Lesbian couple say they were brutally assaulted in front of their six-year-old son

A lesbian couple say they were brutally assaulted in front of their six-year-old son and his classmates in the parking lot of an Oshawa [Canada] elementary school on Nov 3. Anji Dimitriou, who is recovering from a broken spine suffered in a car accident, and Jane Currie (pictured) were picking up their three children from Gordon B Attersley Elementary School when a man allegedly attacked them. Currie says they had just parked their truck when a man approached. Dimitriou says she and Currie recognized him from previous encounters. She says he previously blocked their access to a handicapped parking spot and called them “fucking dykes.” READ MORE

'Lost' returns in January

Set your "Lost" countdown clocks to 75 days: ABC has set the show's season premiere date. The show will open its fifth season with a two-hour premiere starting at 9 p.m. ET Wednesday, Jan. 21. It marks a return to Wednesdays for the show, which aired after "Grey's Anatomy" on Thursday nights at the end of last season. Other than the date and the episode titles -- "Because You Left" and "The Lie" -- ABC hasn't released any information about the new season. It's expected to run for 17 episodes -- with the 17th partially making up for last year's strike-shortened 14-episode season -- which would put the season finale in late April or early May.

Pete Wentz slams gay marriage ban

Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz has spoken out against a ban on same-sex marriage in California. Residents of the state voted in favour of Proposition Eight on Tuesday, which means that civil partnerships will not carry the same rights as heterosexual unions. "Many people were intimidated on this issue due to the scary misleading communications on the other side. I believe that this is, and has always been, a civil rights issue," he said in a statement. "We should not allow inequality like this in America." The musician also revealed that he voted for Barack Obama in Tuesday's US Presidential election because his parents met while working for Vice President-elect Joe Biden.

Celebs split over trans protest at UK Stonewall Awards

The annual Stonewall Awards at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London last night had their first protest in their three year history. Activists from transsexual, transgender and queer organisations from London, Liverpool and Manchester held a noisy protest against “Stonewall's refusal to withdraw their nomination of Julie Bindel for Journalist of the Year, a journalist know for her anti-trans opinions and writings.” Organisers said it was the largest trans rights demo in the UK, with 150 protesters. The award went to Dr Miriam Stoppard of the Daily Mirror. There were mixed reactions to the protest from people attending the awards. Sue Perkins (pictured), who won Entertainer of the Year, told PinkNews.co.uk she supported their decision to picket the event. “I feel incredibly upset that anyone has been offended – I think we all do. Nobody wants isolate or offend the transgender community. I am a huge fan of all protests to be honest, all power to them, they're in the cold and I feel for them. But if they feel that Stonewall does not reflect the issues that they want to address they are right to campaign. And I hope Stonewall will address those and I am sure they will. Stonewall is a very reactive and sensitive political machine and they will not want to disenfranchise any of their members.” READ MORE

• Phelps clan to picket funeral of Obama's grandmother
• Schwarzenegger tells backers of gay marriage: Don't give up
• Hollywood joins protests over Prop 8
• Country music legend Merle Haggard battling lung cancer
• 50-years plus for gay man who shot AA sponsor
• Zimbabwe returns millions to AIDS group
• Boxer penalized for kissing opponent
• Singapore gays plan massive rally
• Madonna blasts Prop. 8 passage during L.A. concert
• Omar Bin Laden, son of Osama, deported to Qatar
• Equality ride arrests mount up
• Homophobic coaches to be re-suspended?
• Oregon town elects Stu Rasmussen, the nation's first openly transgender mayor


Prince William suggests, 'think of me naked'

"Think of me naked." That was Prince William's bold suggestion to one female fan in London Thursday night. But girlfriend Kate Middleton has nothing to worry about. The 26-year-old prince was simply trying to help calm a nervous young woman at an event for the Centrepoint charity. "I have a stammer," 18-year-old Jasmine Edwards told reporters after their exchange. "He helped me by moving me away from everyone. He was down to earth and I really liked talking to him and hope I can meet him again." So what was her response to the prince's invitation? "I thought of him naked!" Edwards replied with a laugh. William was on hand to mark the 40th anniversary of Centrepoint, an anti-homelessness charity that was close to his late mother's heart. (The prince became its patron in 2005.) "I feel very close links to Centrepoint. It's a charity with which both my mother and father became passionately involved," William said last night. He also recalled visiting a homeless shelter for the first time with Princess Diana. "I was much younger, better looking and more naive back then," he quipped.

Openly gay mayor of Paris faces tough opposition in becoming president

Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe is locked in a tight race against Segolene Royal to lead the Socialists into the next presidential election against Nicolas Sarkozy. The party has been in disarray since Royal, a Socialist member of Parliament, was beaten by Sarkozy for the presidency in May 2007. The party has so far failed to mount an effective opposition. Delanoe, who is openly gay, and Royal, who is gay-positive, are among eight candidates seeking the Socialist Party nod to run against Sakozy in 2012. This week the party has been meeting to adopt a platform. Each of the candidates has proposed their own manifesto. The winning platform will give its candidate a clear advantage for the leadership. In an initial vote, Royal came out on top, about 29 percent ahead of Delanoe, who was second. A final vote is expected on the weekend and the party will meet in November to chose a candidate for the presidency. Delanoe’s platform calls for a “decidedly reformist left, that is pro-European, pro-environment and efficient.” Royal seeks to move the party closer to the middle. In the last presidential election, conservative Sarkozy claimed the middle ground - a move credited with helping him win. In March, Delanoe romped to an easy re-election as Paris mayor. If he were to win the presidency, it would make Delanoe the first openly gay man in modern times to lead a major power.


• Are Blacks more homophobic?
• Gay marriage bans embolden conservative religious groups
• Obama consulted with openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson
• Alabama mayor asks court to nix gay suit
• Idaho residents donated $400,000 to Prop 8
• Beyonce wants to play Wonder Woman on film
• Gay ally, Jeff Merkley, unseats U.S. Senate incumbent in Oregon
• Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has provoked criticism for describing Barack Obama as "young, handsome, and tanned"
• Catholics, Mormons allied to pass Prop. 8
• Obama/Biden is hiring -- and bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity


Obama 'to reverse Bush decisions'
US President-elect Barack Obama will seek to reverse Bush administration policies when he enters office on 20 January, his transition chief has said. John Podesta said executive orders by President George W Bush on issues such as stem cell research and oil drilling were at odds with Mr Obama's views. Plans to pass a raft of last-minute regulations are also being watched. On Monday Mr Obama and Mr Bush will hold their first meeting since the Democrat's election victory. Mr Obama, his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters - Malia, 10, and Sasha, seven - will be given a tour of their new home at the White House. Afterwards the president-elect and Mr Bush are expected to hold what Mr Obama has described as "substantive talks". READ MORE

T.R. Knight: My Election Day (campaigning for No on 8)

Grey's Anatomy star T.R. Knight spent Election Day volunteering for No on 8, standing 100 feet away from poling places handing out palm cards and urging people to vote against the same-sex marriage ban. Here he recounts the well-wishers who brought cookies and cheered from cars and the Prop. 8 supporters who yelled and spat -- one even got violent. But Knight says all he ultimately felt was sadness when Prop. 8 passed. READ MORE

Samantha Ronson: defeat of gay measures 'frightening'

"I guess people care more about farm animals than they do their fellow man, that's really sad to me," Ronson, 31, blogs on her MySpace page. "Yes, I am glad that the chickens will have more room and better conditions as they wait to die, but I just think it's frightening that people show more compassion for tomorrow's dinner than for the chef." California voters Tuesday approved a proposition freeing chickens from small cages, but people in California, Florida and Arizona passed measures banning same-sex marriages, while Arkansas voters barred unmarried couples from adopting or being foster parents. "Yup, Miss Piggy and Chicken Little may rest easy, but gay people in Florida and California can no longer get married and gay couples in Arkansas can't adopt children," writes Ronson. "G-d forbid a loving family (regardless of sexual orientation) give a needy child a home!"