The headline says it all, folks! Thirty-four year old trans man Thomas Beatie gave birth to a healthy baby girl this morning. Just in time for Independence Day!

Update: ABCNews.com has now included Beatie in its photo slideshow of “Medical Marvels,” which warns “viewer discretion advised,” right next to “the Elephant Man,” a girl with an enormous tumor on her face, a 15-year-old girl with clubbed feet, and the “Tree Man” whose body is covered in gnarled growths. Classy!

“More than 100 gay Australian couples have paid $80,000 to create a baby using rent-a-womb women in the United States, a fertility clinic says. The controversial scheme, branded as ‘one-stop baby shopping’, is becoming increasingly popular among professional gay men in Sydney and Melbourne, according to The Fertility Institutes based in Los Angeles.” [News Ltd]

Because there’s no such thing as too much pride - except for hubris - here are some shots from yesterday’s march here in New York City. We’re absolutely in love with the snap of Mayor Michael Bloomberg waving his rainbow flag. So cute!

… Continued…

Suddenly, after several years of being at the bottom of the fashion heap, black models are back on top. In a big way.

Not only are they exclusively populating the pages of this month’s super-hyped Vogue Italia, Wintour & Co. also begrudgingly gave them some attention. At Milan’s Men’s Fashion Week, the designers of Dsquared used a group of models, led by Tyson Beckford, made up almost entirely of black men.

And rumor has it that Lanvin’s show next week has an “all-ethnic lineup.”

So much of what goes on in the fashion world, including the fashion modeling world — is about what’s in. And now, to a certain extent, black models are in again…. Continued…

What better way to prepare for gay pride weekend than by reliving prides past? The fellas over at The Sword collected some killer footage of vintage queens doing their thing in the days of yore. Above you’ll find a clip from San Francisco’s “Eight Annual Gay Freedom Day Parade,” which went down way back in 1979, when dinosaurs roamed the earth. You can see one in the background - a big purple beast.

Last night’s episode of NBC competition America’s Got Talent, which we once tried - and failed - to watch, featured the DC Cowboy’s, a gay Western dance troupe.

“Think Brokeback meets Broadway,” quipped one member. And judge David Hasselhoff loved it, giving the boys a green light, saying “Save a horse, save a cowgirl!” Apparently he’s not familiar with Brokeback.

The group now heads to Vegas. This means, of course, that we’ll get another shot of sitting through Talent. Thanks, DC Cowboys!

The right wing won’t be happy about this one and no doubt we gays will take the blame: “Sex with robots may sound sci-fi, but finding a silicon soulmate is closer to reality than we think, says a British researcher. Human-like robots with all the working parts will make their way onto consumer markets in the next five years; in 20 years they will become socially accepted; and by 2050 the first human-robot marriage ceremony will take place, says David Levy, the London author of Love and Sex With Robots.” [Edmonton Journal via POQ]

The New York Post speculated last week that breast cancer survivor Cynthia Nixon had a tit job. Nixon, however, says they’re stupid butt holes, but not in those words: “I was at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital for my ‘three-monthly’ checkup. I was in the Oncology Department. I guess they think that means ‘plastic surgery.’… We got a call from [the Post] asking if I’d had breast augmentation, and my publicist laughed at them and said, ‘No, of course not.’ But they printed it anyway.” [NYDN]

Here’s an intriguing way to accommodate cross-dressing students: A secondary school in rural Thailand has designed a new bathroom that it calls a “transvestite toilet” for its growing community of cross-dressers.

The Kampang School in northeastern Thailand conducted a survey last term that showed more than 200 of the school’s 2,600 students considered themselves transvestites, said school director Sitisak Sumontha.

So, when classes resumed in May, the school unveiled a unisex restroom designated by a human figure split into two, half man in blue, and half female in red. Below the figure, it says, “Transvestite Toilet.” Surely it’s great that schools aren’t alienating the students, but wouldn’t a simple “unisex” toilet have been sufficient? Though … Continued…

New York Times photographer Monica Almeida captured Tori and Kate Kuykendall getting hitched in California yesterday. The girls are obviously excited, but daughter Zadia looks like she’s got other things on her mind. Doesn’t she know the world’s watching?!

The picture’s just one of many the Times features in an article today, in which a number of correspondents capture the “human faces” of same-sex nuptials. Indeed they did…

Coming to the States can help gay Arabs come together, but that doesn’t always mean they’re ready to be out and proud. Still, communities are emerging and are living the American dream, especially in New York. [Village Voice]

Social conservatives are always griping about how gay marriage weakens “traditional” marriage. Well, The Los Angeles Times‘ editorial team thinks that’s a bunch of rubbish: Perhaps the next few months will ease these fears, as same-sex couples begin their married lives together. Those couples will settle into communities without disorder or threat; they will bring legal protection to their bonds of love. Those bonds can only be good for society — children gain from being raised by married parents, and communities are stronger when residents are legally committed to one another. As more and more Californians marry, society will grow stronger, not weaker.

That’s no doubt why opponents sought a stay of the court’s … Continued…

Consummate feminist and known omnisexual Liz Smith on marriage: “Here’s my advice to those about to marry: Don’t. Take the money. Take the money and buy yourself a fabulous apartment and don’t spend the money on the wedding. It is the biggest throwaway and means nothing later. It’s the biggest waste of money and effort that I’ve ever heard of.” [wowowow]

It’s a big day to be gay!

Within a matter of hour, California will begin issuing same-sex marriage licenses, thus making it the second state in the Union to allow queer nuptials. Massachusetts, of course, was the first, which means it’s a perfect time for the New York Times to take a closer look at the shocking reality of homo married life: it’s not all it’s cracked up to be!

Shocking, we know, but it’s a lesson we should all learn. Or, rather, should have learned…
Continued…

Coming out of the closet once doesn’t mean you’ll be out forever.

We gay folk are constantly having to come out to new friends, colleagues and other random associates. And, when we don’t, can often be confused for a - gasp! - heterosexual, which can lead to some sticky situations.

Take, for example, the following query in the NY Times‘ new etiquette section: “You’re at someone’s house who starts talking about how wrong gay marriage is. You are gay. What do you do?”

Now, before you answer “punch them in the face,” consider homo-journo and etiquette columnist Philip Galanes’ more measured reply…
Continued…