BY ROB SALERNO - The online search engine Google has created a new way to find out if your favourite celebrities are gay, straight or bi.

All you have to do is type in a question about the celebrity you're curious about and Google will provide the answer. For example, "Is Hugh Jackman gay?" will return the result "Best guess for Hugh Jackman Sexual orientation is Straight." If you click on "View Sources" below the answer, it'll even point you to the news sources that have reported on that person's sexuality.

The program has some obvious deficiencies. Its results are based only on reported statements, so if Mr Jackman is secretly sucking off younger dudes in back alleys before taking them roughly on the sands of Bondai Beach under pale moonlight while the waves crash on the shores, our bodies dripping with sweat as I scream out "Take me, Wolverine! You are the best there is at what you do!"... wait, what was my point?

Oh right, the program collects and parses only statements made to the media, so if they're not out publicly, it doesn't necessarily mean they're straight.

And it answers for only a relative handful of celebrities. Sure, it'll answer that Elton John is gay, but apparently George Michael and Chris Colfer elude its delicate gaydar sensors.

By the way, you have to ask really simple questions like "Is Elton John gay?" If you ask "Does Elton John prefer cock or vag?" or "What's the deal with Richard Gere and the gerbil rumours from the '90s?" it gets confused. 

In particular, Canada's favourite ambiguously gay celebs don't generate any answers from the search engine. I won't repeat who I tried, but you can go on and guess yourselves. If anything turns up, post in the comments, straight or gay.

On a completely unrelated note, Anderson Cooper revealed on his talk show that he doesn't drink any hot liquids (settle down) or eat green vegetables, which just sounds unbelievable, no?

Well, here's the video where he has his first-ever sip of coffee and tries spinach and Brussels sprouts for the first time. 

BY ROB SALERNO - A pair of Massachussetts businesswomen have launched "Gay Coffee."

Okay, the beans don't actually have sex with beans of the same gender, because they're, you know, beans. But every tin of Gay Coffee is organic and fair trade, with one percent of all proceeds going to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. You can order packages of the coffee online for worldwide shipping.

 

Each of the five blends comes with a gay descriptor and some info about gay history. For example, the Good Morning, Mary! blend carries this bit of info: 

One of the most enduring and influential aspects of gay culture in America has been the delightful sensibility of camp. In eras when gay men faced intense threat of persecution from the vice squad, camp and drag offered coded behavior that allowed individuals to identify each other without risking arrest. A wry celebration of humor and joy in the face of social ostracization, camp and drag reminds us that life is a party to be celebrated! Enjoy this smooth blend of dark and medium roasted beans – it’s truly fabulous!

 

The best part of waking up is fisters in your cup.

Given Gay Coffee's love of dodgy puns, I recommend you skip the cream.

In overseas news, from South Africa comes the headline "Broody gay couple may use a surrogate," in which the high court rules that gays can use surrogates to create children. Geez, you'd think the couple would be happier. They're gonna have a baby!

An article in the Washington Blade states that the DC government has sponsored a pilot program aimed at recruiting HIV-positive people to convince their friends and anyone in their social circles to get tested.

The program is modelled after similar initiatives in New York City and San Francisco.

Dr Gregory Pappas, senior deputy director of the DC Department of Health’s HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, STD and TB Administration, said that in the New York program about 25 percent of men recruited for testing were found to be HIV-positive. 

According to the article, DC already has a number of HIV prevention and testing initiatives to help curtail the number of new infections, but the rate of new infections is still high.

“While the District of Columbia has made great strides in fighting the epidemic, we’re still having 700 to 800 new HIV diagnoses every year, and the greatest proportion among those new diagnoses is still gay men,” said Pappas. “We estimate that there are about 10,000 people in the District of Columbia who are HIV-positive and don’t know their status.”

The capital city has a unique health policy of “treatment on demand” for all those who test HIV-positive. And, for people who don’t have private insurance, the city provides full treatment and care for people living with HIV/AIDS.

The announcement coincided with the National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, when health clinics around the city offer free all-day testing.

Noreen Fagan – At least Lady Gaga listened to what Jamey Rodemeyer had to say.

Rodemeyer, 14, posted an online tribute to the monster queen last week, thanking her for all she had done for gay rights — then he killed himself.

Last week, I wrote about how Rodemeyer, after he came out in May, was targeted by thugs at Williamsville North High School in Buffalo, New York. He tried to deal with the bullying, but it obviously got too much for him.

Rodemeyer was buried yesterday. Although it is after the fact, two things have happened since then that might have made him smile.

First, according to Pink News, Amherst Police Department’s Special Victims Unit is considering charging three students with harassment or hate crimes.

Police Chief John C Askey said, “We’re looking into it to see if he was the victim of any crimes, and that’s the bottom line. We’re going to be speaking to school officials and students and anyone with direct information about crimes that may have been committed against this individual.”

Nothing may come of it, but at least the students should be quivering in their boots — and rightly so.

Secondly, Lady Gaga came out fighting after she heard the news about Rodemeyer, announcing that she wants to meet with Barack Obama to discuss new legislation to tackle bullying. According to an article in the Guardian, the singer vowed not to stop fighting until bullying has ended and sent out a Twitter message saying, “our generation has the power to end it. Trend it #MakeALawForJamey.”

Gaga performed this weekend at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas, where she paused before performing her song “Hair” to tell the crowd, “I just wanted to take a moment because we lost a little monster this week. Jamey, I know you’re looking down on us, and you’re not a victim; you’re a lesson to all of us.”

Italian gay rights group Equality Italia has shocked the country's political scene by publishing a list of 10 rightwing members of the Italian parliament who it believes are gay. The mass outing is the group's way of protesting against the politicians, who all voted against a proposed law that would condemn homophobia and outlaw homophobic violence.

Prime Minister Berlusconi is very careful when choosing his outfits and selecting brands.

The move was condemned by Italy's other major gay rights group, Arcigay, which suggested that outing politicians does more harm than good. 

Oh, is that why Pam Taylor isn't running for the Conservatives again?

The dust-up is another embarrassment for Italian mascot/Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who has made several disparaging remarks about gays in his career, including a 2007 assertion that the only gays in parliament are "on the other side." He also defended himself against charges of having sex with underage prostitutes by saying, "It's better to be passionate about beautiful women than to be gay."

The list is apparently just the beginning for Equality Italia, which is promising to out more politicians.

It should be noted that the outing is just a list and contains no evidence or specific allegations about the men involved. 

But fear not, mammas. There's an app for that!

A European web developer has created an Android app called Is My Son Gay? For just €1.99, the app will present you with 20 yes-or-no questions and evaluate your answers to tell you whether or not your child (or, theoretically, your member of parliament) is gay. Although I'm guessing that some of the questions may have skewed results in Italy:

Does he take a long time to do his hair?

Does he like to dress well: is he very careful when choosing his outfits and selecting brands?

GTL, of course, is a proud Italian tradition that dates back to the Renaissance, when young bravos would get totally shitfaced and pick up the black plague from grenades.