The story broke on the morning of Friday, May 5, 2007, but word didn’t begin to spread until later in the afternoon: Dror Barak, an Israeli consulate staffer, quit after being outed as a gay porn star known as Roman Ragazzi.

The Page Six report explained that an anonymous client had agreed to fly the eager Barak abroad for some “modeling work”. The daily tabloid column also quote’s an email from Barak to the aforementioned source, saying, “I just started doing porn movies. None of my movies is [sic] out yet. I know you mention 'escort.' I never did escort, and I don't do it.”

While some readers may have wondered whether or not the strapping Barak does, or did, escort, others questioned who leaked his name to Page Six. And, more importantly, why?

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• Poor Mary Cheney. Her book, Now It's My Turn, only sells for a measly $.07. Don't people know she's has a baby on the way

• Who tried to keep TR Knight in the closet?

• Michael Bay offers you a look at Transformers.

• Mickey Mouse clone fights for Hamas.

• Connecticut drops same-sex marriage debate.

• Maroon 5's Adam Levine on being gay: "I'm not into dick. I wish I were. It would be so much easier. Because, you know, men have a certain camaraderie with each other that's easygoing and kind of simple, when you think about it." Then why are all gay relationships so dramatic?

Michael Lucas certainly has cause to celebrate. The pouty-lipped porn mogul can continue distributing his porn epic, Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita. You may recall International Media Films Inc. filed a lawsuit claiming Lucas' skin flick encroached on Federico Fellini's similarly named classic.

On Friday, a judge ruled in favor of Lucas, saying that [it] seems extremely unlikely that a hapless purchaser seeking to buy Fellini’s film will inadvertently stumble across ‘Michael Lucas’s La Dolce Vita.’ Reacting to the verdict, Lucas told Wall Street Journal's law blog,

From the beginning, this case has been more about anti-gay and anti-sex prejudice than about well-founded legal claims. I am thrilled about this ruling and I hope we can now get this whole unnecessary distraction behind us.

35-year old Lucas has also been celebrating his new column in The New York Blade. This week, Russian born Lucas spilled some ink on his favorite subject, "anti-semitism" in the gay community. Lucas opens by wondering why so many gays support Muslim causes:

I’m disturbed that the world gay community is increasingly anti-Israel... How can gay people side with the Muslims who want to kill the Israelis?

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An employee at the Israeli consulate has quit after Page Six blew up his porn spot. Dror Barak - whom you may know by his Raging Stallion name, Roman Ragazzi - quit earlier this week after Page Six started digging into his dirty background:

[Barak] worked in the administrative offices of the Israeli consulate while moonlighting as a "model" and gay porn star.

In e-mails to an interested party looking to hire Barak for "modeling" work abroad, Barak - who at first identified himself as Ragazzi - said, "I am single. I work at the United Nations in New York. They don't know about my other job, and that's how it should stay."

Barak told the party, "I need to know that I am not wasting my time here. And this is for real. I will need you to purchase a ticket for me online with American Airlines."

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Early this morning an area just outside of Jerusalem was shaken by a planted explosive device that left at least one person injured and in need of medical care.

Upon investigation, Israeli security forces discovered the area peppered with leaflets calling for the cancellation of the upcoming gay pride march scheduled to take place in Jerusalem on Thursday, June 21. A press release Queerty received elaborated:

The leaflets condemn last year's WorldPride march in Jerusalem and advocate against holding future marches in the capital. Jerusalem Police are pursuing the case and security forces scoured the area for additional explosives.

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There's peace in the Middle East. And then there's Mideastpiece.com.

The website is the brainchild of Matt Lebow and John Leonard, two U.S.-born, Israel-based students who were "fed up with traditional gay Internet sites that offered only crude and X-rated material." Oh, you mean you fall into that group too?

So Lebow and Leonard launched Mideastpiece.com, where gay Jews and gay Arabs exist in one symbiotic online space — that caters to our innate cravings.

Reads the mission statement:

Gay Jewish Israelis and neighboring gay Arabs have more in common than, say, a gay New York City Jew and a homophobic Salt Lake City Mormon in the US. We must focus on what unites us, instead of what divides us, i.e., a great ass, nice arms, killer smile, etc.

But the part we're most focused on: Where the sites' founders believe soldiers aren't meant to be killed in war, but trained, "strenuously." And oogled.

Israeli website aimed at opening closet door for Arab gays [Israel 21c]

Forget about diplomatic immunity. Tsuriel Raphael, Israel's openly gay ambassador to El Salvador, has been recalled after police found him in his yard nearly naked, drunk, tied up and sporting sex toys. Huffington Post reports:

Tsuriel Raphael has been removed from his post and the Foreign Ministry has begun searching for a replacement, said spokeswoman Zehavit Ben-Hillel.

Two weeks ago, El Salvador police found Raphael naked outside his residence, tied up, gagged and drunk, Israeli media reported. He was wearing several sex toys at the time, the media said. After he was untied, Raphael told police he was the ambassador of Israel, the reports said.

Raphael's worked in El Salvador for six months. Prior to that, he acted as the director of the Israel Information Center. Good thing, too, because we imagine his bosses are going to have a lot of questions for him.

Fundamentalism ain't new in the Middle East. Or, anywhere for that matter. Zealots reign on all sides of religious chasms, splintering off into their own wings and sub-wings. And, as fundamentalists, these fools think homosexuality's fundamentally wrong. It comes as no surprise, then, that the Islamic Council in Israel has raised its voice against an upcoming conference organized by a Palestinian lesbian group, Aswat.

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In sort-of-related, a gay man by the name of Mohamed Essam Ghoneim el-Attar has been under lock and key over in Egypt. The government insists el-Attar admitted to spying for an Israeli Mossad-backed espionage group in both Canada and Turkey. Israel, of course, denies the charges.

Fearing his faggot life in Egypt, el-Attar fled to Canada back in 2002, where he took a job as a bank teller. On the 1st of this year, el-Attar flew back to Cairo, where police arrested him and threw him in detention. His family insists he's not a spy and has been calling on the Canadian government to help rescue him. The government, however, has not acknowledge el-Attar's citizenship and therefore hasn't made a pledge to negotiate for his safe return. Globe and Mail elaborates:

While in custody, prosecutors say, [el-Attar] admitted that he worked for Israel, at the behest of a Mossad-backed espionage network operating in both Canada and Turkey.
...
Egypt has alleged that he has revealed the identities of Mossad handlers living in Turkey and Canada, and is urging that they be arrested and sent to Egypt for trial.

Canada, which has no extradition treaty with Egypt, has not said whether it would oblige the request. In the past, human-rights concerns have scuttled attempts to deport fugitive Egyptians from Canada.

• Kids these days! More and more kids are coming out during their teenage years. We wonder if Anna Nicole's freshly orphaned daughter will be a little baby dyke...

• John Edwards grew a back bone and will not be firing the "pro-gay" bloggers. Of course, his actions won't bring back our Anna Nicole...

• AIDS activist Victor Mooney plans on rowing across the Atlantic to raise awareness of the devastating disease. Anna Nicole would certainly approve.

• So that's what Clint Eastwood has to say about Anna Nicole Smith (notice he doesn't know her name).

• If Anna Nicole were a man (and alive), she'd definitely want to read JC Report's Menswear Issue.

• Evangelical Reverend Bradley Schmeling has been defrocked after revealing he has a gay lover. Anna Nicole would not approve (of the defrocking, not the faggotry).

• Hamas and Fatah have come to a mutual understanding - Anna Nicole just got her wings...

• Speaking of coming out: a new study shows that revealing one's HIV status may help maintain healthier CD4 cell count.

• Meanwhile, Iranian scientists claim to have formulated a new herbal remedy for HIV.

• In other international news: with nowhere to express themselves in the West Bank, gay Palestinians are finding comfort in Jerusalem.

• Now, let's turn our attention to some frivolous celebrity gossip: rumor has it that Tom Cruise has asked Ben Stiller to appear in The Hardy Men: an updated, comedic version of the popular mysetry series. Um, since when's Cruise a comedian?

• In education news, more and more people are turning a critical eye on bear culture. The gays, not the forest creatures. As far as we know, the forest creatures don't have any culture...

• Finally, people are twisted over the Snickers' commercials. Homophobia or just plain stupid? You be the judge.

Blessed news from the Holy land this morning: Israel has recognized its first gay marriage. Binyamin and Avi Rose got married in Canada last June and made the great return to their homeland to start their lives together. As you may recall, there was a bit of a stink - okay, a big stink - over whether or not the government would recognize their and other gay marriages as valid. Then, in November, the High Court ruled unanimously that couples married outside of Israel should, in fact, be recognized by the state.

Now, back in the Holy City, the Roses intend to continue supporting the state, fulfilling their social duties:

We wanted the government of Israel to recognize that we are a couple. It was no more of a statement than [coming from] a 'regular' couple, but we are both committed Zionists and are hopeful that our union will bring more progress on this issue...We are very committed to building our lives in Jerusalem and the Interior Ministry provided us with a very positive experience today.