ChiChiz, which bills itself as “the Only Black Gay Bar in New York City”, has accused the police of discrimination.  A judge agreed that its lawsuit should proceed.

From Gay City News:

“Citing the complexity of a nuisance abatement lawsuit brought by New York City against Chi Chiz, a Christopher Street gay bar that serves a predominantly African-American clientele, a judge put off hearing part of that case until November and told the bar to move forward with its own lawsuit that charges that the city was motivated by racial and anti-gay animus when it sought to close the bar.

“I do think the defense here is offered in good faith,” said Judge Martin Schoenfeld on August 26. “I can’t help but be concerned about the allegations of discrimination… There is, at the very least, some basis for further investigation.”

Read more.

Another day, another coming-out story!

Crispin Blunt, the UK prisons minister, has announced he’s separated from his wife so he can “come to terms with his homosexuality”. Seems like everyone’s doing it these days.

“He has been married to Victoria for almost 20 years and the couple have a son and daughter. Long-standing colleagues said they were surprised by the announcement,” reports the Telegraph.

Read more.

First, Ken Mehlman.  Now, Blue Ranger of  the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.  Our world’s been turned upside-down!

From TMZ:  “The guy who played the Blue Ranger  on the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series has just revealed that he’s gay — and dropped a huge bombshell … that he quit the show because he was harassed over his sexuality.

“Actor David Yost — who played the B.R. from 1993 to 1996 — just gave an interview to blog NoPinkSpandex — and explained, “I was called ‘f*ggot’ one too many times [by the show's] creators, producers, writers, directors.”

That asterisk isn’t an e, i, o, or u, people.

Yost added he considered taking his own life because of the stress.

Read more.

The Advocate today got the second post-coming-out interview with former GOP party chief Ken Mehlman.

Read it here.  And don’t overlook the emotional comments from readers.

From GothamGazette.com:

Now that the State Senate has blocked the approval of same-sex marriage, Christine Quinn, the City Council’s first openly gay speaker, is making sure gay New Yorkers who want to tie the knot know where to go.

Under legislation (Intro 260) approved by a vote of 47 to1, the City Clerk’s office will be required to post on its Web site and hand out at its office information on where gay New Yorkers can get married, including states and international destinations. It will also have to provide couples information on what rights they are entitled to here in the Empire State.

“I hope it’s a message to the State Senate of how sick and tired we are of waiting for marriage equality,” Quinn said.

The only member to vote against the bill was newly minted Councilmember David Greenfield of Brooklyn.

Currently, five states allow same-sex marriage: Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Read more.

“The resignation this month of Katherine Miller (above), a top cadet who blogged anonymously about her lesbianism, has turned a spotlight on the hidden gay culture here and revived debate on campus about “don’t ask, don’t tell,” at a time when Washington is also focused on the issue.” 

“Ms. Miller, who wrote under the name “Private Second Class Citizen” about enduring gay slurs and faking a heterosexual dating history, is transferring to Yale University this fall and has become something of a media celebrity, appearing on The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC and on ABC News.”

Question:  Is “lesbianism” a real word?

Anyway, more in today’s New York Times.

A gay adult-film producer is launching a reality show about NYC drag queens.

John Rutherford describes his new docu-series as “like a Housewives show, but our cast has better wigs,”according to an official press release.

Queens of Drag: NYC, set to debut on Gay.com Sept. 8, was developed by Rutherford and co-executive producers Larry Kennar (The L Word, Barbershop, 50 First Dates) and Jack Mackenroth (Project Runway, Season 4).

“The eight-episode series focuses on the lives of 10 of New York City’s most fabulous and ferociously funny drag divas.”  Lady Bunny will “rule”.

“Ageless and evergreen Hedda Lettuce, uber-glam Sherry Vine, vivacious Bianca Del Rio, sexpot songstress Peppermint, and the classless and campy Mimi Imfurst.

“Breakout performers Epiphany, Logan Hardcore, Dallas DuBois and Acid Betty join the divas for their outrageous adventures.”

Is it just us, or is there something profoundly depressing about drag so defanged that it’s reality-show fodder?

Read more.

This kind of feels like a headline from 1998, but we’ll take what we can get:

“Hollywood, which once routinely depicted gay people as miserable, dysfunctional or tragic, now produces movies and TV shows — such as this summer’s film The Kids Are All Right, ABC’s Modern Family (above) and Fox’s Glee — in which gay relationships and gay families are portrayed as just like other families — normal, unremarkable, no big deal.”

More at USAToday.

The argument over a Muslim community center in Lower Manhattan is generating some bizarre discussions about gay rights.

And gay people need to keep a clear head through it all, writes Atlanta weekly Creative Loafing:“Never before have I heard so much advocacy for gay rights from weird sources as I have while listening to arguments about the Muslim cultural center/mosque planned near ground zero in Manhattan.

“I heard a woman call a local radio show arguing that if gay folks (and women with uncovered heads and prostitutes) wouldn’t be welcome in the cultural center,  it would be a mosque, and if it is a mosque, those homophobic Muslims better start being honest.

“A Fox News reporter announced his plans for a gay bar next door. The media is trying to show that moderate Muslims are more homophobic than they are in order to get the support of LGBT folks and liberals in blocking this mosque.

“So here I sit, hoping no one will buy the hype.”

Despite right-wing fanatics, religious nuts, and Tea Party kooks, has public sentiment around equal marriage rights reached a turning point?

According to an opinion piece today, The New York Times thinks it may have.“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 change from 1996, when Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act. At that time, only 25 percent of Americans said that gay and lesbian couples should have the right to marry, according to an average of national polls.”

Read more.