Sydney's Gay Mardi Gras Parade

Sydney Mardi Gras: Lifeguard Rehearsal

George Michael Gets Scruffy

An Australian newspaper is breathlessly reporting that George Michael is spending his downtime in Sydney by cruising men on the iPhone app Scruff. And that's apparently news because he usually works it on Grindr.

Now a fixture on the Northern Beaches after arriving in town for New Year, the on-the-prowl performer has apparently joined Scruff, a new iPhone application marketed to "bears, furred, inked, uniformed, jocks, geeks and more". According to the app's description: "Meet hundreds of thousands of scruffy gay guys in your neighbourhood." The profile said to be Michael's is operating under the screen name "Sydney rocks". Like Grindr, which the swinging singer used during his extended Aussie jaunt last year, Scruff is location-based, using the iPhone's built-in GPS to instantly "connect" with other users in the same area.

And right now half of you are searching your iPhone for "Sydney Rocks."

UPDATE: The Perth Now says "huh uh," that's an impostor. So now two newspapers are finding this newsworthy.

New Year's Fireworks From Sydney

TRAILER: Sydney Mardi Gras 2011

SYDNEY: Kylie Minogue Flash Mob

Featuring local drag stars Joyce Maynge and Auntie Mavis. Huge number of participants by the end and they even use a snippet of my favorite Kylie track.

AUSTRALIA: Anti-Gay MP Fred Niles Caught In Pornography Scandal

Rev. Fred Niles, the longest-serving member of the New South Wales parliament and one of Australia's leading anti-gay activists, is front-page news in Sydney today after an audit revealed that he'd used his government computer to view pornography. A really LOT of pornography, it appears.

An audit of NSW parliamentary computers, which has already resulted in the resignation of a Labor minister, reportedly showed up to 200,000 suspect hits linked to Reverend Nile's parliamentary log-on. Today he admitted one of his staff members had viewed online porn "for just a few seconds" for research purposes. But he insisted neither he nor any member of his staff had been "sitting there perving". "My senior researcher has conducted a lot of research into the pornography industry at my request because we have bills dealing with increasing the ban on pornographic materials," he said. "I have not accessed or viewed any of those sites but my researcher has."

Niles claims that the porn hits came from links found on the site of the Australian Sex Party, a grassroots group formed to advocate for same-sex marriage. The Sex Party rejected Niles' claims as ridiculous and have called for his resignation. Niles has fought many LGBT rights laws in New South Wales and has called for abolishing the Sydney Mardi Gras as a "public parade of immorality and blasphemy."

(Tipped by JMG reader Dennis)

AUSTRALIA: State Of New South Wales Approves Gay Adoption

Today the legislature of New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, narrowly approved adoption rights for same-sex couples. Sydney is the state capital.

Members of the New South Wales state parliament voted 46-44 in favour of removing discriminatory clauses in the Adoption Act. In two other jurisdictions, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory, gay adoption is already legal. The debate on the bill lasted four days and drew a crowd of 200 protestors to Sydney’s Parliament House. David Clarke, who led the protest, argued that his supporters were not motivated by their religious creed. “This has nothing to do with religion,” he said. “This is about morality and this is about the rights of children.” Devout Catholic Kristina Keneally, the premier of New South Wales, supported the bill. “In forming my position on this bill, I have considered my experiences as a mother, my responsibilities as a parliamentarian and my conscience as a Christian and member of the Catholic faith,” she said.

This is the second win for LGBT rights in Australia this week. On Monday the island state of Tasmania recognized same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions.

Sydney Vogue Flash Mob

In Sydney's historic Queen Victoria Building with drag star Joyce Maynge.