Who would have thunk that the gheyz would be able to get hitched in Utah in any of our lifetimes?

ADD: Pics of jubilant couples getting married in SLC courtesy of the SF fishwrap. Whoever is slicing onions around here, I beg you to please stop it.

ADD 2: The Mayor of Salt Lake City performing the marriage of a Utah State Senator and his now husband. My brain splats yet again.

[NYT: Federal Judge Rules Same Sex Marriage Legal in Utah]

To the awesomeness that is her highness Ms. Tilda Swinton.

From The Advocate:

The passing of Russia’s so-called “gay propaganda” legislation, which was recently signed into law by President Vladimir Putin and bans public LGBT demonstrations and discussions, means Swinton could face a jail sentence of 15 days and deportation for simply posing with a rainbow flag in public according to the new law.

The newly adopted antigay legislation also states any individual using mass media or the Internet to share information about LGBT identities can be subject to fines up to 100,000 rubles ($3,050 USD), while officials are subject to fines twice that amount, and legal entities face a 1 million ruble fine or 90-day suspension for discussing LGBT people.

Additionally, Russian president Vladimir Putin also signed a bill earlier this week barring same-sex couples from foreign countries from adopting Russian children.

It does explain why Romney didn’t pick him as the running mate.

[New Yorker: Rob Portman and His Brave, Gay Son]

That would be the motto of the San Francisco Police Department, which today became the first and only police department law enforcement agency in the country to contribute to the “It Gets Better” effort to dissuade LGBT kids from committing suicide.

As much as I can sometimes bitch about the whack-a-doodleness of The City, I can’t imagine a greater place to live in the United States.

And Flying Spaghetti Monster knows I needed a little something to take the edge off after reading Benedick’s post about Uganda and how the GOP is fighting the renewal of the Violence Against Women Act.

[SF Chronicle]

A countdown of sorts… cue up the rending of garments and freak outs.  (Linques will be added as they arise)

The 9th Circuit is ruling in Perry v. Brown on three things:

(1) Was it proper for District Judge Vaughn Walker to not recuse himself from the case because he is gay?

(2) If the answer to #1 is yes, do the proponents of the ballot measure have standing in federal court to appeal the decision since the Governator and Moonbeam won’t defend it?

(3) If the answer to #2 is yes, does Prop. 8 violate the 14th Amendment due process and equal protection rights of gays?

My prediction after the jump.

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Our guest columnist is Tony Perkins of the creepy house behind the Bates Motel Family Research Council.

In a new Star Wars game, the biggest threat to the empire may be homosexual activists!

Hello, I’m Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C. In a galaxy not so far far away, Star Wars gamers have already gone to the dark side. The new video game, “Star Wars: The Old Republic”, has added a special feature: gay relationships.

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Phyllis Siegel, 76, right, kisses her wife Connie Kopelov, 84, after exchanging vows at the Manhattan City Clerk’s office with New York City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn in attendance, back left.  Siegel and Kopelov have been partners for more than 20 years, and had the honor of being the first gay couple married in Manhattan on the first day New York State’s Marriage Equality Act went into effect.

[AP]