Trying to wrap my mind around this New York Times story: psycho real estate mogul Leona Helmsley, who was notoriously sharp-tongued and generally mean, apparently left virtually all of her vast fortune to "dogs."

No, we're not talking the $12 million in her will to care for her own dog, Trouble, while famously snubbing two of her own grandchildren "for reasons that are known to them." We're talking the majority of her $5 to 8 billion trust.

The document is a brief two-pager that describes that her entire trust be used "for the care and welfare of dogs." And this is precious:

The two people who described the statement said Mrs. Helmsley signed it in 2003 to establish goals for the multibillion-dollar trust that would disburse assets after her death.

The first goal was to help indigent people, the second to provide for the care and welfare of dogs. A year later, they said, she deleted the first goal.

She deleted indigent people! Pure Leona. Despite the fact that the document is not officially part of the will and is therefore not immediately legally binding, it is long-established precedent to adhere to a donor's stated wishes. To put this in perspective:

The trust will be worth almost 10 times the combined assets of all 7,381 animal-related nonprofit groups reporting to the Internal Revenue Service in 2005.

Which, even if only a portion of her trust goes to animal charities, is still good news for all you dog lovers out there. And also begs the question: If all dogs go to heaven, where did Mrs. Hemlsley end up?

Poor, poor (super-rich) Madonna! First it leaks that the Material Girl hired A-list Brit divorce attorney Fiona Shackleton last week to defend her $600 million fortune from pouty daddy Guy Ritchie. Now apparently someone has set fire to and destroyed her childhood home:

Detroit papers report that investigators from the Oakland County Sheriff's Arson Unit and the Rochester Hills Fire Department are investigating. The fire was reported by a passerby who saw flames shooting out of the house and called the fire department.

[via WOWReport]

That, plus the tell-all book that brother Christopher was reportedly going to release anytime soon, and the controversy swirling around her Gucci-Malawi benefit... perhaps she should start tying more of those little red strings around her wrists?

While small groups have marched in the eastern city of Calcutta in recent years, Sunday's events were the first gay pride parades in Bangalore and New Delhi. Several hundred people turned out at each of the three events.

The wiry vampiress otherwise known as Madonna has finally sucked all the life essence she can out of British man-toy Guy Ritchie! (Wasn't he a director once upon a time?)

Reports from the UK say that she has hired superstar divorce lawyer Fiona Shackleton to represent her in upcoming divorce proceedings. Shackleton (who has probably one of the bitchiest Brit names ever, and I love it) is best known for representing Sir Paul McCartney in his recent divorce, allowing Heather Mills to abscond with only a fraction of his immense fortune. 

Madonna's wealth is apparently 300 million British pounds. Which is a hell of a lot of dollars.

For those fanatics out there, really, I love Madonna. She's an amazing woman. A role model, really. But I can't imagine ever getting tired of super-cute blokey daddy-for-days Guy Ritchie. And I think it's incredible how his image has morphed from cock-of-the-walk director of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels to subservient arm candy. I guess banging Madonna will do that to you. Or getting involved in that strange little church she's known to deal with.

This is almost too tragic to be true. But it is.

A lesbian couple, Lisa Pond and Janice Langbehn from Washinton state, was in Miami waiting to embark on a cruise with their three children in February of last year. Then Pond suddenly collapsed. More:

Once Langbehn and the children arrived at the hospital, the hospital refused to accept information from her about Ponds’s medical history. 

Langbehn says she was informed that she was in an antigay city and state, and she could expect to receive no information or acknowledgment as family.

Pond passed away from a brain aneurysm. More:

Other than one five minute visit, which was orchestrated by a Catholic priest at Langbehn’s request to perform last rites, and despite the doctor’s acknowledgement that no medical reason existed to prevent visitation, neither she nor her children were allowed to see Pond until nearly eight hours after their arrival. 

[via 365gay.com]

To add to the travesty, Langbehn was denied Pond's death certificate by the State of Florida as well as the Dade County Medical Examiner. Langbehn and Lambda Legal announced a lawsuit against the hospital this week.

Here is a link to the family's blog from the month of February 2007. The kids were so excited to go on an R-Family cruise (Rosie O'Donnell's gay family cruise line). Read from the bottom up; it's heartbreaking.

We've been trumpeting marriage in Californa the past week—it's stories like this that remind us we still have a long way to go in our fight for equal rights.