• ExxonMobil continues to refuse to include gays in their anti-discrimination policy, making them one of only two Fortune 100 companies that refuses to protect gays in writing. Mobil actually had included gays in their policy and provided domestic partner benefits before merging with Exxon in 1999, when both were rescinded. Someone at Exxon hates us. [CNN]

• Sir Ian McKellen could be "opening" for Oxford Pride in the UK. We're not sure what his opening act will be, but hopefully it will involve magic and a magnificent white horse. [Oxford Mail]

• Anti-gay groups now have a right to participate in Pride events in Harrisburg, PA. We can't wait to see their outfits. [365 Gay]

• We knew the Anglican church was having some disagreement over whether or not their bishops should be homos, but we never realized there was a "homosexuality crisis engulfing the church body." That sounds fun enough to make us go to church. [The Advocate]

• Gays may receive inheritance rights in Israel, but no marriage. Does this mean that they will have special rights that unmarried hetero couples lack? We hope so, just because it would be funny. [365 Gay]

• HIV tests will be part of a standard check-up at the doctor as early as next year if the CDC has their way. We think this is great news, but suspect it will lead to a dramatic drop in doctor's visits. [SeattlePI]

• The gays are making a push to elect more gays on the state level. This will result in gayer state legislation, making every state nicer for gays. Nice strategy. [USA Today]

• Illinois voters will vote on an anti-gay-marriage amendment this November, so don't forget to go to the polls. [Chicago Tribune]

• Moscow's mayor doesn't want the planned Gay Pride party to happen on May 27, saying it will "provoke society." We wonder if he means provoke them to throw rocks at gays and harass them openly in the street. Whoops, that is already happening and the parade is still weeks away. [365 Gay]

• Ostensibly straight and married member of the British Parliament Mark Oaten says that his recent affair with a rent boy had more to do with the pressures of work than with his love of assfucking. He is now back with his wife who "understands his betrayal." [Pink News]

• 80% of old Greek people living in rural Cyprus are opposed to homosexuality. While we are not surprised by the statistic, weren't the Greeks the ones who invented homosexuality back in the day? [Irish Examiner]

• Colorado voters will get to decide whether gay Coloradans receive domestic partner benefits. A scary prospect. [Washington Blade]

• Even though the gays can marry in Canada, they will not be recognized on this year's census. Rather than "husband" or "wife," they'll have to settle for "other." We think that is great, since it sums up the feelings we've had since adolescence. [http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/05/050406canada.htm]

• Fabulous 72-year-old drag performer Dame Edna punched a photographer this week for getting a little too close to her flawless face. [Digital Spy]

• California is one step closer to outing all the gayest figures in history by requiring recognition of LGBT achievements in textbooks statewide. The bill in question has been approved by committee and is heading to the state Senate. [SFGate]

• Vladimir Luxuria, Italy's new transgender Member of Parliament, is fighting for the right to use the ladies' room after another MP suggested that a special "trannies only" restroom be created. [Reuters]

• The man who murdered prominent Jamaican gay rights leader Brian Williamson has pleaded guilty, but the police refuse to call it a hate crime, saying it was a "robbery gone wrong." We are unsure why a robber would bother stabbing someone 70 times in the neck if they didn't have another agenda. [365 Gay]

• Mary Cheney supports gay marriage! Who knew? [ABC]

• Cuba gets its own Queer As Folk, except there is only one queer and he's not shown kissing or touching his partner. But they talk about it, and that's enough to offend some Havana residents. [BBC]

• A gay London police officer may run for mayor, but only if asked. How polite of him. [Pink News]

• Nine men are being held in a Cameroon jail for being gay. The government refuses to release them despite international protest. [UK Gay News]

• What if our mom had kidnapped us to keep our dad from turning us gay? Our life would have turned out so differently. We might be married with kids and certainly not writing this fabulous blog. That would be awful! Thank goodness that the awful Florida woman who kidnapped her son for precisely that reason is no longer allowed any contact with her son. [365 Gay]

• Howard Dean fired the gay outreach director of the Democratic National Committee yesterday in what some see as an act of retaliation for harsh words offered up in April by the man's partner. Howard has been having a hard time with the gays lately, who have criticized him and the Committee for not doing more to counter all the anti-gay-marriage ballot initiatives that are floating in the air for the 2006 elections. [Washington Blade]

• Homophobic Russian asshole update: 39 of them have been arrested after causing violence for two days outside a gay club in Moscow. [Pink News]

• In Ireland a new study has revealed that there are 10,000 gay citizens who would marry if they were allowed by the law. Just think how good it would be for the traditional family if all those people could tie knot. [GCN]

• Italian Prime Minister and friend-of-Bush Silvio Berlusconi has finally resigned after weeks of whining about how unfair it is that he lost. Now Italy can rejoin Europe. [Xinhua]

• Another military guy has pleaded guilty to having gay sex for activeduty.com. His wife is leaving him and he will be discharged from the army, but damn, we never realized those jobs paid $7,500. Find us a green beret! [WRAL]

• Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani is still thinking about running for President in 2008, but he's got a long road unless he pulls a John McCain and decides to suddenly stop supporting gay and abortion rights. He tested the waters in Iowa this week. [NY Daily News]

• Finally, someone from our side decides he can be the mouthpiece of God! And what is the first thing God says? That he loves gay activism within the Republican party. Imagine that. So whose testimony do you believe more, Bishop Gene Robinson or the Dread Pope Ratzinger? [Washington Blade]

• The Log Cabins Republicans get along better with the "Rev." Jerry Falwell better than with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. We agree that her face looks kind of weird, but really guys. Give us a break. Lots of little policy disagreements will never equal the one giant disagreement with Falwell: over your right to live as free citizens and not burn in hell afterwards. [The State]

• Canada's biggest gay bar, Club Unity in Montreal, burned down Friday night in what the police have deemed an "accidental" fire. However, we suspect that nothing is ever completely an accident when the Mafia and the Hell's Angels have a stake in the neighborhood. [365 Gay]

• Finally a gay rights march happened in Poland, but of course police had to intervene because of all the counter-protestors, who were mostly from an ultra-conservative youth group. We lament the phenomenon of political youth groups because they always end up being fascists or hippies. There is never a middle-ground nor any nuanced position, just "fags are unnatural so let's throw eggs at them." You're grounded, you little idiots. [Pink News]

• Former Republican Sen. John Danforth calls the Federal Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment "silly." We wish a few non-"former" Senators other than Russell Feingold were as outspoken. [Seattle PI]

• Sec. of State Condi Rice is getting sued by an extrememly qualified candidate who got rejected in his application to become a foreign service officer solely because he is HIV+. A 20-year-old government forbids people living with HIV from serving in the State Department. [365 Gay]

• Furry heartthrob Robbie Williams is planning to record a dancepop album just for the gays under a different name. We hope that he takes his new assumed identity seriously and reaches out to the gays in more tangible ways. [Pink News]

• Anti-gay activists in Washington State are having trouble getting the 112,000+ signatures necessary to get an initiative on the November ballot to repeal the new statewide gay rights law. They sent out a desperate e-mail plea for signatures the other day that Democrats think could be political trickery. [Washington Blade]

• Circumcision could help prevent the spread of HIV, according to a new African study. The cells on the underside of the foreskin are an easy entry point for the virus, and circumcision may soon be recommended for all men in South Africa to try and stem the infection rate. [NY Times]

• Opponents of samesex marriage shouldn't get their panties in a bunch. In the places where the gays can marry legally, not very many of them are choosing to do it. [AP]

• Twenty West Point cadets, 14 of whom are straight, anonymously donated $670 to the Soulforce Equality Ride. The "cuteness" of one of the one of the female riders was a reason cited for the donation. Those randy army ladies can be such rascals. [Ex-gay Watch]

• Even with the internal support, twenty-one Soulforce riders were detained briefly yesterday and then released with tickets after trying to demonstrate at West Point to protest Don't Ask, Don't Tell. [365 Gay]

• An openly gay former staffer for President Clinton has called for a boycott of donations to the Democratic party until they make a commitment to countering anti-gay initiatives. We will gladly participate since we are completely broke anyway. [Washington Blade]

• For a state that doesn't seem to like the gays all that much, there sure is going to be a lot of "gay" on the Colorado ballots this November. [Rocky Mountain News]

• A group of skinheads in São Paolo attacked two men and two women on Saturday, leaving man critically injured with stab wounds. [Made In Brazil & Washington Blade]

• Gays participated today for the first time in Israel's Holocaust memorial services. [365 Gay]

• The German Catholic Church decides not to hold a Gay Pride service in Bavaria because it might send the wrong message. [Pink News]

• As if we needed another reason not to go to Long Island, the domestic partnership registry has been voted down in a sneak attack by its opponents. [Newsday]

• A Nobel Prize-nominated South African AIDS advocacy organization was first not invited, then invited, now refuses to attend the United Nations Special Session on AIDS as an act of protest. [365 Gay]

• At least one elected official is looking out for the gays, even if he is in The Netherlands. Mayor Job Cohen of Amsterdam sent out a written slap on the wrist to the heads of several homophobic European governments telling them to uphold the universal declaration of human rights. [Pink News]

• 72 percent of Americans would hypothetically vote for hypothetical gay candidates as long as they hypothetically agreed on the hypothetical issues. Gay activists are hypothetically excited. [Washington Blade]

• Supporters of the anti-gay-marriage amendment in Minnesota refuse to disclose all the money pouring into their campaign. Could this be because their sources are pure evil? That is just one idea. [Star Tribune]

• Two out of every three Spanish citizens support the Prime Minister's decision to legalize gay marriage. Maybe when God didn't send a tsunami to punish them, they decided it was okay. [365 Gay]

• The Pope says that condoms are okay (for straight, married couples where one partner is HIV-positive). Thanks, Ratzy. [N-TV via Random Good Stuff. Source is in German]

• Despite previous statements to the contrary, Muslims in Britain in fact do hate the gays. [The Guardian]

• Elton John will have none of George Michael's blame game. [Pink News]

• Same-sex couples in Belgium can legally co-parent children as of yesterday. The law only passed by one vote in the Senate, which seems weird to us. They let the gays marry, but then get squemish about adoption. We guess we shouldn't complain though, now that they have joined Spain, the Netherlands and Sweden in giving equal adoption rights to gay couples. [365 Gay]

• Despite how gay the guys in those hair bands from the 70s and 80s looked, we never really believed that they were. However, Styx bassist Chuck Panozzo has come out of the closet as a gay man living with AIDS, and is making up for his years of silence. [Frontier]

• Alleged Duke rapist Collin Finnerty's gay-bashing incident in D.C. last year did not involve an actual gay, but just a few straight guys calling each other "fag." The incident was not treated as a hate crime, but still provides evidence that Finnerty is a complete prick. [Washington Blade]

• Schools in California can now prevent their students from wearing antigay t-shirts following a case of a boy who refused to take off his shirt that said "Be Ashamed, Our School Embraced What God Has Condemned" on the front and "Homosexuality Is Shameful" on the back. The slogan on the front actually gets us kind of hot, but we suppose that isn't really appropriate for high school either. [LA Times]

• The bullies are winning: Outright Vermont is having a hard time getting school officials to treat them no differently than other organizations as they try to give anti-bullying workshops in public schools. [365 Gay]

• There may be no Gay Pride Parade in Ottawa this year because the organizers owe $100K to their creditors. We guess that means no Swarovski crystals for the parade floats at any rate. [Canada.com]

• Democratic House Min. Leader Nancy Pelosi has criticized the Bush administration for removing "sexual orientation" from the list of protected classes in federal jobs. However, it looks like the Democrats need to practice what they preach. [PageOneQ]

• Two gay men were mobbed and beaten in a Riverside, CA bar after one of the gays allegedly "hit on" a patron of the bar. Hitting on random straight dudes does seem like a risky proposition to us, but whatever ever happened to "no thank you," or even just throwing a drink in his face nice and ladylike? [CBS2]