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TMZ has learned ... Chaz Bono will be hitting the hardwood on the new season of "Dancing with the Stars."

(Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates bluntly told Marines on Sunday that they won't be able to opt out of their enlistment just because they disagree with a government decision to end a ban on gays serving openly in the military. Gates, who is on a tour of Afghanistan to bid farewell to the troops before stepping down at the end of the month, was quizzed by a Marine sergeant about the controversial policy during a question and answer session at a base in southwestern Helmand Province.

Budweiser’s new ad seems to be the latest in controversial commercials. The company’s promotion features a soldier returning home to his… boyfriend? “Hey man, it’s me. I’m coming home,” the soldier anxiously reports to his phone pal. While the young soldier prepares for his return home, his friends and family prepare a surprise celebration, complete with Budweiser beer, obviously. When the soldier arrives, he immediately embraces his telephone pal. He then hugs a young woman before greeting his parents. LINK TO YOUTUBE OF AD So who is the man awaiting the soldier’s homecoming? Is it the soldier’s significant other? Is...

The New York Times is reporting that, in the wake of the overturn of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, prominent homosexuals are gearing up a "war room" in order to try to finish the job of destroying the natural family and one-man one-woman marriage in America. "The new group, Equality Matters, grew out of Media Matters, an organization backed by wealthy liberal donors — including prominent gay philanthropists — that has staked its claim in Washington punditry with aggressive attacks on Fox News and conservative commentators like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. It will be run by Richard Socarides, a former...

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Apparently no aspect of Western culture is impervious to the in-your-face tastelessness of the homosexual movement. Imagine dragging yourself through the grim task of selecting a casket for a lost loved one and being confronted with this: Funeral directors in Germany are bidding for the pink pound — by launching coffins specially designed for gay customers. The caskets feature homoerotic artwork on the outside and come with a series of tastefully luxurious plush designer interiors, say makers Mike Konigsfeld and Tom Brandl in Cologne, Germany. The designers — who have lived together for more than 10 years — say the...

Portia DeGeneres could be the first celebrity to dance with a same-sex partner on "Dancing With the Stars." The hit competition series is "planning to feature a same-sex couple. You're at the top of the list,"Ryan Seacrest told Portia (who changed her last name from de Rossi to DeGeneres) on his radio show yesterday. The proclamation seemed to surprise DeGeneres, who is married to talk show host Ellen DeGeneres. "Goodness, you really do break news," she said. Rather than flat out pooh-pooh the notion, DeGeneres said, "I'm not gonna pass, let me think about it. I used to be a...

Republican Carl Paladino, a tea party candidate for governor of New York, said Monday on NBC's "Today" show that he doesn't discriminate against homosexuals. On Sunday, in a discussion of gay marriage at a meeting with Brooklyn Hasidic Jewish leaders, Paladino said children were being "brainwashed" into accepting homosexuality as "valid."

(CNSNews.com) – An immigration bill introduced by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) on Thursday includes the Uniting American Families Act, which would allow U.S. citizens to sponsor their non-citizen same-sex partners. “Now is the time to reform our nation's cruel and broken immigration system,” Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, said in a press release following the introduction of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2010. “Today, there are 12 million undocumented immigrants, including at least half a million LGBT people who are forced to live in the shadows of our society.” LGBT stands for...

Gay marriage is not going away as a highly emotional, contested issue. Proposition 8, the California ballot measure that bans same-sex marriage, has seen to that, as it winds its way through the federal courts. But perhaps the public has reached a turning point. A CNN poll this month found that a narrow majority of Americans supported same-sex marriage--the first poll to find majority support. Other poll results did not go that far, but still, on average, showed that support for gay marriage had risen to 45 percent or more (with the rest either opposed or undecided). That’s a big...

Despite NBC's decision to allow same-sex couples to apply for its "Modern Love" wedding contest, there were none among the four finalists revealed this morning on the "Today" show. When the call for entries opened earlier this summer, the "Today" show faced pressure from GLAAD after the network said couples needed to be eligible for marriage in the state of New York to enter. Executive producer Jim Bell met with GLAAD to discuss the contest and its rules and, following that meeting, "Today" extended the contest deadline and announced that it would allow same-sex couples to apply. Viewers can now...

KGUN 9 POLL: Do you agree with the decision made by Judge Vaughn Walker in overturning California's gay marriage ban? Yes No Undecided

After a meeting with gay and lesbian activists on Thursday, NBC's "Today" show said it is changing the rules for its annual wedding contest to allow same-sex couples to apply for a ceremony conducted on morning TV. NBC extended the deadline for applications until Monday. Already thousands of couples have expressed interest in the on-air wedding, which the top-rated morning show has sponsored for a decade, a spokeswoman said. "We're thrilled that `Today' show's `Modern Wedding Contest' now recognizes what most fair-minded Americans have already concluded — a wedding celebrates love and commitment, whether the spouses are straight or gay,"...

Macy's Department Store in Boston has broken new ground in its cutting-edge support of "gay pride" and the homosexual / transgender movement. As an official "Gay Pride Week" event, Macy's downtown Boston store held a fashion show MC'd by a well-known Boston drag queen. "Jujubee" is a man who dresses as a woman and performs at various drag queen and cross-dressing events. (And it's been holding similar celebratory events in 16 cities nationwide, according to a company spokesman in our video!) The event was open to the public, held in the men's department of the downtown Macy's store, and widely...

Miley Cyrus is not that innocent. Taking a cue from fellow ex-Disney star Britney Spears, the "Hannah Montana" star simulated a girl-on-girl kiss with a female backup dancer during her Thursday night performance on "Britain's Got Talent." Unlike Spears, however, who famously lip locked with Madonna at the 2003 MTV Awards, Miley stopped short of actually kissing the dancer - the two only thrust their lips toward one another.

As Americans, it is our birthright that all people are created equal and deserve the same rights, privileges, and opportunities. Since our earliest days of independence, our Nation has striven to fulfill that promise. An important chapter in our great, unfinished story is the movement for fairness and equality on behalf of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. This month, as we recognize the immeasurable contributions of LGBT Americans, we renew our commitment to the struggle for equal rights for LGBT Americans and to ending prejudice and injustice wherever it exists. LGBT Americans have enriched and strengthened the...

There’s just something inherently icky about this commercial. Or perhaps it’s just a commentary on the French society. It’s a gay-love moment interrupted by a father-son moment made possible by the folks at McDonald’s. I’m not up on my French culture, so I can’t determine if McDonald’s is trying to be provocative or if they’re really trying to win over the gay hamburger-eating demographic. Nonetheless, there is just something that deep down really troubles me. The TV spot is called “Come as you are,” but if he’s hiding something from his father, is he really coming as he is? Does...

NORTH TUSTIN – A controversial play that drew protesters in November will return to the Church of the Foothills for an Easter Sunday performance. "Corpus Christi" depicts Jesus as a gay man living in 1950s Corpus Christi, Texas, playwright Terrence McNally's home town. The cast of 13 portray Jesus and the 12 Apostles. "It's a story of love and a story of passion, and the story of Christ, so actually it works out very well to have it on Easter," said Pastor Mike Holland of Church of the Foothills. Holland said the group chose to do the play on Easter...

'Grey's Anatomy' Among GLAAD Nominees THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: January 13, 2010 LOS ANGELES (AP) -- For the fourth year running, the ABC television network leads nominees for media awards from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. The network has earned eight nominations for the 21st annual GLAAD Media Awards, with ''Brothers & Sisters,'' ''Grey's Anatomy,'' ''Private Practice'' and newcomer ''Modern Family'' among its contenders. The GLAAD Media Awards honor the fair, accurate and inclusive representation of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and the issues that affect their lives in the media.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — They had to travel to the ends of the Earth to do it, but two Argentine men succeeded in becoming Latin America's first same-sex married couple.After their first attempt to wed earlier this month in Buenos Aires was thwarted, gay rights activists Jose Maria Di Bello and Alex Freyre took their civil ceremony to the capital of Argentina's Tierra del Fuego province, where sympathetic governor backed their bid to make Latin American history.The couple exchanged rings Monday in Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, closer to Antarctica than Buenos Aires. The informal ceremony was witnessed...

First on TVNewser: American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert won't be appearing on "Good Morning America" tomorrow. TVNewser has learned ABC News canceled the concert after Lambert's sexually charged performance at the American Music Awards Sunday night. Lambert led men on leashes, dragged a woman by her foot, and smashed a man's head into his crotch, all while singing his new single "For Your Entertainment." ABC, which aired the awards show, received about 1,500 phone calls from people complaining about the performance, a number ABC calls "moderate." An ABC News spokesperson tells TVNewser, "given his controversial live performance on the AMAs...

WASHINGTON — Far from chastened by off-year election setbacks, congressional Democrats vowed no let-up in the drive to pass controversial health care Wednesday, arguing that the way to regain voter trust was to complete what they started in more prosperous political times. Any suggestion that "we ought to run like scalded dogs from trying to fix health care for this country is wrong. I believe the judgment might be more punishing if we throw in the towel because it's difficult," said North Dakota Rep. Earl Pomeroy, a political moderate and supporter of the legislation. Speaker Nancy Pelosi hopes to have...

It's now more than 50 years since the revolution began. Sexual "liberation" has been endlessly ballyhooed by the national media, promoted in the movies, embraced by Playboy guys and Cosmo girls as a freedom more delicious than Eden's apple. No American under 40 can honestly remember a time when sex on TV was taboo, when "living together" meant married, when "gay" meant happy, and when almost every child lived with both parents.   If truth be told, the revolution has been a disaster. Before the push to loosen America's sexual mores really got under way in the 1950s, the...

Lithuania MPs ban gay ‘promotion’ AFP/Vilnius Lithuanian lawmakers voted overwhelmingly yesterday to overturn a presidential veto of a child-protection law that bans what supporters say is the promotion of homosexuality. The law, due to come into force in March 2010, bars the “public dissemination” of information favourable to homosexuality, claiming it could harm the mental health and physical, intellectual and moral development of youngsters. The legislation - which also covers bisexuality, polygamy, images of heterosexual intercourse, death and severe injury, the paranormal, foul language and bad eating habits - does not specifically define public dissemination nor set down the punishment...

In early May, National Public Radio, a supposed bastion of liberal media bias, found itself in the cross hairs of the lesbian and gay community over an online review of "Outrage," a documentary chronicling the hypocrisy of prominent, purportedly closeted politicians with staunchly anti-gay voting records. What sparked the controversy was not the documentary itself, but the fact that NPR's review failed to name names. In fact, while Nathan Lee, the review's initial author, had included the identities of those fingered in the film, NPR editors took it upon themselves to censor the review prior to publication. Would a review...

For thousands of Americans, Tax Day was a moment to protest what they see as bloated budgets and a pile of debt being passed on to their children. For CNN, MSNBC and other media outlets, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to use the word "teabagging" in a sentence. Teabagging, for those who don't live in a frat house, refers to a sexual act involving part of the male genitalia and a second person's face or mouth. So when the anti-tax "tea party" protests were held Wednesday across the country, cable anchors and guests -- who for weeks had all but...

President Obama says he wants to reverse "Don't Ask Don't Tell," the Clinton-era policy that prevents openly gay men and women from serving in the military. But so far the White House has been noncommittal about how and when he will try to make that happen. In an effort to prod the president and Congress to act, activists -- gay, straight, military and civilian -- will converge on Capitol Hill Friday to rally behind an effort in the House to overturn the policy, which has been a continuing source of controversy since it became law 15 years ago. "The repeal,...

As much as many of you may be absolutely addicted to that cup-o-joe in the mornings, on April 15, I would strongly advise you not to take your kids in or near a Starbucks. Otherwise you might be stuck explaining a few things that you probably believe they are not yet ready to be confronted with. Because I refuse to give the group doing this exercise any traffic I'll simply show you what's on the page:

Why do we -- men and women, gay and straight -- find Rachel Maddow sexy? Daphne Merkin's "Butch Fatale" about the newly minted MSNBC icon, hidden among the overpriced handbag porn and fluffy profiles of last weekend's New York Times T style magazine, is more complicated than it appears. As Merkin writes, it isn't often that mainstream culture celebrates the attractiveness of butch lesbians. Sure, we admire femmes like Portia de Rossi and Lindsay Lohan. But for the most part, lesbians who wear suits, cut their hair short or otherwise don't conform to traditional standards of beauty -- the Ellen...

A British school that staged a gay version of Romeo and Juliet - called Romeo and Julian - has been accused of 'mind-blowing' political correctness. The play, which was performed by teenagers at a mixed school in east London to coincide with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT) History Month, has caused a stir in parliament. Drama teacher Jo Letson reworked Shakespeare's play to challenge 'homophobia and homophobic bullying'. The version was praised by actor Sir Ian McKellen when he saw it last month, reports The Telegraph. Calling for a debate on political correctness during questions on upcoming Commons business,...

The current Newsweek has an article by Lisa Miller pretending to take seriously the idea that the Bible looks favorably upon homosexual love and is properly used in support rather than rejection of same-sex marriage.  Here's the final paragraph. My friend the priest James Martin says his favorite Scripture relating to the question of homosexuality is Psalm 139, a song that praises the beauty and imperfection in all of us and that glorifies God’s knowledge of our most secret selves: “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.� And then he adds that in his heart he believes that...

Marc Shaiman, the Tony Award-winning composer of the film and stage musical “Hairspray,” has done the country a major, if inadvertent, service. He has composed a brief musical piece against California Proposition 8 that takes only three minutes to reveal the ignorance and hate that pervades so much anti-Proposition 8 activism. This short musical, viewed more than 2 million times on the Internet, features major Hollywood talents playing (through song) two groups on a beach -- gay men and women in beach clothes and a stuffy formally dressed church group composed of whites and blacks. Its message begins with a...

LONDON -- A Norwegian escort told a court Monday that Boy George manacled him to a bedroom wall and beat him with a metal chain after accusing him of hacking into his computer. The former Culture Club singer is on trial for the false imprisonment of 29-year-old Audun Carlsen. The 47-year-old singer, who is standing trial under his real name, George O'Dowd, denies the charge. Carlsen told London's Snaresbrook Crown Court that he met the singer through a Web site and went to his London home for a naked photo shoot. After the encounter Boy George sent a series e-mails...

Saturday night I took my wife of 34 years to MovieLand to screen a comedy romance entitled “Zach and Miri Make a Porno,” a film whose Internet “Tomatometer” consensus proclaimed it “fresh,” “charming” and “an old fashioned romantic comedy.” The Washington Post’s Neely Tucker observed, “Everyone on screen seems to be having so much fun,” and The New York Times’ A. O. Scott bubbled, “a gee-whiz romantic-comedy formula that would not be out of place on the Disney Channel.” Since the wife and I are suckers for old-fashioned romantic comedies, I ponied up $30 for tickets and a bucket of...

  Dear Friend, You're not going to believe this. In the same week that the No on 8 campaign launched an ad that labeled as "lies" claims that same-sex marriage would be taught in schools to young children, a first grade class took a school-sponsored trip to a gay wedding. Eighteen first graders traveled to San Francisco City Hall Friday for the wedding of their teacher and her lesbian partner, The San Francisco Chronicle reported. The school sponsored the trip for the students, ages 5 and 6, taking them away from their studies for the same-sex wedding. The wedding...

SNIP Then, he was informed it was a gay and lesbian bar, we were told she doesn't do those kind of venues. She doesn't do gay and lesbian bars and clubs. I thought it was kind of strange considering she's a lesbian. SNIP

WASILLA — Responding to news reports about then-Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin asking a librarian how she would feel about banning books, a San Francisco man has donated two children’s books dealing with homosexuality to the Wasilla Library. Mike Petrelis, a 49-year-old who files Freedom of Information requests for a living, said he was aghast to read reports of Palin’s 1996 inquiry about banning certain books at Wasilla’s library. The news — old news in the Mat-Su Valley, but new in the Lower 48 — prompted Petrelis to send to Wasilla “Heather Has Two Mommies” and “Daddy’s Roommate,” both children’s books...

ABC News' Teddy Davis and Lindsey Ellerson Report: Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., told Planned Parenthood Tuesday that sex education for kindergarteners, as long as it is "age-appropriate," is "the right thing to do." "I remember Alan Keyes . . . I remember him using this in his campaign against me," Obama said in reference to the conservative firebrand who ran against him for the U.S. Senate in 2004. Sex education for kindergarteners had become an issue in his race against Keyes because of Obama’s work on the issue as chairman of the health committee in the Illinois state Senate. "'Barack...

For those familiar with the antics of shock comic Sacha Baron Cohen , it was a case of déjà vu, all over again. On May 28, he outraged a crowd of unsuspecting guests at a Carrollton office park by luring them to what they thought was a new talk show on "family values." [Click image for a larger version] Hello, Arkansas. As an encore early last month, he outraged a crowd of 1,600 by luring them to what was billed as cage fighting. Police say the show was designed instead to capture the reactions of the unsuspecting to the sight...

Heinz is set to challenge some viewer expectations with a light-hearted TV campaign that features two men sharing a kiss. The TV commercial, which promotes a new range of dressing called Heinz Deli Mayo, breaks tonight and will be supported by a press campaign. Heinz' new ad opens with a family on a normal morning routine with a young boy and girl getting ready for school and their father preparing for the office. The young boy and girl go to the kitchen to get their sandwiches, which are being prepared by a man with a New York accent dressed in...

Revealed! The most incredible string of words you've never heard before. Plus: Bill O'Reilly loses - It is nearly summertime in the Year of Our Google, and here in the golden land known as California the following startling and once-inconceivable lament can now be heard: Dammit, with gas zooming toward five bucks a gallon and airlines doubling fares and charging me for a single checked bag, how the hell am I going to afford to travel to all my gay friends' legal weddings across the state this summer? Please note the historic power therein. Because such a peculiar, momentous string...

A new color graces the gay pride rainbow flag: fire engine red. Members of the Austin Fire Department Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered and Friends will take part in the Austin Pride Parade today, riding on a fire truck and marking the organization's second appearance in the annual event that celebrates the gay community in Austin. Lt. Jan Wesson, who leads the group, said it received great support last year from attendees, who named the truck "Best Vehicle." "That was just the highlight of my career," said Wesson, who has served in the Fire Department for 24 years and came out...

A state lawmaker from New Albany backed a bill this year that would give employment and housing protection to Ohio's gays and transsexuals. That took some courage because the Senate leaders of his party, the Republicans, have no patience for the legislation. And similar bills never have received much attention in Ohio, let alone on-the-record hearings. But Sen. David Goodman said his active endorsement of Senate Bill 305 was a no-brainer after a conversation in March with his father, a prominent Harvard-trained lawyer. That day, he reminded his son why Jewish law firms first opened in Columbus: No one else...

This Clovis High School yearbook is out and is raising eyebrows with pictures and quotes from gay couples who attend the school.

The 20th annual meeting of the nation's second most powerful homosexual activist group is welcoming some new participants -- and a very recognizable sponsor. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is holding its annual "Creating Change" conference in Detroit this week. Its sponsors claim to have trained more than 30,000 activists since 1988. Peter LaBarbera with Americans for Truth About Homosexuality has reported on the event in the past. "It's essentially a grassroots training conference for homosexual, bisexual, transgender -- and now, it turns out -- sadomasochistic activists," says LaBarbera. The event originally focused on homosexuals, but has expanded...

Two state senators, including one who is openly gay, will lead efforts to pass the Religious Freedom & Civil Marriage Protection Act in Maryland. Sens. Rich Madaleno and Jamie Raskin, two Democrats from Montgomery County, were to be named as lead sponsors on the bill when it’s introduced. The bill was expected to hit the Maryland General Assembly no later than Friday. “We’re up to 40 co-sponsors in the House and nine in the Senate,” said Carrie Evans, policy director at Equality Maryland. “We’re trying to pick up one more to make it a nice, even 50 for Friday.” Written...

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian church leaders have condemned a play shortly to open in Sydney depicting Jesus as a gay man who is seduced by Judas, a report said Sunday. The play, named Corpus Christi, is due to open next month as part of the city's annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, Sydney's Sun-Herald newspaper reported. A senior Sydney churchman called the play "historical nonsense". "It is deliberately, not innocently, offensive and they're obviously having a laugh about it," Robert Forsyth, Anglican bishop of South Sydney, was quoted saying. Apart from the relations between Jesus and Judas, the play also...

Heath Ledger has discussed his new role as the Joker in the next Batman instalment, revealing he had a “different take” on the famous villain. Speaking to US magazine Newsweek regarding about his recent casting as The Joker (played previously by Jack Nicholson) in the forthcoming Batman movie ‘The Dark Knight’. Ledger told the magazine: “I've been bouncing around like a lunatic for four months. I definitely have a different take on him, but I've yet to do a proper makeup run. It's on the agenda”. When asked if he’d been practising his laugh, Ledger simply replied “I’d be lying...

Frustrated in efforts to legalize same-sex marriage through legislation or litigation, proponents will launch a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign this week to "open hearts and minds" in Sacramento and other major cities. The 60-second ads will run in the capital, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and Palm Springs as part of a monthslong campaign to prod families to openly discuss same-sex marriage. "The long-term goal is to have the majority of Californians support the freedom to marry -- to change the climate here," said Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, which is coordinating the campaign. Benjamin Lopez, spokesman for...

On Monday, New York Times Arts writer George Gene Gustines profiled gay novelist Perry Moore, a fervent supporter of gay rights -- for fictional comic book characters. "Novelist's Superhero Is Out to Right Wrongs" began: "Perry Moore has the sinewy physique and golden looks of a California surfer, but get him talking about comics, and he can out-geek the biggest fanatic. He also has the fervor of an activist when discussing the dearth -- and occasional shoddy treatment -- of gay superheroes in mainstream comic books." Now there's a vital cause we can all rally behind! "It is an issue...