Queer artist Qing Liu wonders, "What is gay now?" That's certainly the question on a slew of artists featured in powerHouse's Nicholas Weist curated show, "The Male Gaze".

As we mentioned last week, Weist and his crew of queer artists recently gathered to discuss the past, present and future of gay-flavored art. The New York Times spilled a few words over the weekend to explore the ever-changing creative zeitgeist. And, yes, former Queerty feature subject Weist had a few things to say: "The art we’re showing argues for a new kind of alternativism that reacts against the mainstream of the culture." As Guy Trebay points out, many of the artists featured in "The Male Gaze" were born in a post-AIDS world, thus freeing their work from the nasty politics seen in an older generation of gay art.

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300 made history this weekend by raking in over $70 million and taking home the anti-climactic title off biggest March opening ever. Considering those numbers, one could assume that it's a pretty good fucking movie.

The kids over at AfterElton, however, say that the adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel ranks as not only the number one movie, but as one of the most unapologetically homophobic movies in recent memory. We say that it ain't no thing...

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• 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]

While we're on the subject of gay evangelicals, you kids may want to check out a New York Times article on the rise of queer evans. And we're not talking gay evans of the Haggard or Barnes variety - these are straight up, 100% homos. Can you believe it?

With few options open to them - that is, either get brain washed by a church that disapproves or find another less stringent denomination - more and more gays have joined specifically gay evangelical congregations. Neela Banerjee writes:

[A]s gay men and lesbians grapple with their sexuality and an evangelical upbringing they cherish, some have come to accept both. And like other Christians who are trying to broaden the definition of evangelical to include other, though less charged, concerns like the environment and AIDS, gay evangelicals are trying to expand the understanding of evangelical to include them, too.

We went there once looking for naked pictures of Jesus. There were none - there are, however, loads of essays examining the ways the Bible's been misread to damn those damn homosexuals.

And, yes, we've pasted the article below, ya cheap bastards.

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Gay daddy's get their day. (No, not leather.) [Sydney Star Observer]

First there's anti-lesbian rape therapy, now there's "magic powder". [Ynet News]

John Travolta finally caught kissing another man. Gay or not, he still sucks. [National Post]

Farzana Hassan-Shahid may be our new hero. [Mississauga News]

NY Times matte, unattractive, hates VMAs. [The New York Times]

Governor Charles Barkley? Looks that way, and he's about the gays. [MSNBC]

There's a first time for everything: Gay flag to fly in Taipei. [Taipei Times]

You spent how much on those jeans? [Men.Style]

Cardinal to Priests: I've got my eye on you. Or else. [The New York Times]

No more shitty gay movies? [After Elton]

Because the rich and famous need more stuff. [Yahoo]

The New York Times is trying to get into podcasting--we think that's what you'd call it, as there's not other explanation for what you'd call their "audio slideshow" feature. While they're obviously reaching out to the iPod generation, this reminds us of when a group of aging executives sit around a room and try to think up ways to "reach the young people," yet they never quite get it.

With this article, we'd like to congratulate the Times, the single most well-respected and influential newspaper in the US, for stooping to an all-time low of pointlessness while displaying a disappointing inability to adjust to present trends. As if they need to. Just print your newspapers, folks, and leave the newfangled toys to the kids.

No offense to the guy featured. He seems very nice.

Click here, and then click on "Audio Slide Show: Benching Toward Perfection"

If you were in or around Manhattan yesterday morning you may have heard a loud, high-pitched, piercing noise. It may have sounded not unlike Mariah Carey. Do not be alarmed. It was simply our editor Bradford Shellhammer.

Well it seems his weekly ritual of reading The New York Times yielded a horror story like none we’ve seen in a very long time: The Rem Koolhaas 40 Million dollar Prada flagship store in Soho had burned.

Luckily, there were no life-threatening injuries. However, the thought of all those shoes, bags, and jackets burning is enough to make even the butchest queen cry. Also housed in the building is a Queerty fave: Interview Magazine. Hopefully, the damage is not too severe.

7 Injured In Soho Blaze [New York Times]

The New York Times on Christmas day looked back at some of the people we lost this year and told their stories. Included was Luther Vandross.

The article says “He was already a backup singer in heavy demand by the mid- 70's, and what instantly set him apart at first was that he sang like a girl - or rather three very strong "girls": Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin and Diana Ross.”

The author then goes on to declare, “Sure, they were sensitive, vulnerable guys. But in making pop music a safer place for men to question themselves, they were also manly as hell.”

For the record we love Luther. But, really. There was not one thing manly about Miss Vandross. The Gays know what it means to have three strong girls inside. Trust. Luther was one of us. Why nobody seems to see this is baffling. He may have questioned himself, but we just wish the media would do the same.

Soul Men [New York Times]

The New York Times reported the other day on the Egyptian tomb of Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep, two men who shared a tomb, something extremely rare.

"And it was most unusual for a couple of the same sex to be depicted locked in an embrace. In other scenes, they are also shown holding hands and nose-kissing, the favored form of kissing in ancient Egypt. What were scholars to make of their intimate relationship?"

There are three explanations. According to theorists they were either twins, conjoined twins, or gay lovers. Um we’ll choose number three thank you very much. For obvious reasons.

We’re all for breaking down stereotypes, but sometimes they exist for a reason. Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep were manicurists. Yes, manicurists. And we all know what that means, honey.

A Mystery, Locked in Timeless Embrace [NY Times]

The New York Times bucks their recent trend of bad headlines and entices us with a doosey: "The World’s Most Popular Gay Postmodern Harpsichord Nerd." How can you not click on that, and so we did and now we’re glad to know of Canada’s Owen Pallet and his band/project Final Fantasy.

Owen turns conventional violin playing upside down by dissecting the elements and then imbuing them with lyrics of same-sex love and yes, wizard-and-sorcery references. Not much queeny angst here (he’s Canadian) and we hope we see a glimpse of the future of gay music. In his song “Furniture,” he sings”

"My father had a dozen wives/ And a child by every one/ And I am from about Number 5/ So don't expect me to stay with anyone."

We know we’ll never pry the crappy techno-music from your cold dead hands, but please, take a listen to Owen’s album “Final Fantasy Has a Good Home.” Or even better, catch a live show next time you’re in Toronto.

The World’s Most Popular Gay Postmodern Harpsichord Nerd. [NYT]

• First Arrested Development. Now no more Martha! We are mourning our favorite shows today.

• Claims are being made out of Britain that a man who once tested positive for HIV is now negative. He refuses to further testing.

• An interview in the new Next states that as many as “40 to 45 percent of gay men in lower Manhattan under 40 are HIV-positive.” Holy shit. Via BitchLess Blog.

• Sprite sent us a quick note about our Morning Goods today. “Boys, I'm sure I'm like the millionth fag to alert you, but you're Morning Goods boy Clinton Huff is one of the "straight boys" on AmateurStraightGuys.com. I know my porn and trust me, I've seen him in like 5 videos there. He's Trevor over there." Time to sign up for a membership!

• Straight women feel the same way as us about Madge. And for pretty much the same reasons.