Jason Alexander Thinks Cricket Is 'Gay:' VIDEO

Jason Alexander appeared on Craig Ferguson's CBS show last Friday and during a discussion about various athletic games, the actor described cricket as a "gay sport." Why? Well, the players wear white, don helmets "for no discernible reason" and apparently he finds the cricket pitch too effeminate.

"You know how I know it's really kind of a gay game? It's the pitch. It looks like nothing — if you slow it slow motion, it's kind of a —" Alexander says before offering an exaggerated rendition. "It's the weirdest… It's not like a manly baseball pitch; it's a queer British gay pitch."

As for Ferguson, the host described cricket as a cross between popular period drama Downton Abbey and baseball.

The video should be cued up to the start of that specific conversation, but if it doesn't work for you, fast-forward to the 8:46 mark, AFTER THE JUMP...

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Images of a Navy Academy tradition which somehow predates the repeal of DADT.

What will Maine's churches be up to on June 17th?

Scores of Maine churches will pass the collection plate a second time at Sunday services on Father's Day to kick off a fundraising campaign for the lead opposition group to November's ballot question asking voters to legalize same-sex marriages.

Between 150 and 200 churches are expected to raise money for the Protect Marriage Maine political action committee, said Carroll Conley Jr., executive director of the Christian Civic League of Maine evangelical organization and a member of the PAC. Conley is also trying to drum up support for the Maine campaign from religious leaders from around the country.

It's unusual, but not unheard of, for churches to take up collections for political causes. Maine's Catholic diocese says it raised about $80,000 with a designated collection in 2009 in its effort to overturn Maine's same-sex marriage law, which was passed by the Legislature that year and later rejected by voters ...

Mitt Romney's running for the presidency because he's no good at sports.

UConn lets LGBT hockey player know: If you can play, you can play.

Lots of straight footballers agree:

... when Outsports attended the NFLPA Rookie Premiere events in Los Angeles last week, we were met with a gay-positive attitude from every player we talked to; And some warmly welcomed us with open arms. A dozen different men from various teams, both rookies and recently retired, each expressed support for gay athletes. Many shared personal experiences involving gay friends, family members, and even a gay former teammate. These aren’t third-stringers we talked to. These men are NFL stats leaders, national champions and high draft picks. They are the past, present and future leaders of the NFL.

"My bully, my best friend."

"... brother of the blind activist Chen Guangcheng has gone missing after fleeing his village in north-eastern China to seek help for his son who is facing an attempted murder charge ...":

Chen Guangfu, the eldest brother of Chen Guangcheng, disappeared two days after he arrived in Beijing to support his son, Chen Kegui, who has been detained in a case that has become a rallying point among rights activists.

The Shandong-based lawyer Liu Weiguo said Chen Guangfu, a 55-year-old farmer and labourer, did not return to his hotel room in Beijing on Friday night.

... As of now, there’s still no news on Brother Guangfu,” Liu said. “We’re not optimistic. Guangcheng is also very worried. He’s contacting friends to look [for him].”

Britney's new job: Show up, walk off in a huff, don't come back 'til you feel like it, and make millions.

35 years ago today, George Willis climbed all 110 stories of WTC 2. Wow!

AFTER THE JUMP, see the best public proposal ever. These guys have awesome friends.

Sports Camp Helps Men 'Move Beyond' Being Gay

There will be lots of balls thrown and caught during a sports retreat being hosted by the Catholic "ex-gay" group Courage in Philadelphia this weekend.

Because, you know, you can overcome being gay by brushing up on tossing around the ol' pigskin. 

Courage, a Catholic group that encourages people with same-sex attraction to remain celibate, is holding its 13th annual sports camp in which “men physically compete on the field while enriching their souls through a daily regimen of prayer, confessions, mass, and the Liturgy of the Hours,” according to the group’s website.

“They think that in offering people with same sex attraction the chance to learn how to play sports they will learn to be manlier,” said Ed Coffin, director of Peace Advocacy Network, a Philadelphia group which plans to protest outside the seminary...

“It’s a ludicrous assertion. There are many, many out gay athletes and many gay men who play sports,” he said.

One participant, who refused to be identified, insists the camp is not "brainwashing." Rather it's a "tutorial sports event" for men who face "social blockades" for their lack of athletic acumen.

Courage also claims that men are gay because they're estranged from their fathers. "I never met a man with same sex attraction that had a healthy relationship with his father," said one member, known only as Al.

You Throw Like A President!

President Obama managed to get in some play time following a NATO Summit dinner at Chicago's Soldier Field yesterday.

Who is he throwing the ball to? Who knows... Maybe German Chancellor Angela Merkel? Or maybe it was new French President Francois Hollande? Or maybe nobody? How many international leaders do you think play American football?

(via TPM)

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New York's most senior gay public servant was married today:

Christine Quinn, New York's highest-ranking openly gay official and the leading candidate to be the city's next mayor, married her longtime girlfriend on Saturday, walking down the aisle to Beyonce's "Ave Maria."

Quinn, the speaker of the New York City Council and a vocal advocate of same-sex marriage, wore a full-length, cream-colored gown designed by Carolina Herrera and a hair comb fashioned with family heirlooms.

Quinn's wife, New York lawyer Kim Catullo, wore a cream silk evening suit designed by Ralph Lauren. Catullo, who like Quinn is 45, walked in to Bruce Springsteen's "If I Should Fall Behind."

Cuomo, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly were among the 275 guests.

Fourth-rate NBA player Dominique Jones really dislikes gay people.

In the Hardin County school system, straight teens are punished for wearing LGBT-supportive apparel; the Southern Poverty Law Center sues.

In Michigan, representatives and senators sign awards for "women of accomplishment" -- unless those women are lesbians.

"Family values" legislator dons bikini, gets hot bod pictured in Maxim.

"The 20 Biggest Consequences of Same-Sex Marriage"

Nick Stahl, lost and found.

Of gays and the boobtube:

Some producers say they have marveled at how fast the opinions of television viewers have changed, even as gay rights activists have marveled at how voters across the country have shifted on gay marriage.

“What this is about, really, is how far America has come, not how far television has come,” said Christopher Lloyd, a co-creator of “Modern Family.”

Shonda Rhimes, the “Grey’s Anatomy” producer, recalled having to “go to the mattresses with broadcast standards and practices” at ABC in 2006 to insist on preserving a steamy shower sequence with three female doctors. That sequence was just a fantasy in the mind of one of the male characters — but now six years later, in the show’s version of reality, two female doctors are married. “Nobody even blinked” at the relationship, Ms. Rhimes said.

The only outcry she recalled came when one of the doctors, Arizona, flirted with a man. “It was from lesbians who said, ‘How dare she sleep with a man!’ ”

Any Towleroad readers following the NBA playoffs? Know this: The Onion's sports coverage is no joke.

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Fallen televangelist Jim Bakker is now selling survivalist gear. One package includes "over 3,300 servings of food and enough fuel to cook 480 meals," all for the low price of $2,000.

The Gay-Straight Alliance at Maryland's Blake High School made a doll called "Allie the Ally" that traveled around the world spreading a message of inclusion, and met some celebrities in the process.

Check out the new Skyfall poster.

Stalemate? Queers Against Israeli Apartheid vowed apply for a spot in Toronto's gay pride, but Toronto City Council insists it will withhold funding if that happens.

Chloe Sevigny says wearing a prosthetic penis while filming the British miniseries Hit & Miss made her cry.

Happy 8th anniversary of marriage equality in Massachusetts!

Evangelical pastor Joel Hunter, a spiritual advisor to President Obama, says that though he disagrees with gay marriage, he still backs the commander-in-chief.

Boxer Floyd Mayweather came out for same-sex marriage.

On the inevitablity of total equality: "Freedom can take a long time to come but it can't be stopped forever. Segregationists were able to delay social and political freedom for blacks but they couldn't stop the inevitable march to freedom. Religious bigots won't be able to stop the march for gay rights, either."

TRIO: John Doe #1 and John Doe #2, the masseurs who accused John Travolta of groping them, have hired Gloria Allred, even though they already dropped their repsective suits. Travolta's lawyers say no money was exchanged. Meanwhile, Travolta himself released a Mother's Day tribute to his wife that's peppered with pictures of them through the years.

Adam Lambert will be the first openly gay singer to land in the Billboard 100's top album slot should latest offering, Trespassing, sell well. And you'll love the list of other singers who could have been first.

Glee co-stars Lea Michele and Cory Monteith take their love to a hockey game.

Conservative blogs are having a field day with a Breitbart report that a literary agent's 1991 blurb about President Obama that read, "Barack Obama, the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review, was born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii." That same agency also repped the New Kids on the Block.

The White House has ordered all prison facilities to crack down on rape in prison.

Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom opened Cannes last night, and it looks like quite the premiere.

Further studies show that virtual reality battles can help soldiers overcome post-traumatic stress disorder.

Here's interview with musician Rye Rye about her new album, growing up in Baltimore and why gays are "her crowd." "I always feel like they really like the gritty side of what I do and that bass that just makes you just go CRAZY. They've loved it since day one and they love it to this day. They really embrace, like, it's crazy."

Bishop Harry Jackson falls back to the "gay activists are like Nazis" argument, but only sometimes.

Jared Leto and Terry Richardson, together again.