An Egyptian man claims "gay panic" led him to stab his flatmate to death last week.

British national Stephen John Havering's body was found in the Saudi Arabian apartment he shared with 26-year old Muhammad Mukhlis Shamsuddin. Both men reportedly work for an investment company, Shoaibi Group, a job that had Havering traveling regularly from his home in Bahrain to Saudi Arabia. His wife and children lived in The Netherlands and were expected to move to Bahrain in the near future.

Shamsuddin admitted to the stabbing, but claims he was simply defending himself from Havering's sexual advances. It's now up to a coroner to confirm or deny such a struggle.

The arrest of fifty-five at a "gay party" in Saudi Arabia could turn into an international incident.

The Philippine embassy has confirmed that two of their nationals were seized in that raid. While embassy officials haven't mentioned any specifics, they say they're actively working with the Saudis to resolve the situation:

[A] report quoted David Dicang, Labor Attache of the Philippine embassy in charge of the Eastern Province that Filipinos were among those apprehended.

“I know that some Filipinos have been arrested in that area and we are trying to help them,” Dicang said.

Dicang could not yet give any comment on the nature of the case but added that the embassy is working with police to extend assistance to Filipino workers.

Homo loving is perfectly legal in the Philippines, so we're hoping the Embassy's efforts can spread some gay appreciation among the Saudis. We doubt that will happen, but it's best to remain optimistic.

Saudi Arabia's ratcheting up its anti-gay policing:

Police in the Gulf kingdom of Saudi Arabia have launched another raid on a so-called gay party, this time in the coastal Qatif province.

Drugs, alcohol were reportedly found at the gathering.

TV channel al-Arabiya reports that two young men wearing women's make up and dancing together were among 55 people arrested by religious police.

Last month more than 20 men after a raid on another property in Qatif.

Saudi Arabia's Islamic government has myriad punishments for alleged homos, including the death penalty. Most, however, are lashed. Two men received 7,000 lashes last October.

The Saudi Arabian government's been up to some nasty tricks. An independent report out of England says the government has been providing British mosques with anti-Western, anti-gay propaganda.

The Policy Exchange, timing its report to Saudi King Abdullah's state visit, said the material expressed a deep-rooted antipathy toward Western society, calling for violence against enemies of Islam, including women and gays who demand equal rights.

"Saudi Arabia is the ideological source of much of this sectarianism — and must be held to account for it," the study said. "Islamic institutions in the U.K. must clean up their act."

No word on whether Prime Minister Gordon Brown will be discussing the matter with Abdullah. Considering the amount of power, oil and money held by the Saudis, we have a feeling it will conveniently slip his mind.

Peter Tatchell and his group of mary men (and women) picketed the Saudi Arabian embassy in London Friday.

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• Rosie O'Donnell didn't have much to say about Britney Spears' baby drama. A confused looking Roseanne Barr, meanwhile, plans to give the pop tart a call, "I think she needs a mother. She needs help".

• GLAAD takes on NY Post, again:

The Post's Oct. 4 edition contained a Page Six item about an upcoming dating show on Fox Reality Channel (also a News Corporation property) called There’s Something About Miriam. The item referred to Miriam, a transgender woman from Mexico, using the slur “she-male.”
…
GLAAD contacted Page Six editor Richard Johnson this morning to discuss the description of Miriam. His e-mailed response read, “You're kidding me, aren't you? I would have used ‘chick with a dick’ but we're as [sic] family newspaper.”

Yeah, right.

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Governor Bill Richardson knows he made a bad move at last night's "gay debates," when he intimated that being gay is, in fact, a choice: a tired argument conservatives use against gay rights. If gays "choose" their "lifestyle," then they don't deserve "special" rights. Not the implication you want to make at a forum on gay rights.

Within minutes, the presidential hopeful had his team release a statement clarifying his position.

What a perfect conversation starter for Richardson and our editor, who met up with Richardson this morning. Get the goods on Richardson's poor choice of words, what to do about anti-gay Saudis and who's going to hell, after the jump…

CONTINUED »

Lesbians, lesbians everywhere! That's what some education officials in Saudi Arabia are saying after an apparent explosion of labia-minded love in the primarily Islamic country.

As homosexuality's a terrible, no good sin and certainly not innate, some people have been pointing the fingering finger at parents. College student Aisha Al-Qahtani agrees and also sheds some light on the ins and outs of lesbian relationships. Warning, it's pretty graphic:

A student who is not receiving enough love and care from her family tends to look for love in other students. At first she will admire a girl’s clothes or living standards. After that the relationship deepens and they exchange gifts and perfume to express their admiration for each other.

Girl, oh, girl, being a lesbian sounds like a real snooze.

• Sounds like Drudge creamed his pants over Anderson Cooper's proclamation that "going gray is like ejaculation" even more than we did.

• Speaking of ejaculate, STD cases in the gay community are on their way up, up, up. Someone please cue the Evangelicals. This is about when they start to claim this is God's way of punishing homos.

• Images from Gay.com didn't just magically appear on Mayor James West's computer after all. Yeah, obviously.

• Radar Magazine goes all kissy face and lists the top ten guy on guy movie smooches. Funny thing is we thought this article would only end up in the straight guy pages of Details.

• Saudi police busted up a gay beauty pageant before it even happened. Among the items they confiscated were large quantities of "sex toys." Um, what kind of beauty pageant was this going to be?

• Can't wait for it to come out next week? MTV.com is streaming Madge's new disc.