Oh, no she di’-n’t! After being crowned Miss Gay Brazil 2009, Ava Simões got her wig snatched clean off her head by a fellow PO’d contestant! And her tiara, too! Talk about a sore drag queen loser. If that had happened to me, I know I would’ve cut a fellow contestant. You do not grab my wig and run. Or, you know, I would have at least beat her with my stiletto. Dios mio! Drama ensues. [BuzzFeed]

Depending on what kind of high school you attended and what part of the country you grew up in, you’re probably well aware of school dress codes: no miniskirts, no baseball hats, no gang colors, etc. But some kids who are challenging their dress code aren’t just trying to flash a skimpy thong to get the QB’s attention: they’re trying to express their opposite-sex gender identity. Now, increasingly, high school administrators have to navigate tricky situations and questions, such as What do we do when Bobby comes to school wearing a dress, high-heeled boots and eyeliner?

Boo! Maine, you FAIL. In yesterday’s election, Maine voters repealed a gay marriage law which would have made it the sixth state in America where gays have the right to marry just like straight couples. Instead, Maine has the dubious distinction of being the 31st state to make gay marriage verboten. It’s a total bummer that this kind of bigotry came from the people up; the gay marriage law had actually passed through the state legislature and was signed by the governor six months ago. The trouble was that gay rights opposition groups were hot on the politicians’ tails and immediately mobilized voters to repeal the law. Sorry, my dears, but at least you can still get married in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Iowa, right? [ABC News]

There was a huge gay rights march in Washington, D.C. this weekend and “The Daily Show” had its best man on the case. John Oliver hit the streets to talk with rainbow-wearing folks about their nefarious aims—equal rights, fair treatment, dangerous things like that. Brace yourself, folks, because they’re here, they’re queer, and they have a gay agenda.

We’re not just the first generation to elect a black president—some say we’re also the first generation in which gay teenagers feel safe coming out to their parents and classmates. In Sunday’s New York Times Magazine cover story, writer Benoit Denizet-Lewis chronicled how adolescents are so much more confident telling their friends, families and parents that they’re gay at younger ages than ever before. Just how young? The author spent time with middle schoolers across the country who’ve come out of the closet at 13, 12, and even 11 years old.

“My mom started asking when I was 12, ‘Is there anything you want to tell me?’ I then told her I was bisexual. And she said, ‘You’re so trendy, but you are not bisexual, you are gay.’ She cut to the chase. What can I say?

—Michael Kors, “Project Runway” judge and fashion designer. [Vanity Fair]

The American Psychological Association has finally gotten around to saying that therapy aimed at turning gays straight is totally bogus. Good job, guys. We’ve only known that for, like, ever. In a vote of 125-to-4, the APA adopted a resolution saying that mental health personnel shouldn’t recommend so-called “repairative therapy” or similar treatments to gay clients. In fact, the effects of this bogus therapy could actually be harmful, leading to suicidal tendencies and depression.

If gays can’t marry, no one will. That’s the point of view of some clergy in the Refuse To Sign movement, who believe that gay marriage should be legal everywhere, but individual churches should be allowed to choose whether or not to perform the unions.

While some clergy won’t perform any weddings or sign marriage certificates to straight couples, other clergy members will still announce, “I now pronounce you husband and wife” but will request the straight couples have a judge sign their marriage certificates instead.

Perez Hilton just got more hate-able: the bottom-feeding gossip blogger told The Advocate, a gay magazine, that during his fight with Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas, “I thought about calling him the n-word, but I thought the f-word was even worse.”

The gay pride parade in New Delhi, India may have just ended, but supporters of the gay right’s movement rose that striped flag once again in celebration of the decriminalization of gay sex in the traditionally conservative country. While the New Delhi High Court did not legalize homosexuality, it did grant gay Indians the freedom to make same-sex love.

Of course, sexual health educators should still teach everyone to protect themselves against HIV/AIDS. But researchers have created an interactive online “HIV/AIDS Atlas,” which shows how only one-fifth of America’s counties make up 80 percent of the cases. It’s sometimes hard to make public health topics “interesting” and “cool,” but a map does a good job of it!

For all those critics of homosexuality and same-sex marriage who say that being gay is unnatural, get a load of this: scientists have found that homosexual relationships are quite prevalent among reptiles, mammals, amphibians, and even insects. In studying a group of Laysa albatrosses (birds) where the number of males outnumbered the females, researchers found that many of the ladybirds paired with other females to raise their babies. What’s more is that dude dolphins get it on together as a way of bonding with other males. Nathan Bailey, an evolutionary biologist explains the importance of studying this behavior: “Once [same-sex sexual behavior] exists within a population, it could change the social dynamics of that population.” Is this what the homophobes are afraid of? Because, change, is, you know…so Obama. If flies can be gay…can it really be so harmful? Mother Nature clearly says no. [USA Today]

Same-sex marriage bans just got stupider: two New Yorkers just got their marriage license revoked after city officials say they were snookered into believing the bride was actually a groom.

The would-be bride, Hakim Nelson, 18, identifies as a woman and hopes to undergo gender reassignment surgery. When Nelson married 21-year-old Jason Stenson on May 26, she not only wore an orange dress, white leggings and a $10 wedding ring, but also carried a state ID card that said “female” on it. (The official who issued the state ID assumed Nelson was a female.)

The biggest entertainment news to break this week is Clay Aiken’s revelation that he is indeed gay. This news really wasn’t surprising to me because my gaydar started beeping the second I first laid eyes on the former “American Idol” contestant. Since many of Clay’s fans didn’t have my intuition and have vehemently denied his homosexuality in the past, I thought it would be interesting to find out exactly what his fans think now. I hope they still remain supportive because it would be really messed up if they shun him for his sexuality.

MUSIC

Raphael Saadiq The Way I See It This soul brother’s tracks will make you swear his retro-record was recorded back in the day. The latest from a former member of 80’s R&B group Tony! Toni! Toné!, Saadiq’s put-you-in-the-mood grooves makes this one of the sexiest solo albums of the year.

The slang “natural born freak” is gaining some expert evidence.  Like to be tied up, rode hard, and left wet…or do that to your lover? Well, some scientific theories are swirling that sadomasochism, whether you’re the dom or the sub, is innate. You’re born wanting to get it on with whips, handcuffs, paddles, gags, and leather or for those S&M vegans, pleather.  While sadomasochistic sex has been portrayed in marriage manuals dating all the way back to ancient India, the roots of the desire are still being debated. In 1948, when renowned sex researcher, Alfred Kinsey, claimed nearly 50% of people like to be bitten during sex, scientists were shocked (or at least pretended to be). Ever since, the studies have been pouring in and people have been putting out, telling their deep, dark, dungeony secrets. Sure, some psychoanalysts think that S&M stems from fears of castrations or early childhood shame, but others have a new idea about the sex play. Vivienne Parry, a self-proclaimed S&M loving columnist with a science background [No relation!—Editor], has done her homework and thinks that just like homosexuality, it’s in your genes if you like to get kinky. That it is in fact nature over nurture. Sounds like people are even more bound to bondage than they imagined! [Times]