
Male characters continue to outweigh female characters 59% (345) to 41% (242) in overall numbers, while 77% (449) of all series regular characters are white. African American representation has increased slightly to 12% (71) while Latino/a representation has remained steady at 5% (29). GLAAD counted 25 Asian Pacific Islander characters (4%), two more than last season.

Though GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios praised the higher levels of gay on television, he also warned programmers that viewers need to see a positive reflection of their identity, not simply one part of it.

"While the number of characters is increasing, many members of our community still do not see stories reflecting their lives," said Barrios. "It is troubling that the broadcast networks will not feature even one black LGBT character or one transgender character in the upcoming primetime lineup.

CULTURE: Oops! Australia's Top Model Crowns Wrong Winner on TV

In what's been called an epic fail, the finale of Australia's Next Top Model was thrown into confusion yesterday when the host announced the wrong winner. Sarah Murdoch (daughter-in-law of Rupert) named 19-year-old Kelsey Martinovich as victorious, but was informed minutes later via her earpiece feed that the actual winner was Amanda Ware.
Murdoch, who Australia's ABC reports was "close to tears," then had the unenviable task of telling Martinovich, who'd already made her acceptance speech, that she was not the winner. In front of a live studio audience, Murdoch said, "This was a complete accident. I'm so sorry. It's Amanda. I'm so sorry." A gracious Martinovich took it on the chin and congratulated Ware. FOX8, the show's broadcaster, offered the runner-up $20,000 and a trip to New York.

ENTERTAINMENT: ABC selects most-hated past “Bachelor” Brad Womack to return!

Via Greg in Hollywood:
I’ll admit, Brad Womack was one of the dreamiest contestants ever on ABC’s The Bachelor.

But he was also one of the most flabbergasting! Back in 2007, he narrowed things down to two women: DeAnna Pappas and Jenni Croft and picked neither! His famous words were, "I don't know how to love you!?

Didn’t someone tell him that none of these couples stay together anyway? Why couldn’t he just pick one of them, get down on bended knee and propose then about six months later, issue a joint press release saying they had gone their separate ways?

That’s the way it’s done Brad!

The truth is, Brad did something brave and honest and exposed how ridiculous this show is. (I watch it for the eye candy when I do tune in and prefer when it’s The Bachelorette because there is lots more guy candy).

After creepy fame whore Jake Pavelka’s “relationship” with Vienna Girardi imploded over the summer, the franchise seemed to be back on solid footing and maybe regained some credibility with Bachelorette Ali Fedotowsky who selected Roberto Martinez and really seems to love him and vice-versa.

Time will tell.

Producers no doubt wanted the appealing Chris Lambton, runner-up to Roberto on The Bachelorette, but the 33-year-old landscaper from Cape Cod has had enough of the limelight for now and declined.

So Wolmack is their next choice? I just don’t get it.

“We really like Brad,” Bachelor host Chris Harrison said on Ryan Seacrest’s radio show. “As much as the audience was angry with him, we’ve stayed in touch with him.”

Bolton Booted from DWTS!

Michael Bolton was voted off Dancing With the Stars the day after performing what judge Bruno Tonioli called the worst jive he'd seen in the show's 11 seasons. Bolton—who scored just 12 out of 30 points for the dance with partner Chelsie Hightower—called the judge's remarks "inappropriate and disrespectful ," the AP reports. "Other than that, it was a phenomenal experience up 'til now," he said.

Tuesday's nights show addressed reports that Sarah Palin had been booed by the crowd when she appeared Monday night. A previously unaired clip was shown indicating that the audience was actually booing the score of 24 judges gave Jennifer Gray and Derek Hough just before Palin was introduced. Host Tom Bergeron told the judges that Palin "was surprised by the controversy because she was booing you guys too."

ISSUES: Phelps Funeral Protest Case Heads To Supreme Court Next Week!

Fred Phelps and his merry band of Westboro Baptist homophobes will head to the Supreme Court next week, again raising ever-important questions about the state of free speech, according to Towleroad.

The case, Snyder v. Phelps, revolves around the Phelps clan's protest outside of a fallen soldier Matthew Snyder's funeral. Matthew's father, Albert, sued Phelps, saying the protests and subsequent actions, including a poem excoriating Matthew, caused mental distress, aggravated his diabetes and made him violently ill during his only son's funeral.

A judge three years ago ruled in Snyder's favor, and ordered Westboro Baptist Church to pay the soldier's family a little under $11 million. That ruling, however, was overturned, bringing the case to the high court.

To some, the Westboro case is simply about homophobia run amok. From a more Constitutional level, however, it's about whether their hate should be protected by the First Amendment, a subject that has been reinvigorated by Terry Jones, the extremist pastor who planned to burn the Qur'an on 9/11.

Lawyer and former Time magazine writer Adam Cohen sums up the constitutional dilemma quite well: Even for the most committed civil libertarian, it is hard to get excited about defending a hate-spewing minimob that targets the funeral of a dead soldier or signs saying, "God Hates the USA. Thank God for 9/11." Still, it is important for the court to rule that this kind of expression lies within the First Amendment. We defend it not because these ideas are particularly worthy of being protected, but because all ideas, even the most loathsome, are.

The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 last year that animal cruelty videos are protected forms of speech, a ruling that may provide insight into how they'll view the Phelps case. We should all be asking ourselves, then, whether we want to throw our support behind the First Amendment, or whether we think Constitutional restrictions are worth sending a message: hate speech has no place in the United States.

Snyder and his lawyers, who have the "friend of court" support from a disparate group of politicians, including Democrat Barbara Boxer and typically anti-gay Republican David Vitter, are well aware of the Constitutional handicaps they face, which explains why they're framing their argument as an invasion of privacy and as an issue of another Constitutional guarantee, Freedom of Assembly.

Which way do you think the Court should rule, reader? Are free speech rights worth curtailing to end the Westboro Baptist Church's' reign of terror?

ISSUES: Transgender Teen Stripped of Homecoming King Title

Oakleigh Reed was voted Homecoming King by his fellow classmates at Mona Shores High School in Muskegon, Mich.—but he won't be wearing the crown. Administrators nullified the vote because Oak, born Oakleigh Marie Reed, is enrolled at the school as a female. The transgender teen, who plans to have a sex change operation at age 18, was called into the principal’s office and told that “they had to invalidate all of my votes,” he tells NBC. The ACLU may take up the case; a Facebook group called “Oak is my King” has more than 3,500 members.

“It's the senior class that votes for their representative. What they did was taking away the voice of the senior class,” Reed says, but the principal claims Reed may not actually have won the competition, because they stopped counting his votes when they realized an "ineligible" person was running. “In order to be eligible for homecoming king, the ballot clearly states you must be a boy,” she says. “He, as I use the pronoun correctly out of respect, is not a boy.”

ISSUES: Accuser to Eddie Long: 'You Are a Monster'

"You are not a man, you are a monster." Those are the harsh words Jamal Parris, one of the four men who accused Bishop Eddie of sexual coercion, has for the man he called "daddy." In an interview with a Fox 5 Atlanta reporter who flew to Parris' Colorado home on Sunday, Parris continued, "I cannot get the sound of his voice out of my head," said Parris. "I cannot forget the smell of his cologne. And I cannot forget the way that he made me cry many nights when I drove in his car on the way home, not able to take enough showers to wipe the smell of him off of my body."

The fatherless Parris said that after finding the father he "always dreamed of," he felt compelled to "give him what he wants" so he would stay—though ultimately, Long set his sights on younger men, according to Parris. "This man turned his back on us when he had no more need for us. That's not a father, that's a predator." Parris said he only filed the lawsuit after trying to quietly resolve things with Long, and adds, "I'm always going to have love for the things that he taught me. But how he left us hurt worse than anything I ever felt in my life." .

ISSUES: Eddie Long: Confused Hypocrite?

There are a lot of ironies in Bishop Eddie Long’s sex scandal. For example, in his sermon Sunday, Long said he feels “like David against Goliath.” Really? On the one side we have one of the most powerful clerics in America, and on the other four allegedly abused young men. “As far as I know, none of the accusers is driven around in a Bentley,” Robinson observes in the Washington Post. “I’m pretty sure the preacher has that whole David-Goliath thing backward.”

Of course, the big irony is that Long preaches intolerance towards homosexuals, and is now accused of homosexuality himself. “I’m guessing that maybe Long has some questions of identity to grapple with,” Robinson says. He should embrace them. The black church has long needed to face its homophobia. “Nothing he learns about himself can negate all the good works he has done. … Maybe he could forgive himself. Then maybe he could forgive all the gays and lesbians he so coldly condemns.”

FUNNY: Jason Schwartzman Strips for iPad Ad

 Jason Schwartzman capitalizes on his quirkiness in a new YouTube advertisement for the New Yorker. Demonstrating the magazine’s new iPad app, Schwartzman scrolls across the screen by licking it and using his feet, among other things. But the most entertaining moment comes when he strips down (for the second time in the ad; the first involves a shower), leaving only an iPad to cover his unmentionables.

Darren Criss added to “Glee” cast in gay role!

Well this is an interesting piece of news: Entertainment Weekly reports that singer-songwriter Darren Criss will play the role of a gay student on Glee this season.

Criss, previously best known to TV audiences as Matt Dallas’ brother on ABC’s short-lived Eastwick will play Blaine—a cute and charismatic gay student from a rival Glee club named the Dalton Academy Warblers. He will maintain a strictly platonic friendship with McKinley High’s most out and proud pupil, Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer).

EW reports that the friendship could that change as the season progresses so not sure what that means for the romance we thought Kurt was going to have with the school’s new quarterback Sam (Chord Overstreet).

STAMOS GLEEFUL!

The ageless John Stamos makes his debut on Glee tonight in the recurring role of Dr. Carl Howell, who is responsible for the show’s anesthesia-inspired Britney Spears dream sequence.

“I’m still me, but then you’re dropped in this world of Glee— just lifted up and dropped into the school. Halfway through this scene, you look around and go, ‘Wow, I’ve been dropped into Glee,’ ” the actor tells USA Today.

On playing Dr. Howell: “He’s very different than anybody I ever played. He’s sort of the coolest guy in a really, really small pond. So that gives me a chance to be sort of dorky. I think he thinks he’s a lot cooler than he is, which is fun to play. He’s a ‘bro’ guy; he hasn’t even graduated to ‘dude’ yet. He’s like, ‘Let’s talk this out, bro to bro.’ He’s got a lot of enthusiasm. In other shows, they wanted me to really be the cool guy or the charming guy. This guy wants to be that guy, but he misses the mark.”

He’s still not a doctor: “I learned the same amount on Glee as I did on ER being a doctor. Actually, it’s way worse. I was used to ER, where they are so specific and you have to do this exactly right and hold the needle. Here, I asked if I should be wearing gloves and they were like, ‘Ah, who cares? It’s a comedy.’ ”

On Jane Lynch: “I didn’t want to know about her Emmy (for playing cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester). I wanted to know about her wax figure, and she was saying that was pretty weird. I told her I go down to Hollywood’s (Madame Tussauds) Wax Museum and I rehearse my lines with her wax figure. She’s fun.”

CULTURE: Bogie Feared He Was Gay!

Humphrey Bogart may have been known as a legendary lover—both on screen and off—but he feared he was gay before meeting fourth wife Lauren Bacall. A new biography by Darwin Porter alleges Bogart slept with 1,000 women before marrying Bacall in 1945, but began to fear he was gay when he became impotent during his second marriage to Mary Philips, the Daily Mail reports.

“When I can't perform she mocks and ridicules me,” the book claims Bogart said, adding that he told a friend he considered suicide, “but I never get beyond the thinking stage. I just can't see myself taking a razor to my throat.” Humphrey Bogart, the Making of a Legend, out next month, also claims his first wife, Helen Menken, had “a lot of lesbian affairs.”

I wonder what he thought of the very Gay, Peter Lorie?

ENTERTAINMENT: Broke LiLo Barely Made Bail!

Just about as quickly as she was sent back to jail, Lindsay Lohan was sprung from it—but she almost wasn’t. The broke actress’s bail was set at $300,000, and she “hasn’t earned that sort of money in a long time,” a source tells PopEater. “There was a moment when the family honestly thought Lindsay wasn't going to be released because they didn't have that amount of money available to post bail.” (The source, hilariously, goes on to call the idea of LiLo remaining locked up a “tragedy.”)

DWTS:No, Sarah Palin Was Not Booed On 'Dancing With The Stars'

Some are wondering whether Sarah Palin was booed last night on Dancing With the Stars, where she appeared in the audience to support her daughter, Bristol, who's competing on the celebrity dance show.

Considering Palin's remarkable polarizing powers, it's tempting to tie the booing heard before host Tom Bergeron interviewed Palin to the politico, but, upon reviewing the tape, it's clear that the jeers were related to the previous dance routine's score, not Palin, who actually garnered tremendous applause.



Meanwhile, I've also included footage of Margaret Cho performing the Jive. I think she offered a tremendous performance!

DWTS’ Recap: Bolton Dances ‘Worst Jive’ In Show History; Grey triumphs; Palin surfaces!

For two weeks in a row, Dirty Dancer Jennifer Grey took the top spot in the ‘Dancing With the Stars‘ judges’ hearts, this around with a high score of 24 for her Jive with Derek Hough, according to Fancast..

Judges Len Goodman called it “fabulous,” Bruno Tonioli declared it “wicked,” and Carrie Ann Inaba called the 50-year-old actress a “sexy Energizer bunny.” And this backstage judge calls it “a-ma-zing!”

On the flip side, the couple with the lowest score of the night was pop star Michael Bolton and Chelsie Hightower, who earned only a 12 out of 30 for their Jive. I’m not surprised at the bad showing since Michael is juggling his music tour with dance rehearsals and the show, and has a case of laryngitis to boot!

Other stand-out moments from Monday night include:
*Sarah Palin clapping along to her daughter Bristol’s biggest competitor: Brandy! When asked on-air about the show, the former Alaskan Governor said with that trademark accent of hers: “This is amazing. It’s so exciting. It’s great to see all this courage and joy…” By the way, she calls her daughter, “Bristol the Pistol.”

* Brandy blaming a bum routine on Maks!

* Bruno telling a certain singer it was the “worst Jive” he has seen in 11 seasons, and that it was so bad he needed a pooper-scooper for it.

* “Say What?!” Moment: Cohost Brooke Burke asking what inspired the doghouse theme to Michael Bolton’s dance to “Houng Dog.” Yes, Hound. DOG.

Let’s take a look at the night’s performances:

Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough: Jive
Score: 24

Audrina Patridge and Tony Dovolani: Quickstep
Score: 23

Kyle Massey and Lacey Schwimmer: Quickstep
Score: 22

Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas: Quickstep
Score: 22

Brandy and Maksim Chmerkovskiy: Jive
Score: 21

Rick Fox and Cheryl Burke: Jive
Score: 21

Florence Henderson and Corky Ballas: Quickstep
Score: 19

Margaret Cho and Louis Van Amstel: Jive
Score: 18

The Situation and Karina Smirnoff: Quickstep
Score: 18

Michael Bolton and Chelsie Hightower: Jive
Score: 12

ISSUES: Teen Student Kills Self After Years Of Gay Taunts

David and Amy Truong are looking for justice after their 13-year old son, Asher Brown, committed suicide last Thursday after being relentlessly bullied at his Houston-area school, according to Towleroad.

In addition to taking on his religion and fashion sense, Brown's peers took to - you guessed it - calling him "gay." Things became so bad that Asher shot himself to death.

The Truongs say they called the school to tell officials about the bullying. The school, for its part, insists no such calls every happened, but the distraught parents aren't giving up.

"I did not hallucinate phone calls to counselors and assistant principals. We have no reason to make this up. It's like they're calling us liars," said Mrs. Truong, while her husband insisted, "We want justice. The people here need to be held responsible and to be stopped. It did happen. There are witnesses everywhere."

Now, Asher's parents hope to use his death as a lesson: "Our son is just the extreme case of what happens when (someone is) just relentless," insisted Mrs. Truong, before turning her attention to the bullies, "I hope you're happy with what you've done. I hope you got what you wanted and you're just real satisfied with yourself."

And I hope the accused are apprehended and, yes, brought to justice: the tide of bullying needs to stop, period, and perpetrators need to know that their words can indeed break bones, and lives.

POLITICS: Anti-Gay Yuri Luzhkov Ousted As Moscow Mayor!

Russian President Dmitri A. Medvedev initiated a huge political shake-up by firing Moscow's malignantly anti-gay mayor, Yuri Luzhkov yesterday.

The sackings comes after Luzhkov, who has been Moscow's mayor for two decades, became increasingly vocal in his criticism of Medvedev and, attempted to create a rift between the President and Vladimir Putin, the former President and current Prime Minister whom many say still controls the country.

Luzhkov, whose family has deeply entrenched business interests in Moscow and whose position was the equivalent of a regional governor, did not release a statement, but President Medvedev did: “It is difficult to imagine a situation under which a governor and a president of Russia, as the chief executive, can continue to work together when the president has lost confidence in the leader of a region."

Deputy Mayor Vladimir Resin will fill in as acting mayor. Let's hope the city's next permanent leader doesn't think, as Luzhkov does, that gay people are "satanic."

OUTscene: Sen. Patty Murray, Johnny Weir highlight the Pacific NW HRC Dinner!

By M.K. Scott
OUTscene Editor

620 of Seattle's LGBT elite came out this past Saturday to the 2010 Pacific NW HRC Dinner. Ryan and I attended the silent auction prior to the dinner where Married With Children's Amanda Bearse was spotted. At the Dinner, the appearance of Sen. Patty Murray solidified her upcoming re-election win.

HRC's President, Joe Solmonese updated us of what HRC is doing and the reaction to the DADT  dead lock and It was refreshing that they were less corporate compared to last year.

The Equality award went to Janice Langbehn, for her work for LGBT Equality after the death of her partner in Florida, and her children were not allowed to see her. Langbehn said in her acceptance speech that one of the Hospital administrators (Who is still employed) said this is an "anti-gay hospital in an anti-gay state". Since 2007, Langbehn has spoken to large crowds about changing laws related to visitation for same-sex couples.

The Visibility award went to Johhny Weir, the Adam Lambert of Men's figure skating. Weir is known around the world as the "People's Skater".


After the dinner, everyone came to the post-party to grab a moment with Johnny. First in line were Ryan and myself, of course!

OBIT: 'Titanic' co-star Gloria Stuart dies at 100; began career in 1930s B-movies

OB

Gloria Stuart, the 1930s Hollywood beauty who gave up acting for 30 years and later became the oldest Academy Award acting nominee as the spunky survivor in "Titanic," has died. She was 100

Stuart died of respiratory failure Sunday night at her Los Angeles home, her daughter, Sylvia Thompson, said Monday. The actress had been diagnosed with lung cancer five years ago and had beaten breast cancer about 20 years ago, Thompson said.

"She did not believe in illness. She paid no attention to it, and it served her well," Thompson said. "She had a great life. I'm not sad. I'm happy for her."

In her youth, Stuart was a blond beauty who starred in B pictures as well as some higher-profile ones such as "The Invisible Man," Busby Berkeley's "Gold Diggers of 1935" and two Shirley Temple movies, "Poor Little Rich Girl" and "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm." But by the mid-1940s she had retired.

She resumed acting in the 1970s, doing occasional television and film work, including Peter O'Toole's 1982 comedy "My Favorite Year." But Stuart's later career would have remained largely a footnote if James Cameron had not chosen her for his 1997 epic about the doomed luxury liner that struck an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage in 1912.

Stuart co-starred as Rose Calvert, the 101-year-old survivor played by Kate Winslet as a young woman. Both earned Oscar nominations, Winslet as best actress and Stuart as supporting actress.

Cameron wanted an actress who was "still viable, not alcoholic, rheumatic or falling down," Stuart once said. Then in her mid-80s, Stuart endured hours in the makeup chair so she could look 15 years older, and she traveled to the Atlantic location, where the wreck of the real Titanic was photographed.

"Titanic" took in $1.8 billion worldwide to become the biggest modern blockbuster, a position it held until Cameron's "Avatar" came along last year and passed it on the box-office chart.

It was the first time in Oscar history that two performers were nominated for playing the same character in the same film, and it made the 87-year-old Stuart the oldest acting nominee in history.

"Anchors aweigh!" Stuart said when nominations were announced in February 1998.

The film's release was preceded by delays and speculation that it could turn into a colossal flop. Of the film's doubters, Stuart said: "They were dissing it all around. That happens in Hollywood."

Stuart was thought by many to be the sentimental favorite for the supporting-actress prize, but the award went to Kim Basinger for "L.A. Confidential."

But she capitalized on her renewed fame by writing a memoir, "I Just Kept Hoping," which raised eyebrows because of its sexual frankness.

Shortly after her 100th birthday on July 4, Stuart was honored with a tribute at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

"She talked with a thousand or so people as if they were in her living room," Stuart's daughter said. "She was just the ultimate hostess."

The best known of her early film work came in two of the celebrated series of horror films by director James Whale.

In 1932's "The Old Dark House," Stuart plays one of the travelers who take refuge in a spooky home peopled with strange characters, one played by Boris Karloff, fresh off his star-making turn in Whale's "Frankenstein."

In 1933's "The Invisible Man," Stuart is the love interest for the scientist (Claude Rains) who makes himself invisible.

Among her other films were the Eddie Cantor comedy "Roman Scandals," John Ford's "The Prisoner of Shark Island" and a string of dramas. She said she quit the business because she was tired of playing "girl detective, girl reporter and Shirley Temple's friend."

A founding member of the Screen Actors Guild, Stuart said in an interview with The Associated Press last summer that she realized she would not achieve the level of success of Hollywood's top stars.

"I didn't get to be Greta Garbo," Stuart said. "Terrible. A terrible blow. It took me a long time to get over that. But I'm over that."

Still, Stuart brought spirit and intelligence to many routine plots.

"The Girl on the Front Page" is typical of such films. Made in 1936, it tells the story of a socialite who inherits a newspaper when her father dies suddenly. Stuart's character decides to learn the business by working anonymously as a reporter, and after some sparring with the tough editor, she winds up helping him solve a murder-blackmail plot.

In her later years, she took an occasional role in television, but before doing "Titanic," she had not worked in several years. She also became an acclaimed painter, holding exhibitions of her work, and took up fine book printing, for which she did her own artwork.

Stuart was born in 1910 in Santa Monica, California, and began acting while in college. She soon signed with Universal Studios, which was responsible for "The Old Dark House" and many other horror classics of the 1930s.

Stuart is survived by a daughter, Sylvia Vaughn Thompson, four grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

ISSUES: Ann Coulter: Marriage "Is Not A Civil Right – You’re Not Black"

Politico reports on Ann Coulter's appearance at Homocon in New York City last night. The event was put on by the conservative gay group GOProud, whom writer Ben Smith apty describes as "the tea party of the gay rights movement."

So what did Coulter have to say? Well, this: Marriage “is not a civil right – you’re not black,” Coulter said to nervous laughter. She went on to note that gays are among the wealthiest demographic groups in the country.

“Blacks must be looking at the gays saying, ‘Why can’t we be oppressed like that?’”

Adds Politico: "Coulter’s talk drew a mixed response, but her presence marked the increasingly mainstream Republican embrace of gay rights. Coulter had a falling out with a conservative website that has published her, WorldNetDaily, over her attendance. 'She’s doing something important – she’s showing her base that it’s OK,' said one attendee, Michael Lucas. (Lucas also confided to a reporter, 'I wonder what Ann will think about the fact that I am the biggest producer of gay porn on the east coast and probably in the whole US.')"

Never one to turn down an offer to speak, Coulter also spoke to CBS News last week about Sarah Palin's influence: "(For Palin) to give up what she has now and run for president would be like Rush [Limbaugh  giving it up and running for president. She has more influence than a president does".

POLITICS: Polish Politician Outs Gay Man on Television

Elżbieta Radziszewska, Poland's equality minister, who recently gave an interview in which she declared her belief that Catholic schools should be allowed to terminate gay and lesbian teachers, outed the gay politician on live television last week. The man, Krzysztof Śmiszek, deputy president of the Polish Society of Anti-Discrimination Law, was appearing alongside her on a program at the time of the outing.

Reports Pink News: The pair were arguing about her remarks on gay teachers when Ms Radziszewska used Mr Śmiszek as an example of why cases should be treated individually.

According to the Warsaw Business Journal, she said: “If, for example, Mr Śmiszek, in a situation when we know that he is a member of the homosexual society and an activist for the Campaign Against Homophobia and it's no secret who his partner is…”

Ms Radziszewska was asked by the programme's presenters whether she should be on the other side of the argument but she apparently said that was the way she saw it. She later apologised but said Mr Mr Śmiszek's sexual orientation could easily be discovered on the internet.

Mr Śmiszek has reacted furiously to her comments and intends to sue. “This is pure homophobia,” he told daily Gazeta Wyborcza on Tuesday. “In no other EU country would such a person still hold their post. I do not hide my sexual orientation, but it's my private business. My personal rights have been violated.”

Radziszewska has reportedly apologized to Śmiszek but also stands by her previously stated bigoted opinions.

You can watch the video of the duo's appearance on the aforementioned Polish broadcast,

FUNNY: SNL Zings O'Donnell in Opener!

Politics took center stage on Saturday Night Live's new season last night, with Christine O'Donnell taking some hits and David Paterson dropping by to dole some out. In Christine O'Donnell Cold Open, the candidate assures GOP execs that she now masturbates constantly (in fact excusing herself to do so), once ran a dogfighting operation (that put Michael Vick's to shame), and sorta burned somebody's house down—for revenge, though, not money.

While O'Donnell was getting roasted, Gov. David Paterson, whom SNL famously enraged, got in a few digs, notes the AP. Paterson appeared on Weekend Update, where he mocked Fred Armisen's impersonation of him, then likened being governor of New York to SNL:"There are a lot of characters, it's funny for 10 minutes, and then you just want it to go away." Amy Poehler returned to host, and Katy Perry was musical guest.

POLITICS: Christine O'Donnell Debunks Evolution!

The other night, Bill Maher showed a previously un-aired clip of Christine O'Donnell from an appearance on Politically Incorrect in 1998. This comes after the recent unearthing of an abundance of juicy quotes from the Delaware GOP Senate candidate, such as her statement that homosexuality is an "identity disorder" and her belief that masturbation is, well, bad.

Next up is her take on evolution, which she calls a "myth."

In the clip Maher calls her on it and asks, "Have you ever looked at a monkey?"

O'Donnell's response? "Well then, why they — why aren’t monkeys still evolving into humans?"

Maher puts it best: "This is someone who could be in the Senate, who thinks that mice have human brains and doesn’t understand ‘oh my God, that monkeys don’t evolve in the time that it would take to watch them.’”

ISSUES: Judge Gives Gay Air Force Nurse Personal Words of Support

The judge who ordered the Air Force to reinstate a gay flight nurse yesterday also paused to deliver personal words of encouragement to Margaret Witt, notes the Seattle Times. "You said something in the trial that resonated with me," said District Court Judge Ronald Leighton. "You said the best thing to come out of all this turmoil is the reaction of your parents when you told them of your sexual orientation: their love and support for you."

He continued: "Not withstanding the victory you obtained here today, for yourself and for others, I would submit to you that the best thing to come out of all this tumult is still that love and support you have received from your family. You are truly blessed as a family ..." He also encouraged her to request reinstatement because she would provide the "best evidence" that the military's ban on gay troops is misguided. Witt later said she planned to do just that.

ISSUES: Bishop Long: I Am Not the Man on TV

Bishop Eddie Long, the subject of various lawsuits alleging that he used his position to take advantage sexually of young men in his church, broke his silence today, telling his congregation that, "I’m under attack. I want you to know as I said earlier I am not a perfect man. ... But this thing I’m going to fight." Comparing his situation to David and Goliath, Long sad, "I’ve got five rocks and I haven’t thrown one yet."

Long did not specifically deny the allegations, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and declined to "try this case in the media." But, "I am not the man being portrayed on television That’s not me. That is not me." Long was to give a news conference after services.

ENTERTAINMENT: James Franco Got a D in Acting Class

James Franco, who may be headed for an Oscar nomination for his role in 127 Hours, took an acting class at NYU … and got a D. “I did the work, I did well in everything else,” he tells Showbiz411, attributing his low grade to lots of absences—he was, after all, shooting a movie—and the fact that the instructer probably felt uncomfortable working with him.

HEALTH: In US Cities, 1 in 5 Gay, Bisexual Men Have HIV

The CDC called for renewed HIV protection measures today, an effort timed to coincide with the release of a study that found nearly 1 in 5 gay or bisexual men living in major US cities have HIV—and that nearly half of those infected aren’t aware of it. “We need to reinvigorate our response,” the CDC’s HIV director told Reuters. “We can’t allow HIV to continue its devastating toll among gay and bisexual men, and in particular, among young black men.”

The study found that HIV was an especially troubling problem for black men; 28% of black participants in the study were infected, compared with 18% of Hispanics and 16% of whites. Black men were also the least likely to be aware of their infection—a whopping 59% said they had no idea. Age was also a critical factor—among 18-to-29-year-olds, 63% were unaware of their infection.

CULTURE: Meet Portia DeGeneres

Portia de Rossi is no more. The actress and wife of Ellen DeGeneres has officially changed her name to Portia Lee James DeGeneres, PopEater reports. “I just got some amazing news. The court has granted Portia's name change. She's now officially Portia Winfrey,” DeGeneres joked via Twitter yesterday.

ENTERTAINMENT: Lohan Granted Bail, Sprung From Jail

 It might be time for revolving doors at the California jail recently inhabited by Lindsay Lohan: Barely nine hours after a judge all but locked her away and threw away the key, another granted bail, TMZ reports. The actress posted $300,000, and walked out the door of Century Regional Detention Facility late last night. She'll wear an ankle bracelet again. La Lohan reportedly told friends this week she needed to go back to rehab, the site reports.

ISSUES: Ga. Pastor's Boys Carried 'Sex-Check' Card

A fourth man is suing Bishop Eddie Long for sexual impropriety, reports the AP, even as new details emerge of the young men's program Long allegedly used to groom sex partners. Spencer LeGrande, now 22, filed suit yesterday, claiming Long told him "I will be your dad"—then slipped him an Ambien on a 2005 foreign trip and engaged in sexual acts. LeGrande says Long convinced him the relationship was "a healthy component of his spiritual life," but that he ended it last year after becoming "disillusioned."

The lawsuit comes as the AP delves into the LongFellows Youth Academy, a rigorous youth academy meant to keep young men out of trouble. Participants in the four-month program were required to run two miles in 15 minutes, study interest rates, work a job, and carry a "SEX Self-Check Card"—on which they wrote their ambitions, a Bible verse, and "3 things you could be doing instead of having sex." LongFellows was "a place where the bishop could learn the intimate details about these young men," says an attorney who filed claims against Long.

POLITICS: O'Donnell: I'll Stop the Whole Country From Having Sex

Another old video of Christine O'Donnell is getting buzzed about today after Greg Sargent wrote about it at his Plum Line blog. In the 2003 clip, O'Donnell is in a TV debate on teenage sex, when a critic disagrees with her strategy of abstinence. "You're going to stop the whole country from having sex?" he asks. She replies, "Yeah!, Yeah!" When he tells her she's "living on a prayer," she cuts in: "That's not true. I'm a young woman in my thirties and I remain chaste."

Observes Sargent: "This exchange has been written about before here and there. But this is the first time video has surfaced of it, making it likely that it will get another round of coverage and some airing on cable, since it reveals rather clearly how ambitious and zealous her abstinence crusade really was."

FUNNY: Meet Michaele Salahi, Gatecrashing Action Figure!

In her never-ending quest to promote herself, Michaele Salahi has arranged to recreate herself as a gatecrashing action figure. Her plastic mini-me, dudded out in her red ninja White House State Dinner sari and shawl, has been fashioned by HeroBuilders, which has also made Sarah Palin, Jersey Shore and Jon and Kate Gosselin action figures. Salahi, captivated by a Barbie dream, tried to pitch her teeny self to Mattel, but the toy company wasn't biting. It wasn't HeroBuilders' idea to do the doll, either, the company founder tells Politico. "We got a call from her agent," Emil Vicale explained.

“We’ve been contacted by tons of people in the past but have just never done it because people have a weird sense of the value of themselves. They think they’re going to sell a million dolls. That never ever happens,” he added. As for Salahi, “some people like her and some hate her. I don’t know how people will respond to this woman."

ISSUES: Judge Orders Air Force to Reinstate Witt!

AP) – Another setback for "don't ask, don't tell": A federal judge says the Air Force violated the constitutional rights of a highly decorated flight nurse when it discharged her for being gay, and ordered that she be given her job back as soon as possible. US District Judge Ronald Leighton issued his highly anticipated ruling today in the case of former Maj. Margaret Witt. She was discharged under the DADT policy on gays serving in the military and sued to get her job back.

Witt joined the Air Force in 1987 and was suspended in 2004 just short of retirement after her commanders learned she was in a relationship with a civilian woman. Her attorneys, led by the ACLU of Washington, insisted that Witt was well respected and liked by her colleagues, that her sexuality never caused problems in the unit, and that her firing actually hurt military goals such as morale, unit cohesion, and troop readiness.

CULTURE: In French Town, Nudists Battle Nudists!

“Naked City,” France: It sounds like a nice place, right? But Cap d'Agde, home of a large nudist population, is currently the site of a battle between “traditional” French nudists, and the new wave of “libertines” who are apparently into “free sex and partner-swapping,” the Telegraph reports. Locals say the nudist quarter is now full of kinky hotels and people doing the nasty in public.

The swingin’ libertines even—shockingly!—like to walk around fully clothed and mock the “real,” traditional nudists, the Independent reports. One traditional nudist says they are “surrounded by wild animals,” and a local council member says, “When the sun shines, there is an area of Cap d'Agde which turns into the European capital of free sex.”