With the addition of Rhode Island, Delaware and Minnesota over the past two weeks,, marriage equality maps of the United States have certainly brightened up, haven't they?

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton will sign marriage equality legislation into law at 5 p.m. central. 

Click the pic to enlarge.

(Via Stateline)

BOOM!

Number TWELVE!! Minnesota just passed marriage equality in the state Senate following last week's passge in the state House! 

Details after the jump!

Surprise, surprise: the highest frequency of homophobic tweets in the U.S. mostly occur in small towns, not large cities, according to a heat map produced by researchers at Humboldt State University. 

Is your city in the red?

In an effort to protect religious freedom (seriously), Republicans in Washington state have filed a bill that would give businesses the right to deny services on the basis of religious belief. 

Hmm...slippery slope...

Details after the jump.

Updated Friday at 6:30 p.m. PST:

Sadly the news we have been reporting on all day has taken a turn for the worse, as the AP is reprting the 33-year-old diagnosed with meningitis has been declared brain dead by doctors and is on life support. This corrects earlier reports by local L.A. media said the patient, Brett Shaad, had died Friday afternoon. 

NBCLA reports that the victim had attended White Party in Palm Springs just a few weeks ago, with West Hollywood city councilman John Duran adding, "If this resident was in fact in attendance at the White Party, it raises the issue, so we want to get the word out to any gay men that were at the White Party, that if they have any of these symptoms, go see their physician...

Marina and the Diamonds are giving us a brand new video for the track, "State of Dreaming."

Is it a dream or a nightmare??

You tell us after the jump!

Late Friday, in what some political talking heads are calling a surprising move, the Obama administration formally urged the Supreme Court to overturn the Defense Of Marriage Act! Details follow after the jump.

Updated Wednesday, 3:15 p.m.  PST

Clive Davis isn't letting Kelly Clarkson have the last word after she slayed him in yesterday's open letter to her fans. 

See what Clive has to say about Kelly's accusation that his memoir misrepresents the facts, after the jump!

Every gay gather up those crumpled dollar bills usually reserved for venti low-fat lattes (or in our case, for go-go boys), and let's take up a collection!

Politico is reporting that the former Secretary of State will begin making speeches for a fee as early as this spring.

The Affordable Care Act (Tea Party translation: "Obamacare") is finally giving our healthcare system an overdue overhaul. But some of the updates to healthcare and provider responsibilities will be left behind in the renovation, particularly HIV/AIDS confidentiality. California state Senator Mark Leno is aiming to change that. 

Though the gayest U.S. state happens to be whichever one we're in at the time, Gallup has a different idea thanks to a massive 200,000 person study. While the rainbow might shine brightest in D.C., Gallup notes that these kinds of studies always include the caveat of people possibly not answering truthfully. Anyway, Gallup's results are after the jump!

By a vote of 34 - 21, marriage equality has been approved in the full Illinois state Senate! It veered into raucous territory often in the Senate chamber, with anti-gay pols getting laughed at by those in attendance on a handful of occasions.

Same-sex marriage rights with religious protections now moves to the Illinois House, where it has also been given a great chance of passing. 

Stay tuned to Instinct as today's big news out of the Midwest develops!