We don’t know what’s gotten into Boy George lately but he seems to in the news as much as he was during his Culture Club days in the 80's. It could just be the need to generate buzz for a nonexistent career. Or, more likely, it could be blamed on the massive cocaine withdrawal he might be suffering at the moment. We’re sure his publicist is making sure his nostrils are free of any nose candy.

It seems the Boy isn't too keen on gay marriage. Wonder what fellow brit (and newlyood) Sir Elton John has to say about this.

"Gay unions, what is that all about? I haven't been invited to any ceremonies and I wouldn't go anyway. The idea that gay people have to mimic what obviously doesn't work for straight people anymore, I think is a bit tragic.

"I'm looking forward to gay divorces."

Well, that pessimistic attitude is no way to get yourself invited to what is sure to be the hottest ticket of the year: George Michael’s summertime wedding. But if the Boy is right and gays all over start filing for divorce in droves, we owe him a coke. Of course we mean Coca-Cola.

Boy George ridicules gay marriage [Pink News]

Since they're pretty much losing the battle against gay marriage, conservatives are now turning their attention toward banning gays& lesbians from adopting children. They're up and running with November ballot inititatives. Someone please save the children from The Gays! But there are already some surprisingly strange laws already on the books across the country. For example, single gays can adopt kids in Mississippi, but queer couple cannot. This is logical. Well, not really.

At least Utah is consistent. All unmarried couples (that includes straights!) are prevented from adopting.

But conservatives are already losing this battle, too. Last week a Missouri judge ruled a lesbian can be a foster mother. It may not be adoption per se, but it's certainly a step in that direction for the state.

Drives to ban gay adoption heat up in 16 states [USA Today]

Missouri judge says lesbian can be foster mom [The Advocate]

• Brits love Brokeback Mountain (and Jake Gyllenhaal) just as much as their neighbors across the pond. [Zap2it]

• The country's largest Catholic university is offering a minor in queer studies. This can only be considered progress if the required classroom textbook is not the Bible. [Newsweek]

• New Jersey doesn't define marriage as strictly between a man and a woman. That means gay marriage may already be legal in that state. [NJ.com]

• Trannies are the new gay cowboys. [The Wichita Eagle]

• RIP Professor Dorius, a man who was run out of town by a bunch of old ditties just for looking at a few pretty pictures. [SF Gate]

Laurel Hester, the 49-year-old cancer-stricken police officer who fought to leave her pension benefits to her partner lost her battle to cancer this weekend. As a 23-year veteran of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s office, Hester inadvertently became a gay marriage activist after battling over a year with numerous failed attempts to extend her pension benefits to her partner of six years. Hester feared that her partner would lose the home they shared without her 13,000 death benefit.

Two years ago, New Jersey passed a Domestic Partnership act giving counties and cities the right to extend healthcare benefits and pension benefits to partners of gay employees. Of course there is a caveat involved when it comes to our rights; these benefits can be given at the discretion of the individual cities and counties, and the Ocean Country Prosecutor’s office, Hester’s former employer, repeatedly thwarted her plea.

Despite her failing health, Hester didn’t just throw in the towel. She continued to show up at their meetings, demanding the simple designation that her partner receive her benefits in the event of her death. There were protests. Garden State Equality, a New Jersey gay and lesbian rights group got involved to raise public awareness and solidify her case. Nothing seemed to change their minds.

Bed-stricken and unable to attend further meetings, Hester had Garden State Equality videotape her final plea where she urged the freeholders to “make a change for good, a change for righteousness.” Finally, after a long battle, they relented agreeing to give Hester’s partner the benefits she’d earned.

Not to sound preachy, but Hester’s refusal to relent is a huge act of courage and perseverance that should resonate with us all. We’re going to act all kinds of crazy if Hester isn’t on the cover of The Advocate by the end of year.

Cancer-stricken gay rights activist dies at 49 [Newsday]

• The queer animal kingdom was doing so well, what with gay pink flamingos and pink penguins making the news this month. That is until those gay Israeli vultures ran back into the closet. [Haaretz Daily]

• Playing gay has been so good for Heath Ledger's career, he might just give it another go. [Post Chronicle]

• After her performance at the Grammys last week, Madonna had a surgeon perform on her. Bitch had a hernia. That's what you get for wearing nothing but constricting leotards. [NY Post]

• Traditionally leftist Canada has gays worried that their new Bush clone of a leader might take away their same-sex marriage rights. We adore our neighbors to the North for their progressive stance, so let's hope not. [USA Today]

• Once the current uproar over that controversial Mohammad cartoon dies down, some traditional Muslims are going to have another thing to protest: a documentary about Islamic gays. [Variety]

We've been impatiently waiting all day for New Jersey's Supreme Court to make a decision on gay marriage in the state. No news just yet but we came across an article spotlighting one queer arguing for gays' right to marry in the Garden State.

Stephen Wisner, 34, of Maplewood, was part of a group shaking signs at passing traffic.

"I've been with my partner for 20 years, I want what everyone else wants with marriage," Wisner said.

If a couple can survive the awkwardness of puberty, the homophobic period of high school, and their hormone-raging twenties, they deserve more than just the right to marry their partner in the eyes of the State. They deserve a freaking medal.

Crowd rallies for gay marriage as high court hears arguments [Newsday]

We present yet another reason to feel depressed about not having a date for Valentine’s Day. Everyone knows that married breeders live longer but a new report says so do coupled queers. So does that mean a dateless February 14th is detrimental to your health? Well, probably not as much as a hunting trip with Dick Cheney.

Reports the report:

Gay "marriage" could boost the mental and physical health of homosexuals, doctors believe.

Rates of depression, drug abuse and cancer are higher in the gay community than among heterosexual people.

The report doesn’t reveal if bulging biceps and an ass of steel are also important physical health benefits. But we can't think of much else that would help any queer land a man and, in turn, a walk down the aisle.

Gay marriage 'is good for health' [BBC]

If only Elton John and David Furnish had just waited a few months they could’ve been married in what possibly might be the gayest wedding venue on Earth: Princess Diana’s old digs.

Althrop House, where the late wife of Prince Charles was brought up, can be rented out for £50,000 as a luxury wedding venue for gay and straight couples.

Couples will be able to pose for photographs outside of “Diana's Temple”, the summer house beside the grave of the late Princess.

Gay couples will be able to consummate their marriage in the bedroom once shared by the Princess and her former husband, Prince Charles.

Sure the price is steep but come on, there is no price too high to knock boots in the same bed that Diana and Charles, well, probably did nothing at all in. Still, it worth it to hold your ceremony there – how often do you get married and piss off the Queen at the same time?

Princess Diana's home opened for gay weddings [Pink News UK]

• Gays from Newark to Trenton could be shopping for wedding dresses and tuxes. Same-sex marriage is going to the New Jersey Supreme Court. [Newsday]

• Two of our favorite media subjects come together in one place. Tyra Banks tackles gay cowboys on her show today. [The Advocate]

• It won't be Return to Brokeback Mountain, but Jake Gylenhaal and Heath Ledger might end up onscreen once again. [NY Times]

• We don't know why the normally anti-gay Focus on the Family is endorsing a pro-gay bill, but we'll take what we can get from them. [LA Times]

• There was a time when Madonna's controversial performances were much more risqué than form-fitting purple leotards and a few sexy dance moves. Malaysia's government needs to take a look at Truth or Dare to see what the real definition of provocative is. [In The News]

• Gay bar attacker Jacob Robida's bedroom was decorated with "homemade posters slurring gays, African-Americans, and Jews; neo-Nazi literature and skinhead paraphernalia; a makeshift coffin; and an empty knife sheath." And this guy tried to bludgeon people? You don't say! [The Boston Globe]

• Ryan Seacrest did not storm off a radio show after being asked about his sexuality. But we're sure everyone agrees that the question still stands. [Editor & Publisher]

• We're sure you're all tired of the plethora of Brokeback Mountain trailer parodies. But for those of you who can't get enough, we present Brokeback to the Future. [You Tube via Defamer]

• The New York Times finally discovers gay ski week in Aspen and all the fabulous drag queens that go with it. [NY Times]

• The Elton John/Bernie Taupin musical Lestat appears to be in trouble. Delays and cancellations are never a good sign. [Philadelphia Daily News]

• Effectively ignoring the attitudes of their more progressive Spanish neighbors, Portugal denies some dykes the right to get married. [BBC]

• Taye Diggs goes gay. We're jealous of Will. [Rod 2.0]

• Dave Chapelle is doing the tell-all interview on Oprah as to why he bailed on his show. Oprah asks Chapelle whether he was on drugs. Let the photo of him on her site do the talking. [Oprah]

• A lesbian couple, both of whom are in the army, married in England. We’re waiting for two men to do the same: imagine two men kissing in uniform. Hot. [Gay.com]

• A bill to ban gay marriage in Maryland was killed after Democrats amended the bill to allow civil unions with full marriage rights between gay couples. [Fox News]

• The amount of Brokeback art has grown since our post from yesterday. And it’s still really bad. [eBay]

Following in the sensible shoes of Rosie O’Donnell and Ellen Degeneres, two women in Portugal tried to get married in the heavily Roman Catholic country. Though the women expected to be turned down, they still decided to try because, you know, it’s the right thing to do.

The couple is basing their case on Portugal's 1975 constitution, which bans sexual discrimination, arguing that two women have the same right to marry as a man and a woman. Portugal's civil code, however, bans same-sex marriages.

The couple will receive the formal response to their marriage request on Thursday but the women's lawyer, Luis Grave Rodrigues, said he was sure they would be denied.

Even though the girls will most likely be denied, the media attention surrounding their case is surely a good thing, especially considering neighboring Spain’s pro-gay stance. And afterall, the capitol of Portugal ain’t called Lisbon for nothin’.

Portuguese gay couple try to marry, change law [Reuters]

The country continues its constant state of change in all things queer, inclduing gay rights. Usually things change for the better. Take for example Washington Governor Christine Gregoire's signing into law yesterday a bill that simply prevents discrmination on sexual orientation. We call this progress.

But across the other side of the country in Maryland, we have a hint of even more progress. As we mentioned last week, a judge (one of those nasty "activist" judges we presume) shot down the state's ban on gay marriage. But some Republicans are trying to put the brakes on any potential same-sex unions in the state as well as some pre-existing gay rights! It is all due to the complicated language in the proposed constitutional amendment. Those conservatives - always making things unnecessarily complicated.

In any case, how can anyone not allow gays to get hitched in Maryland? There isn't a state in the Union that has a more fitting name for queens.

Gay Marriage Amendment Seen Eroding Current Rights [Washington Post]
Washington Governor Signs Gay Rights Bill [ABC News]

We’re not sure if we believe this, but it seems lesbians put more items on their wedding gift registries than gay men. We always assumed it would be the fags that would be the ones who, blinded by a registry gun and a Crate and Barrel catalog, would OD on wedding day swag. Guess, you ladies are closet shop-o-holics.

John Lewis noticed that 'Mr Listers' - same-sex male couples - requested fewer gifts on their lists with an average of 25 presents.

But their female 'Mrs Lister' counterparts opted for a 'scattergun' approach, requesting an average of 83 presents for family and friends to choose from.

Domestic-minded 'Mr Listers' wanted white crockery, serving spoons, Le Creuset cookware and pillowcases for the marital home

Lesbians have a more light-hearted approach to their wish lists, although they have registered equally practical items such as heart-shaped oven gloves, toilet brushs and Egyptian bath towel. A fun twist is evident on most 'Mrs Lister' lists with sponge mops, body fat scales and hand-held space invader games popping up frequently.

We’re not even gonna’ comment on that Space Invaders game thing, but we are still shocked by all of this. Maybe all of these department stores have hefty automotive sections, and the increase is accounted for in brake pads, jacks, and tire irons.

Come on! We are only kidding, people!

What Lesbian And Gay Couples Want On Big Day [Life Style Extra]

The Pacific Northwest has always been a little bit more progressive than the rest of the country (remember Kurt Cobain in drag?) and this week was not different. The Legislature, including one Republican, voted to extend massive benefits to the gay community in the Evergreen State.

"History is going to look kindly upon the legislators who had the courage to vote for this," said Rep. Dave Upthegrove, who cried when the bill passed the House. "It's a great day for equality, for fairness."

First introduced in 1977, the measure adds "sexual orientation" to a state law that bans discrimination in housing, employment and insurance, making Washington the 17th state passing a law covering gays and lesbians. It is the seventh to protect transgender people.

The bill still doesn’t address the sticky (sorry, we’re pretty pervy) issue of marriage, and of course the remaining Republicans added some wording to keep the status quo, but this is still a huge victory for our community. As the lone Republican voting for the bill, Sen. Bill Finkbeiner said, “we don’t choose who we love. The heart chooses who we love.” Sounds like he’s seen that gay cowboy movie.

Wash. Legislature Passes Gay Rights Bill [ABC News]