What issue on fear would be complete without a piece on frightful fashions? Answer: none. To this end, we enlisted the help of our friends over at Gayz of Our Lives to make a top-ten of their sartorial no-no's.

If you're guilty of one or more of the offenses listed after the jump, expect to be scoffed at, scorned, and/or spurned at the boys' next party. Which party? How about their Halloween event at APT on October 31st here in NYC?

Show up wearing crocs and you're dead.

See what the GOOL-ies have to say for themselves, after the jump.

CONTINUED »

We have to give a shout out to our friends over at the Logo-sponsored New Now Next

We wanted to write a post a few days ago about how we love receiving music from publicists, but so often our dreams of the next hot thing are dashed by something like that: the Sarah McLachlan's new album, a bag of shitty tea, and a tiny candle. It's a sweet idea, yes, but just a little too niche-marketing - what we mean by that, we'll let you figure out.

Oh, and to that publicist, if you're reading this: don't send us music that comes with anything that catches on fire. Unless it's a spliff. We'll take that.

As we reported earlier, Gerry Studds, the first openly gay Congressman whose sexuality came to light after a former Congressional page admitted to having sex with him, has died. In the wake of his death, countless political and medical officials have come forward to praise his work in AIDS activism, governmental reform, and landmark work in furthering the so-called LGBT cause.

One such quote comes from his husband, Dean Ara, who says:

Gerry often said that it was the fight for gay and lesbian equality that was the last great civil rights chapter in modern American history. He did not live to see its final sentences written, but all of us will forever be indebted to him for leading the way with compassion and wisdom. He gave people of his generation, of my generation, and of future generations the courage to be who they are.

It should come as no surprise, then, that our less-liberal countrymen have used all this praise to draw parallels between Studds and everyone's favorite disgraced political homo, Mark Foley. Of the many, this piece is definitely one of our favorites.

Coming all the way from The Buckeye State (Ohio, for those of you who don't know), a writer who goes by the thoroughly hackneyed name of "Big Dog," laments the Democratic need to find someone to blame for Foley's actions other than Foley. He goes on to say that if he must join the finger-pointing game, he'll wag his "Big Dog" paw at Studds. Confused? Let "Big Dog" do the explaining himself. Referencing Ara's quote above, he writes:

First of all, Studds gave gay people courage by winning reelection after publicly acknowledging his sexual relationship with a 17-year-old man along with his homosexuality. Secondly, if Studds gave people like Mark Foley the courage to "do whatever they wanted to do," then how can Foley or anyone else be to blame? Gerry Studds set a standard and his constituents approved of that standard by reelecting him. Mark Foley was only trying to reach the bar set by Studds and his electorate.

Um…we know the GOPers are struggling to survive their political shit storm, but that's just ridiculous. Although, it would be mighty convenient if they could actually place blame on a corpse.

While we're on the subject of religion, we'd like to point out a project unfolding over at Slate, the ground breaking web magazine so often buried under its thousands of virtual spawns.

While at temple recently, Slate's spunky deputy editor, David Plotz (pictured, looking like a nice Jewish boy), who at one point considered himself fairly versed in the verse of the Good Book, discovered a story with which he was unfamiliar.

Shocked and awed, he set off on a re-reading of The Bible and, perhaps blasphemously, decided to blog about his new knowledge. To quell any electronic hatred, he's quick to say, "My goal is not to find contradictions, mock impossible events, or scoff at hypocrisy." He's obviously a better person than us.

He's up to Deuteronomy, so we've got a bunch of catching up to do. And you do, too, heathens.

• As new shots from Justin Timberlake Alpha Dog emerge, there's new reason to resurrect his "Trousersnake" monicker. [Towleroad]

• Do you have your signed Anderson Cooper headshot? [Jossip]

• Black gay bloggers are calling for the boycott of homophobic raggae artists Beenie Man and TOK's concert to raise HIV awareness next week. [Keith Boykin]

• Now that gay marriage in Massachusetts is legal, some employees better get hitched or face the loss of domestic parternship benefits. [AHN]

It's well known on the Internet that gossip blogger Perez Hilton (aka Mario Lavandeira) is pulling a Single White Female on Paris Hilton, first befriending her, then idolizing her, only to try and assume her identity by wearing a wig and going down on her boyfriend. He has now gone one step further in becoming Ms. Hilton by flopping his privates all over the Internet.

Yes, Perez Hilton has an active Manhunt profile, but the intrigue doesn't stop there. He is trying to fool poor, unsuspecting Manhunt members into believing that this:

is actually this:

and that his manhood, which you can see after the jump [NSFW], is "8 inches." For someone with his finger on the pulse of "all media," we find this all shockingly out of date.

'Ate Too Much Pez' Hilton X-Posed [ELH]
PEREZ HILTON EXPOSED [Faded Youth]

CONTINUED »

We hope it won't be cowboys again. It could be about astronauts getting it on in zero gravity, or maybe it will be about two homos in San Francisco and their strange little dogs. Or perhaps there will be some danger with an Indian/Pakistani love affair across that fragile border.

Our friends at the PEN15 Club want to hear your ideas on their voicemail as part of their new "Have Your Say" contest. Every week they will post a question and readers will leave their responses on a voice mailbox. The funniest will be included in their weekly podcast. This week's question: What do you think will be the Next Big Gay Love Story?

We know Queerty readers tend to be bitchy smart-asses, so what are you waiting for? This could be your chance to hear your own faggy voice on the Internet!

Have Your Say: The next big gay love story [PEN15 Club]

We consider the gay adult products catalog to be something pretty utilitarian: an old friend that is there when we need him, even if he's kind of plain. He gets the job done, even if the "taste level isn't quite there," in the words of Project Runway Judge/Editor-in-Chief of Elle magazine Nina Garcia. And we thought he was pretty content the way he is.

Nathan over at Nathan Exposed thought differently, and decided to poke fun at his favorite adult catalog, AdamMale, in a hilarious post that picks apart some of their more awful photos and suggests changes. When he received his next catalog, the photo at left had been changed! He suspected they had read his blog, and it turns out he was correct.

They just sent him a huge gift basket containing a little bit of everything, from porn to cockrings to dirty playing cards. But the best prize of all was the giant bottle of "Wet: Platinum" lube. That stuff costs as much as a romantic dinner for two, and lasts so much longer.

I Heart AdamMale [Nathan Exposed]
AdamMale [Official Site]

Exodus International, those gay “conversion” folks down in Florida, are turning their transforming attention toward bloggers. Well, one blogger in particular. Justin Watt created a parody of an Exodus Billboard (see pic) that read “Straight? Unhappy?” with the the Gay.com web site address advertised at the bottom. Funny stuff, right?

Well, not only does the Exodus staff lack any common sense, but they also lack a sense of humor; they’ve served Watts with legal papers. Still it sounds like he’s safe from losing his blogging empire.

Laura Quilter, associate counsel for the Brennan Center Free Expression Policy Project, agrees that the law is often on the side of protecting parody from these types of threats. Watt seems to have a "slam dunk" case, she said.

If we had seen the original Exodus billboard by the side of the road, we would have thought that it was some new clever advertising campaign for Brokeback Mountain.

We wish Watt all the luck in the world. And we’re logging on to Gay.com right now just for him.

Exodus fights 'ex-gay' billboard parody [NY Blade]

Good Morning. This is Bradford Shellhammer and I just want to let you queens in on a little secret: today is my last day. Well not really, but sorta.

For the past six months I have written half of what you read on Queerty. Steve in Los Angeles has written the other half. While I have enjoyed writing for Queerty and watching our unique visitors grow at leaps and bounds, it is time for me to take a less active role with the site. Don’t think you’ve gotten rid of me that easily. I am remaining an editor-at-large and promise to continue writing. Just not daily.

So this brings up an ever-important question. Who could possibly replace Bradford? At first we were not sure if anyone could live up to my legacy (just go with this people), but the right person happened to appear and David and I could not be more excited. Queerty’s new editor is Real World alum, hilarious blogger, and my dear friend Dan Renzi.

Shoot him an email and say hello. Shoot me an email and say goodbye. Whatever you do, keep reading. Things are sure to get more interesting around these parts. Thanks for reading. Your energy, emails, and support as readers of this site have been a huge inspiration.

The 2nd of our new interns is Anthony. He lives in NYC and will be writing and doing PR work for us. This is what he has to say about himself:

I am a Canadian transplant that arrived in New York last summer. Originally I trained and worked as an actor and from there I drifted into sales and finally to marketing. For the past ten years I have worked with pharmaceutical companies to create online marketing campaigns both locally and globally.

Recently I decided it was time for a change and I quit the job, rented out the house, and moved here. I am hoping that by being in the city I will be able to work on writing and see where that takes me.

The picture was taken at Gloucester, MA where I stayed with friends this past summer.

Now we have a Canadian in the fold! Makes us super-exciting, no? Feel free to contact Anthony at anthony@queerty.com with any questions, story ideas, or comments.

Anyone who frequents David Lat’s judiciary blog, Underneath Their Robes, knows about his frequent “female” contributor referred to only as Article III Groupie or A3G for short. A3G, of course, is Lat himself.

Lat's alter ego hasn’t come to his defense since the recent revelation that he wrote some pretty anti-gay articles while attending that bastion of collegiate enlightenment, Harvard University.

As A3G, Lat is very vocal and a bit of a go-getter. So Judge Sam Alito’s dreamy teenage son, Phil, better watch out. Lat thinks, “he’s a hottie.” A statement like that would pretty much make Lat anti-anti-gay, right?

For more evidence, we hark back to this weekend’s NY Times article where a former colleague talks about Lat’s lust for office gossip:

“He would linger in the men's room, and would report on what was going on in there.”

She paints a more accurate picture of Lat. A very pink picture:

He had this whole other side of flamboyant, theater-watching, Oscar-watching, shoe-loving, litigatrix.

Were we too quick to drop the gavel on Lat? Or is he just another right-wing closet case taking his self-loathing out on the rest of us? Sounds like a case only Judge Judy could handle.

(Item was updated from its original version with corrected information.)

He Fought the Law. They Both Won. [NY Times]
Underneath Their Robes

Alan Cumming is an actor who seems to have done it all: won a Tony, played an X-Man, written and directed. The multitalented Cumming recently answered some of Bradford Shellhammer’s questions about The L Word, the Threepenny Opera, and his fragrance line.

We cannot wait to catch you, Cyndi Lauper, and Nellie McKay in the Threepenny Opera. What you can you say about the production?
Right now not very much because I haven't started rehearsals. But I'm nonetheless very excited. I did a workshop about a year ago so it has been really great to feel that I can actually get through it! Also it's meant that in the last year ideas, the songs and parts of the character have been floating around in my mind. The biggest revelation about the workshop was discovering that Macheath is a sex addict. Who knew?

Tell us about your fragrance. What made you launch it?
It was really one of these crazy things that tend to happen to me! My friends Jason Schell & Christopher Brosius and I sort of all came up with the idea over a period of time and eventually we had one of these Judy/Mickey moments and said "Let's make the fragrance right here!" Christopher is a genius and I had worn various fragrances of his for years and Jason had these really fantastic ideas about how to market the fragrance. For me it has been real fun to provoke and subvert the whole notion of celebrity endorsement and at the same time have products that I really enjoy and am proud to add my name to. We now have 5 things–the fragrance, the cleanser [Cumming Clean], the body scrub [Cumming Off Buff], the body lotion [Cumming All Over], and the soap [Cumming in a Bar], all available at Cumming The Fragrance.

It's such a hilarious thing for me when every time I wash my hands the soap has my name on it. I'm also using it to help charities that I believe in. We're starting a program whereby each month we'll give a hefty percentage of our online sales to charity.

You are on the new season of The L Word. What character do you play?
I play a character called Billie Blaikie who comes into the series to run The Planet and generally spice things up. I had never seen the show before I shot my episodes, but I talked to the producers about the character and thought it sounded fun. The one thing I was adamant about was that I would have sex with a lesbian on the show. I think it's really good to mix things up a bit and to challenge people's perceptions about the ways sexuality is pigeonholed. So the idea of a bisexual man having sex with a lesbian was right up my alley. However, the type of sex I ended up having was a little more than I bargained for. It was the most graphic sex scene I have ever done. But I had great fun with all the girls and I got to have a different hairstyle and colour in each episode.

After the jump Alan explains why he wants to be the queer Martha Stewart.

CONTINUED »

Yesterday we posted on David Lat, one of two bloggers who’ll soon take over the well-worn leather reigns from Anna Marie Cox over at Wonkette. We weren’t the only ones who commented on his anti-gay rant in the Harvard Crimson, and his site Underneath Their Robes has responded:

Based on the foregoing, some of you have accused David Lat of being "homophobic." Much could be said on this subject; but for present purposes, suffice it to say that nothing could be farther from the truth.

Just as Samuel Alito should not be judged based on statements in a job application from 20 years ago, Lat should not be judged based on his (literally) sophomoric ramblings in a college newspaper, from over a decade ago. These "youthful indiscretions" — of a hotheaded, rabble rousing campus conservative — should not be viewed as an accurate reflection of who Lat is today. Nor do they represent the views he currently holds on such issues as homosexuality, gay marriage, etc.

But nowhere in his response does Lat either explain or apologize for his past behavior. Just because he was in college when he made the statements doesn’t exonerate him – we were never that ignorant in college. And he wasn’t at Barnum and Bailey Clown College either. He was at Harvard. He should’ve known better. Lat should apologize or Nick Denton should give the job to co-editor Alex Pareene full-time. There are plenty of talented bloggers out there who aren’t homophobes and who won’t alienate basically all of Wonkette’s audience.

Or better yet, make Anne Marie Cox stay!

In re: "Those 'Happy Homos'" [Underneath Their Robes]

• What do you get when three famous actors drive to Palm Springs together? We're hoping it's a whole lotta gay sex. [NY Daily News]

• Former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey can now add blogger to his respectable resume. On second thought, he better leave that out if he ever wants to work again. [Newsday]

• We're all about Jersey today. Say hello to that state's first openly gay mayor! [The Daily Record]

• GLAAD doesn’t want a reputation as being a bunch of old bitches, so don’t misinterpret their statements about American Idol! [GLAAD]

• We love that the only person able to control a pissed off Rosie O’Donnell is the daughter of Malcolm X. [Contact Music]

• Why blow thousands of dollars on a sex change when you can just buy a few bottles of five-dollar Hawaiian Tropic? [The Independent]

• As if Karen Walker needed another reason to drink: Will & Grace has officially been canned. [Bloomberg]