Update, Friday, 10 a.m. EST:

Lt. Dan Choi appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show last night to discuss being officially discharged from the military, for, cosmically, coming out on her show a year ago.

All has apparently been made official now. According to Newsweek: 

“I got a call about five minutes ago, and my commander said he wanted me to hear it directly from him. He was very supportive and said, ‘I know this was something you didn’t want to hear.’ I said to him, ‘Thank you for your leadership.’ He’s been nothing but supportive of me throughout this whole journey.” Choi says his commander told him it was clear that “change was in the air,” and inquired as to his personal well-being. “He’s always...

The light, airy voice we were introduced to in Enchanted might be given a run for its money as it’s confirmed that Amy Adams will play Janis Joplin in the long-awaited biopic of the iconic singer. For comparison notes, Pink screen-tested well in an earlier incarnation of the project (no surprise) and Miss Bette Midler sealed-the-diva-deal with a loosely-based role in The Rose. But Amy Adams?

Do you think Adams is the right choice to play Joplin?

San Francisco Mayor and GLBT ally Gavin Newsom is expected to announce his latest political ambition this afternoon.

According to the NY Times:

The on-again, off-again political ambitions of Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco are expected to take another turn on Friday with an announcement of his candidacy for lieutenant governor of California.

For the less glamorous No. 2 position, Mr. Newsom’s chief opponent in the primary in June would be Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who has been attacking Mr. Newsom as indecisive. On Wednesday, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa— who was once considered a potential gubernatorial candidate and has had a friendly working relationship with Mr. Newsom — endorsed Ms. Hahn, illustrating...

After making the comeback of all one-time-one-hit-wonder comebacks two years ago, we’ve been salivating for more hotness from Robyn. She wowed the crap out of us with “With Every Heartbeat,” “Be Mine” and just about every track off of 2008’s self-titled release. Now, in a new interview with the Swedish press, Robyn says she has not one, nor two, but three new albums ready for release this year.

Staying on the dance floor, Robyn has apparently enlisted Royksopp, Andreas Kleerup and Savage Skulls to help produce tracks. Nearly as surprising as a three-album release is the “rap duel” Robyn says she has with none other than Snoop Dogg on one of the tracks.

The albums will reportedly be released in spring, summer and finally...

Independent Senator Joe Lieberman has announced that he will introduce a bill to the senate calling for the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." He was quoted this morning in the New York Daily News as saying, "What matters is not the gender of the other person in your unit or the color or the religion or in this case the sexual orientation. It's whether that person is a good soldier you can depend on. And that's why I think it's going to work."

HRC went on to applaud the senator's decision:

“Senator Lieberman’s announcement of the introduction of a Senate repeal bill is a welcome development following what has already been a historic several weeks in the campaign to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. ...

Dick Cheney extended yet another olive branch to the GLBT community yesterday on ABC News This Week when he finally put vocalized support for a repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell down on record.

With such a notorious architect of policy on our side, whether you like him or not, why can't we make more happen? Or is the man attempting to appear more progressive than he was during his reign so that his party has a chance of stealing away pink dollars from the Dems come November?

It was really only a matter of time before others began picking up on Palin's handy work...

Challenges to marriage equality legislation in Iowa and New Hampshire were dealt equal blows today.

In Iowa:

We pointed you toward a poll of Iowan voters yesterday, and today state legislators have decided to walk in line with their constituents, with the state’s House voting down the GOP’s attempt to ban marriage equality in the state, 45 – 54. The bigoted measure failed in the state’s Senate as well, meaning the next opportunity for homophobes to steal away the rights of Iowans won’t come again until 2014.

In New Hampshire:

A special committee has recommended that anti-equality legislation hoping to repeal the still-new marriage equality in the state be rejected.

According to the AP:

“A House committee is recommending against...

The pioneering researchers over at Fox News have announced incredible breaking news: "Gay, Lesbian Teens Bullied More Than Heterosexuals."

Move over Beyonce, the Lady Gaga Grammy duet rumor mill has spit you out and eaten up Sir Elton John instead!

From Metro.co.uk:

"Fuelling the hype, Elton refused to dispel the rumours after he was quizzed on the plans at the Rainbow Media dinner at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah this week. But the singer's own camp say the 62-year-old Rocket Man is hoping for the duet to happen. An insider told Metro, "There was talk" of it happening but said the details were yet to be "finalised". The stage date will be the first in a fortnight for the pair as they are also billed to come face to face at a AmFAR benefit gala on February 10 when Elton will be honoured and Gaga will perform."

On that note, 10 extra points for whomever can correctly ...

The expected final day of the Prop. 8 trial got off to a much calmer start than yesterday, as David Blankenhorn was back on the stand for his continued cross-exam by plaintiffs’ attorney David Boies. Boies spent a good amount of time asking Blackenhorn about his prior writings, some of which actually seem to place same-sex marriage in a favorable light.

“I’m going to start with some things we agree on. You agree that marriage is a public good,” asked Boies.

“Yes.”

“What is a public good?”

“Benefits society...

Change.org's gay page poses a question so thought-provoking, we just had to bring it to you, intelligent Instincters: did Gavin Newsom sacrifice his career for gay rights?

In 2004, after Newsom bravely and briefly legalized marriage equality in San Francisco, fellow Democrats in the party began to distance themselves from the politician, once a rising-star. Even President Obama (before he was able to add that swanky title to his name with a little voting help from the GLBT) refused to take pictures with Newsom.

After abruptly dropping out of the California gubernatorial race, some speculate that Newsom's poster-boy status as a straight-ally for the gays has cost him his political career, while others maintain he is still the future...