AIDS is the great equalizer. Young, old, black, white, gay, straight, transgendered, Christian, Muslim – you name a social group, most likely a member has HIV/AIDS.

Not since the Black Plague has a disease so dramatically altered the course of history. We’re all touched by HIV/AIDS, even if we don’t realize it. Thus, it’s imperative that we all play a role in the protracted nightmare – a message the AIDS Walk embraces in its new social realism-inspired poster campaign...

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• This is getting ridiculous: another pastor from Ted Haggard's church has stepped down. Eric Gorski writes, "Christopher Beard, who headed a ministry that trained young adults in leadership skills, stepped down Friday after admitting to "a series of decisions displaying poor judgment, including one incident of sexual misconduct several years ago..." [Denver Post]

• If there's one thing GMHC's new leader Marjorie Hill knows, it's that fighting stigmas half the battle. [The New York Blade]

• Speaking of battles: everyone's favorite civil rights warriors, the ACLU, is taking on a Rhode Island abstinence program. Their preferred weapon: herpes. [365 Gay]

• Best Week Ever's got some behind-the-scenes footage of Clay Aiken on Days of Our Lives. Seriously, the fact that this kid's "not gay" defies reality.

• $35 billion. That's how much money America's pot industry brings in every year. That's right, billion. [LA Times]

• Homo-journo Brian Juergens thinks this year's movies may be the gayest yet. Gayer than last year, even. Astounding. [AfterElton]

Everyone knows how much we love drag queens. We also love raising money for charity and doing good deeds, especially this time of the year. When photographer Matthew Baker and graphic designer Matthew Powell conceived the idea for Bedside Companions they must have had us in mind.

Bedside Companions is a sexy twelve-month wall calendar in the classic pin-up style...However, these women are portrayed by a new modern girl, the drag queen. The theme is inspired by the work of 1940’s pin up artists, though instead of pin up girls, we’ve updated the style using fourteen drag queens (some professional, some regular guys donning a dress for a good cause). Each month features a clean and modern design, pairing a hand-tinted photograph, including a condom hand-studded in Sworovski crystals, with a message promoting safer sex. The result is a fun and pleasurable romp through 2006.

The calendar is available now and is only $12.99. That’s nothing, queens. And the money raised benefits God’s Love We Deliver and GMHC.

We have an extra copy to give to a lucky reader. First person to email us their drag name wins!