1. This is huge! Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano announced today that gay and lesbian Americans can sponsor their foreign same-sex partners for a green card, just as straight couples have been able to do for years. "Effective immediately, I have directed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to review immigration visa petitions filed on behalf of a same-sex spouse in the same manner as those filed on behalf of an opposite-sex spouse," she said. This makes life so much easier for countless couples and, in many cases, their children. Julian Marsh and husband Traian Povov of Florida, pictured above, were the first same-sex couple to have their long-standing request approved.
2. Gay pride helped revive recently squashed popular protests in Turkey.
3. Proving just how willing they are to violate liberty in the pursuit of homophobia, some States-based conservative groups, including prominent anti-gay leader Peter LaBarbera from Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, say they support Russia's "homosexual propaganda" laws that prohibit freedom of speech and assembly.
4. On a related note, the Catholic School St. Bernadette's in Worcester, Massachusetts, has canceled its membership to the Worcester Art Museum after the museum congratulated same-sex couples on last week's DOMA decision and reminded visitors that they host gay and lesbian nuptials. So, to protest love, a Catholic school is depriving students of art.
5. This week is the official and fabulous grand opening of the new Fire Island Pavilion.
6. Here's footage of Cher singing "Woman's World" to a group of primarily gay men at New York City Pride this weekend:
