Starting at Sunset Junction in Silver Lake at 6pm and arriving eight and a half hours later in West Hollywood at around 2:30am, the Los Angeles Prop 8. protest ended with a sit-in the middle of the street. Throughout the night, groups would join the protest as it made its way through Hollywood and environs. While passing through the Sunset Strip, the rally picked up everyone's favorite angel, Drew Barrymore–and paparazzi– who marched with the approximately 3000 swing shift protesters. As the exhausted but defiant crowd occupied the intersection of San Vicente and Santa Monica, Drew took to the microphone, tearfully telling the assembled crowd, "I will fight with you!"

Earlier in the night, the protest swelled to 15,000 people. It's the fourth continuous day of protests since Prop 8. was passed, outlawing gay marriage in California. Further protests are planned for tomorrow and the foreseeable future.

Also– Hey folks, I'm Japhy Grant, your new editor. Howdy! I'm exhausted. More Drew love after the jump.

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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.
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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.
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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!

We hoped motherhood would have tamed pop star Christina Aguilera's trashy ways, but a recent West Hollywood appearance proves otherwise.

Aguilera, honey, you must have heard the phrase "less is more," right? Well, we suggest you take it to heart. And if you're not, don't look so fucking smug (pictured, left). That's uglier than your "suck you good" lipstick.

Many of you homos know that West Hollywood can get pretty wild. That place can be more cruel than the Serengeti and Amazon combined!

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• Margaret Cho returns to television with a Fox sit-com. Let's hope the netwok's execs are nothing like the weight Nazis over at her former TV home, ABC. If so, they may insist the already trim Cho dwindle down to the size of its malnourished star, Mischa "Skeleton" Barton.

• A former homo male nurse is accused of offing several gay men, chopping them up, and then tossing the bits along a New Jersey freeway in little plastic baggies. And you say serial killers aren't creative nowadays.

• Fabian Basabe gets pissy if people say his old man is broke, but is totally okay with being labeled a queer. We just call him annoying as all hell.

• RuPaul and Lady Bunny will be in WeHo this weekend for the Kimberly S CD release party at Factory. Work it.

• We don't think the new study that says gays love snapping up Volvos, Volkswagens, and BMW's makes us sound shallow and materialistic. It makes us sound stylish and materialistic.

There aren't many places we'd rather be for Halloween than West Hollywood's annual Carnaval. L.A.’s Boy's Town puts on quite a show for about half a million costumed queens (well, vanilla straights are allowed, too) spread out over one mile on Santa Monica Boulevard.

Tinseltown is filled with movie make-up artists and FX specialists so be prepared to be blown away by highly elaborate costumes, many of them creative and timely. We predict mascara-smeared Harriet Miers drag queens to dominate this year amid a sea of old staples like giant dildos and bare asses.

Out-of-towners will need a place to stay during this Halloween romp and our first recommendation is the sinful Chateau Marmont where John Belushi got a little too friendly with his little buddy, heroin. Rooms and bungalows can be pretty pricey so a much cheaper (and closer) option is the Wyndham Bel Age. It has a rooftop pool with a breathtaking view of the Sunset Strip and the Viper Room, where adorable River Phoenix took his last breath.

If you get thirsty, you’ll want to duck into a bar and in WeHo, there’s only one place to go: The Abbey. This Vatican-loving hot spot is right off the main Carnaval route.

Quite fittingly, this year's Queen of the West Hollywood Carnaval is repressed American Idol host Ryan Seacrest. For him to take on that title he must either have an incredible sense of humor or he might finally make a big announcement that night. We’re crossing our fingers for the latter.