Frank Tops List of Influential Gays

Despite Supreme Court ruling, anti-sodomy law remains on books

(NEWSER) - According to the Texas state penal code, "homosexual conduct" is still a criminal offense—even though the Supreme Court deemed the state's anti-sodomy law unconstitutional eight years ago. Though the state stopped enforcing the law after the Supreme Court's decision, it's still on the books—and will likely remain so, even though a pair of bills introduced in the Texas House recently would finally remove it. The problem? The legislature's Republican supermajority might never allow the bills to come to a vote, Mother Jones reports. In their party platform last year, the Republicans made it clear they wanted homosexuality to remain outlawed. More»

Rachel Maddow, Chely Wright also honored

(NEWSER) - The Out 100 list is here, celebrating Ricky Martin—who came out in March —as entertainer of the year. More from the list:

• Johnny Weir: The glamorous Olympic figure skater is named diva of the year.
• Rachel Maddow: The newsmaker of the year says the tragedy of AIDS in the 1980s led her into the areas of activism and politics.
• Nate Berkus: The Oprah Winfrey Show alumni launched his own TV project in May, and is named stylemaker of the year.

Pentagon review finds that most think it's no big deal

(NEWSER) - A Pentagon report on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell shows that a majority of troops aren’t opposed to gays serving in the military, reports the Wonk Room blog at Think Progress. "The number one answer was. ‘I don’t care,'” NBC's Richard Engel, who got an early look at the study, told Rachel Maddow. "The findings are that for most soldiers, and this wasn’t the sum total of all soldiers, it wasn’t that big of a deal." More»

Ellen tops 'Out' magazine list for 2nd straight year

(NEWSER) - Ellen DeGeneres and Barney Frank have switched places atop Out magazine's annual list of the most influential gay Americans, but the talk show host and American Idol judge probably isn't gloating about her win—she's that nice. To see the top five, check out the slideshow above. To see who made the list and who (Rosie O'Donnell!) didn't, click here . More»

Like Ricky Martin, it's just so obvious

(NEWSER) - Ricky Martin finally came out, and the world said, “Duh.” On Gawker , Brian Moylan lists 10 more public figures who really need to admit they’re gay already—after all, the rest of us know. View the list in the gallery—or, for 10 more celebrities who also came out to a chorus of “Obviously!” click here . More»