Appearing Sunday on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live," Stanger declared that gay men are not capable of monogamy, Jewish men are liars, and told a gay viewer she thought he was straight because he didn’t look “queen-y.”

Patti Stanger

Stanger’s comments set off a firestorm online, with critics calling for her firing, and a boycott of her Bravo show.

But on Monday afternoon, Stanger and the network issued these public apologies:

“I am so sorry. I did not mean to offend anyone with my comments last night on Watch What Happens Live.” - Stanger.

“Bravo regrets the comments expressed by Patti Stanger on Watch What Happens Live last night. Her comments are not representative of the network’s beliefs and opinions. We apologize for the offense it caused.” - Bravo

Stanger reiterated her apology on Twitter as well.

But in a taping Monday for "The Joy Behar Show," scheduled to air tonight, Stanger -- trying to clarify her previous anti-gay comments -- only reinforced more stereotypes. Stanger said her comment about gays and monogamy wasn't intended to imply "all" gay men, just gay men in Los Angeles.

"This is not the lesbian. They get involved, move in together. They're quiet, they're at peace."

"But the gay man," she continied, "they whip it out at eye lock! They get involved, and then find out later whether or not they want a serious relationship. And I hope they use the privilege in New York for gay marriage because they have it. A lot of gays aren't getting married!"

Behar told her she "went wrong" by making such generalized statements.

Watch a clip from tonight's broadcast:

Stanger said she was sorry "if GLAAD was offended," and followed-up with a laundry list of her pro-gay credentials, "I have more gay friends than Carters has pills." She also claimed that for five years, her show has "put gay dating on the map ... There was no 'Logo' then," referring to the LGBT cable network.

Note: Logo was launched in 2005, Stanger's "Millionaire Matchmaker" premiered in 2008.

Stanger has not made any retractions specific to her comments that all that “Jewish men lie” and that New York women are “angry.”

The full interview with Stanger airs on "The Joy Behar Show" tonight at 10 p.m. ET on HLN.

For the first time, Maher opens up about his sexuality in an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly:

“I was nervous coming here today because I’ve just never talked about it,” Maher says, while sitting down to chat at Little Dom’s Italian bistro in Los Angeles’ trendy Los Feliz neighborhood, the area where the actor lives with Paul, his partner of nearly nine years, and their two children, Sophia Rose, 4, and Liam Xavier, 14 months.

“But, it’s so liberating. It was interesting to be coming to have a conversation that I was always afraid to have.” Despite his trepidation, he adds with a big smile: “This is my coming out ball. I’ve been dying to do this.”

Although he's never been asked to outright define his sexual orientation to the press, Maher said he "would be lying if I said I didn't paint a different picture."

In "Playboy Club," Maher plays the role of a closeted gay man, also named Sean, who’s married to a lesbian Playboy Bunny.

Stanger, answering a viewer's question about open long-distance relationships, said “In the gay world, it will always be open. … There is no curbing the gay man.” She then turned to host Andy Cohen, who is openly gay, and said, “I have tried to curb ‘you people.’”

When Cohen replied, “I am a gay and am down for the monogamy,” Stanger laughed and shot back, “When was the last time you had a boyfriend?”

Later, when a gay man Skyped in to ask about finding a long term relationship, Stanger opened with, “First of all, you're very handsome. I thought you were straight," which prompted Cohen to reply, “I don't know why being straight is a compliment.”

“Because he's not queen-y,” Stanger said.

Stanger also proclaimed that “Jewish men lie" and that New York women are "angry." Following are clips of Stanger's remarks:

Stanger's comments have set off a firestorm on Twitter, with critics calling on Bravo to cancel her show, and for viewers to boycott both "Millionaire Matchmaker" and Cohen's "Watch What Happens Live" until the network takes action.

Brushing aside her remarks, Stanger tweeted on Monday: "Attn male Gays: I support you & my comment on WWHL was to a LA guy who can't find commitment."

Stanger is currently single after splitting from her fiance of six years last year.

Jamey, 14, committed suicide last week after enduring years of anti-gay bullying at school and online. He was laid to rest on Saturday.

"We lost a little monster this week and I wanted to dedicate this song to him tonight," Gaga said before playing her song about identity and individuality, "Hair."

During the emotional performance, Gaga said "Jamey, I know you're up there looking on us, and you're not a victim, you're a lesson to all of us."

At one point, Gaga shouted "Bullying is for losers."

Watch the tribute here:

Jamey was a devoted fan of Lady Gaga, and was inspired by her message of tolerance when he created his "It Gets Better” video in May.

"Lady Gaga, she makes me so happy, and she lets me know that I was born this way," Jamey said in his video. “Hold your head up and you’ll go far. Because that’s all you have to do, just love yourself and you’re set," he added, echoing the lyrics of Gaga's hit, "Born this Way."

Last week, Jamey's mother said she would bury Jamey in a t-shirt that reads “Born This Way.”

Game

“I think there are several rappers that are in the closet and gay. They are the only type of gay people that I have a problem with,” he said. “I don’t have a problem with gay people. Gay people are everywhere and rightfully so, it’s a free country."

“I think there are several rappers that are in the closet and gay. They are the only type of gay people that I have a problem with,” he said.

“I don’t have a problem with gay people. Gay people are everywhere and rightfully so, it’s a free country.

"Game has no problem with gay people, Game has a problem with people who are pretending not to be gay. The number one issue with that is that you can be fooling somebody and you could give them AIDS and they can die. So that in the closet shit is real scary.

Watch the interview here:

Now some folks may get offended by the comment he made about being in the closet and catching AIDS. He does seem to be saying that being gay is the same as having AIDS.

However, I beg to differ. I think he is saying that if you are closeted, you are more likely not to be as careful in regards to sexually transmitted diseases. Just like you are more likely not to be honest with your physician about your sexual history.

And there are studies which bear this out.

I sincerely hope that the comments by rap artist The Game causes a much needed discussion about the need for not just gay rappers but African-American members of the gay community to come out whenever they can. I also hope that this discussion actually includes African-Americans lgbtqs for a change instead of us being conveniently omitted by African-American media voices.

Whenever there is a discussion regarding gay issues in the African-American community, African-American media voices - i.e. Roland Martin, Tavis Smiley - seem to go out of their way to exclude us LGBTQs of color while talking about us like dog dirt.

I have a hard time thinking this is accidental or that they can't find LGBTQs of color to interview.

But that is a subject for a future post.

Chaz Bono

Bono has been attacked by online commentators over his gender identity and some “Dancing” fans and conservative media groups have criticized ABC for casting him in the first place.

One longtime “DWTS” insider said the criticism "has been more vicious and in larger volume than was anticipated," the Chicago Sun-Times reported. "Some of the comments are downright scary," the source added.

On Friday, Dr. Keith Albow of Fox News called Bono "the 'transsexual' woman who underwent plastic surgery and takes male hormones in an effort to appear to be a man, and who asserts she is a man...," and warned parents not to let their children watch the show:

"The last thing vulnerable children and adolescents need, as they wrestle with the normal process of establishing their identities, is to watch a captive crowd in a studio audience applaud on cue for someone whose search for an identity culminated with the removal of her breasts, the injection of steroids and, perhaps one day soon, the fashioning of a make-shift phallus to replace her vagina."

The website OneMillionMoms.com said "Dancing With the Stars" has "spun out of control," and called for a boycott of the series for casting Bono and openly gay performer Carson Kressley.

"Both are LGBT rights advocates and promote this destructive lifestyle. DWTS is helping them create visibility for the LGBT community," the website said.

Bono himself has said the criticism has inspired him to work harder.

“I thought that it would be a challenge, I for so many years was so uncomfortable, and since transitioning I feel so comfortable now I want to do something physically challenging and fun in that way,” Bono said of his decision to join the cast.

“I thought it would be a great way to further my message I started with my book and my documentary.”

But among the criticism has also been widespread support.

“At a time when transgender representation in the media is sorely lacking, Chaz Bono joining the cast of a series like Dancing With the Stars is a tremendous step forward for the public to recognize that transgender people are an important part of the fabric of American culture," said Herndon Graddick, GLAAD’s Senior Director of Programs.

Bono will be partnered on the show with dancer Lacey Schwimmer, who responded to criticism of her dance partner by saying, “No human is perfect, so why are they pointing out what they perceive to be an imperfection in someone else? It’s not cool. We’re all taught to not bully, or harass, and treat everyone as equals yet all these people are doing exactly the opposite.”

And Bono’s mother, Cher, took to Twitter in defense of her son and asked her fans to support him:

Bono’s representative Howard Bragman, told the Los Angeles Times that "the sky will not fall when Chaz Bono dances."

"Parents will have a teachable moment with their children; transgendered kids will have a role model, and since that group has such a high suicide rate we may save a life; and finally we can see a transgendered person as a human being and not a label."

"DWTS" Executive Producer Conrad Green addressed critics, and said, “We don’t have an agenda of any sorts. I think of the 120 celebrities we’ve put on the show, we’ve had, I think now, three transgender or gay contestants. If that’s a [gay] agenda, we’re not doing very well at it.”

The new season of "Dancing With the Stars" premieres Sept. 19 on ABC.

And the couple, flight attendants from Laguna Niguel, Calif., are counting on their experience in the travel industry to give them a competitive advance in the race.

Here's their introduction, via CBS:

Zeitz, 44, and Smith, 49, have been together 13 years.

Season 19 of "The Amazing Race" premieres Sept. 25, 2011 on CBS.

While he may be an indie artist, Zarley's high-quality, well-produced material has gotten rave reviews from critics from across the music spectrum.

All of the songs on the emotionally-charged CD were co-penned by Zarley and feature such songwriting collaborators and producers as Grammy winner Andy Zulla and Mark Picchiotti, among others.

Many of the songs reflect the journeys of some of Zarley’s personal relationships with a poignancy and self-discovery.

“Like many songwriters, my music is really inspired by love and heartbreak,” admits Zarley.

“During the recovery process after a painful break up a few years ago I had an epiphany and after accepting my contributions to the reason for the split, I really began to work on myself. I believe that you can never really expect people to change and sometimes it requires you to change things in your own life to find happiness,” says Zarley.

“If you want your life to change, I think those changes first have to start within.”

Chuck Taylor from Billboard wrote, “Zarleyʼs stunning tenor range, crafty harmonic layers and spine-tingling money notes...Tweens have plenty of idols to swoon over. Hereʼs a crush for grown-ups, whose earthy machismo is quite the complement to his musical muscle!”

My personal favorite tracks on the new album are "Apology" - stripped down arrangement and vocals lets the song and voice do it's thing, and "Change Begins With Me" - great build and who doesn't love big vocals with a gospel choir?

Listen here to a clip from "Change Begins With Me:"

Change Bgins With Me

and here's a clip from "Apology:"

Apology
Matt's campy, funny video for "WTF" has gone viral with over 100,000 views on YouTube and Vimeo since it was released. Gossip and music sites like DListed.com have picked up on the 'over the top' sense of humor (and the hunky men) displayed in the music video.

Matt Zarley's new album "Change Begins With Me" is available today at digital download retailers:

iTunes | Amazon

Courtesy: Indeed Films

Bavo Defurne, left, directs actor Jelle Florizoone on the set of North Sea Texas.

The film, based on an adaptation of a heartwarming coming of age novel entitled "This Is Everlasting," by writer André Sollie, stars Jelle Florizoone as Pim who loves a rough edged motorbike riding Gino played by Mathias Vergels.

This is Belgian director Bavo Defurne’s debut feature film. The Flemish-Belgian production was released earlier this year in Belgium and is enjoying its international premiere at the Montreal World Film Festival (which runs August 18-28) where it is screening in the First Films World Competition.

In an interview with The Montreal Gazette, Defurne talks about the film:

“This film explores many of the same themes as my short films – the discovery that you are not the same as everybody else, that you are different,” says Defurne, the widely-acclaimed (and openly gay) director often described as Belgium’s best kept secret – until now, that is. “But my short films didn’t go far enough, they didn’t explore what happened afterwards.”

“Coming of age films usually end with the discovery of one’s identiy, but in this film identity is not the issue, it is about love,” Defurne says. “The film is about what’s next. It is film about finding happiness. So many [gay films] do little to uplift gay people. I saw Brokeback Mountain and it is a touching and heartbreaking film that makes us all cry, but not in a good way. I wanted to make a film about the life they could have had, a happy film.”

"North Sea Texas" is showing through Tuesday at the Montreal World Film Festival at the Quartier Latin Cinema Complex.

You can see the trailer here:

Here's a synopsis, courtesy the film's producers:

Pim lives in a run-down house in a dead-end street somewhere at the Belgian coast, together with his mother Yvette Bulteel (better known as Yvette Mimosa, local accordion starlet). Life here smells of cold French fries, cheap cigarettes, vermouth and stale beer. Mother Yvette uses her fat Etienne with his lousy grey Fiat as a driver for the nights she has to “perform”.

As a kid Pim dreams of a better life, imagining princesses and beauty queens. But when Pim turns 16 he dreams of Gino, the boy next door, instead. Ever since they were children there has been this tension between them. Now Gino is Pim’s motorcycling hero. Cold mockery, little humiliations and tiny bits of hope make up Pim’s life. No wonder he sometimes flees to his dream world.

Then one day Yvette leaves with young, hunky Zoltan, the boy from the fair. When Yvette leaves her son alone in the empty house, Pim seizes the opportunity and his dreams become half-truths. Pim moves to the neighbours’ house to live with Marcella, his “second mum”. And with Sabrina, Gino’s sister, who circles longingly around Pim. He even sleeps in Gino’s bed! But Gino’s off romancing and living with a girl from across the border.

Dreams never come true. Or do they? On a rainy day Gino returns.

For more on the film, and future screenings, go to the "North Sea Texas" official website, or to the film's Facebook page.

MarriageNewsWatch.com visited the set of the show for a chat with executive producer Jane Espenson (Buffy, Firefly, Dollhouse, Battlestar Galactica), Brad "Cheeks" Bell, and Sean Hemeon (True Blood) about how making the show changed everyone's understanding of what marriage is; why the show almost bought a ring without even having a husband to put it on; and how Joss Whedon played a role in bringing the series to life.

And keep an eye on HusbandsTheSeries.com for the September 13 premiere!

Click here to subscribe to our new YouTube channel, and visit us over at MarriageNewsWatch.com to find our new Facebook page, our Twitter feed, our RSS feed, and our email newsletter.

The statement, posted on Facebook this week, is in response to an online petition calling on Sesame Street to marry Bert and Ernie -- the petition has garnered more than 8,600 signatures to date.

“I started this Change.org petition because I believe we need more media representation of gay and lesbian people in children’s programming,” said Illinois-resident Lair Scott.

“There are currently no LGBT characters on Sesame Street, nor in any children’s television program.”

But Sesame Street -- a children's television institution that has aired on PBS for more than 40 years -- said there is no romantic relationship between their two roommate puppets:

"Bert and Ernie are best friends. They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves.

"Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics (as most Sesame Street Muppets™ do), they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation."

Scott said his petition would help to put an end to bullying and suicides of gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual young people.

"In this horrid age of LGBTQ kids taking their own lives and being beaten for who they are, need to know that they're beautiful," the petition reads. "Bullies that facilitate those tragedies be it verbal or otherwise should be taught that homophobia is not okay."

Sesame Street has, in the past, helped to fuel speculation that Bert and Ernie are gay.

In June 2010, Sesame Street producers sent out a Twitter message from Bert, commenting that his hair was "a little more 'mo,' a little less 'hawk'" -- "mo" is an often used slang term for homosexual, and LGBT bloggers jumped on the reference and reported it widely.

Intended to serve as a road map toward increasing fair, accurate and inclusive LGBT media representations, GLAAD evaluated prime time programming on the five broadcast networks and original prime time programming on 10 major cable networks

Of its 103 hours of original prime time programming, 55 percent included LGBT-inclusive images which also reflected the ethnic and racial diversity of the LGBT community.

It is notable that both ABC Family and MTV, which in 2010 received the first-ever "Excellent" rating from GLAAD, are both youth-oriented networks, reported GLAAD.

"As television audiences get to know our community and the common ground that we all share on the screen and in their own lives, acceptance is growing," said Mike Thompson, Acting President of GLAAD.

"Inclusive programming is a hit with critics and audiences alike who cheered for Kurt and Blaine's romance on Glee or watched the wedding of Callie and Arizona on Grey's Anatomy."

Following are some of GLAAD's findings:

Broadcast Networks:

• The CW remains the top broadcast network with 33% of its primetime programming hours being LGBT-inclusive. Fox came in second at 29%, and both networks received a "Good" rating this year.
• ABC remained in third place in terms of its percentage of LGBT-inclusive programming hours (23%). ABC received a "Good" rating because of the strong quality of its LGBT images, and the network broadcast the greatest total number of LGBT-inclusive hours (253).
• CBS remained in last place with 10% LGBT-inclusive hours of primetime programming. After receiving their second "Failing" score in a row last year, however, they improved enough to receive an "Adequate" score this year.

Cable Networks:

• In addition to ABC Family's "Excellent" rating, Showtime (37%), TNT (33%), HBO (31%), Lifetime (31%), AMC (29%), and Syfy (22%) all received "Good" ratings for the quantity and quality of their LGBT-inclusive original programming.
• USA increased their LGBT-inclusive hours from 4% to 18%, which improved their score from "Failing" to "Adequate."
• For the fourth year in a row, A&E (5%) and TBS (5%) both received "Failing" ratings for their lack of LGBT-inclusive images.

According to GLAAD, one area in which all networks continue to struggle is the under-representation or misrepresentation of the transgender community. There were no regular or recurring transgender characters on any networks tracked in this year's NRI.

The full Network Responsibility Index is available for download here.

But other than Sherri Shepherd's ridiculous attempt to steer the discussion away from gay marriage and talk about gravy boats instead, the surprise came early when Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who typically represents the conservative position, gave a strong rebuke to the anti-gay protesters, calling their demonstrations "tasteless."

Watch:

"The only thing that's killing (heterosexual marriage) is heterosexual marriage," Hasselbeck added.

Kevin was introduced as a new student at Riverdale High in Veronica #202, and his instant popularity with fans led to that sold-out comic becoming the first in the publisher’s history to go into a second printing.

He is currently featured in a four-issue spin-off this summer. The series, told in flashbacks, shows Kevin’s struggles and triumphs through middle and high school.

“He’s proven to be incredibly popular,” said Jon Goldwater, co-chief executive of Archie Comics.

“We’re just so proud of the success of Kevin and the fact that he adds a new dynamic to Riverdale.”

[snip]

In early 2012 that story line will feature Kevin’s marriage.

“We needed to figure out how to get Kevin into that book and, frankly, not sidestep the issue,” Mr. Goldwater said. “It deals with the fact that he’s a gay man and has gay relationships.” Mr. Goldwater said the overall reception to Kevin has been positive.

“Out of all the people who subscribe to the Archie books, we only had seven total cancellations,” he said.

The New York Times

Kevin’s debut in the Veronica issue earned a GLAAD Media Award nomination for Outstanding Comic Book this year.

From the producers: "This video is for everybody. Who has ever loved. And has been loved in return. To those that think it never does or will get better. It does. It does get better, it becomes beautiful."

Watch:

The film was directed by Sean Penberthy, and produced by Jason O'Ffill, Brandon Riess and Val Neminov.