Approximately 80 young protesters gathered outside the Polish embassy London yesterday to commemorate International Day Against Homophobia. The British Youth Council-backed, wide-eyed activists hope to counter Poland's increasingly homophobic internal policy.

Just yesterday, Polish education minister, the monstrous Roman Giertych unveiled his proposed education reforms. These anti-queer reforms, which Giertych and his conservative boss, President Lech Kaczyński, claim will help shield the children from sinful sexuality, have been condemned by a number of European politicians.

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To say that there’s buzz around Lebanon-born, London-based popster, Mika (born Mica Penniman) would be an understatement. Given the avalanche of praise, accolades and testimonials, one would think the release of his full-length debut, Life in Cartoon Motion, will change the course of music history forever, creating an aural aftershock heard all over the world. And, in some respects you’d be right: Mika’s album will most likely continue to be one of the most talked about albums of the year. And rightfully so. Whether it's history in the making - that remains to be seen.

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Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham, the Reverend Vincent Nichols (pictured), had some harsh words for the British government yesterday. As Parliament prepares to consider far-reaching gay rights laws - including anti-discrimination legislation - Nichols has threatened to withhold church funds from necessary social services.

The Telegraph reports:

Speaking in St Chad’s cathedral in Birmingham, the Archbishop [said] that the Government “must realise is that it is not possible to seek cooperation with us while at the same time trying to impose upon us conditions which contradict our moral values.”

He added that it was “simply unacceptable” to suggest that the “resources of the faith communities, whether in schools, adoption agencies, welfare programmes, halls and shelters, can work in cooperation with public authorities only if the faith communities accept not simply a legal framework but also the moral standards at present being touted by Government.”

The problem, of course, arises from the Churches vehement disdain for the homosexuals and their blasphemous ways. The new laws would make it illegal for religious institutions to refuse same-sex marriage ceremonies, thus impeding their moral codes.

This may be one of the more complicated same-sex rights battles. On the one hand, the government should respect religious teachings, rather than forcing homo-haters to, in essence, support homos. At the same time, however, by withholding welfare services, the Church would not only go against their good samaritan pledges, but would leave a gaping void in crucial social services. While we think the Nichols and his homies are acting like children - are you really going to close orphanages just to get back at the government? - we suppose they have a point. Sort of.

We're sure you kids have an opinion on this matter, so why not head on over to The Telegraph, read the entire piece, come on back and do a little sharing. If you keep all those pretty (and, perhaps, not so pretty) thoughts bottled up, you're genitals will shrivel up and fall off.

It's been a while since we last heard from Brit-Pol Greg Barker. In fact, it's been so long that you may have forgotten all about him, so let's do a little refresher: a Conservative Party MP, Barker first grabbed our attention after leaving his wife amidst reports of his homosexuality.

Though Barker's been mum on the issue, several sources claim that he's bumping uglies with his family's trusted - and decidedly hunky - interior decorator, William Banks-Blaney.

Now, a month after the scandal first broke, more than a few of Barker's Conservative peers say he has misled the party and want his to resign. The Argus reports:

Greg Barker received the full backing of the Conservative Association in his Bexhill and Battle constituency last month but several members have now called for him to give up his post, according to BBC South East Today.

With a spotty record on gay equality, he's never been the most popular politico among gay activists. The recent allegations, however, have added fuel to their anti-Barker fire as they, too insist he relinquish his seat.

To these and other requests, Barker says, "Hell to the motherfucking no, motherfuckers!"

Okay, he didn't say that, but he did refuse to give up his post. Barker recently quibbed,

I find that all the constituents that I talk to want me to get on and sort out their problems and are fed up with hearing about mine...By and large, people in the constituency have been extremely kind and understanding...At home, although we have separated and it's been very sad... my wife has been incredibly supportive... but we're doing our best to keep our private life private.

That is, he doesn't want to talk about whether or not he sucks dick. We think he does. We also think he swallows. Happily.

We've got to get something off our chest: we've got a total internet crush on Christopher Trottier, the sexy British boy behind the irreverently intriguing blog, quixoticals.

Today he brings us two notable entries. The first discusses how scientists have resurrected a long-dormant retrovirus not dissimilar to HIV. It seems that the nasty little bug was so powerful that it left a permanent stain on the human genome. Interesting, right?

While the second one's not as scientifically-minded, we think it's worth a mention. It seems Mr. Trottier found himself at a website devoted to confiscated prison weapons. He chose his favorite - a sharpened ruler - and wrote a nice little blurb on prison mentality, survival etc, etc...

Well, we navigated on over to said site and found our top pick, pictured above. We can't help but wonder, however, what the fuck someone would do with such a thing. What is it, anyway? A spoon wrapped in hair?

We don't think that's a weapon, we think that's a lonely, frustrated prisoner's humble attempt to mimic artist Swiss artist Meret Oppenheimer's infamous Fur Lined Teacup (pictured, bottom)

That's no criminal! That's an artist fighting a creative blockage! Next thing you know, it'll be on the auction block for five-figures. Imagine all the sharpened rulers you could buy...

An exciting day for revelations here at Queerty. First we have the Lane Hudson report and now we have a follow-up to yesterday's posting on Tory MP Greg Barker.

You may recall that Barker's recent separation from his heiress wife has raised a few eyebrows and rumors about his sexuality. Despite Barker's objections, many have insisted that Barker's marriage fell apart because of his homo-love for an interior decorator.

The Daily Mail (the conservative Brit-tabbie with which we're hopelessly - and quite guiltily - in love) reports that the alleged decorator is 32-year old William Banks-Blaney.

Banks-Blaney, it seems, had been working on the home Barker once shared with his wife and the two men started a relationship.

The Daily Mail reports:

[Banks-Blaney] had a relationship with married Tory frontbencher Greg Barker after working on the MP's Georgian mansion...One source in [Dublin] said his relationship with Mr Barker had been an "open secret" and said the couple had first met at a party in Sardinia hosted by a member of the Aga Khan's family.

A rich interior decorator and an even richer MP getting their rocks off together after meeting at swanky party? Far more glamorous than Mark Foley and his salacious emails.

What we don't understand is why Banks-Blaney, who by all accounts is a wealthy, attractive, young gay man, would shack up with Barker. We don't mean to be cruel, but he's neither attractive, nor young. Oh well, as long as they're happy. Although, the fact that Barker's vehemently denied the relationship either means they aren't happy (because they're not together) or he's a liar.

(As a note: if we were Barker and were, in fact, boning Banks-Blaney, we'd never shut up about it.)

Previously: Even More Politico-Homos!

It’d be a glaring omission not to include the Irish-born painter Francis Bacon in The Totally Frightful Issue.

Though he started his artistic career as an interior decorator, Bacon made a name for himself with his vivid, figurative depictions of humans in pain, yearning to capture, as he said, “sensation.” As is so often the case in art, the form of this sensation depends largely on the viewer.

While some insist his work draws on the violent, world war torn period in which he came of age, others narrow in on his homo-ways to explain the radical sexuality in his distorted, often grotesque images.

Regardless of one's take on the matter, we think he's dreadfully frightful - in the best way possible, of course.

See a few of our favorite Francis Bacon paintings, after the jump...

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It seems you can't take a shit these days without running into some newly outed politician.

The homo-politico du jour is Greg Barker, an enviornmentalist Tory from Britain. It seems the earth-friendly Tory had been carrying on an affair with an interior decorator for a year before his cock-loving ways were finally revealed earlier this year. The Telegraph:

In a statement issued through Conservative headquarters, Mr Barker, 40, said: "It was announced in July that my wife and I had separated, and we are entitled to a private life."

Asked to confirm that he had left his wife for a man, Mr Barker was quoted as saying: "It's a private matter."

Well, not so much of a private matter now...

Oh, and for those of you who are worried about the future of Barker's career with the conservative party, rest assured that they've got his back. And he's got theirs...

We hate to post this so soon after Jack E. Jett's stellar addition in The Totally Frightful Issue, but it's really too good to sit on: a 45-year old British woman named Fiona Marsden has already lost her husband, her license, £100, and may also lose her job after beating her husband.

Why did Ms. Marsden lose her shit? Well, it seems that she had come home early one day to find him "performing an act" for a webcame, Manchester Evening News reports. Shocked, appalled, and probably more than a little embarrassed, Ms. Marsden did what any good woman would do: she drove to the pub, downed a few vodka's straight, got back in her car, crashed it a few times, and then proceeded to beat her husband with her purse and fists. (His penis was a primary target, to be sure.)

At the hearing, Marsden's lawyer insisted Marsden had mixed too much booze with too many pills, thus preventing her from remembering anything that happened after leaving the bar. Wht's more: "The humiliation and shock of finding out her husband was gay in the manner in which she did was enormous..."

Apparently an empathetic woman, "Magistrate Marie Brinicombe conditionally discharged Marsden, due to 'exceptional mitigating circumstances'."

As mentioned before, she's had her driver's license revoked and owes her ex £100, while her occupational future hangs in limbo.

So, what's the job she may lose for her violent outburst? She's a social worker....

(Oh, the hubby's still with the webcam lover. Heart warming.)

• Anna Nicole puts her son to rest. Bidding on "exclusive" pictures begins tomorrow. [Radar]

• Banksy, everyone's favorite guerilla artist, breaks a personal record by raking in £50,400. The image? A Kate Moss-as-Marilyn Monrow portrait. Um, okay... [BBC News]

&bull, And yet another article on the GOP, the gays and the politics of outing. You know, just for good measure. [Salon]

• It may be easier for the House Ethics Committee might to ask Jeff Trandahl who didn't know about Mark Foley. [ABC News]

• Is LVMH ready to hit the road? They will be if they buy Aston Martin. [MSNBC]

• AfterElton's all over TK Knight being a homo. [AfterElton]

• We have more in common with God than we ever imagined! [Boozhy Blog]

• Don't forget the Timothy Cummings show! [Nancy Hoffman Gallery]

American political scandals are decidedly unsexy. Seriously. The thought of a drunken Mark Foley attempting to woo teenage boys via IM really makes us shrivel. Over in Britain, however, things are a bit different and, perhaps, some say too sexy.

Nathan Garbutt, the 21-year old Tory politician, has raised more than a few eyebrows with his decision to pose topless for the fag-rag, Attitude. In fact, he allegedly raised such a stink that he left the party and is planning to run as an independent. Wakefield Today reports:

Conservative councillors have refuted the claim – and said Mr Garbutt only left because he disagreed with a perceived shift in Tory policy.

But the openly gay former Wakefield College student, who stood for the Tories in May's Wakefield Council elections, says he resigned after being told not to do the shoot.

He now plans to stand as an independent at the next local election – and intends to go ahead with the pictures.

He said: "I'm doing the shoot to prove politics isn't just for the old and ugly.

"Most Conservatives in Wakefield are grey-haired, grey suit-wearing, straight men. I was surprised by their reaction because I thought it was a brilliant opportunity to show we were more diverse than people think.

We've scoured the internet for pictures of Mr. Garbutt, but haven't come up with any. Thus, the stock footage of Parliament. So, darling readers, we implore you: find us a picture of Garbutt!

Also, as a note, we don't know what the stink's all about: it's not like he's rubbing one off for some video. It's just a little skin. What's the big deal? Oh, right, the Brits...

STDs are scary. They're especially scary when we they're anti-bacterial resistant. (Or, of course, AIDS.) This report definitely falls into the category of frightening. According to aidsmap, Britain's Health Protection Agency has just released a report saying:

Gay men fuelled a major rise in the prevalence of ciprofloxacin-resistant gonorrhoea (pictured, looking gross) in the United Kingdom last year...The HPA report also reveals that one third of all gonorrhoea diagnosed in gay men in 2005 was seen in men who were already or newly diagnosed with HIV infection."

Yikes. That's enough to make us piss ourselves. If you think that's bad, read on. (Warning: Not recommended for those with weak hearts.)

...2005 saw an increase in the proportion of gay men diagnosed with gonorrhoea, rising to 33% from 30.7% in 2004. In addition, gonorrhea predominantly affected gay men aged between 25-34 (42% of all gay men diagnosed with gonorrhoea)

It's official: we're never having sex again. At least, not with any Brits between the ages of 25-34. And don't try lying about your age, buster. We're smarter than we look/act.

(PS: We know that the disease is spelled gonorrhea here in The States, but we kept the British spelling intact. Top notch journalism, huh?)