We just love special messages from our fans, readers and assorted enemies, but we especially love notes from celebrities.

In the past we've received word from such greats as Owen Hawk and Cady Huffman, but never has such an iconic supernova of a star such as Cyndi Lauper ever thought of lobbing even the most mundane grunt in our direction. We almost pissed ourselves when we heard our favorite fun-loving girl say, "What's up everyone at Queerty..." She even remembered your name! "Everyone!" That's a top notch girl...

Ms. Lauper's made a moving image to give you the "heads up" about her forthcoming, HRC-endorsed True Colors Tour. If you want more information, just head on over the the True Colors Tour website, she says. Then she says, "Thank you" and nods humbly.

Oh, "Cyn" - we're all on a first syllable basis! - we should be thanking you! Thank you for all your pro-gay work, you're super radical music and, most of all, for knowing our name!!! (OMG!) We'd shed a tear if we weren't wearing so much eyeliner - oh, yeah, thank you for that, too.

(PS: "Cyn" forgot, but we're sure she'd like to say, "Sorry I didn't send you the embedding code. I was too busy she bopping." Then we'd say, "Whoa, Cyndi, we're totally friends and all, but we don't need to know your masturbation cycle.")

Cyndi Lauper's been all sorts of gay lately. As you know, she's teamed up with the homos over at Human Rights Campaign for the "True Colors" national tour.

In honor of said tour, MTVu - the music television's college network - has scheduled an interview with the iconic popster in which fans can ask Lauper some questions of their very own. The only problem is that they have yet to find the ideal interviewer. Do you think it's you? Well, check out these flack provided details and then decide:

Wanna have some fun with Cyndia Lauper? MtvU is in search of a college student in the NYC area to interview her on Friday, April 13th.

Think you have what it takes to interview one of the biggest stars of the early MTV Era? Has she inspired you to do something remarkable? Send an e-mail to castme@mtvu.com telling us all about it.

If you're selected, be sure to ask her about our recent Lauper-related post: Cyndi Lauper Sez, "Fuck You, Conservacunts!" Then report back to us pronto!

Gay activists have lauded Cyndi Lauper's recent announcement that she's touring on behalf of gay non-profit, Human Rights Campaign. Some gaycist politcos, however, aren't feeling so celebratory.

To celebration the "True Colors Tour", Lauper headed over to NBC's Today Show - an appearance of which conservative Brent Bazell's Media Research Center wrote:

Co-host Meredith Vieira played the publicist alongside her, asking her to explain how a dollar from every ticket goes to "something very important," that being the Human Rights Campaign. Not "something very liberal" or "something very pro-Hillary."

Homo-Journo Joey Hood broached the topic in a recent HX interview. Since the interview won't be appearing until June, Lauper's truly colorful replies will be long-dated and they've been axed by EIC Brandon Voss. Thus, Hood - with BV's ever-loving approval - thought he send the excised text our way. Check out what the iconic pop star has to say, after the jump.

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It's a Human Rights Campaign explosion up in here. Sorry to overload your morning, but we couldn't resist posting this picture of the Heatherette Boys, the venerable Amanda Lepore and HRC president Joe Solmonese. A photog snapped it at the non-profit's NYC gala dinner - a cousin of the Philly gala dinner at which John Amaechi will be appearing.

Question: how many fucking gala dinner's can one organization have? Oh, right, they're "the largest civil rights organization working to achieve gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality". We forgot.

Heatherette designers Richie Rich and Traver Rains were there celebrating their "Heatherette Hearts HRC" t-shirt collabo of which Rich says:

Traver and I obviously would not be where we are today without the inspiration and support of our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender friends and customers. Heatherette has always been about equality — we’ve never geared our collection to one demographic.

Back to the picture: it's not quite as iconic as the Perez Hilton, Joan Rivers, Michael Musto trifecta, but there must be a word for it. It's on the tip of our tongues, but we can't quite figure it out. So, reader, why don't you give us a hand. Or, rather, word. (We'll also accept a phrase - we can't stop thinking about Sesame Street, if you know what we mean.)

More pics after the jump...

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Let's celebrate some actual sexual liberation, shall we? Cyndi Lauper's third single from She's So Unusual, "She Bop" caused a stir with its poorly veiled allusions to masturbation and sexual frankness. In this video from 1984, Lauper saves America's fast food eating, zombified teenagers find some finger licking fun.

If only she could do the same for Andrew Comiskey and his homo-repressing homies.

After two years of homo-lovin', Alan Cumming and his American boyfriend Grant Shaffer are making honest men of one another. Mark Malkin from E!'s Planet Gossip reports that the two did the dedicatory deed this weekend in London.

The British city, however, can't claim status as Cumming's first choice: in a November interview with attitude magazine, Cumming discussed possible wedding plans, saying:

I think if we could get married in America we totally would have by now. I'd have my friends Andrew and Sue as bridesmaids and also Cyndi Lauper and maybe Liza. But then maybe she's had enough of gay weddings by now... especially after her own!

It's worth noting that we offered to give Cumming away, but he declined, citing the fact that we're not homies and that, in fact, he wouldn't invite us to the wedding, anyway. (And he didn't. He did, however, invite Rufus Wainwright and actress Mary-Elizabeth Mastrantonio.)

Don't think married life's going to slow Cumming down: his latest directorial offering, Suffering Man's Charity starring (surprise!) Cumming, Anne Heche and David Boreanaz, debuts at March's Austin-based South by Southwest Film Festival. He's also starring in the forthcoming fag-coaches-rugby team tale, Coming Out with Catherine Zeta-Jones. For his part, illustrator Shaffer's been hard at work on the storyboard for Mike Nichols' Charlie Wilson's War, starring Amy Adams. If you want to take a closer look at his work, check out his website. His other work includes Madonna's Bedtime Story and the comic book, Thirty Types of Passion (we love those nerdy types).

Mazel to the tov, gents. May you be together forever. Or, until the end of time. Whichever comes first.

Not content to merely hold a Coca-Cola cup on the set of American Idol, Simon Cowell is taking singing competitions to the celebrity level — though we're not sure how Cowell seemlessly invaded AI creator Simon Fuller's territory. Rather than rely on the singing abilities (or inabilities) to entertain America, the AI judge is launching Celebrity Duets, the new Fox series debuting this fall. But don't worry about getting stuck with another Taylor Hicks: Cowell's got Cyndi Lauper lined up. And let us say it before you do: It's a blatant rip-off of Dancing With the Stars and Skating With Celebrities. But who cares when we've got a downward spiraling Macy Gray to scoff at?

A group of singers ranging from Motown legend Smokey Robinson to '80s pop stars Richard Marx and Cyndi Lauper will be taking part in the short-run show, which is being produced by "American Idol's" Simon Cowell. The 13 professional singers will be paired with other famous folks who aren't known for their vocal chops.

The lineup of celebrities hasn't been settled yet, but FOX chief Peter Ligouri assures that "as a public service," the show is making every effort to cast people who can actually carry a tune.

In addition to Robinson, Marx and Lauper, the other singers signed up for "Duets" are Macy Gray, Randy Travis, Dionne Warwick, Brian McKnight, Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan, Aaron Neville, Clint Black, Kenny Loggins and Michael Bolton. Songwriter and producer David Foster, who was a guest coach on "American Idol" last season, will serve as a judge.

Lauper, Gray, Bolton Sing 'Duets' [Zap2It]

Nominations for the Tony Awards were announced today, celebrating the best of NYC's musical theater and giving the gays across America yet another awards program to discuss snottily as if they've seen any of the nominated shows.

Highlights of the nominations: The Color Purple, co-produced by Oprah Winfrey and based on the book and movie of the same name, was nominated for several awards including Best Musical. Sweeney Todd, the bizarre but brilliantly-written musical about a cannibalistic barber, was nominated for Best Revival Of A Musical, as was Threepenny Opera, starring Alan Cumming and Cyndi Lauper. If you're wondering why Phantom Of The Opera hasn't been nominated, well...don't bother watching the awards ceremony on June 11. You won't have any idea of what's going on.

Harry Connick, Jr. took a break from Will & Grace to play the lead in The Pajama Game, for which he was nominated for Best Performance By A Leading Actor; Patti Lupone, who once played Corky's mom in Life Goes On, was nominated for her lead role in Sweeney Todd. Besides appearing on feel-good family dramas, Lupone has played some of the biggest roles on Broadway, including the pre-Madonna Evita. We're holding out, however, for all the big wins to go to the musical adaptation of The Wedding Singer, as it sounds too ridiculous to be a legit show and we don't know anyone who went to see it. Or maybe it's good, who knows?

The American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards [site]

Alan Cumming is an actor who seems to have done it all: won a Tony, played an X-Man, written and directed. The multitalented Cumming recently answered some of Bradford Shellhammer’s questions about The L Word, the Threepenny Opera, and his fragrance line.

We cannot wait to catch you, Cyndi Lauper, and Nellie McKay in the Threepenny Opera. What you can you say about the production?
Right now not very much because I haven't started rehearsals. But I'm nonetheless very excited. I did a workshop about a year ago so it has been really great to feel that I can actually get through it! Also it's meant that in the last year ideas, the songs and parts of the character have been floating around in my mind. The biggest revelation about the workshop was discovering that Macheath is a sex addict. Who knew?

Tell us about your fragrance. What made you launch it?
It was really one of these crazy things that tend to happen to me! My friends Jason Schell & Christopher Brosius and I sort of all came up with the idea over a period of time and eventually we had one of these Judy/Mickey moments and said "Let's make the fragrance right here!" Christopher is a genius and I had worn various fragrances of his for years and Jason had these really fantastic ideas about how to market the fragrance. For me it has been real fun to provoke and subvert the whole notion of celebrity endorsement and at the same time have products that I really enjoy and am proud to add my name to. We now have 5 things--the fragrance, the cleanser [Cumming Clean], the body scrub [Cumming Off Buff], the body lotion [Cumming All Over], and the soap [Cumming in a Bar], all available at Cumming The Fragrance.

It's such a hilarious thing for me when every time I wash my hands the soap has my name on it. I'm also using it to help charities that I believe in. We're starting a program whereby each month we'll give a hefty percentage of our online sales to charity.

You are on the new season of The L Word. What character do you play?
I play a character called Billie Blaikie who comes into the series to run The Planet and generally spice things up. I had never seen the show before I shot my episodes, but I talked to the producers about the character and thought it sounded fun. The one thing I was adamant about was that I would have sex with a lesbian on the show. I think it's really good to mix things up a bit and to challenge people's perceptions about the ways sexuality is pigeonholed. So the idea of a bisexual man having sex with a lesbian was right up my alley. However, the type of sex I ended up having was a little more than I bargained for. It was the most graphic sex scene I have ever done. But I had great fun with all the girls and I got to have a different hairstyle and colour in each episode.

After the jump Alan explains why he wants to be the queer Martha Stewart.

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• Nellie McKay has left Sony and sadly her eagerly anticipated sophomore album won’t see the light of day anytime soon. At least we’ll get to see her in the Three Penny Opera on Broadway with Cyndi Lauper and Alan Cumming. [Reuters]

• We’ve all done it. You know, gotten drunk and pulled out the drag. However, we all haven’t filmed it! [Manhattan Offender]

• Our favorite plastic surgery addicted pop star Pete Burns has signed up for the UK’s Big Brother. Times like these we wished we lived in England. Thanks Jerry. [The Sun]

• We present you the world’s best condom commercial ever. Thanks Tom. [Double Agent]

• Love to ski? Love anal sex? Great. Gay.com has some gay ski events you should be attending. [Gay.com]

• While Elton and David honeymoon in Venice, World of Wonder has some great photos of the wedding guests. Yes, dear, everyday is Halloween. And who is that drag queen? And, no, we’re not talking about Kelly. [WOW Report]

• Cyndi Lauper is headed for Broadway and set to star in The Threepenny Opera, the play about thieves and prostitutes. It’s our kind of show. [Yahoo News]

• Josh Rubin has hand selected Cool Hunting’s top posts of the year, which we imagine was a very hard thing to do. [Cool Hunting]

• Proof that Leandro Becker is our favorite DJ. Who cares that we’ve never heard him spin. [Made In Brazil]

• Michael Musto’s Felix Awards are the only 2005 round up you need to read. Forget the others and go now. [Village Voice]

Like we promised you last week, every day between now and Christmas we are listing the reasons why 2005 was gay. So Gay! Need proof? Take a look at the musicians who made 2005 gay, gay, gay!

5. Green Day. The punk trio released the brilliant American Idiot technically in late 2004, however its staying power lasted all through 2005. Front man Billie Joe Armstrong gave kids everywhere one positive message: you can wear make-up and be tough at the same time. And we love him for that.

4. Gwen Stefani. Like Green Day, she too released her Love. Angel. Music. Baby. album in late 2004, but the first single “What You Waiting For?” tanked at radio. Fear not, she rebounded big with hit single after hit single, a clothing line co-designed by Zaldy at Fashion Week, and an album that stayed near the top all year. While Britney becomes a mother, it’s this Southern California girl who has, dare we say, become the new Madonna.

3. Melissa Etheridge. Melissa Etheridge does not get the credit she deserves. It took a battle against cancer and a soaring Janis Joplin cover to prove that this woman, who appeared to be past her prime, still has a lot of rocking left to do. Green Day and Kanye West look like sissies next to her.

2. The 1980s. The 80s have been back in fashion for a while and the decade’s influence on music has been apparent in many hip-hop and pop records of late. But 2005 could have been 1985 all over again. New records were released by Kate Bush, Cyndi Lauper, the Eurythmics, Depeche Mode, and Erasure. This revival gave us a reason to break out our parachute pants and leg warmers.

After the jump, the #1 gayest thing in music in 2005.

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