After reading about Massing's lawsuit, be sure to go here and vote how you would rule in the case.

Model Ben Massing sent us a note this week insisting he's not a homophobe, charges he incurred after suing gay magazine Genre for running sexually suggestive pictures of him without his permission. Wrote Massing via an attorney:

Numerous media outlets focused on the fact that the images appear in a publication geared toward the gay community. Based upon these reports, some have mischaracterized me as homophobic, which could not be further from the truth.

We were beginning to feel a bit bad about this Massing business, but then we obtained a copy of his lawsuit against Genre and photographer Rick Day and it's one of the most blatantly homophobic documents we've read in a long, long time.

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And we thought Sarah Palin was nuts?

Police are investigating whether an independent federal candidate committed a hate crime by telling high school students homosexuals should be executed.

David Popescu was invited to participate in a federal candidates' discussion at Sudbury Secondary School on Tuesday. He made the comment after a student asked his opinion of gay marriage.
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During a telephone interview later in the day, Popescu reasserted his view.

"A young man asked me what I think of homosexual marriages and I said I think homosexuals should be executed," he said. "My whole reason for running is the Bible and the Bible couldn't be more clear on that point."

Candidates and teachers looked on in silence as students called for him to be "cut off."

If Popescu had any odds of getting elected, he doesn't anymore…

Out actor Bryan Batt, who plays a closeted homosexual on AMC's Mad Men, recently sat down with CNN to discuss the state of being gay in Hollywood.

While some label Hollywood's gay hesitancy as "homophobic," Batt takes a more nuanced approach:

It's just like any prejudice, once you let go of any prejudice they all have to go. They're not based on facts, just on stereotypes. I really think yes, there might be some homophobia in Hollywood, but it's based on what will sell. Hollywood is a huge industry, a multibillion-dollar business. If actors who are gay will get ratings and will sell, they will get cast.

There are always going to be people who look at people who are different and who disapprove [of them] either through fear or through ignorance. We have to work toward acceptance on all levels. How long ago were the civil rights movement and the women's movement? And, still today, women don't make the same amount of money as men do for doing the same job.

Batt, you're our new favorite Hollywood homo.

Evil activist Elaine Donnelly, who was once almost laughed off Capital Hill for her ridiculous anti-gay assertions, has been rounding up social conservatives for a strategy session on Don't Ask, Don't Tell:

[PFLAG] has learned that The Center for Military Readiness, a right-wing activist group based in Michigan, has invited leaders of prominent veterans services organizations to a Washington, D.C. briefing on Thursday that the organization has tried to keep secret. The event, outlined in a letter obtained exclusively by PFLAG, is described as "a private, off-the-record briefing" to strategize about how to battle efforts to repeal the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual troops.

"Given your organization's long-standing commitment to military readiness and the high standards and sound policy that promotes it, I hope I can count on you in joining CMR to defend the law regarding homosexual conduct in the military," CMR's Elaine Donnelly writes in the letter, which was sent by fax to VSO leaders in Washington. "We need to talk about what can be done, and why, face to face."

This must have been what Eagle Forum leader Colleen Holmes was talking about when she told an anonymous ally to find "horror stories" on gays in the military, which they would then use to fight for DADT. Holmes also described gay rights as a "tar baby."

Right-wing non-profit Eagle Forum's Executive Director Colleen Holmes needs a pair of eagle eyes herself!

Holmes and homo-journo Jack Jett exchanged a number of emails earlier this month as the two attempted to coordinate an interview for Jett's new radio show. Jett wanted to discuss Holmes' work with the Forum, which was founded by Phyllis Schlafly in 1967, and has been especially virulent in their battle against feminist and gay rights.

Though Holmes originally agreed to be interviewed - and after much back and forth - Holmes at the last minute backed out, citing scheduling problems. The conservative activist apologized profusely and even joked that she didn't want to be seen as "pulling a McCain," a reference to Republican presidential candidate John McCain's threats to skip last week's presidential debate against John McCain. And, in addition to this sorry email, Holmes accidentally included a tactical note to an unidentified ally.

It is definitely not for the children…

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It's a well documented fact that the Iranian government executes suspected homosexuals, yet president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continues to deny such atrocities.

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It's been nearly 60 years since India became sovereign, yet the government yesterday decided to uphold a colonial era law prohibiting homosexuality. How queer!

Testifying before the High Court yesterday, gay activist Shyam Diwan implored India's leaders to remember their post-colonial democratic dream:

The Constitution gives fundamental right to equality and it prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. But these rights of 25 lakh homosexuals in the country are being violated. Moral argument cannot triumph over the constitutional rights in a democratic society where fundamental rights prohibit any discrimination on the ground of sex.

The Ministry of Health has also been fighting against the law, called Section 377, and have asserted - quite rightly - that such legislation contributes to the spread of HIV/AIDS. The Home Ministry, meanwhile, fought for the law, highlighting a growing tension within the government.

Despite the facts and personal testimony, government leaders said yesterday they were "obviously" not going to overturn 377. It seems they would rather live under rhetorical British rule. Said Additional Solicitor General PP Malhotra: "Obviously, we will take a stand against the scrapping of Section 377 IPC that classifies sex between two men as a criminal offense. We object to their plea." Isn't it funny that Malhotra referred to men in his response?

Bosnia's zealots got their way.

After ten people were hurt last night in an attack on the nation's first gay festival, organizers have announced they're canceling the next three day of events. Organizer Svetlana Djurkovic remarked, "We cannot guarantee the safety of visitors. The festival is closing down."

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights' Srdjan Dizdarevic called the attacks uncivilized and blasted the perpetrators' fascist rhetoric. Many nationalists and Muslim leaders insist we gays go against their way of life, which obviously includes being party poopers.

British activist Peter Tatchell informs us that an Iraqi gay activist was gunned down at a barber shop this morning. This is only one of many, many murders carried out since the American invasion, most of which are carried out by organized death squads.

Tatchell wrote a good summation of the violence in today's edition of the Guardian, which went to press before the most recent assassination.

After the jump, a video on the "sexual cleansing." It's very depressing and called Gay Life, Gay Death in Iraq.

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An Australian tribunal wasn't laughing at gun lobbyist Ron Owen's bumper sticker.

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