Quickies: Monday, July 18 2011

> Dustin Lance Black has written a play, 8, based on the transcripts from the Proposition 8 trial.

> Hate crimes against gay men are on the rise in NYC.

> Remember that bit Lady Gaga did with a wheel chair and a mermaid tale? Bette Midler is none too pleased about it -- and is claiming plagiarism.

> Queer jailers in the Philippines are now restricted from frisking inmates of the same sex.

> The final Harry Potter film smashes box office records by pulling in $476 million world wide during its first weekend in theaters.

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