• Word comes via press release that HX Media, publisher of gay rag HX and the New York Blade, just purchased Gay & Lesbian World Travel Expo, the 13-year-old consumer show. Meanwhile, LPI Media completes its intergration of its gay properties Out, The Advocate, Gay.com, and RSVP Vacations. Media synergy at its gay best. [Advocate]

• A new Malaysian law will make it a crime if HIV-positive blood donors fail to disclose their status. Damn the cost-benefit analysis of giving away platelets! [Malaysian Star]

• The real uproar over Superman Returns shouldn't be whether Brandon Routh's character (or the real-life actor) is gay, but how the hell a journalist affords a house on the water and a sea plane. [Straighten Out]

• A five-year-old gay murder case sees justice nearing in: The suspected killer of a Queens, New York man was placed in handcuffs when he stepped off the plane. [365 Gay]

Superman is gay. Superman isn't gay. Is the debate moot yet? We saw Superman Returns last night and, after a rather lackluster build up to an anti-climax, we're inclined to let this whole plotline vanish into comic book circle jerks on principle alone. But then Brandon Routh had to go and get himself immortalized yesterday at Madame Tussaud’s House of Wax here in New York — and bring his beard girlfriend Courtney Ford, who refused to leave his side. Yes, we've all heard the rumors about Routh dating Superman Returns director Bryan Singer before they made the movie. And yes, we spotted Routh and his lady friend just as attached at the MTV Movie Awards. But, just for a moment, can we leave the fella alone? Well, leave him alone at least as long as it takes you to get through the photos, after the jump.

Brandon Routh's Girlfriend Too Super? [OAN]

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The right-wing's agenda to turn Stephen Colbert gay, from Superman to Cirque De Soleil to the World Cup, just might be working. [YouTube]

• The "Is Superman gay?" debate rages on, which gets us thinking: Isn't all the buzz over the sueprhero's sexuality sounding a little too much like a well orchestrated publicity effort? [NYDN]

• PFLAG will ring the New York Stock Exchange closing bell on Friday, which is being billed as symbolic of the GLBT community's purchasing power. How cute. [PFLAG]

• Footballers' Wives' Marcel McCalla on playing gay. [AfterElton]

• We're not sure what movie this is from, but two hot young guys in the woods (one with his pants down) is always worth a mention. [Teen Boy Secrets]

Movie studios spend a lot of money getting their films on magazine covers. But when The Advocate stamped its May 23 issue with Superman Returns, Warner Bros. was less than thrilled. Perhaps it had something to do with the story's headline: "How Gay Is Superman?" Pretty damn gay, you're right.

Certainly the ginormous bulge hanging from a life-size Batman statue in a comic store window display on our block and news that Batwoman is coming back as a dyke aren't doing the studios any favors to fight off their recurring gay vibes. But when Hollywood is spending 9-figures to produce and market a big budget action flic, their concern over public perception appears warranted.

Kudos to Warner Bros. for buying time on Logo to promote Superman Returns — even that step to attract gay audiences stands out when you consider what's at stake.

An informal poll of six veteran Hollywood marketing executives at rival studios revealed sharply divided opinions over how — or even if — "Superman's" gay attention would affect the film. Two of the executives said the focus could actually expand the film's audience, much as gay moviegoers have responded to the "X-Men" superhero series, which has been praised for its metaphorical plots about acceptance. The first two "X-Men" movies were directed by Bryan Singer, the openly gay filmmaker who also made "Superman Returns." Singer did not respond to an interview request.

But four of the movie marketing executives, all of whom declined to speak on the record, said gay "Superman Returns" interest presented two potential box-office problems. First, teenage moviegoers, especially those in conservative states, might be put off by a movie carrying a gay vibe; among some teens, these executives agreed, saying something "is gay" is still the ultimate put-down. Second, the attention threatens to undermine the film's status as a hard-edged action movie, making it feel softer, more romantic, and thus less interesting to young ticket buyers who crave pyrotechnics.

Can you blame a big budget movie studio for wanting to protect their investment? Certainly not. And at this point, it'd be unrealistic to contend it doesn't make smart business sense to separate a movie like Superman Returns from gay chatter. That doesn't make it admirable, of course, or ethically sound. For its part, Hollywood never claimed to be either.

How will it fly? [LAT]
Related: Morning Goods: Brandon Routh

The Sun recently ran a story about the hot new Superman, Brandon Routh, noting that his "supersized lunchbox" gave studio execs a headache. That's not what it gave us.

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