Jerry Curl

The most uproarious NBA replay in ages — a 10-second clip that forced YouTube to curb comments — showed no wicked elbow thrown, no impossibly deep three nailed, no dunkadelic rim rattler. What triggered all the typed and tweeted tantrums? This on-screen action: Toronto Raptors guard Leandro Barbosa gently clasping the palm of his teammate, Reggie Evans, during their victory stroll to the locker room earlier this month after defeating the Orlando Magic. We’ve accepted the man hug — that brief shoulder bump between dudes, and we’re OK the handshake-hug combo. But when it comes to physical affection between two straight dudes, hand-holding seems to be more than America is ready for. Why? Simple. The hand-holding was a clear violation of our current interpretation of “The Bro Code” — which supersedes NBA rules, NASCAR rules, NATO rules and the Geneva Convention. Check “The Bro Code” Facebook page , modeled after rules decreed by “How I Met Your Mother’s” Barney Stinson. The page lists 150 ...

Stevie's new album, In Your Dreams , comes out May 3rd!

The 13th Annual Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival is currently going on. This critically acclaimed event, based in the world-renowned historic South Beach neighborhood, screens films and videos throughout Miami-Dade county and Ft. Lauderdale. The Festival continues through May 1 2011. For more info on events and film screenings, visit their website .

Josh Slack as featured on Homotography .

In other news, Gaga is partnering with Robin Hood, NYC's largest poverty-fighting organization, to give away $1 million to a non-profit helping teens in poverty. One of the organizations up for the award is the LGBT Hetrick-Martin Institute. Vote on Facebook .

Photo caption: My boo Ben Barnes as the title charcter in a 2009 film version . Get ready to read The Picture of Dorian Gray — the way Oscar Wilde intended to to be read. More than 120 years after the classic's initial release, the original version is about to be published, according to The Telegraph . Before its serialized publication in Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine in 1890, Wilde's editor made a number of changes to tone down the book's homoerotic content. References to the protagonist's lovers as "mistresses" and other "decadent" phrases were also removed. One phrase from the original — "it is quite true I have worshipped you with far more romance of feeling than a man should ever give to a friend" — was changed to —"From the moment I met you, your personality had the most extraordinary influence on me." Even with the changes, critics called the book “vulgar” and “unclean,” and more passages were removed. Now, editor Nicholas ...

The revival of Larry Kramer's groundbreaking 1985 play The Normal Heart about the early days of the AIDS epidemic opened on Wednesday night. Above is the leaflet which Kramer was personally handing out with a few assistants outside the theater after each performance. Click to enlarge. Andy Towle has some nice things to say about the show as well as a cast interview over at Towleroad .

In related news: The producers of Priscilla announced today that there will be a US tour of the show starting in the Fall of 2012!

JustJared reports : Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, and John Leguizamo are reuniting to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of their hit musical Moulin Rouge . The cast will debut Moulin Rouge At 10: A Spectacular Spectacular MTV News Event , hosted by Josh Horowitz, on May 2 at 3PM ET. The special will stream live on MTV.com and include special appearances and live interviews while looking back at how the film came to be and how its legacy continues to grow. Kidman and McGregor will be joined by director Baz Luhrmann, co-star John Leguizamo, who played artist Toulouse-Lautrec, and Catherine Martin, who won the Oscar for costume design and art direction. Fans can submit questions for Baz, Nicole, Ewan, and John by tweeting questions to @MTVNews and using the hash tag #AskMoulin. Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Alex Pettyfer's sour interview in the new Vman is not winning him many fans. US magazine offers a few excerpts: In a new interview with Vman magazine, the 21-year-old Brit proudly announces that he has a vulgar tattoo above his crotch that reads "Thank You." The reason? "In case I forget to say it," he says with a wink. "L.A. is growing on me a little bit, but it's still a s**t hole," Pettyfer complains. "I think it's this insidious pool where nearly everyone lives in fear. Geographically it's fantastic, but socially it's disgusting. I wish they'd run all the c**ts out." "I really don't give a s**t about [fame]" he explained. "I wish I had some interesting stories about living in L.A., but mostly I just do my work and then go home. Being an actor is like being in prison. You go, you serve your time, you try and replicate Johnny Depp's career and then you move to Paris." (Via Towleroad )

L’Homo , a special edition of the Dutch women’s magazine Linda , features seven shirtless athletes on its cover in an issue dealing with gays in sports. The catch is that only two of the athletes are gay, with the rest showing their support for the subject. The out athletes are gymnast Jeffrey Wammes and race car driver Mike Verschuur. For gymnast Jeffrey Wammes, the special edition was a perfect opportunity to come out: “There was already a lot of speculation about whether or not I fell for boys or girls. To me it has nothing to do with sport or how I perform. But when I was asked to do this, I made it clear straight away how things were and that’s that.” Verschuur told about how coming out has helped him in his sport: “Many fellow drivers – not mentioning any names – told me they were gay too. But they dare not say so in public which is a real pity. Because there is nothing to fear. On the contrary, it has only made me stronger. It’s made me a better driver.” The non-gay athletes on ...

When Space Shuttle Endeavour blasts into space for the final time today, the launch will be particularly emotional for the commander on board. Back on the ground, Cmdr. Mark Kelly's wife, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, will watch the shuttle's ascent. Three months ago, Giffords was clinging to life after a gunshot wound tore through her brain in January's Tuscon, Arizona, mass shooting. Kelly will lead a crew that includes pilot Gregory H. Johnson; mission specialists Michael Fincke, Greg Chamitoff and Andrew Feustel; and European Space Agency astronaut Roberto Vittori. Liftoff is scheduled for 3:47 p.m. ET. Endeavour has logged more than 103 million miles in space, blasting off 24 times, but its 25th flight will be its last. As NASA's shuttle program winds down with the last launch scheduled this summer, many in the astronaut corps are wrestling with what to do next. For the foreseeable future, Russian rockets will be the only way for U.S. astronauts to get to space. As...

Although I'm not a royalphile , I can appreciate how special this day was for many people. Congratulations to the newlyweds. (Via the Huffington Post )

[ Editor's note ] Good morning, Jerry Curls. I'm sorry for the abrupt stoppage of service over the last couple of days. Finals week blind-sided me this semester and I was rushing to cram Linguistics trivialities and finish term papers. As of Wednesday, I have completed all my English major course work. All that stands between me and a cap & gown in a GD math class. This summer, it shall be done. Anyway, a lot of stuff seemed to be going on while I was out of it. Here's the briefest of recaps: - Simon Cowell confirms Paula Abdul as X-Factor judge - Apple defends iPhone location-gathering practices - The South was rocked by killer tornadoes - President Obama shuffles national security team - And in silly news, Obama released his birth certificate

I want NEED this.

By Steve Breen

Nick Auger as featured on DNA .

Towleroad reports : Supporters of marriage equality are rallying this morning at Buckingham Palace. At the event, organized by Equal Love UK and Outrage!, demonstrators will present a giant wedding card to William and Kate. They write : As well as wishing the royal couple every happiness, they will also highlight the fact that William and Kate can marry, but same-sex couples can’t. The Buckingham Palace event will urge the royal couple to support moves to end the ban on gay marriage. We want equal marriage rights for all couples, regardless of sexual orientation. Said the card : "Congratulations William and Kate on your Wedding Day. We wish you a happy life together. You can get married, gay people can't. We are banned by law. We ask you to support marriage equality. Equal=Love." Said activist Peter Tatchell , organizer of the event: Our event will urge the royal couple to support moves to end the ban on gay marriage. We want equal marriage rights for all couples, regardl...

Speaking of old queens: Though it has been rumored for about two months now, Elton John and David Furnish confirmed to Barbara Walters on 20/20 that Lady Gaga is indeed the godmother of their son Zachary. Said John about their reason for their choice: "When you get to the real person underneath, there's a simple girl who loves her parents. I love her to death and a lot of people say that's crazy, but they don't know her and we do." The two also discuss the day birth of the baby, who now officially possesses the makings of a pop star. Watch the 20/20 segment (in two parts) at Towleroad .

To say Larry Kramer is polarizing is like saying Rush Limbaugh is a little bit conservative. The Pulitzer-nominated playwright, screenwriter, author and activist has been one of the most controversial figures in American gay life over the past 30 years. He first incensed gay men in 1978 with Faggots , his eerily prescient novel that critiqued the gay community's culture of promiscuity. And as a co-founder of Gay Men's Health Crisis and the founder of ACT UP, the influential AIDS activist group, he became one of the most strident and passionate voices in the early years of the AIDS crisis. While making countless enemies, most notably New York Mayor Ed Koch, he was one of the people most responsible for drawing attention to the disease. Over the last decade and a half, as AIDS has transitioned from a death sentence to largely treatable and gay culture has transitioned from the margins to somewhere closer to the mainstream, Kramer has remained (almost) as angry as ever. In 2005, h...

They are really bringing in the big guns for this departure. Expect the season finale of The Office to end on a truly funny note now that Jim Carrey has signed on to appear in the hourlong episode. According to Entertainment Weekly, Carrey will join fellow guest stars Ricky Gervais, Will Arnett, James Spader, Ray Romano and Catherine Tate as candidates who want to take over the job vacated by former Dunder Mifflin office manager Michael Scott (Steve Carell). Though Will Ferrell, who plays Deangelo Vickers, seems to have a lock on the job at the moment, Spader and Doctor Who alum Tate are likely to be the most serious contenders to take over for Carell, since all of the other actors are committed to other projects. The season 7 finale of The Office airs May 19. (Via the Marquee Blog )

On a related note, I love the film poster for Madea's Big Happy Family . Well played Mr. Perry.

Weekend Top Five: #1 Rio ($26.8M) #2 Madea's Big Happy Family ($25.8M) #3 Water for Elephants ($17.5M) #4 Hop ($12.5M) #5 Scream 4 ($7.15M)

Tarso Tenório as featured on Made in Brazil .

Unknown stud as featured on Big Roger Underwear

In what I can only describe as the work of a gay genius, the Gay Pimp (aka Jonny McGovern) pays tribute to The Golden Girls ' Rose Nylund and her fictional Minnesota hometown of St.Olaf, with this track from his EP, "Songs About The Golden Girls." You can buy the songs here .

The Marines of 266 Rein, stationed in Afghanistan, are lip-synching to Britney Spears's "Hold It Against Me." Britney then tweeted :

Photo caption: Cuban military and civilians parade on the 50th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion along the Plaza de la Revolucion in Havana April 16. Photo caption: People stand at the corner of a street in Havana October 26, 2010. The Big Picture reports : Cuba this week concluded two events, one looking back, and one - ostensibly - looking forward. The 50-year anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion was observed with parades and speeches. Victory in the three-day war against a covert US operation to overthrow Fidel Castro, the then-new leader of revolutionary Cuba, is celebrated every year. But 50 years on, a stagnant economy and calls for political reform from a younger generation were an undercurrent during the first party congress in 14 years. What real change will come, and when, remains to be seen. Collected here are some archival images, scenes from the congress and political process, and daily life on the island.

Today is Earth Day and in addition to spending time outdoors, spreading awareness and saving the environment, there's no better way to celebrate the planet than with free goodies! From free coffee and free trees, to more free coffee, there's something out there for everyone. You can check out some of the best free pick-ups available for Earth Day this year at the Huffington Post . Don't forget that Earth Day isn't just about free swag -- click here to see how you can get involved to help the environment.

By R.J. Matson

A traveling exhibition on Jim Henson, the innovative puppeteer and creator of imaginative works from Sesame Street and The Muppet Show to Fraggle Rock and The Dark Crystal , will come to the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens, this summer. The museum said yesterday that the exhibition, “Jim Henson’s Fantastic World,” will open on July 16 and run through Jan. 16, 2012; it will feature more than 120 works, including drawings, props and, of course, puppets from a career that spanned some 35 years. “It really shows that the Muppets didn’t just come out of nowhere,” Cheryl Henson, a daughter of Henson and president of the Jim Henson Foundation, said in a telephone interview. “Between 1954 and 1969 alone, there’s 15 years of experimentation there. It’s inspiring for people to see that you don’t become successful immediately. You have to try many, many things.” The traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian and the Jim Henson Legacy features original puppets like Kermit the Frog,...

Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders will return for a new series of Absolutely Fabulous , the BBC has confirmed. The pair will reprise their much loved roles as Patsy and Edina for a three episode run of the hit show – the first new shows for six years. Filming is scheduled to begin this summer although Miss Saunders has yet to write the script. ‘In late August I start filming on three episodes of Absolutely Fabulous, which we are all ecstatic about. Miss Saunders has been so busy writing Uptown Downstairs Abbey for Comic Relief and also Spice Girls: The Musical, I don't think she's started [the script],’ Miss Lumley told Hello! magazine. The Daily Mail revealed the show was set to return last November in an interview with Miss Lumley. ‘Jen wrote to me and said, “Let's talk through it. What do you think?'. And I said, 'Bring it on'. Because we're all still here. Mother's still alive, the wonderful June Whitfield. Julia Sawalha [and] Jane Horrocks [are]...

The Guardian reports : Apple has come in at the bottom of the most comprehensive green league table of technology companies because of its heavy reliance on "dirty data" centres. The list, which is compiled by Greenpeace and released in San Francisco yesterday, shows that the company relies heavily on highly polluting coal power at the sites that house its banks of servers. Greenpeace's report, "How Dirty is Your Data?" reveals that the company's investment in a new North Carolina facility will triple its electricity consumption, equivalent to the electricity demand of 80,000 average US homes. The facility's power will be supplied by Duke Energy, with a mix of 62% coal and 32% nuclear. On Wednesday, Apple posted a large boost in quarterly earnings, which grew by 95% to $6bn. Gary Cook, Greenpeace's IT policy analyst and lead author of the report, said: "Consumers want to know that when they upload a video or change their Facebook status that the...

Energy giant BP agreed yesterday to spend $1 billion this year for an array of cleanup projects in the Gulf of Mexico, bidding to speed environmental recovery from last year's massive oil spill while paring down its own liability for the nation's largest offshore oil spill. The agreement between BP, the federal government and the five Gulf states oiled by the spill sets into motion years of work restoring natural resources. BP and the other companies involved in the 206-million-gallon spill face billions of dollars in fines for long-term restoration. "This milestone agreement will allow us to jump-start restoration," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said. The Justice Department said the agreement does not affect the potential legal liability that BP and other companies may face from lawsuits for damages resulting from the spill, which began after the Deepwater Horizon rig off Louisiana exploded on April 20, 2010. The money is expected to fund an array of restoration pro...

The Daily Disney reports : The renovated LEGO Imagination Center at Downtown Disney has reopened this week, and there are a lot of improvements. Outside the store, amazing giant LEGO statues decorate the perimeter. The popular family walking its dogs and Brickley the sea serpent in the nearby lake still stand guard. But now, visitors also can take photos with Maleficent in dragon form, Buzz Lightyear and Woody, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and Bambi and Thumper. The outdoor play patio has been moved from the side near T-Rex to the entrance adjacent to World of Disney. Kids will find tubs of LEGOs to build their creations and the raised slope makes for better races with its new starting gate. Inside the store, the bottlenecks of people don’t seem to happen as much with more room to roam. There is a new hub of computers where kids can design LEGO structures and play games. Parents also will find another play table filled with LEGOs tucked inside a separate room. That’s a great addit...

Jack Jefferson as featured on Homorazzi .

Free download at Paper Records .

Mother Jones reports : Fourteen states currently have laws on the books outlawing anal sex between two consenting, unrelated adults—referred to variously as "deviate sexual conduct," "the infamous crime against nature," "sodomy," and "buggery." And it's taken a concerted effort to keep those laws on the books. Since Lawrence v. Texas (the Supreme Court decison that ruled anti-sodomy laws as unconstitutional), efforts to formally repeal laws in Montana, Kansas, Utah, Louisiana, North Carolina, and, most notably, Texas have all faced resistance before fizzling out in their respective state legislatures. Conservatives in those states know they can't enforce the laws, but by keeping them in the code, they can send a message that homosexuality is officially condemned by the government.

The BBC reports : The US soldier accused of leaking a trove of secret government documents later published by the Wikileaks website is to be moved to a military prison in Kansas, officials have said. Pte First Class Bradley Manning has been held pending court martial at a Marine Corps base in Virginia. His transfer comes amid international concern over his treatment. His supporters say he has been confined to a cell for 23 hours a day and forced regularly to undress. Last week, UN special rapporteur on torture Juan Mendez said US officials had blocked his requests for unmonitored visits to Pte Manning, in part aimed at determining whether he had been mistreated. Ray McGovern, a member of the Bradley Manning Support Network's Advisory Board, said this was "unprecedented". "What it is, pure and simple, is an intimidation technique, lest any of Bradley Manning's colleagues, any of the other people in the armed forces, be tempted to do what Bradley Manning did, and t...

Read all about the picks by clicking here .

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy More on this troubling story here .

The AP reports : Easing into his 2012 campaign, President Barack Obama is telling his supporters he understands their frustration over the compromises he's made with Republicans, while preparing them for more to come. It's a timely warning given the upcoming vote on raising the debt ceiling and the ongoing debate over long-term deficit reduction, both issues Obama says can only be solved if Republicans and Democrats work together. But further compromises could prove a tough pill to swallow for many of Obama's liberal backers, who have grown tired of watching the president cede ground to the GOP on spending cuts and tax breaks for the wealthy. During a raucous fundraiser focused on young people in San Francisco last night, Obama said his supporters are not alone in their frustration. "There are times when I've felt the same way you do. It's a big, complicated, messy democracy," he said. "We knew this wouldn't be easy." Obama's three-day We...

We start off today with some tragic news: Two highly acclaimed journalists have been killed in Libya. Tim Hetherington (pictured above), an Oscar-nominated filmmaker and photographer, and Chris Hondros, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated photographer, were killed in the city of Misrata after being hit by mortar fire during fighting between Muammar Gaddafi's forces and Libyan rebels. Two other photographers, Guy Martin and Chris Brown, were also injured. Andre Liohn, a fellow photographer in Libya, was the first to report the news of Hetherington's death on his Facebook page. Hetherington was a contributing photographer for Vanity Fair , and co-directed the Afghan War film Restrepo with author Sebastian Junger. That film was nominated for an Oscar for best documentary in 2011. The last tweet on his Twitter account reads, "In besieged Libyan city of Misrata. Indiscriminate shelling by Qaddafi forces. No sign of NATO." Hondros' work appeared in many major news outlets, incl...

After spotting a truck packed with hundreds of whimpering dogs on a Beijing highway, a man put out a call on a microblogging site, begging fellow animal lovers to help him force the driver to release the animals. Around 200 people responded, blockading the truck at a toll booth for 15 hours until they finally negotiated the dogs' release for $17,000, saving them from being slaughtered and served as food. Many of the animals were dehydrated, injured and suffering from a potentially deadly virus; at least 68 have been hospitalized. "They were squeezing and pressing on each other and some were biting and fighting, and I saw some were injured or sick," according to Li Wei, who is the manager of Capital Animal Welfare Association and one of the people who participated in the rescue. Li said at least one dog had died in the truck. The rescue was a rare successful case of social activism in China, where authorities are currently waging a brutal crackdown on dissent, locking up d...

A former Rutgers University freshman was finally indicted today on a hate crime charge after allegedly using a webcam to spy on a same-sex encounter involving his roommate, who committed suicide shortly afterward in a case that started a national conversation on bullying. A 15-count indictment was handed up today by a Middlesex County grand jury against Dharun Ravi (right), of Plainsboro, who had already faced invasion of privacy charges along with another student, Molly Wei. The indictment charges Ravi with bias intimidation, invasion of privacy, witness and evidence tampering, and other charges stemming from the suicide of 18-year-old Tyler Clementi (above)in September. The indictment said charges against Wei would not be presented to the grand jury "at this time." Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge into the Hudson River shortly after authorities say Ravi and Wei used a webcam to peek at his liaison. Lawyers for Ravi say the webcam stream was viewed on only a ...

Ben Elliott as featured on Nous Models .

A new book published by Routledge documents the life of 97 year-old Rudolf Brazda, the last known gay survivor of the 3rd Reich deported for homosexuality. Brazda spent nearly three years at the Buchenwald concentration camp. His prisoner uniform was branded with the distinctive pink triangle. The new book Das Glück kam immer zu mir ("Happiness always came to me," which is sort of the motto of Rudolf Brazda, he believes he survived through unbroken humor and optimism) is by the sociologist Alexander Zinn. Berlin openly gay Mayor Klaus Wowereit says in his preface: "His life almost novelistic, as this book recounts, is an example of persecution of homosexuals have been, as the successful struggle for a free and happy life." Says Zinn: "Brazda's history differs markedly from that of the majority of homosexuals persecuted under the 3rd Reich - because he survived. The majority of the 'pink triangles' died in the camps." He has filmed his research...

On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of Cubans gathered at Havana's Revolution Square to observe the 50th anniversary of the failed U.S. Bay of Pigs invasion. The historic event, known in Cuba as the Girón Beach Battle, has always been celebrated with a huge annual military parade and fireworks akin to the 4th of July or Veteran's Day celebrations in the United States. It's also preceded and followed by huge public rallies dedicated this year to the younger generations by Cuban president Raúl Castro (he expressed concern that those who surrounded him were reaching his age or were older and said he wanted to promote the participation of younger generations in Cuban revolutionary party politics). His daughter, Mariela Castro, was also there as the director of the National Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX) and led an unofficial LGBT contingent who proudly carried the rainbow flag next to the Cuban flag (that's Mariela Castro at the center in the picture holding the rainb...

The Disney Channel star Demi Lovato is leaving her popular television show, Sonny With a Chance , the channel confirmed yesterday. “I don’t think going back to ‘Sonny’ would be healthy for my recovery,” Ms. Lovato told People magazine. “Being in front of a camera would make me nervous.” Ms. Lovato, 18, withdrew from a concert tour with the Jonas Brothers last fall to enter into rehabilitation for cutting and eating disorders. Sonny With a Chance was placed on hiatus. “We respect Demi’s decision to focus full time on her music and not immediately return to her acting career,” the Disney Channel said in a statement. “She is a talented young woman, and our hearts are with her as she continues to take action to improve her health and bounce back from adversity.” In Sonny With a Chance , Ms. Lovato portrayed a cast member in a fictional sketch comedy show called So Random . With Ms. Lovato exiting, the Disney Channel is turning “So Random” into a real show. It will have its premiere in Jun...

ArtsBeat reports : The cast of The Dark Knight Rises , Christopher Nolan’s third and final entry in his series of Batman movies, is looking increasingly like the cast of his 2010 summer blockbuster Inception . Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard have now officially signed on board for that superhero film. Warner Brothers Pictures said yesterday that Mr. Gordon-Levitt will play John Blake, a Gotham City beat cop. Ms. Cotillard has been cast as Miranda Tate, a board member at Wayne Enterprises who is allied with Bruce Wayne. Tom Hardy, another member of the Inception gang, was previously announced to play the villain Bane, and Michael Caine, who had a brief role in that film has played the butler Alfred in all of Mr. Nolan’s Bat-films. In a statement, Mr. Nolan said: “When you collaborate with people as talented as Marion and Joe, it comes as no surprise that you would want to repeat the experience. I immediately thought of them for the roles of Miranda and Blake, and I am looking...

File this under: way cool. The AP reports : The Black Eyed Peas are opening a school where local teenagers will learn video and music production using professional-quality equipment. The six-time Grammy Award winners announced yesterday that their Peapod Foundation together with the Adobe Foundation will open a Peapod Adobe Youth Voices music and multimedia academy in lower Manhattan. The Peapod Foundation is the hip-hop group's charitable organization; it's administered by the Entertainment Industry Foundation. The Adobe Foundation is the philanthropic arm of software maker Adobe Systems Inc., whose products include Acrobat, Flash and Photoshop. The two foundations already run three Youth Voices academies in California — in Los Angeles, Oakland and Redwood City. The New York academy will offer classes to students ages 13 to 19 starting this July, the foundations said. "Our passion for music and media was fueled by many generous people on our road to success," Black E...