Yeah, we know we're still in the middle of The Boundaries Issue, but that doesn't mean we're not looking ahead to our next rousing thematic exploration. We won't give away the ingenious title, but we can tell you that it involves babies. Well, not so much babies as baby pictures.

To the right you see a picture of editor Andrew Belonsky when he was just a wee sprout. Awww...so cute, right? Well, don't be fooled by those cutesy little eyes, he grew up to be a nightmarish ghoul.

That's the sad part of babies - they grow up into assholes like Belonsky (and you, too). But we want to celebrate those brief moments of innocence, so we're asking you - our adorable and absolutely precious readers - to send in your baby pictures. That way we can all laugh at you and say, "Boy oh boy, time sure did take it's toll." Then we'll have a collective cry over all the wasted time and lost memories. Except for Belonsky, he'll probably just keep laughing. Schmuck.

So, gather the most enchanting, delightful, nauseastingly endearing photos and email them to the adult, fuckwad version of that bouncing baby boy.

(Also, does it strike anyone else as particularly prescient that Baby Belonsky's face is covered in frosting?)

• China's not down with non-married, the elderly or the obese raising their orphans. [NY Times]

• Worcester police have filed misdemeanor assault charges against Larry Cirignano: the Catholic leader who took down a pro-gay marriage protester. [Edge Boston]

• TMZ has a heart-to-heart with Perez Hilton. Or, rather, tabbie-to-tabbie. [TMZ]

• UK police are looking into a row between religous coppers and their queer counterparts. [The Mirror]

• VP Dick Cheney's been called to testify in the Valerie Plame leak investigation. [Forbes]

• In New Jersey, a former high school student got the OK from an appeals court – even though he missed the filing deadline – to sue the school district on charges his then-band teacher infected him with HIV during their sexual relationship. [AP]

• Though the military's discharging of 726 service members under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy last year represents a 10 percent increase over 2004, there's no evidence to show there's been an increased effort to force out members. [NYT]

• In Australia, the federal government is expected to move for a ban on gay couples from abroad being allowed to adopt children from the county. Such policies are usually left up to states – where some allow gay citizens to adopt, others not – but P.M. John Howard is likely to assert federal power over the matter. [Pink News]

• Big Pharma companies Gilead and Merck announced they'll be providing once-daily HIV pill Atripla to developing nations around the world. No word yet on which countries will receive the drug, and at what cost. [Advocate]

• In New York City, City Council speaker Christine Quinn – almost always an ally in gay rights – is at the center of criticism over a push to have the city's nightclubs install security cameras at entrances and exist. Critics say it's a privacy violation, especially for gay men and women not open about their sexuality. [NYT]

• In Britain, Price Harry cops a feel. [The Sun]

Though we could only thing "Al Reynolds! Al Reynolds!" the entire time reading today's Thursday Styles item "When the Beard Is Too Painful to Remove," there came a point where we felt like we were reading the storyboard of an Oprah show. Diving right into the topic of gay men who are married, Jane Gross finds some not-so-reliable stats when it comes to this demographic (though the data suggests less than two percent of married men identified as gay) and a recurring phenomenon: closed-loop relationships, where gay married men maintain two monogamous relationships, one with his wife and one with another man, also usually married. (Quite the HIV deterrant!)

Meanwhile, many of these fellas who seek out psychological support find themselves in acceptance limbo, with many "gay dad" support groups shunning the still-married for using their nuptials as a means to remain in denial. And through all of this are repeat examples of married men who identify as gay but simply want to hang on to their suburban lifestyle and the financial and social status that comes with it.

Surprisingly for a New York Times Styles piece, "When the Beard" is quite a well-rounded article on the topic. We're going to blame space restrictions for why Gross never got around to discussing the ramifications all this has on children.

When the Beard Is Too Painful to Remove [NYT]

In another blow to folks like the American Family Assocation and anyone who's attempted to enter our bedrooms from the bench, the Arkansas Supreme Court came down on the state's Child Welfare Agency Review Board, which has explicitly prohibited gay couples from being foster parents since 1999.

Arkansas cannot ban homosexuals from becoming foster parents because there is no link between their sexual orientation and a child's well-being, the state's high court ruled Thursday.

The court agreed with a lower-court judge that the state's child welfare board had improperly tried to regulate public morality. The ban also violated the separation-of-powers doctrine, the justices said.

The board instituted the ban in 1999, saying children should be in traditional two-parent heterosexual homes because they would be more likely to thrive.

In its ruling, Arkansas' high court stated specifically the board's attempt to determine "public morality" was unacceptable and testimony from a Review Board member showed its decision was "based upon the board's views of morality and its bias against homosexuals" and not the welfare of children.

Court rejects ban on gay foster parents [AP]

(Click image for larger version)

Call it the MySpace effect: Canada, not willing to let its youth be susceptible to the online prowlings of perverts, is taking action. No, they're not going to block the social networking sites; they're moving to raise its age of consent up two years, to 16. Conservative Torys who introduced the new bill hope raising the minimum age someone can willingly enter into a sexual relationship will render harsher punishments for older predators. But fear not, pretty young things: Your ability to date a (mildly) older fella will still be protected.

The legislation includes a so-called near-age exemption of five years so that, for example, a 14-year-old could still have a sexual partner aged up to 19, and a 15-year-old could have a partner aged up to 20.

Back here in the U.S., where age of consent laws vary from state to state, 16-year-olds are already the youngest a 40-year-old MySpace prowler can go for an online fling. In Spain, however, it's 12.

Canada May Raise Age of Sexual Consent [AP]
Age of Consent worldwide map [Wikipedia]

In an interesting and all-too-bloody twist comes a report of a seven-year-old grade schooler getting beat up for his father's anti-gay stance. Perhaps this twist on gay bashing could take place only in a state like Massachusetts. The first-grade boy, in fact, was assaulted nearly a month ago on May 17, the two year anniversary of gay marriage in the state.

The first-grader is the son of David Parker, who last year objected to homosexual teachings in his son's class. During a meeting with the school's principal, the elder Parker demanded to be notified when his son's cirriculum would veer into gay issues so he could remove his child from the classroom. The prinicapl said no; Parker refused to leave, and the police had to be called to escort him.

Now David Parker's son finds himself on the receiving end of a beat down for his family not being liberal enough.

Mr. Parker described the incident at the school saying: "During the recess period, a group of 8-10 kids suddenly surrounded Jacob and grabbed him. He was taken around the corner of the school building out of sight of the patrolling aides, with the taunting and encouragement of other kids. Jacob was then positioned against the wall for what appeared to be a well planned and coordinated assault.”

Parker told LifeSiteNews.com, his son related that one student in particular performed the actual physical assault while, “many children stood, watched silently, and did nothing as the beating commenced.”

Parker added: "The group of kids surrounded Jacob and he was beaten and punched. Then, as he fell to the ground, another child was heard saying to the group of children, 'Now you all can finish him off,' and as he was down on his hands and knees, the beating continued on his back. Then, fortunately, one little girl ran to contact the oblivious playground aides to stop it.

"Four of the attackers were from Jacob's first-grade class; the others were from other classes at Estabrook.

"The teachers' aide apparently determined that since she could not see external bleeding, and since Jacob apparently was not hit in the face, she did not send him to she school nurse."

And then there's the obvious irony among students wishing their classmate to be more open minded while being too narrow minded to distinguish between right and wrong. Disgusting.

Seven-Year-Old Beaten at School For Father's Stand Against Homosexual Activism [LSN]