(Inside Bay Area) Supporters of Proposition 8 may already suspect the outcome of today’s ruling in the case challenging California’s ban on same-sex marriage. In court papers filed Tuesday night, lawyers for the defense team asked Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker for a stay of his ruling if the outcome is to declare the law unconstitutional.

(ACLU) ANCHORAGE, AK — Three Alaska same-sex couples have filed a lawsuit today challenging the state of Alaska’s tax-assessment rules, which discriminate against same-sex couples by denying them equal access to a property tax exemption for senior citizens and disabled veterans. Those who qualify and who live with same-sex partners are only permitted to, at most, half of the exemption available to opposite-sex married couples because they are treated as roommates rather than families. Each couple is denied full access to a $150,000 property tax exemption available to similarly situated opposite-sex married couples.

(365 Gay) A group of Orthodox rabbis issued a statement calling for the acceptance of gays and lesbians in the Orthodox community. The statement said, “Embarrassing, harassing or demeaning someone with a homosexual orientation or same-sex attraction is a violation of Torah prohibitions that embody the deepest values of Judaism.” “Jews with homosexual orientations or same sex-attractions should be welcomed as full members of the synagogue and school community.” About 150 rabbis, mostly from the Modern Orthodox movement signed the statement that listed 12 principles for why gays and lesbians should be accepted in the Orthodox community. Still, homosexual acts and gay marriage were found to be against the Orthodox interpretation of Judaism.

(GLAAD) As Degrassi launches its tenth season this month on Teen Nick , it also introduces Adam, the first transgender teen character to appear as a series regular on a scripted tv show. In the series, Adam and his older brother Drew are new students at Degrassi Community School. Adam is enrolling at the high school as a boy with the support of his family and the school administrators.

(365 Gay) Houston’s openly gay mayor applauded Shanghai’s inclusion of the gay community. On Houston Day in the USA Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo , Mayor Annise Parker said, “Shanghainese and Houstonians are similar. They care about what you do, not who you are.” She said that the gay community is good for economic growth: “To boost development, a city needs to be open to a full range of people, especially the innovative ones who break barriers, like people of the gay community.” Xinhua news agency said that gays and lesbians are highly stigmatized in China, but Shanghai is the country’s most accepting city.

(NY Times) The F.D.A.’s ban on gay men’s donations, some say, is scientifically and medically unjustified.

(SFist) Is there any relationship as gratifying and exhausting as the gay male-straight female friendship ? But, according to a brilliant article in the satirical ChristWire (” The Fag Hag: How a Girl’s Misguided Friendship Choices Can Lead to a Lifetime of Loneliness “) penned by genius Christian Investigative Journalist Stephenson Billings, being a fag hag is all kinds of gauche. And, best of all, easily avoidable.

SANTIAGO (Reuters) – The head of Chile’s Socialist party, Fulvio Rossi, told reporters on Sunday that he planned to sponsor a bill to legalize gay marriage in the country, as occurred last month in neighboring Argentina.

(The Guardian) Givenchy’s new campaign features a controversial face who has emerged from backstage onto the catwalk At first sight, the only thing that is striking about Lea T is her beauty. With her full lips, strong jaw and dark tresses falling in cascades over her shoulders, she is the perfect high-fashion package: alluring, whippet-thin and with a face too distinctive to be considered merely pretty. No wonder, you might think, she has gone from backroom assistant to sar- torial sensation in just months, appearing in Givenchy’s autumn/winter ad campaign, smiling in Italian Vanity Fair and – as a crowning glory – posing naked for the hallowed pages of French Vogue .

(GLAAD) Just two days before a gay pride float was to appear in the annual Fourth of July parade in Anchorage, Alaska, it was torched in an apparent case of arson . The fire also destroyed the garage and damaged the home of Ken and Paula Butner – allies of the LGBT community who kept the float in a car tent in front of their garage. The float belonged to the Imperial Court of All Alaska, an organization supporting the gay community.