Ruff Ryding singer and actress Eve may have recently been arrested for a DUI, but let's not forget that the 29-year old beauty has also been working on a new album, Here I Am...

The album isn't slated until August, but that didn't stop that girl Eve from sitting down with homo-journo Clay Cane for a little chat. In addition to discussing interracial dating, Don Imus and Barack Obama, Eve and Cane get down on the homo-action.

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Be sure to read Stereohyped's perspective for "the black view."

Reverend Irene Monroe ain't no friend of Barack Obama. The black lesbian has come out against the black presidential candidate on more than one occasion. She first blasted the Illinois junior senator back in November, writing:

..[H]is affinity to conservative Christian beliefs not only informs his decision on the issue of marriage equality, but it also solidifies his decision about us in a community of believers like himself.

Though some black churches have lent their support to the lavender cause, the majority still maintain a decidedly repressive approach - an approach Obama maintains.

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The eight democratic presidential contenders took center stage in South Carolina last night for the campaign's first primary debate. While people expected an explosion of emotion, we received a trickle of decidedly lackluster contentions over contentious issues such as the war in Iraq, health care and the unfortunately timely topic of gun control.

The war dominated the debate, with Hillary Clinton insisting she regrets her vote to send our troops to Iraq, but insisting, "I take responsibility." Well, yes, we should think so. All the candidates expressed their intentions to end the increasingly protracted battle. Though vying for the same job, the Democrats kept things civil, with only Edwards taking a light jab at Clinton over her vote. (To be fair, he also took a jab over his well-coiffed, $400 hair, for which his campaign paid until recently.) Barack Obama told the audience - including predictably boring moderator, Brian Williams - that he's proud to have opposed the war from the get-go.

Civil unions came up briefly, with Williams lobbing the old "civil unions v. gay marriage" question to Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut. Skirting the issue, Dobbs started by imploring conservatives to imagine how they would feel if their children were gay and the government restricted their rights. Gay love deserves political approval, but not in the form of gay marriage. Way to court the center, Dodd.

Over all, the debates played like the run for class president, with each candidate playing up their positives and making themselves look as respectable as possible. Those of you looking for blood-letting - keep in mind the games have only begun. We're sure things will get ugly any day now.

Democratic hopefuls show political heft [MSNBC]
Democratic Presidential Debate Amazingly Maintains Status Quo [HuffPo]
Democrat's debate focuses on Iraq [Savannah Now]

• Tyra Banks loves Rosie O'Donnell's ta-tas.

• Friday's 20/20 features a Barbara Walters piece on transgender children and their families. Discussing the experience, Walters tells Dan Avery: "I am astounded by their courage. I think these children have a very hard future to face. In some ways it’s heartbreaking, but in other ways it’s uplifting. I had heard of the diagnosis and knew people went through this, but nothing prepared me for the love and sensitivity these people have for their children. That’s what this is about." If only all journalists were so altruistic.

• Colombia grows more than coca. Gay activists have been pushing for expanded rights. And people are getting hooked...

• "Obama The Magic Negro"? How does Rush Limbaugh's butt boy, Paul Shanklin still have a job. Seriously...

• The European Union may be gearing up for a bit of a gay battle with Poland. Our money's on The Union.

• Louis Vuitton and other luxury brands vow to stop hiring such nasty, snotty cunts.

Rock and roll ain't meant to be tame. And no doubt Xiu Xiu frontman Jamie Stewart knows a thing or two about letting out his wild side. He may look like an angel, but boy's got the sonic spirit of a hell bound demon. In a good way, of course.

As with Matthias Herrmann, Stewart's all about the artistic message. He's aware, however, that there's a fine line between giving the listener a glimpse and shoving it down their throat. He tells Queerty contributor Jesse Finkelstein:

The point of making art is that hopefully someone is touched by it. It is not the business of the person making it to foist their preconceived notions of destination on a listener or viewer.

See what else the handsome 34-year old has to say, after the jump.

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Republican presidential hopeful Senator Sam Brownback - a man who tried to bend the Constitution by limiting federal judge nominee and lesbian wedding guest, Janet Neff's case load to exclude queer cases - has penned a letter lauding General Peter Pace's comments on the gays. The letter, which Brownback sent to President Bush, insists that Pace has come under unnecessary fire, calling the criticism, "unfair and unfortunate". Unfortunate, indeed. Brownback went on to write:

We should not expect someone as qualified, accomplished and articulate as General Pace to lack personal views on important moral issues. In fact, we should expect that anyone entrusted with such great responsibility will have strong moral views.

One would hope that our nation's top military commander (aside from old Bushie, of course) would have strong moral views. Unfortunately, what Pace and Brownback consider to be moral - war, discrimination - don't actually qualify as such.

Brownback also took a little time to say that even though he doesn't think gay individuals are necessarily immoral, he has Catholic-based moral objections to "homosexual acts". You know, like that really bad drag show you saw last week...

Meanwhile, Democratic hopeful Barack Obama released a statement yesterday clarifying his ambiguous reaction to Pace's comments:

I do not agree with General Pace that homosexuality is immoral. Attempts to divide people like this have consumed too much of our politics over the past six years.

Whatever could he mean?

Brownback backs Pace [Knox News]
Clinton, Obama: Gays not immoral [Newsday]

The two most publicized of the Democratic presidential hopefuls - Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama - don't seem to know where they stand on the morality of homosexuality.

When asked about General Peter Pace's denunciation of gays as "immoral" Senator Clinton responded:

Well, I’m going to leave that to others to conclude. I’m very proud of the gays and lesbians I know who perform work that is essential to our country, who want to serve their country, and I want make sure they can.

Realizing such an ambiguous answer could be taken the wrong way, Mrs. Clinton amended her statement:

I disagree with what he said and do not share his view, plain and simple. It is inappropriate to inject such personal views into this public policy matter, especially at a time in which there are young men and women in such grave circumstances in Iraq, in Afghanistan, and in other dangerous places around the world.

Of Clinton's wishy-washy replies, Joe Solmonese - with whom Clinton recently appeared to celebrate his non-profit, Human Rights Campaign - said that he was concerned but would seek clarification from her campaign managers. That, of course, means that he's got to wait to see how much money they're dishing out.

Meanwhile, Senator Obama gave equally anticlimactic answers. Leaving the fire fighters convention, Obama remarked of Pace's comments:

I think traditionally the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman has restricted his public comments to military matters. That's probably a good tradition to follow.

When asked later, Obama said the main issue should be willing to sacrifice their life for their country. Of course, reporters weren't satisfied and asked a third time. This time Obama employed some of his signature charm, signed an autograph and walked away.

Good to know these two political giants are so dedicated to the cause, huh?

Meanwhile, in actual news, our favorite sappho-journo (her suggestion), Kerry Eleveld sent us this link to an article she penned for this week's The New York Blade. In said article, Eleveld dissects the effectiveness (and, in fact, necessity) of gay politics in the run-up to the 2008 election.

Launching her piece, Eleveld notes that noted conservative candidate Sam Brownback has side-stepped the "gay" debate, skirting the issue with political precision. Why? Well, considering their trampling in the last election, Republicans are steering away from the controversial issue. So, what about the Democrats?

According to Eleveld, all the potential candidates have planted themselves firmly in the middle, lauding the importance of civil unions, but refusing to go the extra step to endorse gay marriage. So, what does this mean for the politically-minded homo? Dive into that there jump and read for yourself...

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Gavin Newsom first caught the national eye back in 2004, when the young San Francisco mayor order city clerks to issue same-sex marriage licenses. Though the nearly 4,000 contracts would later be invalidated by the California Supreme Court, young Newsom became a gay rights icon - and, perhaps, a martyr.

In Switzerland for the World Economic Forum, Newsom sat down to talk to Adam Reuters: Reuters News Agency's special "Second Life" correspondent - you know Second Life: that weird Linden Lab-created virtual world that turns everyone into Sims characters... No matter, Newsom says that the gay-nup move may have hindered his own political growth and at least one Democratic presidential hopeful's not making it any easier:

I’ve basically written myself off of any prospects of running for any different office, and I certainly won’t be appointed by any administration or special councils because I’m a time bomb and too controversial. And I’m not just saying for Republicans.

One of the three Democrats you mentioned as presidential candidates [Obama, Clinton, Gore] God as my witness, will not be photographed with me, will not be in the same room as me, even though I’ve done fundraisers for that particular person not once but twice, because of this issue.

Damn, politicians can be some cold bitches!

And, of course, Reuters can't help but ask Newsom his opinion on VP Dickie Cheney's reaction to poor Wolfie Blitzer's questions about preggers lesbian daughter, Mary:

The Vice President of the United States has a daughter who happens to be in love with another woman, and happens to want to raise a family. Those are fundamental questions that are being debated across this country... Wolf Blitzer was right to ask and Dick Cheney was wrong not to have the dignity to respond in a human way, and the dignity to respond in kind why he continues to advance discriminatory policies that are hurting, not uniting this country.

Dignity? Dick Cheney? Oh, Newsom, you're such a cut up!

In more hopeful presidential hopeful news, Hillary Clinton finally got it over with and threw her hat into the '08 race, while New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson started up the ever-important exploratory committee.

Certainly a controversial figure, Clinton's viewed by some as the most viable candidate. Democrats, however, fear her past will come back to haunt her. 365 Gay reports:

Many Democrats, eager to reclaim the White House after eight years of President Bush, fret that she carries too much baggage from her husband's scandal-plagued presidency to win a general election. Among many voters, she is best known for her disastrous attempt in 1993 to overhaul the nation's health care system and for standing by her husband after his marital infidelity.

To overcome these obstacles, Clinton intends to flaunt her opposition to President Bush and keen knowledge of foreign affairs as two of her biggest advantages.

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• Is Barack Obama a sex-offender? Fox News says "yes"!

• Will James Dobson be voting for John McCain? He says "no"!

• Do atheists help bigots? The Guardian op-eder Giles Fraser says "yes"!

• Should gay people act all gay and shit in Malaysia? Travel advisory says "no"!

• Is All My Children's trannie character Zarf a freak? Zarf says yes!

• Is hottie Cord the new editor of Mollygood? He says "yes"! (Do we love sitting next to him at the office? Hell yes!)

• As the new year gets under way, let's all take a second to check in with a group of gay activists who hope to change the queer landscape. And we're not talking pansies...okay, well, we are sort of talking about pansies. But not the flower.

• British homo-journo Chas Newkey Burden took a trip to Israel for a little gay adventure. What did he find? Well, you'll have to read his article to find out, but we can say that he found a nice boy boy who described Brits as being like "cottage cheese – all pasty and chunky". Ouch.

• Andrew Sullivan really, really wants you to read his piece on science and morality from The Sunday Times. How bad? Well, he's willing to post something about it on his blog and, possibly, share next spliff. Yeah, it's serious.

• So, Proctor & Gamble want to reinvigorate Old Spice? While we would have suggested giving it a less bile-producing odor, they've decided to launch a "hip, sexy" new ad campaign that alludes to "male anatomy". What, like the elbow? The armpit? Gasp! The penis?

• Gay, Straight or Taken premieres tonight on Lifetime. We've yet to form an opinion, but you bet your bottom dollar Brian Juergens over at AfterElton's got something to say. Doesn't he always?

• Hey, Barack Obama, if you plan on being president, you need to make sure you're prepared for even more beach bunny paparazzi. And, also, you may want to work on that six-pack.