(POP NEWS) Beiber's weekend; Swift Guy; Penn; Upstaging Angie; DADT; Mitchum; Gay X-Factor!

• TWEEN NIGHT: AMA's Big Winner: a Canadian!

• GROWING PAINS: Justin, Selena Have Worst Dinner Date Ever!

• NEW SONG: Taylor Swift's New Guy Is...!

• NEW BEARD: Sean Penn's New Gal: Florence Welch?

• UPSTAGED: Angelina Scores Invite to Jen's Wedding!

• WINNING: Now Free Of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Gay And Lesbian Soldiers Thrive!

• PROGRESS: Cuba Elects First Trans Woman Lawmaker, Adela Hernandez!

• HARD TIMES: 'Embarrassed' NY Prosecutor Mark Suben Admits Porn Past!

• DEMONS: Olympic Diver Matthew Mitcham Battled Crystal Meth Addiction in 2011!

• GAY VOTE: UK 'X Factor' Boybander Jaymi Hensley Comes Out as Gay!

VICTORY: Transsexual Woman, Gay Man Marry in Cuba!

Less than a year after Fidel Castro apologized for Cuba's history of gay persecution, Cuba has had its first gay marriage ... kind of. Gay marriage remains illegal in Cuba, but yesterday saw the wedding of a gay man and transsexual woman, reports the AP—the bride, Wendy Iriepa, is now officially a woman, four years after undergoing state-sponsored sex-change surgery. "We celebrate it at the top of our voices and affirm that this is a step forward for the gay community in Cuba," said groom Ignacio Estrada, a gay-rights activist. 

"He's gay, but he's a man," said Iriepa, who is close to Castro's niece, one of Cuba's most prominent gay-rights activists. "He has a penis and he makes me happy. I had a penis, which I used a lot when I was selling myself on the streets." And while the wedding has stirred up some political controversy in Cuba, the couple tried to deflect such criticisms. "How positive! Cuba now shows itself to be a kaleidoscope of ideas," wrote one bridesmaid, a prominent dissident, on Twitter.

FREEDOM: Cuba to Consider Civil Unions?

Is Cuba on the verge of considering civil unions? The announcement was made by Mariela Castro, daughter of Raul Castro and the director of Cuba’s national sex education center, during an interview with Spanish broadcaster Cadena Ser earlier this month. Castro, the island’s leading gay rights advocate, said Cuban authorities are already studying the proposal in preparation for the upcoming Community Party conference on Jan. 28.

“This is a historic opportunity, and I think we’re close to having draft legislation,” said Castro, who also revealed in the interview that gay Cubans can serve in the military. “We’ve been working on this issue for a long time, with a lot of activism. We’re starting to see results and a political solution.”

KARMA: Gay Cuban Man to Marry Trans Woman on Castro's Birthday!

A gay man is set to marry a transgender woman in Cuba on August 13 in Havana, on Fidel Castro's birthday, to send a message to the leader who persecuted gays and lesbians at the beginning of his revolution, Latin American Herald Tribune reports: Wendy Iriepa, a 37-year-old who underwent a sex-change operation in 2007 on the island, and Ignacio Estrada, a 31-year-old gay man who is seropositive, will marry in an open ceremony that they hope will mark a “before and an after” in Cuba with dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez as matron of honor.

“We met on May 13 of this year and we always intended to get married three months later,” Estrada – who considers himself gay but had fallen in love with Wendy, now a woman – said.

But the couple also decided to tie the knot on the “controversial” date of Aug. 13 to coincide with Castro’s 85th birthday and emphasize the “gigantic” step their union will signify for the island’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual, or LGBT, community.

Castro, in an interview a year ago, acknowledged the homophobic persecution gays and lesbians suffered in Cuba at the beginning of his revolution, and he admitted his responsibility for not paying “enough attention” to the deed that he called a “great injustice,” Estrada said.

Reuters adds: "The couple has scheduled their free, state-authorized nuptial ceremony at an official 'wedding palace' in Havana, complete with cases of beer courtesy of the socialist state."