Towleroad - Daily Brief

Anthony Fortunato Convicted of Hate Crime in Michael Sandy Death Anthony Fortunato, whose attorney tried to convince a Brooklyn jury that his client could not be guilty of a hate crime in the death of Michael Sandy because he too was gay, has been convicted of... • • Today We Had Our 100,000th Comment Break out the bubbly! Today we had our 100,000th comment on Towleroad. As I was watching the comments come in this morning, inching toward 100K, I was hoping that the comment would be left by one of... • • Anderson Cooper and Jeff Corwin on Double Date with Nature A trailer for Anderson Cooper's upcoming Planet in Peril special, set for October 23 and 24, premiered last night on CNN, accompanied by the debut of a mournful new R.E.M. track, "Until the Day is... • • Barney Frank: Foes of Non-Inclusive ENDA "Can't Handle the Truth" At a press conference earlier today, Rep. Barney Frank restated his position on an Employment Non-Discrimination Bill that does not include transgender people, The Advocate reports: "In remarks at a... • • News: Doris Lessing, Young Frankenstein, Madonna, Golden Compass POLL: More than half of straight Americans want gays treated equally. Major sex exhibit opens in London: "The first item on display is a 50 centimetre (20 inch) plaster fig leaf which was used to... • • Red Eye's Levy Makes Brown Eye Joke: "That won't make air" Ryan Smith of BET's My Two Cents appeared on Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld recently and had this exchange with "ombudsman" Andrew Levy. LEVY: On BET's website it describes your show My Two Cents as a... • • Openly Gay Judge Takes Oath in Philadelphia The Philadelphia judicial system will unofficially celebrate National Coming Out Day today when Daniel Anders takes the oath of office at City Hall, becoming the city's first openly gay male judge.... • • Liza Minnelli on Britney Spears: She's Got a Disease Liza Minnelli talked to the St. Petersburg Times on Tuesday about hip replacement, drag queens, being famous...and Britney Spears: "I just feel horrible for her. You know, she’s got a disease.... • • Yoko Ono Unveils Imagine Peace Tower in Iceland On Tuesday, Yoko Ono unveiled a monument in memory of John Lennon that she hopes will be a literal beacon of peace for the world. According to the AP, "The tower is a beam of light, radiating from a... • • Gay Rights Groups Question Calgary Mayor's Tourism Comments Some gay rights groups in Calgary are questioning remarks made by incumbent mayor Dave Bronconnier on Tuesday at a mayoral debate. According to the Calgary Herald, "During a mayoral debate at... • • Marc Jacobs: Naked in Paris with a Poltergeist Tattoo In the next installment of the naked fashion designer series, Marc Jacobs disrobes in his Paris apartment for W's "art issue" which features an interview with the designer and a collection of photos:... • • Rugby League "Wang Dance" Captivates Australian Sports Fans The Australian rugby league and televised sports are at the center of a controversy after Michael Robertson of the rugby league team Manly Sea Eagles inadvertantly exposed himself on national... • • Singaporeans Call for Decriminalization of Gay Sex Eyeing a "window of opportunity" to have the nation's ban on gay sex repealed, activists in Singapore have launched an online petition that, as of this posting, had collected nearly 3,000 signatures.... • • Today is National Coming Out Day: Encourage Visibility Today is National Coming Out Day, and also the 20th anniversary fo the 1987 March on Washington and the unveiling of the AIDS quilt. We've got a new take on the well-known Keith Haring "coming... • •