Testifying before the United States Senate, Defense Sec. Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen promised lawmakers they would investigate and review the best strategy to implement a Don't Ask Don't Tell repeal. To do this, the men said, they would put together a team of qualified individuals who would look into the feasibility of such a move. Too bad the Military Times just beat them to it. Continued »

The three-year-old Al Jazeera English is lauded by The Gays for regularly covering, with responsible reportage, gay rights issues and stories, unlike, say, CNN. Which is why the Canadians Gs are so thrilled the network is finally arriving there. But it isn't sparing criticism of the parent network, based in Qatar, which still treats homos as worthy of a stoning. Continued »

Like a crowded restaurant or during a press conference, Twitter is not the place to make anti-gay jokes. The NFL's Larry Johnson learned that, and now so too did a representative of Vodafone, the giant British mobile phone provider. Continued »

OH SNAP — Justin Timberlake joins Anne Hathaway in accepting a Harvard Pudding Award, where it's customary for the honoree to try on a little cross-dressing. "Funny enough," said the singer, "every time I've hosted SNL I've ended up in drag at least once. I love stuff like this." Continued »

Three cheers for delivering a response not written on her hand. Continued »

The Focus on the Family ad above is the spot that's airing during today's Super Bowl on CBS. It is, frankly, quite tame, and not the raging pro-abortion ad The Commentariat supposed it would be (and generated untold millions in free media impressions for the anti-gay group). But was it the original ad that FOTF had put together? Perhaps not, based on what we've seen. Continued »

Lourdes Garcia, a former waitress at the Penthouse Executive Club in New York, is suing her old employer. Because, she claims, her female boss made inappropriate come-ons. Continued »

Judge Vaughn Walker, the federal justice overseeing the Prop 8 trial, is a big gay. It's been speculated about, but it took for the trial's end nearing for the open secret to be confirmed. It's an interesting aside to Perry v. Schwarzenegger, because Walker was once despised by the gays, and his decision to let this trial play out has been seen by some as a path to "redemption." But what will many expect to happen, should Walker rule against Prop 8's proponents, is that the defendant Protect Marriage/Yes On 8 will make an issue of his sexuality, and charge that he was biased in his ruling. This is ridiculous. Continued »

The issue of gays in the military is ripe for comedy. The Onion has been all over it. So too has The Daily Show. The Weekly World News as well. And so have the gay tanks. So why was Saturday Night Live's Fox News parody such a let down? Continued »

Who says porn studios merely steal (the innocence of young men) from the gay community without giving anything back? CorbinFisher.com, most recently seen defending Adam Lambert's on-air smooch to the FCC, donated $60,000 to Equality Florida after CEO Jason Gibson had "a chance encounter" at a cocktail party. Which sounds like the plotline to one of their films. But what's sixty large when you've got $100,000 to offer Levi Johnston to "masturbate to completion."

What did some students in Maryland bring home to their families along with their report cards? Oh, just a little literature from Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, which wanted high school students to know that homosexuality can be cured through therapy. And there's nothing you can do about it. Continued »

Angela Alfarache and Ivonne Cervantes, a lesbian couple living in Mexico City, are finally about to receive something they've yearned for: formal recognition of their union from the government, when the Mexican capital, which legalized same-sex civil unions in 2007, starts handing out gay marriage licenses there March 4. Happy day! But for the past six years, since the birth of their daughter Constanza, at least one of those moms hasn't been recognized as a legal mother. So what was the solution Angela and Ivonne dreamed up? Simply refuse to say which of them gave birth to Constanza and is her biological mother. Love it. Continued »

When the radio network Air America abruptly folded and signed off last month, its multi-million dollar debt load meant several well known media names had gone unpaid. Like MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, who is reportedly owed $3,952. And Ron Reagan, who is due $6,351. But when a few gay media reporters and photographers saw the news written up by The Advocate, they couldn't help but laughing: that magazine is still alive and kicking, and according to our rough count, still owes untold numbers of contributors overdue fees totaling the tens of thousands. Continued »

Whether Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is taking up the cause of gays in the military stems from her re-election battle against flip-flopper Harold Ford Jr., or because she's merely dedicated to securing equality for Americans, we're starting to care less. While the Times' calls Gillibrand's latest move an "apparent effort to court a voting bloc in her home state," it may also have a material effect: She's introducing legislation that would nix any money from the Defense Department's budget dedicated to investigating Don't Ask Don't Tell claims. It's a Band-Aid, and it might be the best you'll get. Continued »

Brendan Burke, the youngest son of Toronto Maple Leafs president Brian Burke, and whose coming out story received international attention, died today from injuries suffered in a car accident. He was 21. Continued »

But not, of course, why she's been able to keep it.

SOUNDBITES — "It just seemed too awful for me to believe. I mean his wife, whom I took to be a very decent person, had terminal cancer. Although adultery is extremely common – especially among people disturbed enough to seek political office – I dismissed it too easily. I mean his wife was confronting death on a daily basis. I just couldn't believe a husband could do that to his wife then. I also felt protective toward Elizabeth, feeling that investigating this would be deeply hurtful to a woman faced with mortality. Maybe my own brushes with mortality affected me in this as well. In all this, of course, I was wrong. It really was that bad, and if Game Change is to be believed (and I think it broadly is), it was even worse. My mistake as a journalist was in making an assumption of a baseline of decency in public officials that it is not my job to make. My job is to assume nothing and to trust nothing until verified. One doesn't have to pry; but when rumors emerge, we should not be deferent with public officials. We should ask questions." —Andrew Sullivan, offering a mea maxima culpa for not going after John Edwards' sex scandal story as enthusiastically as he went after Sarah Palin Continued »

Tucker Carlson, who was once employed by MSNBC but who lost his show because his ratings resembled toilet water, launched a conservative website called The Daily Caller. There, his writers have been referring to Rachel Maddow as "a man." This is supposed to be funny, because Rachel is a lesbian, and she has short hair, and boyish good looks. Now it's up to the commentary gallery to decide whether the jabs are actually not that insulting, because Rachel purposefully dresses and styles herself in traditionally masculine ways.

We know John spends plenty of time in gay bars, because the last time we saw him he was delivering a few simple rules about what not to do at gay bars, and he wouldn't just hand out that advice without doing his research! But maybe John, 22, spends too much time at these establishments, because it has him thinking all homos are just into the physical (okay, sometimes true!), which is going to leave him single forever. And he's ready to abandon the whole gay thing! Ready for sweeping statements and generalities? Awesome! Continued »

Brazilian Army Gen. Raymundo Nonato de Cerqueira Filho on gays in the military: "Military life contains certain characteristics, including combat, that cannot be adjusted to fit the
life of this individual. Most of the armies of the world do not allow this type of [sexual] orientation." [GNW]