Said Penner in his April 2007 column:  "Today I leave for a few weeks' vacation, and when I return, I will come back in yet another incarnation...As Christine [Daniels]...I am a transsexual sportswriter. It has taken more than 40 years, a million tears and hundreds of hours of soul-wrenching therapy for me to work up the courage to type those words. I realize many readers and colleagues and friends will be shocked to read them."

Penner's gender identity made the news again last year when he announced that he would be taking back the name Mike Penner.

Said Times Sports Editor Mike James: "He was one of the most talented writers I've ever worked with. He was a gentle man, a kind man. It's just a tragedy."

Indianapolis' only gay bookstore, Out Word Bound, will close after Christmas, its owners say:

"'It has been a good run,' owners Mary Byrne and Tammara Tracy wrote in an e-mail to customers Wednesday. For more than a decade, the Downtown store has served as a center of gay and lesbian intellectual life, with concerts and book groups meeting there frequently."

How do you get people's attention? Superglue an iPhone to the sidewalk in front of the Apple store.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

On Wednesday, I posted about an ESPN story onToronto Maple Leafs and U.S. Olympic Team General Manager Brian Burke, and his son Brendan's coming out. Brendan is on the staff of Miami University's #1 hockey team.

The story has received much attention in the hockey world. Brendan and Brian did an interview with The Sports Network (TSN) in Canada, talking about the decision to go public with their story.

Watch it (as well as some commentary on reactions to the story), AFTER THE JUMP...

Said Brian of Brendan in the article: "I had a million good reasons to love and admire Brendan. This news didn't alter any of them. I would prefer Brendan hadn't decided to discuss this issue in this very public manner. There will be a great deal of reaction, and I fear a large portion will be negative. But this takes guts, and I admire Brendan greatly, and happily march arm in arm with him on this. There are gay men in professional hockey. We would be fools to think otherwise. And it's sad that they feel the need to conceal this. I understand why they do so, however. Can a gay man advance in professional hockey? He can if he works for the Toronto Maple Leafs! Or for Miami University Hockey. God bless Rico Blasi! And I am certain these two organizations are not alone here. I wish this burden would fall on someone else's shoulders, not Brendan's. Pioneers are often misunderstood and mistrusted. But since he wishes to blaze this trail, I stand beside him with an axe! I simply could not be more proud of Brendan than I am, and I love him as much as I admire him."

Brendan also gave an interview to Canada's Globe and Mail. "Like I've said before, my experience [with homophobia in the locker room] was basically with homophobic slurs and that kind of stuff. I think as soon as the stereotype of a gay person was replaced by someone they knew, or were friends with, it changed. Once they realized there might be a gay person next to them or a gay person in the locker room, the homophobia decreased greatly."

Watch the TSN interview and viewer reaction, AFTER THE JUMP...

Reactions:

Cities across Australia saw demonstrations on Saturday after a government panel rejected a proposed marriage equality bill. The rejection occurred the same week the Australian Capital Territory approved civil unions. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has said he will overturn them.

The Courier Mail reports: "Australian Marriage Equality spokesman Alex Greenwich said strong attendances by more than 2000 people at rallies in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, ACT, Adelaide and Lismore today to launch a national year of action showed positive community support.' I think the bill's rejection has re-energised people's commitment to marriage equality,' he said. He said same-sex marriage could become a key issue in the lead-up to the next federal election. 'The inquiry put on the official record thousands of personal stories about the way marriage discrimination hurts, harms and hinders same-sex couples, their families and the nation - stories we will continue to bring to the attention of politicians and the public,' Mr Greenwich said."

Watch video from the Melbourne demonstration, AFTER THE JUMP...

(image above by flickr user bsolah)

President Obama has ordered an investigation into how Michaele and Tareq Salahi crashed the White House state dinner Tuesday night despite not being on the guest list.

As this photo, via Mediaite, reveals, the Salahis did meet Obama on the receiving line.

The WSJ reports that Bravo was trailing the couple before the event. The Salahis are under consideration as cast members for The Real Housewives of D.C., but have not been officially confirmed, according to the netwok:

Half Yard Productions filmed the Salahis throughout the day Tuesday -- including an hours-long hair-and-makeup session at a Washington salon -- for Bravo.

The Salahis told producers they had been invited to the state dinner, and "the producers had no reason to believe otherwise," said Ms. Fuentes, the NBC Universal spokeswoman. The film crew captured the Salahis' preparation for the event and arrival but were not on the White House grounds.

One person familiar with the situation bristled at the notion that White House staff members could have somehow stopped the breach had they been there checking invitations. With hundreds of expected guests, no one person could have been expected to recognize all the arrivals, and at the end of the day, the Secret Service handles White House security.

Anita McBride, who was First Lady Laura Bush's chief of staff during the second Bush term, reserved her scorn for the Salahis. The first state dinner of the Obama administration was a diplomatic success, she said, but the party crashers have swallowed the attention -- by design.

"It's really infuriating that these people would use a diplomatic event like this for their own purposes," she said, ticking off a list of grievances from eight hours in a Georgetown salon to the Salahis' Facebook display to the camera crew that followed them to the gate. "What does that say about our society? It's depressing, really."

Bravo confirmed the couple was being trailed by a camera crew: "In a statement on Thursday, Bravo said Half Yard Productions, the producer for the series, had been under the impression that the Salahis, two polo-playing devotees of Washington’s social swirl and online social networks alike, had been invited to the dinner. The 'Housewives' cast 'has not been finalized,' Bravo said. 'Michaele Salahi is under consideration as a cast member; as such, Half Yard Productions were filming the Salahis on that day. Half Yard was only aware that per the Salahis they had been invited as guests.' A White House official, informed of Bravo’s statement, said that was not the case. 'We’ve already confirmed that they weren’t invited,' he said."

The Salahis may also have had help from inside: Gawker believes the Salahis received assistance getting in from Indian ambassador Arun K. Singh, with whom they play polo.

The Salahis are scheduled to appear on Larry King Live on Monday night.

Lady Gaga's 'Monster Ball' tour kicks off tonight in Montreal. Here's a look at the rehearsal.

Spoilers, AFTER THE JUMP...

Michelangelo Signorile points out some troubling activity on this case which was just written up in TIME:

"...it was actually going to happen until the White House, through the Office of Personnel Management -- headed by openly gay appointee, John Berry -- refused to comply and directed the health insurance carrier of the employee not to proceed [all bold below is mine]:

The order was not published, and garnered little or no notice at the time. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts moved to comply with the judge's ruling, submitting [federal employee] Golinski's insurance form to Blue Cross Blue Shield, and the case would have probably gone away — had the Obama Administration not stepped in. "After the AO submitted Ms. Golinski's form, I thought this matter had concluded," [Judge] Kozinski wrote. "The Executive Branch, acting through the Office of Personnel Management, thought otherwise. It directed the insurance carrier not to process Ms. Golinski's form 2809, thwarting the relief I had ordered. I must now decide what further steps are necessary to protect Ms. Golinski and the integrity of the Judiciary's EDR [employee dispute resolution] plans."

Now Judge Kozinkski has ordered that OPM stop interfering, demanding last week that the Obama administration comply with his order.

The White House has a month to respond: "[Judge Kozinski's] order last week demanded that the executive branch reverse course, and gave the Administration 30 days to enroll Golinski's wife as her health-insurance beneficiary. He made clear that if it doesn't, he's ready to use the powers of his court to enforce his decree."

And the sadder "personnel" irony here, Signorile notes, is that the OPM is headed by John Berry, the highest-ranking gay official in the Obama administration:

"...the Office of Personnel Management was ordered by the White House to refuse to give a lesbian federal employees her court-ordered rights. John Berry, as head of that office, was thus apparently forced as an openly gay man to deny another gay person, and the LGBT movement itself, of rights, even in the face or a court order. Is this how openly gay appointees must operate within the Obama administration -- not as advocates on behalf of civil rights but rather as lackeys charged with blocking equal rights for their own kind?"

California Judge Challenging Obama on Gay Rights [time]
Did Highest-Ranking Gay Official Thwart Equal Rights? [signorile]

"Brown will do a taped tell-all with Robin Roberts, followed by a performance of songs from his new album. But TV insiders say the appearance, slated to air the week after next, has outraged feminists and gay activists who wonder why a convicted girlfriend abuser is more palatable to the network than an openly gay man who broke no laws with his raunchy performance on the American Music Awards. An ABC source said, 'The network is giving a mixed message -- that it doesn't trust someone who shocked with an unpredictable show and a gay kiss, but then it is happy to go ahead with Chris Brown, who was convicted of felony assault.' ABC News has insisted that Lambert's sexual orientation did not play a role in its decision to pull the plug on his 'GMA' appearance this week. ABC insiders said they ruled the 'American Idol' star's sexed-up shenanigans on Sunday's awards show -- which included him groping a female dancer, kissing a male musician and shoving a male dancer's face into his crotch -- were inappropriate for morning TV. One said, 'He was not canceled over a gay kiss. He showed himself to be unpredictable on live TV.'"

You my recall the November '07 election os Osby Davis as mayor of Vallejo, California. It was a tight, contentious contest between Davis and openly gay candidate Gary Cloutier. Cloutier was declared the winner by five votes and then ousted in a recount.

Now, Davis is under fire for remarks he made to the New York Times in an article published last week. Said Davis about gays: “They’re committing sin and that sin will keep them out of heaven. But you don’t hate the person. You hate the sin that they commit.”

Said one angry gay Vallejo resident to ABC News: "I would like to hear him explain in what context those comments would be appropriate coming from an elected public official."

A protest is being organized against Davis. Watch the report, AFTER THE JUMP...

I'm very thankful this year, as I am every year, to be able to get up and do what I do here at Towleroad, and Michael Goff and I thank you all for coming to read it! I hope each of you is enjoying the holiday with those you love.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Henry Cavill shows some intensity in a new still from the Joel Schumacher film Blood Creek, being dumped to DVD in January.

One more shot, AFTER THE JUMP...

The White House is under scrutiny for a security breach by two party crashers at Tuesday's state dinner for the Indian Prime Minister. Tareq and Michaele Salahi, two reality stars appearing in the forthcoming The Real Housewives of Washington, attended the dinner though they were uninvited, somehow making it through security before hobnobbing with guests. They displayed evidence of their attendance later on Facebook.

The Washington Post reports:

"The Salahis, both in their 40s, showed up about halfway through the guest arrivals. A Marine announced their names, and the couple -- he in a tux, she in a striking red and gold lehenga (traditional Indian formalwear) -- swept pass reporters and photographers, stopping several times to pose for pictures. They then walked into the White House lower hallway, where they mingled with guests on the red carpet before heading up to the cocktail reception in the East Room. Later, they posted pictures that seem to chart their course through the night: Michaele posing with Marines outside near the White House doors, and with Katie Couric and Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) inside the mansion. In the East Room, the Salahis both cozied up to D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and his wife, Michelle. But the best was yet to come: Once inside the dinner tent, they got pictures that appeared to show them with ABC's Robin Roberts, Bollywood composer AR Rahman, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, Obama Chief of Staff Emanuel (identified as "Ron" in the couple's Facebook photo caption) and two with a grinning vice president. The photos end there -- no shots of the Salahis sitting at a table, their seatmates or the post-dinner entertainment."

Watch CNN's report on the breach, AFTER THE JUMP...

Congressman Jared Polis has a cameo in the promo for the upcoming season of The Real World: D.C.. Looks as though one of the sexually-confused housemates wants to be his protégé.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Earlier I posted the video of a segment broadcast this morning on CBS The Early Show, in which the network decided to censor footage of Adam Lambert kissing a male keyboardist during the AMAs and then showed the Madonna-Britney kiss moments later, appearing to prove Lambert's accusations that there is a double-standard in media when it comes to gay male imagery.

CBS has responded with a really lame excuse:

"We gave this some real thought. The Madonna image is very familiar and has appeared countless times, including many times on morning television. The Adam Lambert image is a subject of great current controversy, has not been nearly as widely disseminated and, for all we know, may still lead to legal consequences."