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Gaydar — the ability to be able to tell who's gay just by looking or talking to them — is a "skill" of debatable merit, but many people like to brag about having finely calibrated systems of working out who's gay and who's not. Of course, when pressed, nobody can ever really put their finger on why exactly they sense someone might be gay. Moreover, people are often wrong, which can lead to all manner of unfortunate situations. But luckily, science has taken it upon itself to study some of the inner workings of gaydar. (Maybe they had a slow week in between trying to cure cancer and figuring out whether wine is killing us or saving us?) More »
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Once upon a time in Hollywood and Berlin, there was a New Woman running around. More »
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Jenelle Hutcherson, 26, and Mollie Thomas, 19, didn't win the Miss California USA competition this weekend, but they made history by being the first two openly gay contestants in the 60-year-old competition. Two years ago a certain Miss California caused a huge controversy when she advocated for "opposite marriage," and Keith Lewis, co-executive of the contest, excitedly declared that he intended this year's pageant be "bigger and reflect the progressive attitudes of the contestants." Both young women said they entered the pageant to promote LGBT acceptance. 22-year-old Natalie Pack took home the title, so unfortunately the Miss USA pageant won't feature Hutcherson in a tux or Thomas telling the audience she's "running for equality." More »
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A judge in Iowa has ordered new birth documents be issued to the child of a lesbian couple who were initially told they couldn't list both of their names on their baby's birth certificate. The Iowa Department of Public Health contended that God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve, but was roundly rebuked for trying to pass redneck bumper stickers off as sound public policy. More »
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In 2007, a California couple's Hawaiian vacation got off to a bad start when they tried to book a room at the Aloha Bed & Breakfast in Honolulu and were turned away because they're lesbians. When Diane Cervelli said she and Taeko Bufford would only need one bed, owner Phyllis Young explained that she didn't want same-sex couples, or unmarried heterosexual partners, staying in her home due to her religious views. Hawaii is one of 21 states with public accommodation laws that prohibit sexual orientation discrimination, so the couple has filed a lawsuit. It seems Young isn't contesting that her establishment doesn't welcome homosexuals, since she told investigators from the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission that homosexuality is "detestable" and "defiles our land." More »
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Houston mayor Annise Parker is not only the first openly gay mayor of any major U.S. city, she was also re-elected two nights ago after having served for the past two years. That's no small feat in any city anywhere but in Houston, Texas that's pretty phenomenal. More »
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Jenelle Hutcherson is the first openly gay contestant in the Miss Southern California and Miss Long Beach pageant, and she looks poised to rock the house. In the video above, she details her plans to wear a tux to the formalwear competition. She also explains that she's entering the pageant as a statement in favor of diversity and against hate, saying, "I want to give true meaning to loving your neighbors." The pageant is this weekend, and Hutcherson says, "I believe this very well may be the craziest, most insane, life experience I have put myself through yet!" More »
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The US Senate has confirmed the federal judicial appointment of Alison Nathan, an out lesbian, with no Republican support. She's the second lesbian to receive a federal lifetime judicial appointment in the US and will join two other currently active gay judges in raining gay rainbow justice all over Real America. Those opposed to her appointment say she's an "activist," and is therefore unfit for the bench, but by now we all know that "activist" is Republican code for "homosexual, brown, or female." More »
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The Advocate's interview with Jane Lynch is fantastic, and we recommend reading it in its entirety. But as a teaser, here are the five best parts… More »
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If a national commercial depicting a lesbian couple in pajamas talking about the fact that they have sex —because they're two people in a relationship and not because there's a guy around to think it's totally hot— isn't a win, I don't know what is. More »
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Granted, it wasn't all that long ago that the UK series Skins was on the air, but given the fact that the series cast people who were roughly the same age as their characters —this wasn't your American casting of a 27-year-old playing a 15-year-old— a lot of them had little prior acting experience and many of them drifted off to university or other pursuits (as outlined here) after their series ended. More »
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It's not exactly weird to see two drunk girls kissing—especially on a show that's all about people getting drunk and hooking up—but it was interesting to see Deena's open-minded approach to kissing a girl. It didn't really seem like it was one of those endeavors solely undertaken for the sake of turning on any guys who might be watching. No, Deena legitimately wanted to hook up with that girl out of what appeared to be a genuine curiosity about whether or not she liked girls. So kudos to her. She tried it, decided it wasn't for her, and then passed the girl on to Vinny. That part was strange. That's not something you usually do with a human, but rather, a pint of ice cream at a slumber party. More »
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A Sizzler restaurant in Forest Hills, Queens —yes, Sizzler is still around— is being slapped with a discrimination lawsuit after patron Liza Friedlander's "relaxing, enjoyable brunch" turned into "a horrifying ordeal of discrimination, violence and degradation": More »
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On Sunday, a lesbian couple was kicked out of the Gertrude Stein exhibit at a San Francisco museum for the heinous crime of holding hands. More »
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Sexual orientation and "gender conformity" in women are genetic traits, according to a study released by researchers from Queen Mary, University of London. More »
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You've seen them. More »
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Hey, fashionable straight women! Now's your chance to be on the cutting edge of fashion...by sorta kinda maybe having naughty lesbian sex tee-hee! More »
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"I wanted to do something to show my respect and love for the GLBT community… I am not asking for you to agree with what I am saying, but if you're listening, thank you. That is all I can ask." More »
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Park Slope maternity shop Boing Boing has been offering a 10% discount to lesbian Moms. More »
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A Canadian comedian has been fined $15,000 by a human rights tribunal for unleashing a tirade of sexist and homophobic insults against a lesbian couple in the audience. But some are concerned this decision will limit the rights of performers. More »
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Recently declassified documents revealed that commanders in the Women's Royal Air Force were advised to keep an eye on airwomen who showed an interest in cricket or hockey —or even simply spent a lot of time on the phone with other women— as these are completely scientific signs that they are gay, gay, gay: More »
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Carey Faulkner, a visiting Assistant Professor at Franklin & Marshall, asked us to post about a blog that has recently gotten quite a bit of attention: Born this Way.  The site posts photographs of gay-identified adults as children.  Submitters argue that the photographs are proof that they were born gay. More »
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In an interview with Barbara Walters, Oprah addressed the gay rumors, stating quite matter of factly, "I am not a lesbian." That wasn't good enough for ABCNews.com! More »
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On Friday Monica Marquez became the first openly gay and first female Hispanic Colorado Supreme Court justice. After being sworn in by her father, a retired judge, Marquez noted, "My allegiance is to the law, not to any particular constituency." More »
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Barbara Walters' previewed a clip from her special Oprah, the Next Chapter—airing December 9—in which O breaks into tears when talking about her meaningful friendship with Gayle, adding that the two women are not gay for each other. More »
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Pearl's Rainbow, Key West's only lesbians-only guest house, is going to have to go temporarily sausage party to survive in this economic climate. More »
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For some people, the holidays are when you play football and eat stuffing until you feel like a hot air balloon. For others, it's when you stock up on anti-anxiety meds and slip two bottles of vodka into your suitcase. More »
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We Are the Youth is a photographic journalism project chronicling the individual stories of LGBT youth in the United States. This is the story of Audri, a fifteen-year-old from Mississippi who identifies as a butch lesbian. More »
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This week, openly-gay sportscaster Gili Shem-Tov shared her first dance with Dorit Milmanon on Israeli Dancing With The Stars. While usually, "the man must show his masculinity and the female is very sensual," Milman says their performances will emphasize "mutualism." More »
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This week, Oprah Winfrey aired footage of her Yosemite camping trip with BFF Gayle King on her show. As they retired to their trailer Gayle laughed, "Let's just add to that lesbian rumor," prompting Oprah to bellow, "lesbian ruuuuuumors!" More »
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In the last few weeks, more than half a dozen gay or lesbian youngsters have taken their own lives in response to bullying or harassment. It's important to recognize the role that homosociality plays in the harassment of GLBTQ youth. More »
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A new GLAAD report says the number of gay characters is up since last year on both broadcast and cable TV — and True Blood is the most inclusive show of all. More »
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There's a crucial difference between a straight slut and a queer slut, and it's the shame factor. But it's not shame in the way you might think. More »
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The kerfuffle over what Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan does or does not do in her bed on her own time — and whether this will affect her ability to reason over legal issues — boils down to straight sexism. More »
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You know what's kind of funny about sexuality? It's surprisingly tough to talk about. Sex, that's easy (although certainly you could argue that, well, why talk about it…) Actions are simple and straightforward like that. More »
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Eighteen-year-old Constance McMillen — whose school in Mississippi canceled the prom instead of allowing her to bring her girlfriend — already has the ACLU and Roger Ebert offering words of support. Today, she was on Ellen. More »
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• Tilda, on her fragrance: "My son tells me it smells like Christmas." [WWD]
• "I like to look at paintings mainly, like those of Francis Bacon. Or Mapplethorpe, Newton, and Penn," says noted hottie/photographer Victor Demarchelier, son of Patrick. [Style.com]

More »
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Alan Frutkin of Mediaweek's Gay TV now hosts a provocative segment examining the portrayal of lesbians on television. Surprisingly, out lesbian personalities are faring much better than their fictional counterparts. More »
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Tucker Carlson's Daily Caller website has made a habit lately of calling Rachel Maddow "a man." The site also maintains that this is not at all offensive. We're not buying it. More »
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This weekend, LGBT Pride parades and festivals took place across the world. Ahead, a collection of images from celebrations in several countries. More »
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