I find it interesting that some of the reaction to my coverage of Ken Mehlman coming out generates a lot of assumptions. My stating the obvious - having more out LGBTs in both parties working for equality is better than having all your eggs in one political basket - is not the same as endorsing the entire GOP agenda.
We're simply entering an age where decision making is more complex and nuanced. You can work together on overlapping issues of equality, and strongly disagree on policy matters that do not intersect. Regarding LGBT rights, we've had it easy - one party hates us, the other takes us for granted. Once that simple framework starts to fracture, people have to realign their thinking. Some only see good vs. evil, some are pragmatists, others are idealistic candidates for doormats. It's part of the process.
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 Gay Chicago philanthropist Martin Gapshis dies at 63. The most-anticipated LGBT books of the fall season. Matthew McConaughey reappears to hawk cologne. Apple censoring Gaga tweets? Dan Savage on gay rights progress: "So here's where we're at: everyone who cares...
 NYCers on vacation for Labor Day weekend be advised. As Hurricane Earl approaches New York, ferry service to some parts of Fire Island has been suspended, Michael Lavers reports: "Fire Island Ferries will suspend service from Bay Shore at 3...
 Guest hosting on The Michelangelo Signorile Show this week is the incredible hmmm...jane-of-all-trades, stand-up comedian, writer and co-creator of The Daily Show; the late Air America's co-founder, program director and one of its on-air personalities, Lizz Winstead. Whew, that was only a small sampling.
She's a big fan of the Blend and we finally met at this year's BlogHer (photo at right).
I will be on with her at 3:30; you can listen in on Sirius XM's OutQ: Sirius 109, XM 98 and on the Sirius XM iPhone app. Get a free seven-day pass or, if you have an iPhone, go to the app store and download Sirius XM for free, for a 7-day trial, and listen on your phone.
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 A conservative group called the Pacific Justice Institute petitioned the 3rd District Court of Appeal on Monday, seeking to force California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown to defend Prop 8 in court, something both have said they...
 Sad words in today's Boston Globe from GLAAD President Jarret Barrios: I was one of the first elected officials in the country to marry his same-sex partner. In part because there were so many naysayers, we worked to be a...
 Following last night's gubernatorial debate in which she couldn't complete an opening statement, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer was confronted by the press over her false statements that beheadings were occurring in the desert. After sidestepping the question in the debate,...
 Melvin Nimer, the President of the Utah Log Cabin Republicans and board member of the Utah Pride Center has been chosen by the Utah Republican Party to run against gay-friendly Mormon Democrat Ben McAdams in a state senate race there...
 The Real Housewives of New Jersey took their first stage bow in the off-Broadway play My Big Gay Italian Wedding last night, in the first of four performances. Photos here. A portion of the proceeds from each of the shows...
Not again... (CNN):
An oil production platform has exploded 80 miles off the coast of Louisiana, with 12 people overboard and one missing, the Coast Guard said Thursday morning.
...U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Bill Colclough tells CNN that 12 people from the production platform are in water immersion suits as they await rescue.
Colclough told CNN there are reports the production platform is still on fire.
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 Wow. Ben Smith writes: "Arizona Governor Jan Brewer's opening statement in last night's debate reflects either an amazing lack of preparation, or sheer panic." Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...
 Click to enlarge. (photograph by Robert Trachtenberg for Rolling Stone)
It's only fitting that a frustrating and uneven season of Bravo's Top Chef should have yet another frustrating twist in the final challenge in Washington D.C.
I've been extremely vocal about my dislike of this season of Top Chef, which is strange to me as I've been an obsessive devotee since the very first episode of this culinary challenge series, which is also the first reality series to dethrone CBS' The Amazing Race from its Emmys perch.
But while last season rightly snagged an Emmy Award, this season of Top Chef has been almost painful to sit through and several times I nearly walked right out without paying the bill. Lackluster casting, poor editing, and some head-scratching challenges have left me questioning whether there needs to be a shake-up behind the scenes of this series, or whether they just need to cast better next time.
Bravo would appear to be launching an All-Stars edition of Top Chef for next season, which Reality Blurred reports is already filming in Manhattan. Andy has the full list of cheftestants returning for another shot at culinary glory, but I'd advise against reading the piece unless you want to be potentially spoiled about the outcome of this season.
It might be a step in the right direction or at least bring back some familiar faces with the grit, determination, and--above all else--the talent to make the competition interesting again.
Which isn't to say that there haven't been some stand-out chefs this season, because there...
Read the full article at Televisionary (http://www.televisionarytv.com).
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Principal Garry Martin of Le Page Primary School in Melbourne, Australia has gained national news attention for changing the words in a children’s song.
The principal asked to the children to remove the word gay in the classic children’s song "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree." The song about a native Australian bird is a favorite around campfires from New Zealand to Canada. When teaching a group of elementary students the lyrics, Martin told them that gay had two meanings, so they should change the line from “gay your life must be” to “fun your life must be.”
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 A bill allowing same-sex couples to adopt in New South Wales passed following the addition of an amendment giving religous agencies the right to refuse adoption to same-sex couples. The Australian reports: "The bill, introduced by independent Sydney MP Clover...
 Will someone please check his closets for an aging painting? (via kenneth)
 Michael Luongo reports on the gay scene in Baghdad, which he first visited in 2007: This visit would be full of stark contrasts. It was as if there were two different Baghdads — at least. I would interview men from...
 As Prince Charles was leaving the Glastonbury Festival a costumed man (some suspect to be Banksy himself) confronted the monarch and urged him to work to "re-hempify the UK". Watch, AFTER THE JUMP... This is one of two new videos...
Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.
Hollywood Reporter's Borys Kit and James Hibberd are reporting that Warner Bros. Television is in the process of acquiring television rights to Neil Gaiman's DC/Vertigo comic series "Sandman" with the view of adapting it as an ongoing television series. Among the contenders to tackle the project: Supernatural creator Eric Kripke. It's not the first time that Hollywood has courted the mythopoeic comic series: HBO nearly had a version in development at one time with James Mangold attached; Roger Avery attempted to get a feature film version off the ground in the mid-90s. It's still early days for the project as Kripke is said to be cautious about treading on such hallowed ground and attempting to translate the deeply complex and layered narrative for television. [Editor: Personally, I'd rather that Kripke and WBTV didn't: the plot of "Sandman" isn't a strict narrative in the traditional sense of the word but rather an exploration of stories and myth, strung together with some serialized plots and one-offs about Morpheus of the Endless, a race of eternal beings older than the gods themselves. It would be a very difficult project do justice to, given the strength of Gaiman's work on the series and I can't quite wrap my head around how an ongoing series would function. Would it draw from some of the more linear storylines like "A Doll's House," "Season of Mists," "The Kindly Ones," etc.? Or would it be a procedural about a...
Read the full article at Televisionary (http://www.televisionarytv.com).
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 The National Enquirer offers some Labor Day reading.
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