No, not really, but the queen of television had Melissa Etheridge and her wife Tammy Lynn Michaels on today talking about Prop.8 and the national debate that's raging on about it. The clip starts with a great rundown of this week's media coverage of the event. As soon as we have part two of the segment, we'll post it.

Understandably upset over her fellow Californian's decision to prohibit gay marriage, aurally-inclined lesbian Melissa Etheridge has vowed to withhold the buckets of money the state would have reaped from her taxes. Writes Etheridge at the Daily Beast:

Okay. So Prop 8 passed. Alright, I get it. 51% of you think that I am a second class citizen. Alright then. So my wife, uh I mean, roommate? Girlfriend? Special lady friend? You are gonna have to help me here because I am not sure what to call her now.
…
Okay, so I am taking that to mean I do not have to pay my state taxes because I am not a full citizen. I mean that would just be wrong, to make someone pay taxes and not give them the same rights, sounds sort of like that taxation without representation thing from the history books.

Okay, cool I don't mean to get too personal here but there is a lot I can do with the extra half a million dollars that I will be keeping instead of handing it over to the state of California. Oh, and I am sure Ellen will be a little excited to keep her bazillion bucks that she pays in taxes too. Wow, come to think of it, there are quite a few of us fortunate gay folks that will be having some extra cash this year. What recession? We're gay!

Oooo, California, Etheridge sure told you!

Bill Richardson had loads of explaining to do after his gay forum slip up. For those of you not paying attention - shame, shame, shame! - Richardson "misunderstood" Melissa Etheridge's "science" question. This "confusion" led Richardson to intimate that homosexuality's a "choice".

Richardson quickly clarified his position, but that didn't stop us from giving him a bit of a grilling. Michelangelo Signorile also took some time to probe the Democratic presidential hopeful's queer choice of words. Give Signorile's radio show a listen here and here. And, for those of you wanting more blood shed, read Richardson's chat with our friend Kerry Eleveld over at The Advocate.

Who wants to give Dennis Kucinich a big bear hug? The Ohio-born Congressman definitely "felt the love" last night at the Logo/HRC gay forum.

The diminutive Kucinich left the crowd wanting more, Senator Hillary Clinton left people cheering and poor Governor Bill Richardson, meanwhile, left us scratching our heads.

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• Kentucky's Creation Museum's take on homos leaves something to be desired. Like a new curator. (Although, we do love this graffiti inspired warning.)

• Jossip intern Joseph has a date! But the poor thing has nothing to wear! We voted for white shirt (with minimal pit stainage)". What say you?

• Perez Hilton has at least one testicle.

• Henry Rollins handles gay rumors like a pro, "Never once in my 46 years have I wanted a dick in my mouth."

• Julie (Not Downtown) Brown wants to be gay.

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After a whopping two days, Creative Artist Agency has canned conservative radio host Michael Savage. As you well know, Savage has made a name for himself as a windbag bigot who regularly takes aims at the queers. It's perhaps this name that helped get him canned, especially since he took on fellow CAA client: Melissa Etheridge.

Of homos in general, Savage once famously said:

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…

No doubt it's things like this that got him tossed from the mega-agency's star studded roster. Can't wait to hear what he has to say about this…

After winning an Oscar for the mind-bogglingly boring, "I Need To Wake Up" from An Inconvenient Truth, lesbian rocker Melissa Etheridge told reporters: This is the only naked man that will ever be in my bedroom.

Ms. E also expressed her shock and dismay over beating out Dreamgirls:

Dreamgirls is what music and movies are about. It's a musical, and it's what I grew up loving. Had there not been three songs…you might be talking to a different person here.

Is she trying to say that Dreamgirls was so good that the Academy couldn't make a decision and, thus, threw her a statue? If so, we agree.

But, congratulations anyway…

Watching the Oscar red carpet madness gives us such a headache. We can't keep track of who's who, what they're doing there and why we should care.

The kids over at E! were certainly no help - not only did they not seem to know the answers to those pressing questions, they didn't seem to give two shits. The complete and utter stupidity of Ryan Seacrest, Giuliana Depandi and homo extraordinaire Jay Manuel from America's Next Top Model was only eclipsed by former The View co-host Debbie Manopoulos. When asked how she stays so thin, she said "I don't eat". The duo over at ABC weren't any better and Joan and Melissa Rivers on TV Guide really couldn't hold our attention.

As hard as it may be to believe, the only person we could focus on in the celebrity cluster fuck was Sally Kirkland. Coincidentally enough, her reality defying, rabbi designed dress seems to be made from the rainbow flag. Thus, she's our Oscar patron saint.

So, round of applause for Ms. Kirkland. Crazy's never looked so good. Or so disturbing.

See some more red carpet shots, after the jump…

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It seems everyone is baby crazy these days: Melissa Etheridge is cancer-free, hotter than ever, and she and spouse Tammy Lynn Michaels are expecting. TWINS. From MelissaEthridge.com:

We are thrilled to announce that Tammy is pregnant, and expecting our twins sometime around this fall. To answer the obvious question: we used an anonymous donor from a bank. These are our first two babies conceived together, but not our first time mothering together. For the past 5 years, we have been parenting two children, from a previous time in Melissa's life. The twins will be a joyful addition to our loving home. We are a blessed family, and ask that no gifts be sent. Any gifts we receive we will donate to a local women¹s shelter. However, well wishes are more than welcome!

Have a great summer, everyone!
Peace, Melissa and Tammy Etheridge

We're quite pleased things are going so well for The Lady Etheridge, and we hope she'll release another album soon.

Speaking of Melissa's music: we're still shocked that everyone on planet Earth has not seen her 2005 Grammpys performance, a tribute to Janis Joplin sung with such power that even the gangsta rappers in the audience gave her a standing-o. So we linked it here. Let the (several minutes long) video load for a while before you watch, so you can see it without all the download starts-and-stops, it's several minutes long. We loves.

Melissa Etheridge sings Janis Joplin [YouTube]

(thanks socialitelife)
Rocker Etheridge's partner pregnant with twins [Reuters]

• Christians in Maine aren't happy with Brokeback Mountain. We never would have guessed. [WMTW]

• Turkey is showing Brokeback but not to those under 18 because it violates "public morals." At least it hasn't been banned. [NY Blade]

• David Beckham lookalike hooker (click for his profile) costs £500 UK a pop; gives fans a chance to Bend Him Like Beckham. [The Sun UK]

• Now that she's beaten off that super-bitch cancer, our fave lesbian rocker, Melissa Etheridge, will be recording new music and touring this summer. [Post Chronicle]

• Convicted criminal gets off with permanent erection. [Oh La La Paris]

• Iraqi leader wants the gays dead. Still. [365gay]

Like we promised you last week, every day between now and Christmas we are listing the reasons why 2005 was gay. So Gay! Need proof? Take a look at the musicians who made 2005 gay, gay, gay!

5. Green Day. The punk trio released the brilliant American Idiot technically in late 2004, however its staying power lasted all through 2005. Front man Billie Joe Armstrong gave kids everywhere one positive message: you can wear make-up and be tough at the same time. And we love him for that.

4. Gwen Stefani. Like Green Day, she too released her Love. Angel. Music. Baby. album in late 2004, but the first single “What You Waiting For?” tanked at radio. Fear not, she rebounded big with hit single after hit single, a clothing line co-designed by Zaldy at Fashion Week, and an album that stayed near the top all year. While Britney becomes a mother, it’s this Southern California girl who has, dare we say, become the new Madonna.

3. Melissa Etheridge. Melissa Etheridge does not get the credit she deserves. It took a battle against cancer and a soaring Janis Joplin cover to prove that this woman, who appeared to be past her prime, still has a lot of rocking left to do. Green Day and Kanye West look like sissies next to her.

2. The 1980s. The 80s have been back in fashion for a while and the decade’s influence on music has been apparent in many hip-hop and pop records of late. But 2005 could have been 1985 all over again. New records were released by Kate Bush, Cyndi Lauper, the Eurythmics, Depeche Mode, and Erasure. This revival gave us a reason to break out our parachute pants and leg warmers.

After the jump, the #1 gayest thing in music in 2005.

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Today we are spotlighting more items from LIFEbeat's Bid 2 Beat AIDS online charity auction. You know, since we are the official blog sponsors of the event.

The gays are definitely represented in the auction: Hedwig and the Angry Inch memorabilia, Erasure, Pet Shop Boys, Rufus Wainwright, Charles Busch, Tony Kushner, Peter Paige. There is sure to be something signed by all your #1 gays. And lesbians too. Fierce bidding has already taken place for all things Melissa Etheridge.

The homo piece de resistance of the auction has already reached bids above $300. Cowboys are all the rage this season thanks to Brokeback Mountain. Why not top (har, har) every wannabe cowboy you know with a Stetson signed by one of he gayest of all the gays: Elton John.

Yes, you could own a cowboy hat signed by Reginald Dwight. Whether paired with assless chaps or a pink sequined Versace suit it's sure to be a hit. That Village People-Elton John lovechild look will work for you. We promise. And it raises money for AIDS charities. That is what really counts.

• Melissa Etheridge smoked doobies to help with pain from chemo. There's no doubt she got prescriptions from her own kids' dad, cannabis-blooded David Crosby.

• LA's AIDS Walk is this Sunday. It's the perfect excuse to get your glutes in shape.

• African-American gays will be represented for this weekend's Millions More March by political commentator and American Candidate reject, Keith Boykin. One fag out of a million isn't bad.

• Comedy Central is developing a show based on Adam Sandler's Gay Robot. No, it won't star David Dreier.

• NFL Comissioner Paul Tagliabue, whose son is gay, was honored by PFLAG. We'll refrain from making any tight end, huddling and communal shower jokes so you can feast your eyes on quarterbareback, Tom Brady.