Today's a very special day, reader. Well, yes, it's Thursday, which is sort of special, but more importantly, it's International Day Against Homophobia.

Seventeen years ago today, the World Health Organization officially removed homosexuality from its charter of diseases, neuroses and various bugs. Though WHO doesn't think you're sick, plenty of other people do.

International gays and gay supporters will take some time today to shake their fists in a push to decriminalize homosexuality, combat homophobia and vent their frustrations.

There are so many homophobes to choose from, so how do you know which way to wag the finger? Easy, you check out Human Rights Watch's Hall of Shame.

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The War on Terror took on an entirely new - yet just as misguided - direction Monday when Pope Benedict's number two, Archbishop Angelo Amato, blasted gay marriage as "terrorism with a human face". Talk about number two.

Pinching out the keynote address for a Catholic seminar, Amato offered a litany of "evils that remain almost invisible". These evils - not politics, not religion and certainly not international oppression - provide the thrust of terrorism. Among the litany of lewd acts, Amato counts abortion and gay marriage at the top of the list. Reuters elaborates:

In an address to chaplains, Amato said newspapers and television bulletins often seemed like "a perverse film about evil". He denounced "evils that remain almost invisible" because the media presented them as "expression of human progress".

He listed these as abortion clinics, which he called "slaughterhouses of human beings", euthanasia, and "parliaments of so-called civilised nations where laws contrary to the nature of the human being are being promulgated, such as the approval of marriage between people of the same sex...

...After denouncing "abominable terrorism" such as that carried out by suicide bombers, he condemned what he called "terrorism with a human face", and accused the media of manipulating language "to hide the tragic reality of the facts".

Hey, at least he acknowledge homos' humanity, rather than calling us horrid demons from hell...

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• Speaking to visitors in Bethlehem, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini (pictured) seemed to blast Pope Benedict XVI's recent edict insisting Catholic politicians vote according to Catholic ideology. Martini insisted, "The Church does not give orders... It is necessary to listen to others, and when speaking to use terms that they understand." Word. [Catholic World News]

• Gay rights v. human rights in Fiji. [Fiji Times]

• Jonny McGovern's up to his old tricks. And we do mean tricks. [Daily Motion]

• Hedi Slimane's furniture. [Reluct]

• This pleases us not: "New data released by the city's department of health show that the highest rates of new HIV infections are among gay men 35 to 49 years old." [Gay City News]

• Would we be better off ignoring Peter Pace's comments? [NY Blade]

• Staffers at London's Carlton Tower complain that Michael Jackson - who checked in under a woman's name - doesn't tip enough. Or, really, at all. What do they expect? He's broke. [Daily Mail]

• A South African journalist has come under fire after outing two restaurant owners. [Mamba Online]

• Rosie even answer interview questions in her patented poetics. Weird. [AfterEllen]

• Vermont's Senate passed a bill to protect against gender discrimination. [Rutland Herald]

It seems like the Anglicans aren't the only church duking it out. A survey in Italy's la Repubblica shows that 67% of Italian Catholics support that proposed civil partnership law that will grant limited rights to same-sex couples. Although, it must be noted, only 35% of those people actually think gays deserve the rights. So, really, 32% support a bill that only applies to sinful living straights. But, pro-gayers still have the majority.

Speaking of majority, 80% of Italians, Catholic or not, support the bill, which means that busy-body Pope Benedict XVI has set himself up against most of the country when he said on Monday:

...The confusion at the level of marriage and the failure to recognize what it means to be humane, from conception until death, leaves us to think we are in a period where humanity does not really exist.

It is necessary in personal life, as well as in public life, to have the courage to tell the truth and to pursue it. I invite the civil authorities to show courage.

Politicians publicly derided the church for interfering in social rule. Family Minister Rosy Bindi - a Catholic woman who supports Prime Minister Romano Prodi passage of the bill last week - says, "I like the Church that concerns itself with matters of God".

If the Vatican intend to argue that God's concerned with the future of Italian society, they re-read a letter sent to them by prominent Catholics which worries that the debate may "plunge Italy back in a situation of conflict between being a believer and being a citizen". From the looks of it, however, that's what Bennie and his boys are hoping.

• Moscow's mayor may have banned gay pride, but the Russian government supports the queer right to assemble.

• Gay rights activists may have cheered Italy's potential civil partnership law, but Pope Benedict XVI ain't feeling so cheery. (Surprise, surprise.)

• Potential GOP Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee may not want to comment on Mary Cheney's pregnancy, but he does say he doesn't support gay marriage.

• Scissor Sisters may be uber-talented, but it doesn't really translate on their second Passions appearance. (Or the first.)

• Howard K. Stern and Larry Birkhead may think they're Dannielynn Marshall Stern's papas, but Zsa Zsa Gabor's hubby, Prince Frederick von Anhalt says he's the real deal.

• The Red Cross may ban men who have sex with men from donating blood, but Cleveland officials think they're wrong.

Things are heating up over in Italy. Tomorrow Prime Minister Romano Prodi will lead a debate on a bill that will allow unmarried couples - homos included - to register for state-sponsored benefits. Of course, his Pope Benedict XVI and his faithful friends have loads to say about gay unions, none of it good, including:

Projects aimed at granting improper legal recognition to forms of unions other [than traditional marriage] appear dangerous and counterproductive as they inevitably weaken and destabilize the legitimate family based on matrimony.

Though the Vatican would like to think it exercises considerable power over the primarily Catholic nation, a public opinion poll suggests otherwise. Bloomberg News reports:

Two-thirds of Italians favor legalization of de facto couples, regardless of sexual orientation, Rome-based research institute Eurispes said in its 2007 annual report released Jan. 26. Among practicing Catholics, 45 percent are against, a separate poll by SWG Srl showed.

Those Catholics will prove invaluable as the Vatican mobilizes its rank-and-file against the measure. Of course, it still seems like they're outnumbered. Thank the totally mythically, culturally concocted gods.

MLK would be proud: a group of protesters set up camp outside the Vatican to protest the Pope's stance against same-sex nups. Pretty sweet, right? The demonstration comes just days after Pope Benedict XVI met with politicians to (yet again) reiterate his Catholic-minded convictions at which he said:

Projects aimed at granting improper legal recognition to forms of unions other [than traditional marriage] appear dangerous and counterproductive as they inevitably weaken and destabilize the legitimate family based on matrimony.

Sure, the demonstration's certainly timely, but the protesters had bigger things on their minds: the ninth year anniversary of Alfredo Ormando's death.

A queer activist, Ormando soaked himself in gasoline and lit himself aflame in dissension to the Catholic Church's anti-homo policy. He died nine days later, cementing his status as a gay martyr. Talk about going out with a bang.

It's worth mentioning that some reports - such as this article from International Herald Tribune - cite as merely a few dozen protesters, while others, such as The Boston Globe, count the number as closer to 150.

Ever lovable, Pope Benedict XVI spoke out against pro-gay Italian politicians Thursday, insisting the Vatican would use all of its power to halt proposed same-sex nups. Meeting with local politicians, including Rome's Mayor Walter Veltroni, Benny toed the Catholic line when he said:

Projects aimed at granting improper legal recognition to forms of unions other [than traditional marriage] appear dangerous and counterproductive as they inevitably weaken and destabilize the legitimate family based on matrimony.

His reiteration comes weeks after Italy's Senate called on left-leaning Prime Minister Romano Prodi to pass civil union legislation.

After leaving the meeting, Benedict proceeded to the testing labs, where he successfully merged his DNA and that of one of those spitting dinosaurs from Jurassic Park. He looks forward to blinding, mauling and generally terrorizing all who cross his path.

Sir Peter Davies has called off his wouldbe wedding after ex-Hell's Angel and chosen officiator Charlie Ridley resigned from his post. Queen Elizabeth II's royal music master, Davies planned to marry his beau, Colin Parkinson on the small UK island of Sanday, but officials refused his request, instead offering an alternate island in the Orkney chain.

In response to our report, an Orkney Council official sent us a note saying that the senior registrar would travel to Sanday for the allegedly star-studded event. Davies stuck to his guns, however, and insisted Ridley preside over the ceremony. But, now Ridley's called the whole thing off, dashing Davies' dreams. The Scotsman reports:

Yesterday it was revealed Mr Ridley had resigned from his post, saying the row had taken its toll on his health.

He said he had fought to be allowed to perform the ceremony because it was a principle he believed in. But he felt he had become a casualty of the row over the council's refusal to let him officiate.

"All I wanted to do was perform a professional service for everyone on the island. I felt I was left with no option other than to resign with immediate effect," he said.

Ridley then ran from the room holding his bosom and crying, "Why? Why? Why?" He hasn't been seen or heard from since.

For his part, Davies promises to marry elsewhere, saying, "Everything has gone so sour..." No use crying over spilled marriages, right?

(You may notice we changed Davies' picture. A reader found it a bit scary - and, quite frankly - he did look a bit like a maniac. So, we've switched it out for this one. Not quite as funny as Pope Benedict XVI in his little red hat, but not without its frivolous charm.)

Speaking of gross, check out these comments from conservacunt windbag, Michael Savage in response to Pope Benedict XVI's anti gay-nup Christmas message:

God bless [the Pope] for speaking out on the seminal issue of our time, which is the homosexual dance of death, and the homosexualization of the West. There is a direct correlation between the homosexualization of the media, the homosexual mafia that controls virtually everything that you read, everything that you see, everything that you hear, everything that you wear...

Savage has a long history of blaming the world's woes on the homos. Considering the rest of the quote, however, we think he's just jealous (and can you blame him?):

[Gays] spend their money on designer items so they look good, and they have good abs, and good butts, and good lats, and good delts.

Ah, that's so sweet, thank you, our butt certainly does raise the bar. It's surprising that such a virile, straight man such as yourself would be so intrigued, though...

A pussy through and through, Savage prefaced his Pope-related comments by saying he was simply paraphrasing the holy roller and that all criticism should be sent to the Vatican. We think you should ignore that and send him a love note.

(Also, is it us or could Savage and the lovely Sellee from the previous story be long-lost twins?)

• Those kids over at Best Week Ever have the biggest hard-on for Pope Benedict XVI's alleged boyfriend, Monsignor Georg Gänswein. And when we say "the biggest", we mean it would choke even the biggest pig bottom. Yeah, that's big. [BWE]

• Reviving an old debate, a Democratic Oregonian Governor-elect Ted Kulongoski-endorsed task force has recommended the state allow civil unions. Haha, Republicans, try to veto that shit now, motherfuckers. [365 Gay]

• Barbara Walters remains diplomatic on the Rosie O'Donnell/Donald Trump throw-down. A wise woman, that Babs. A wise woman, indeed... [Star]

• Even the judicial system think's Anna Nicole Smith's a lying slag - she's been ordered to allow a paternity to test to determine if "hubbie" Howard Stern or ex-boyfriend Larry Birkhead can call themselves the proud father. [Detroit Free Press]

• New Yorkers already know that terrorists could blow-up the train system. We really didn't need a reminder. [CBS]

• Mitt Romney's one step closer to announcing his candidacy for president. Kind of shitty news for this festive holiday, but it's not always pretty. And neither's the prospect of that scum bag running our country. Good thing he doesn't seem to have much of a chance. [Forbes]

Pope Benedict XVI's a curious fellow. No, not curious like queer, but curious as in that he likes to know about new fangled inventions, like condoms. Thus, he approved of a U.S Embassy/Vatican collaboration to look into the utility of condoms in curbing HIV. Groundbreaking stuff, that.

As you probably know, the Catholic Church officially condemns the use of condoms, insisting that sex must be used for procreation, rather than that blasphemous recreation. The aforementioned study took a closer look at married couples in which one person carries the virus. It's unclear whether or not the Vatican will release a report on the study. What is clear is that it's broken no new ground:

Fidelity in marriage and premarital abstinence from sex are the key weapons in the fight against AIDS, a senior cardinal who prepared a study on condom use for Pope Benedict XVI said Wednesday.

Gee, thanks.

What's most notable about this adventure into the known unknown is that Pope Benedict XVI's making a concerted effort to address one of the world's biggest problems: HIV. International Herald Tribune reports: .

..The request for the study "shows the desire of the pope" to battle AIDS, and demonstrates that "he is not indifferent to this difficult problem."

Seriously, did we need an entire study to tell us the Pope has an opinion on the retrovirus that could (and does)? You'd have to be blind, deaf and/or literally braindead to be indifferent to HIV/AIDS.

We don't know about Benny's hearing or eyesight, but we're pretty sure he's not braindead. That was the last pope.