Updated Monday, 3 p.m. (PST)

It was just announced that the NBA is fining the Chicago Bulls center for $50,000. This is half of what Kobe Bryant was fined in April when he used an anti-gay slur on a ref.

HRC is applauding the NBA's commissioner David Stern for his commitment to ending anti-gay slurs on the court. "We’re impressed by the NBA’s precedent-setting effort to eliminate gay slurs on the court,” said the Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solomese. “We are seeing a new conversation beginning in the world of sports, where a growing number of pro-athletes are publicly standing up for equality.”

What do you think about this fine? Adequate?

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Frank Bruni, a seasoned writer at the New York Times with decades of bylines under his belt, has become the first gay op-ed columnist in the publications 160-year history.

Though she's far beyond the edge and actually living in the epicenter of glory, Lady Gaga's "Edge of Glory" is making Little Monsters of folks left and right, including Google, which has utilized the song (as well as Mother Monster herself) for its latest gay-friendly ad. Watch it after the jump!

Where some in the NBA fouled over the weekend, others, like Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash, scored major points. Follow the jump to check out Steve's message for the New Yorkers for Marriage Equality campaign.

While—according to today's water cooler chats and blogosphere headlines—it was Beyonce's girls who ran the world on stage at Sunday's Billboard Music Awards, it was Nicki Minaj's beefy boys who ran the world backstage. Follow the jump for a photo of Nicki's studly shirtless dance crew relaxing their pecs backstage after the performance!

Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah already (sort of) apologized for hurling a big "Fuck you, faggot" over the weekend, but the clean-up between GLAAD and the NBA has only just begun.

At New York's Boxers bar over the weekend international-rugby-star-turned-gay-activist Ben Cohen auctioned off a workout session to the highest bidder. The mouth-watering result that will have you willing to donate the deed to your home is after the jump.

Did one of the country's most prominent anti-gay hate groups concede a loss in the struggle for marriage equality?

The grand entrance that Abercrombie & Fitch rolled out for its Parisian debut gets the action it deserves as video from the event finally hits the web. Watch video of A&F's male-model studded (literally) grand opening in Paris, after the jump!

The Westboro "Baptist Church" and Minnesota GOP couldn't be more at odds with the Christian base they pretend to be appeasing...if a just-released poll from the Human Rights Campaign is any indication.

Lisa Lampanelli might need to change her "Queen of Mean" nickname after promising to donate $1,000 to the Gay Men's health Crisis (GMHC) for each Westboro protestor outside of her show over the weekend...

Minnesotans will now have the opportunity to vote on the civil rights of a minority group in 2012 after the state's House passed a constitutional ban on marriage equality late Saturday night. How American! Details follow.