• San Francisco's Department of Human Services has launched an ad campaign to recruit gay parents to adopt.

• Meanwhile, the San Francisco Chronicle have clarified their report on the aforementioned ad campaign. The newspaper originally cited Family Research Council's Paul Cameron as an "expert" on the matter. They neglected, however, to mention that he's been debunked by the American Psychological Association and hates gay people. Oops!

• On that note: the APA formed a "task force" to review research on ex-gay conversion therapy. Oh, we're sorry - "therapeutic responses". APA president Dr. Sharon Stephens Brehm bursts with joy: "I am pleased to announce the initiation of this task force. Its work will be of significant value as it will help inform all mental health practitioners about appropriate and effective therapeutic responses to sexual orientation. I look forward to the group's report." That could be good for the children.

• National Runaway Switchboard has published a new brochure for gay teens, "Being Out, Being Safe". NRS director Maureen Blaha remarks, "Research shows that LGBTQ youth are four times more likely to exhibit the symptoms of major depression than heterosexual youth -- which may lead to a runaway episode". Be sure to pack a lunch!

• "Shirley Q. Liquor" - a black face drag comedienne - did an interview with Rollingstone. Jasmyne Cannick - a black sappho-journo - wrote a rebuttal. NSFC (Not safe for children).

• In other baby-related news, here's a baby playing with a cobra! No word on whether the parents are gay.

• Pictures of celebrities smoking pot. Grownup children!!

• Plague strikes Denver zoo! Do not take your kids there. They will die. And so will you... (In fact, don't go to Colorado at all.)

• Looking for a movie about 1980s Liverpool gay teens who venture into a magical trans bar? Well, look no further: The Fruit Machine's out on DVD. Now you can go to the Denver zoo.

Madonna's publicist may have dismissed rumors the material mom's on the prowl for another Malawian baby, but The Sun reports otherwise. Madge's forthcoming goodwill mission to the African nation may be a stake out on a little girl named Grace. A source "close to the star" - whatever that means - tells the British tab-rag:

Madonna saw a film of children at a place called The Consol Home. She spotted a beautiful girl called Grace who lit the room with her smile, and fell head over heels for her. Madonna kept saying, ‘That girl has so much love in her. I want to help her achieve her potential’.

But adoption officials are being very strict after the uproar when Madonna adopted David. They know Grace is her first choice, but have insisted she looks at other girls first — and that the final decision is theirs.

The controversy over David erupted primarily because his father's still in the picture. Little Grace, however, has lost both parents, which means, of course, she's an easier sell.

Madonna got the media beat down when she adopted Malawian baby, David Banda, but that's not stopped her from returning to Malawi. In fact, it may have encouraged her.

The material mom's publicist confirms that the pop star's headed down African way to help other orphans. The proverbial "insider", however, tells Life & Style a different tale:

She wants David to have a relationship with his biological father. She's going under the guise of a vacation, but she's not on vacation - she's on a mission.

She intends to adopt another baby soon, but first she wants to repair her image from all the bad press she got over David's adoption. She plans on having David's father be part of the extended family. She wants to show that her adoption was an unselfish act of love and not what it was portrayed as in the media.

Regardless of our suspicions, we'll agree with the aforementioned publicist when she says, "If her trip there brings attention to the tremendous need to help the children of that country, then so be it." Fair enough.

While some gay men use the internet to find their next trick, Michael and Rich Butler took to the world wide web to find a baby. The San Jose couple logged onto a popular adoption site - the straightforwardly named Adoption.com - and hoped to post their profile, thus giving birth mothers a chance to offer up their offspring. Unfortunately for the Butlers, the Mormon owners of the Arizona-based site had three words for them: "No gays allowed".

Insulted and incensed, the Butlers called their attorney and filed a suit against the aforementioned owners - Nathan and Dale Gwilliam. The father and son team claim they can discriminate against the Butlers because Arizona doesn't share California's anti-discrimination laws. A judge, however, has ruled that the company must honor out-of-state laws and that the Butlers can go ahead with their proposed lawsuit. The case doesn't just help the Butlers, of course, but could set new standards for internet businesses. The National Center For Lesbian Rights' legal direction Sharon Minter says:

It means that companies that do business with California residents on the Internet cannot discriminate against LGBT couples... It's actually an emerging issue across the country whether Internet businesses have to comply with state anti-discrimination and consumer protection laws.

Meanwhile, the Gwilliam's attorney insists the Butlers could have avoided the brouhaha if they had simply concealed their homosexuality. Sound ridiculous? Check this out:

If a homosexual man married a lesbian, they simply would not be asking the question, 'What is your sexual orientation?' It would not be an issue.

Gay couple can sue adoption site [Bay Area Reporter]

In On The Origins of Inequality, political theorist Jean-Jacques Rousseau hypothesizes that foresight holds men apart from other mammals. Unfortunately for lesbianic IBM-heiress Olive F. Watson (pictured), she's not part of the in-crowd.

In an attempt to provide for her longtime partner, Patricia A. Spado, Watson - whose father Thomas Watson Jr. grew IBM from a small company to an technological powerhouse - took advantage of a Maine law allowing adult adoption, thus cementing Spado's place in her bed - and her life. Of course, as happens, Watson and Spado's relationship crumbled. Now, sixteen years later, the two women are fighting over Watson's father's fortune.

With Watson's mother's death in 2004, Thomas Watson's children and eighteen grandchildren each got a stake of the sizable fortune. Spado, however, alleges she's entitled to a piece of the pie. The family went to court in Maine to annul the adoption and won on a technicality. In light of the news, Spado produced papers signed by Watson saying Watson would never annul the adoption. Now, a higher court's rule the annulment invalid, thus setting the stage for what will prove to be a drag-out battle of the greediest.

CONTINUED »

Just when you thought it was safe to adopt an African baby!

It seems Madonna - the little known American singer who recently "adopted" a child from Malawi - may not have explained everything to Yohane Banda, the father of her new tot, David. Even though Banda supported Madonna just last week, as international groups raised a stink against Madonna for what seemed like a great colonial kidnapping, he now claims he's been duped, insisting he didn't understand what Madonna meant by "adopting."

Banda was under the impression that Madonna was going to raise the kid and then give him back to Banda. He says:

Had they told us that Madonna wanted to adopt my son and make him her own son, we would not have agreed to that... I cannot read and write so I relied on what the (government) officials told me that the papers said Madonna would look after the child the way the orphanage planned to educate him and then he comes back to me...

Yeah fucking right! Like that kids going to just leave Madonna and his millions of dollars to go chill in Malawi with pops. If he's a good kid, he'll take some of the money Madonna will no doubt give him and send it to his father or - if he's a fucking saint - he'll bring his father to London to live with him.

Oh, and if you want to know what Jacob Zuma says about all of this adoption drama, he says that Malawi should have more flexible laws. You know, just so you're informed...

• Don't Ask, Don't Tell Protests Sweep Three Cities! [365 Gay]

• Britney Spears Shoots Out Another Kid! [Jossip]

• Meanwhile, Gays Still Struggling to Adopt! [Reuters]

• Gay Killer Escapes in England! Drama Queens Run! [Pink News UK]

• Designer Olivier Theysken Joins Nina Ricci! [The New York Times]

• Madonna Faces Even More Hate in Russia! [Towleroad]

We always wanted to marry a prince, but we'll settle for adoption. Disowned Prince Manvendra Singh Hohli of Rajpipla's apparently in the market. [All Headline News]

The controversial - and DOA - Bill 208 fizzles in Calgary. [The Calgary Sun]

New evidence supports theory that some people may be immune to HIV. [Medical News Today]

Sunsilk may employ gay-face to sell product, but it comes with a warning. [After Elton]

The New York State Supreme Court delivers some trannie justice! [The New York Blade]

• Fine, we get it: The Boy Scouts don't want homos running their programs. But that doesn't mean a newspaper needs to agree with them — and go so far as to call sexual orientation discrimination a "non-issue." [Northeast Times, via]

• A brilliant answer to a needless problem: On the heels of Archbishop George Niederauer forbidding San Francisco's Catholic Charities from placing foster children with gay couples, the non-profit org is teaming up with California Kids Connection to act as a middleman — and thus bypass SFCC's anti-gay mandate. [ABC San Francisco]

• Don't think Jake and Heath are the only homos on the big screen. Robin Williams plays a gay man in The Night Listener,while Little Miss Sunshine has Steve Carell and The Groomsmen features John Leguiizamo going gay. Meanwhile, Quinceanera and Shock to the System: A Donald Strachey Mystery both feature members of the family. [LA Daily News]

• U.S. Senate candidate Katherine Harris (R-Fl.) is facing even more controversy, with her fourth campaign manager tied to an org that's accused of using fraudlent practices to collect signatures on anti-gay rights petitions. [Raw Story]

It's a close race in Florida, but the frontrunner supports civil unions while his opponents do not. You must think we're talking about the general election, but this divide has actually cropped up in the Republican primary. While he still supports the ban on gay adoption, frontrunning (and not gay) Republican candidate Charlie Crist approves of civil unions for gay couples. This is a huge departure from the party platform and especially from current Florida governor and brother-of-W Jeb Bush.

In Florida, even the two Democrats running for governor didn't support gay adoption until last year, so it's odd to see this little bit of progressive politics on the Republican side. Of course, his support of the gays isn't helping his argument that he isn't a big ol' queen himself (see photo at right). When recently asked if he was gay, he replied, "I'm not," but from our experience, when gay rumors persist, there is often a reason.

Regardless, we applaud Charlie for standing up for his beliefs, whatever the reason, and wish him luck in the primary.

GOP Candidate For Fla. Gov. OKs Civil Unions [365 Gay]
Crist is not gay! [Blogwood]

• Same-sex couples in Belgium can legally co-parent children as of yesterday. The law only passed by one vote in the Senate, which seems weird to us. They let the gays marry, but then get squemish about adoption. We guess we shouldn't complain though, now that they have joined Spain, the Netherlands and Sweden in giving equal adoption rights to gay couples. [365 Gay]

• Despite how gay the guys in those hair bands from the 70s and 80s looked, we never really believed that they were. However, Styx bassist Chuck Panozzo has come out of the closet as a gay man living with AIDS, and is making up for his years of silence. [Frontier]

• Alleged Duke rapist Collin Finnerty's gay-bashing incident in D.C. last year did not involve an actual gay, but just a few straight guys calling each other "fag." The incident was not treated as a hate crime, but still provides evidence that Finnerty is a complete prick. [Washington Blade]

• Schools in California can now prevent their students from wearing antigay t-shirts following a case of a boy who refused to take off his shirt that said "Be Ashamed, Our School Embraced What God Has Condemned'' on the front and "Homosexuality Is Shameful'' on the back. The slogan on the front actually gets us kind of hot, but we suppose that isn't really appropriate for high school either. [LA Times]

• The war on gay adoption continues. Because being an orphan is better than living with gay parents. [CSM]

• Televangelist-turned-gay-activist Tammy Faye Messner appeared on Larry King again, to say she's now in Stage 4 cancer. Things don't look good. [Popbytes]

• The new gay playground: Pakistan?!? [Guardian]

• Sex toys are illegal in Mississippi. Note to Mississippi: when Pakistan is more fun than you, you know it's time to lighten up. [AP]

• Sex changes are no longer paid for by Medicaid. Which means, at one time they were?...[Seattle P.I.]

• A gay film set in the 60's and 70's wins tons of accolades and it ain't Brokeback? Canucks have a gay hit movie of their own. [CBC]