THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

Singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge talked marriage while appearing on Entertainment Tonight, ETOnline.com noted. Etheridge, talking about her own marriage to Linda Wallem, said, "I've never been happier or healthier." She also reacted to the Supreme Court's recent refusal to hear cases from five states seeking to keep same-sex marriage bans in place, commenting, "[The decision is] natural. ... It's about love. We're not hurting anybody."

Orange Is the New Black actress Laverne Cox recently hosted the official grand-opening celebration of Liaison Nightclub inside Bally's Las Vegas—the first gay nightclub in a casino, according to a press release. After assisting club owner/nightlife impresario Victor Drai with the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Cox made a grand entrance into the 7,000-square-foot nightclub for the evening's Old Hollywood-themed affair. Other attendees included go-go dancers and America's Got Talent finalist Butterscotch.

Mariah Carey kicked off her Elusive Chanteuse World Tour in Tokyo—but things didn't go exactly as planned, according to The Wrap. Concertgoers ripped the music legend when she struggled to get through some of her hit songs, including the Grammy-winning single "Vision of Love." In one video, Carey appears to have trouble hitting some of her signature high notes, and her voice even cracks. The pop diva's tour follows the May release of her album Me. I Am Mariah … The Elusive Chanteuse.

Reportedly, The View co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Rosie O'Donnell recently went at it during a commercial break that resulted in Goldberg seemingly reaching her wit's end and yelling to her cohort, "I'm really sick of your s**t!," according to News One. The nasty exchange between the two comedic divas got heated after Goldberg interrupted O'Donnell to go to a commercial break while the Mom of five was still in the throes of discussing the spanking of children. During the break, O'Donnell reportedly expressed to Goldberg how her feelings were hurt because her opinions were quickly dismissed by Goldberg's abrupt interruption.

Writer Nicholas Sparks has been called a homophobic racist in a lawsuit, The New York Daily News reported. The suit comes from Saul Hillel Benjamin, the former headmaster of a North Carolina school Sparks runs called the Epiphany School of Global Studies. Benjamin says Sparks "feels free, away from public, to profess and endorse vulgar and discriminatory views about African-Americans, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals, and individuals of non-Christian faiths." The Notebook writer's entertainment lawyer, Scott Schwimer, said, "As a gay, Jewish man who has represented Nick for almost 20 years, I find these allegations completely ludicrous and offensive."

A lawyer who represented Anita Baker against allegations that she failed to pay for work done on her Detroit-area home is suing the singer, saying she owes him money, CBS News reported. Jamal Hamood filed a $150,000 lawsuit against the "Rapture" singer in Wayne County Circuit Court. It was Hamood who, earlier this year, said Baker was wrongly accused by a company that claims the Grammy-winning vocalist owes it $15,000.

GLAAD has released its two annual television reports: the 8th annual Network Responsibility Index ( NRI ) and the 19th annual Where We Are on TV report. For the first time in its Network Responsibility Index, which rates LGBT content on networks during the 2013-2014 TV season that wrapped earlier this year, three different networks earned "Excellent" grades in the same year: ABC Family, HBO and MTV. In its Where We Are on TV report—which counts the number of LGBT characters in the 2014-2015 television season—GLAAD found that 3.9 percent of primetime broadcast scripted series regulars will be LGB characters, an increase from 3.3 percent last year. To view the full reports, visit www.glaad.org/tvreport14.

American Horror Story and Glee producer Ryan Murphy has welcomed his second child with partner David Miller, according to NewNowNext.com . "I'm so excited," Murphy, 48, said at the Hollywood premiere of American Horror Story: Freak Show. Born via surrogate, Ford joins big brother Logan Phineas, who became part of the family on Christmas Eve 2012. Murphy and Miller were married in Provincetown in July of that year.

In other Ryan Murphy news, he and the FX network are expanding the American Horror Story franchise with another anthology series—this time focused on some of the biggest true crime stories ever, Deadline.com reported. The new series, American Crime Story, is launching with one of the most famous cases in the past few decades: the murder trial of O.J. Simpson.

Girls star Lena Dunham revealed to SiriusXM radio host Howard Stern that she and "life partner" Jack Antonoff aren't marrying until her lesbian sister, Grace, can, MTV.com reported. "We're not against marriage, but I wanna wait until it's something. … My sister's gay and it just doesn't feel good to me to do something she can't do," Dunham explained. "She can do it in some places but not all places." In the past, celeb couples Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard have made the same vow, but both couples have since officially wed.

Actress Katee Sackhoff ( TV's Battlestar Galactica and Longmire ) is on the latest cover of HIV Plus magazine. Inside, she talked about HIV testing: "It's something as a sexually active person, you have to do. And people don't. They are so scared to get tested. Some people have that kind of, 'Well, I'd rather not know.' And that's all fine and dandy for yourself, but if you're sleeping with other people, it's not OK. A lot of people live their lives with their head in the sand."

James Franco is producing Goat, an adaptation of Brad Land's acclaimed memoir, The Wrap reported. ( Christine Vachon and David Hinojosa of Killer Films will produce with Rabbit Bandini's Franco and Vince Jolivette. ) The plot is as follows: Reeling from a terrifying assault, a 19-year-old boy enrolls into college with his brother and pledges the same fraternity. What happens there, in the name of "brotherhood," tests the boy and his loyalty to his brother in brutal ways.

Big Brother season-eight winner Dick Donato ( known as "Evel Dick" on that show ) is HIV-positive, revealing his diagnosis on an episode of VH-1's Couples Therapy, People magazine noted. Donato, who has been positive since 2011, is appearing on "Therapy" with on-again, off-again girlfriend Stephanie Rogness-Fischer. Donato told People he received the news about his status while competing on season 13 of Big Brother, leaving the show after he was told.

Mo'Nique—who won an Oscar for her role in the movie Precious—is now winning raves for the movie Blackbird, a film that tackles homosexuality, religion and family in a Southern town, AJC.com noted. ( The movie was also the closing-night selection at Chicago's Reeling gay-film festival. ) Mo'Nique portrays the mother of a gay teen ( played by Julian Walker ), with Isaiah Washington as the father. After reading the first page of the script, Mo'Nique said she got the same feeling she had after reading a few pages of the script for Precious.

Judge Ester Salas sentenced Real Housewives of New Jersey's Teresa Giudice to 15 months in prison for fraud, People.com reported. Her husband, Joe Giudice, will serve 41 months. "For a moment I thought about probation … but I think a period of confinement is absolutely necessary in this case," the judge told Teresa. "I don't honestly believe that you understand or respect the law. I need to send a message." Teresa, 42, also received two years probation and will surrender for her sentence Jan. 5 so she can spend the holidays with her family. Bravo aired a special Watch What Happens Live: One-on-One with Teresa and Joe with Andy Cohen on Oct. 6.

The band Maroon 5 is under fire for its new, dark video for the song "Animals," in which singer Adam Levine plays a stalker who ends up having sex with his obsession while the pair are drenched in blood, MercuryNews.com noted. Levine's character is a butcher who, when not handling bloody animal carcasses, is stalking a woman played by his real-life wife Behati Prinsloo. Among those criticizing the clip is sexual-assault support group RAINN, which has called the video "dangerous" and a "stalker's fantasy."

Martha Stewart has partnered with AOL to launch an online webisodic reality competition called "Shriek or Chic: Martha's Haute Halloween Challenge," pitting three young designers with the task of creating Stewart's 2014 Halloween costume, Deadline reported. The first episode debuted on AOL's recently launched premium video channel beginning Oct. 7, with five more three-and-a-half-minute episodes to roll out one a day for the rest of the week.

In other Martha news, the rivalry between the domestic diva and Gwyneth Paltrow heated up when the Oscar-winning actress hired Lisa Gersh to be the CEO of Goop, her fledgling lifestyle and e-commerce company, Page Six noted. Gersh is the former chief of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia who exited in early 2013 after only a year on the job. Stewart has criticized Paltrow, saying she should stick to acting.

After guest starring in the second-season finale of Devious Maids, hunky Gilles Marini ( Brothers & Sisters ) will join the cast of the Lifetime series as a regular for season three, according to Deadline. He will reprise his rose as Sebastien, who will have romantic interests with Carmen Luna ( Roselyn Sanchez ).

Rumors have been swirling for weeks that a third Sex and the City film could be in the works, and talk just heated up recently when Sarah Jessica Parker and Kristin Davis hinted at their possible involvement on Twitter, US Weekly noted. While Davis and Parker are up on the SATC hype, one actress who seems to be out of the loop is Kim Cattrall, who later posted, "News 2 me... Rumors like this are flattering." Cynthia Nixon has yet to comment on the rumored installment, though she has been less than enthusiastic in the past about continuing.

The Vaudevillians, starring former RuPaul's Drag Race winner Jinkx Monsoon and Major Scales, kicked off Seattle Repertory Theatre's 2014—15 season and runs through Nov. 2 at the Leo K. Theatre, Playbill noted. The plot, according to a press release: "The Vaudevillians, a fictional 1920s duo, were literally frozen in time while touring in Antarctica. Thawing out nearly a century later, they discover their original music has been co-opted throughout the years—and they're not going to stand for it. Wigs will fly as the two perform hits from the likes of Janis Joplin and Gloria Gaynor in the style of Cole Porter and Irving Berlin. It's a vintage cabaret with a twist of drag."

Like the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, celebrities are yet again joining in on a way to raise awareness for a good cause. This time around, stars like Hugh Jackman, Nigel Barker, Will Arnett, Ricky Gervais and others are posting pictures of themselves on social media grabbing their crotches for Testicular Cancer Awareness, US Weekly reported. Jackman nominated Gervais, who responded with his own crotch grab—and the middle finger.

Former child star Raven-Symone ( That's So Raven; The Cosby Show ) sat down with Oprah Winfrey recently to chat about her life in and out of the spotlight, and she had some words of advice for her peers in Hollywood, US Weekly noted. The 28-year-old actress said, "It's unnecessary to go to the most popular restaurant in the world when you have a scandal on your head, and then get mad that someone's gonna take a picture of you." She also talked about her sexuality, saying, "I don't want to be labeled as gay. I want to be labeled as a human who loves humans."

Fans of the E! reality series "#RichKids of Beverly Hills" will be seeing a lot less on one of its stars, CNN reported. EJ Johnson—the openly gay son of basketball icon Earvin "Magic" Johnson—has shed 50 pounds after undergoing gastric-sleeve surgery. Johnson said he has cut out foods with a lot of sugar as well as alcohol, bread and anything fried. Dance and Pilates classes four to five days a week as well as watching his diet has helped him trim his 6'2" frame.

Fashion icon, performance artist and transgender public figure Amanda Lepore will be the celebrity grand marshal for the 2014 Greater Palm Springs ( Calif. ) Pride Parade, according to a press release. The 28th annual Pride Parade is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 9. Lepore will also perform live on the US Bank stage at the Arenas Rd. Block Party on Saturday, Nov. 8.

In collaboration with BuzzFeed, porn search engine Pornhub produced a study examining data on users' viewing habits, with a specific focus on what women like, The Huffington Post reported. It turned out the top three categories for women were lesbian, gay ( male ) and teen. ( For men, it was teen, MILF and mature. ) The article also says that in a 2008 study that had participants hooked to a machine that detected arousal, heterosexual women had a stronger sexual response to images of naked women in certain poses than naked men.

Rapper and aspiring fashion designer Kanye West confirmed that John Galliano has been named the new creative director of fashion house Maison Martin Margiela, according to Page Six. The role is Galliano's first full-time gig since he was unceremoniously fired by Dior in 2011 after making anti-Semitic remarks in a Paris cafe.

NBC News Chief Deborah Turness announced that Jenna Wolfe has been named the first-ever Today show lifestyle and fitness correspondent, according to Deadline. ( She will no longer be the weekend correspondent. ) Wolfe also will serve as NBC News national correspondent. In August, Wolfe announced that she is expecting her second child in February 2015 with her partner, NBC News correspondent Stephanie Gosk.

Only a week after the shocking third-season finale of Dallas comes another bombshell for the fans of the TNT drama: The network has opted not to renew the series for a fourth season, according to Deadline. The show was a reboot of CBS' hugely successful 1980s primetime soap that centered on the Ewing clan.

Dot-Marie Jones is in love with being a newlywed, according to People magazine. "Oh, it's fantastic!," Jones, 50, said at the Best in Drag Show 2014. "Just bought a house ... and just getting everything dialed in and everything like that." Jones married longtime girlfriend Bridgett Casteen in December, and said that an ideal night involves staying home and seeing films: "We have a theater room—it's got, like, a 120-inch screen—so [we like] just hanging out and watching movies."

Geoffrey Holder—known to many as a pitch man for 7Up, calling it "the Un-Cola"—has died at age 84 from complications of pneumonia, Deadline.com noted. Also known for his baritone voice, the 6' 6" Holder won two Tony Awards in 1975 for his direction and costume designs for The Wiz. He is survived by a wife and son.

Tony winner Marian Seldes, whose career spanned more than 60 years, has died at age 86 after an extended illness, ABC News reported. Seldes made her Broadway debut in 1948 in a production of Medea that starred Judith Anderson. Nominated for five Tonys, she won Broadway's top honor in 1967 for her supporting role in Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance. Her most recent Broadway appearance was in 2007 opposite Angela Lansbury in Terrence McNally's Deuce.

Sam Dancer, a member of the grid team the San Francisco Fire, confronts bullying in an interesting manner, according to NPGL.com . Dancer, married to fitness athlete Jennifer Nobis-Dancer, has done everything from wear lipstick to flash fingernails that sport sparkle with pink, green, purple and blue polish. "I like to say it makes me feel pretty, but I do it to draw attention to bullying," Dancer said. "I was bullied in high school, and people do not need to be treated like that." In grid, two teams engage in races that include weightlifting, bodyweight elements and pure athleticism.

Actor Gerard Depardieu—who has admitted doing everything from peeing on an airplane floor to consuming more than a dozen bottles of wine in a day—has released an autobiography, That's the Way It Was, according to Newser.com . In the book, Depardieu claims, among other things, that he was a male escort at one point, writing, "I've known since I was very young that I please homosexuals." He also writes that he once robbed graves and is good friends with Russia President Vladimir Putin.

Showtime will revive the unique 1990s show Twin Peaks as a nine-episode series that will be filmed next year and that will air in 2016, The New York Daily News reported. David Lynch and Mark Frost, who created the often-surreal show, will co-write all nine episodes; Lynch will direct. The original series ran on ABC from April 1990 to June 1991.