Ever since NBC Universal execs learned they would officially be losing Project Runway on Bravo, they’ve been working overtime to tear the brand apart. Why should they bother promoting a show that Harvey Weinstein ripped away from them to take to Lifetime, where he’s set to bag a bigger payday from production and product placement fees?

At first, the negativity was subtle. Bravo execs kept quiet as they stole Runway’s brilliant production team, Magical Elves, away from the show in an exclusive deal. And then the more obvious signs arrived.

Project Runway’s fifth season, and the last for Bravo, premieres on Wednesday. And by the time it arrives, and certainly by the time it wraps, its varnish will be worn, damaged, or gone altogether.

So just how is Bravo systematically sabotaging the Project Runway brand?

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Rite Aid simply ain't right. A reader sent in this image from one of the pharmacy's New York City locations (on Sixth Avenue at West 13th Street) and, as you can see, it's not the most welcoming message.

This isn't the first time Rite-Aid has found itself in a queer controversy. A DC-based manager came under fire last year after booting an "overly affectionate" gay couple.

The best part of this sign, we think, is mention of "anything that would make our customers uncomfortable is prohibited in the store." We suppose manager Tom Marquez didn't consider the gay customers in that one, huh? Someone else must have, because the sign, which appeared around 7am on Sunday, was soon removed…

And, just for your reference, here are Rite Aid's corporate numbers and the number for Mr. Marquez's location: 212-727-3720. Do with that what you will…

Update: Rite Aid insists that the alleged manager doesn't work there and the sign was of their making.

Update again! The original reader just wrote in and said not only were there four signs at the Rite Aid in question, but offers this queer detail: …"When I called yesterday to complain the woman at the Rite Aid told me that Tom Marquez wasn't the store manager but the manager for the whole area. so I don't think it's a phony name…I think he's definitely a real person. In the audio link the store employee doesn't say she doesn't know who Tom is, she only says he doesn't work in that store. He's probably regional management, but maybe someone put it up and just used his name."

Final Update (We Hope!) A concerned and peppy Rite Aid spokeswoman just gave us a call to inform us that neither Tom Marquez nor any other Rite Aid employee had anything to do with the lamentable sign. She also told us that the sign's message "doesn't represent the views of Rite Aid or their employees." The police have been contacted and they're trying to track down the culprit, who Rite Aid hopes will be prosecuted to "the fullest extent of the law" for this "vandalism." The spokeswoman also used the word "appalled" to describe her and her peers' feelings about the alleged homophobia. Thanks for the clarification, Rite Aid!

Two former employees are suing coffee giant Starbucks after allegedly being harassed my an anti-gay executive.

Joseph Hooks and Dorothy Baker both claim that Craig Sawyer, the company's director of equal opportunity and compliance, discriminated against them because they were gay. Hooks insists, among other things, that Sawyer refused to invite him to a "boys only" lunch, lobbed around anti-gay comments and eventually told higher ups that Hooks had resigned, when in fact he had not.

Baker, meanwhile, says that Sawyer treated her differently after finding out she likes ladies. Sawyer allegedly began skipping meetings with Baker and began griping to other employees that she wasn't up to par. The most interesting piece of this lawsuit, which was filed earlier this month, is that Sawyer reportedly has a bit of a homophobic past…

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With California looking to make about $370 million on gay marriages, the state's Tourism Bureau doing all it can to drum up business:

With legal gay marriage set to go on Monday at 5:01 p.m., California is rolling out the rainbow colored welcome mat, with the California Travel and Tourism Commission's website showcasing over four dozen wedding locales and packages specifically targeting same-sex honeymooners.

From San Diego county to the Bay Area to the desert and everything in between, it seems, the offerings on the tourism website appear to have something for everyone - and every budget.
…
"There is no doubt that same-sex marriage and vacations to California will be good for the economy," tourism commission exec Susan Wilcox said in a statement.

We know we should be cynical about this, but it's just too awesome!

Clever! As part of their effort to sell homo-inspired Tom of Finland cologne, some ingenious marketing types launched an international ad campaign incorporating something every gay loves: a phallus!

The drawings of topless men started appearing next to lamp posts, bollards and pipes in San Francisco earlier this month.

Others have appeared in the Marais area of Paris.

The posters have been arranged with the street furniture to leave passers-by with a none-too-subtle image of masculinity.

The drawings have been placed as part of an advertising campaign for Tom of Finland, a new aftershave from French fragrance firm Etat Libre d'Orange.

The scent is named after the homoerotic artist known as Tom of Finland, who was famed for his heavily muscled and sexualized drawings of gay men.

All the posters used in the campaign, which was devised by the Ogilvy agency, are based on his work.

The Tom of Finland fragrance is designed to smell like "a guy coming out of a shower" according to Antoine Lie, who created it for Etat Libre d'Orange.

Hmm, when we think Tom of Finland, we don't think "clean." But maybe that's just us…

Yes, we all know the gays leave a trail of money behind them, but it's always fun to hear just how wide. For example, liberal estimated put the boon of California's gay marriage somewhere around $370 million. That's a lot of money, right?

So, what happens when looked at on a smaller scale, like gay mecca West Hollywood's pride parade? Well, ask no more. A new survey pinpoints the economic boost the boys and girls left after last year's event:

Overall, people attending the three days worth of events spent $16.3 million inside WeHo and another $6.3 million in nearby LA – a $22.6 [million] shot in the cities' arms.
…
The lions’ share of the revenue went directly to food and drink – where the average daily per person expenditure was $52, better than half of all those dollars went to food and beverages.
…
Retail trade accounted for $4 million, transportation (and parking) $2.5 million and the hotels took in another $3 million.

Damn! Those Stonewall queens should have charged a cover!

Hey, boys! Guess what?!

There's a military man over in Afghanistan thinking about your genitals. And, shockingly, he's not gay. Can you believe it!?

In an effort to wedge his way into the billion dollar undie industry, Naval Officer Nicholas Cassadine will soon wrap up a six-year military stint and plans to launch a new clothing line, Disco Valante, which will begin by making sure your balls are well dressed.

Like so many designers before him, Valante's intent on breaking into the gay market. So, what would compel a straight soldier to focus on gay men's bodies? That's exactly what we were wondering, so we sent him over some questions on his burgeoning business, how his peers view his queer obsession and why we gays should give a damn.

Read the results, after the jump…

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Those of you itching to work in the oil industry may want to eschew Exxon.

The company's shareholders voted yesterday not to include sexual orientation and gender identity in their non-discrimination policy. This is the eighth year in a row the suits have struck down such a proposal.

Despite shareholder tenacity, the proverbial tide seems to be turning, however slowly…

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