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New Orleans Man Killed, Detectives Arrest Three Women in Connection

A New Orleans murder last Sunday may have been motivated by the victim’s style of dress or perhaps gender identity, reports The Times-Picayune.

Twenty-one Eric Lee was found with multiple stabbing wounds lying inside his Algiers apartment . Police said he was engaged in an argument with three women shortly before he was killed, however no motive has been released for the stabbing."

The newspaper adds: "Perrion Crawford, Ventrice Battle and Regina Reddick have all been booked with second degree murder in connection with the killing of Eric Lee at the Jackson's Landing apartments in Algiers, said a spokesman for NOPD.

The Advocate has more on the possible hate crime motive: "Residents told The Times-Picayune that Lee, 21, had lived in the apartment complex for several months. They said Lee dressed as a woman and went by the name Beyonce. One resident said that Lee could often be heard arguing with other residents. 'Probably because they made fun of him,'  the resident said."

Thanks LISA MOORE/FIRE & INK

NoLa Police Arrest Three Women for Algiers Murder [TP]
Did Hate Motivate New Orleans Murder [Advocate]

Hastings "Pressured" to Withdraw DADT Suspension Amendment

Florida Congressman Alcee Hastings (D) submits and then immediately withdraws an amendment that would have prevented the military from using money to carry out the provisions of its "Don't Ask, Don't Tell: policy, which prevents gays from serving openly in the military.

The Democrat said he reluctantly pulled the measure under pressure from Democratic congressional colleagues and the White House. "I would, however, like to note that it is most unfortunate that we are not addressing Don't Ask, Don't Tell at this time," Hastings said in announcing his decision. "We should not be appropriating funds to enable qualified service members to be booted out just because they are honest about whom they are."

The congressman also took aim the White House for not providing leadership ON DADT. "What is the holdup, then? Last month, 76 of my colleagues and I sent a letter to President Obama urging him to take leadership on this issue and to work together with Congress to repeal this law. More than a month later, I have yet to receive an official response."

Read more of that letter here and the full list of/signatories. AFTER THE JUMP, watch MSNBC's Rachel Maddow explain why Rep. Hasting was "forced" to withdraw his measure. Oh and what a shock: Some "Democrats" and the Whie House want to "change" to DADT ... only years later.

GLAAD Report: HBO Leads Showing Gay Characters

HBO scores the highest among 15 networks for its representation of gay characters last season, according to a report by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

In its third annual Network Responsibility Index, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation found that of HBO’s 14 original prime-time series, 10 included content reflecting the lives of gay, bisexual and transgender people. That totaled 42 percent of the network’s programming hours, in series such as 'True Blood,' 'Entourage” and “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.” 

Cable’s Showtime ranked second, with 26 percent of its programming hours featuring gay characters or themes. Series included “The L Word,” “Weeds” and “The United States of Tara,” a new comedy about a family whose teenage son is gay.

The reports adds: "By contrast, on NBC and CBS only 8 percent and 5 percent, respectively, of prime-time hours included them, the report said."

HBO's southern gothic vampire series has become must-see-television on Sunday nights. Part of that reason: The return of Nelsan Ellis' Lafayette Reynolds (above), the black gay short order cook slash escort slash drug dealer, In a recent interview, Ellis suggested he could remain on the show for another season or tw. Oh and Lafayette's fans will appreciate some background on an upcoming scene where the "homoeroticism in that moment was off the charts."

There is also this explanation from After Elton on Showtime's curremnt LGBT roster. "Showtime dropped 8% from the previous year, and its most inclusive (by definition) program was The L Word, which isn’t returning next year. Still, it offered fresh representation on Weeds and The United States of Tara. While the excellent Nurse Jackie fell outside the time frame of the study, it will help fill the void with Thor and MoMo."

Judiciary Committee Votes 13-6 to Approve Sotomayor

Pesident Obama’s first nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, moves closer to taking her seat on:"as the Senate Judiciary Committee overwhelmingly approved her nomination and sent it on to the full Senate."

The committee’s vote was 13 to 6, with Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina the only Republican joining the panel’s 12 Democrats in voting for the nomination. The action cleared the way for a Senate floor vote next week for Judge Sotomayor, who would be the 111th justice to serve on the Supreme Court, the first Hispanic and the third woman.

Judge Sotmamor is almost certain to win confirmation. Democrats have 60 votes in the Senate and five other Republicans, including include Sens. Collins, Snowe and Lugarr Martisnez, have formally endosed the nominee.

Under the Weather

Sorry for not the very late post. Not feeling well and need the day off. Will be up to speed tomorrow.

Anthony Woods on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher"

Now this was hot. If you were watching HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher last night, you probably were pleasantly surprised to see congressional candidate Anthony Woods make a surprise appearance.

Woods is running in the special election in California’s 10th Congressional District to replace the outgoing Rep. Ellen Tauscher. The West Point graduate earned the Bronze Star serving two tours in Iraq and was  later discharged under the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy after publicly coming out as gay. 

AFTER THE JUMP, watch Anthony Woods on Real Time. Woods appeared in Maher's "Overtime" and "New Rules". IMHO they weren't the most exciting segments, but, it was great to see Tony on a national platform and a very popular television show. Oh and there is also this love lettter to Woods and a poll at Daily Kos. If you can, please donate to Anthony Woods' campaign or his ACTBlue page. Join Anthony Woods on Facebook or follow him on Twitter @Woods4Congress.

More Charges on Seaman August Provost's Murder, Possible Motive in Sailor Suspect's "Crime Spree"

The Navy has filed a laundry list of violations against the sailor charged in the brutal shooting murder of Boatswain’s Mate Seaman August Provost, the black gay sailor killed while on duty at Camp Pendleton near San Diego on June 30th. The alleged crime spree reportedly committed Petty Officer Jonathan C. Campos—including murder, solicitation off murder, drugs and weapons violations—reads like the sequel to Quentin Tarantino's Natural Born Killers. The Navy Compass:

Charges preferred include alleged violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the military’s governing law code, over a period from May 1 to July 1 including: murder of Boatswain’s Mate Seaman August Provost III by shooting him with a pistol; use of illegal psilocybin mushrooms; breaking and entering into a private residence, and stealing electronic equipment, jewelry and a .45 caliber pistol; driving under the influence of alcohol; attempt to commit arson; wrongful possession of firearms; unlawful entry; unlawful carrying of a concealed weapon; stealing military property; arson; unlawful handling of a deceased individual; solicitation of a civilian to murder another Navy sailor, a Master at Arms assigned to ACU FIVE and to vandalize the sailor’s house; and unauthorized absence.

The 29-year-old Provost's body was discovered in a guard shack on the morning of June 30, shot three times, reportedly bound, and his body burned. Provost told his family he was harassed and ostracized at Pendleton for at least a year because he was gay and black.

The Navy maintains this was not a hate crime and offers an alternative motive that dovetails previous Rod 2.0 reports: Provost was allegedly killed when a fellow servicemember, intent upon vandalizing a hovercraft,  tried to "rush" the guard shack. Authorities now reveal the 32-year-old suspect also knew Provost and served in the same unit—Assault Craft Unit FIVE—and was about to reprimanded for DUI. Campos has been in custody three weeks and military brass initially said this was a "random" act of violence.

The big question: How well Provost know Campos? Is the petty officer accused in this drug- and alcohol-fueled crime spree the "emotionally disturbed" and "deeply closeted" fellow sailor that allegedly feared being outed and threatened Provost? How and why are United States military personnel AWOL for weeks and soliciting the murders of civilians?

Thanks AUTUMN SANDEEN at PHB

Anthony Gallo in "Instinct"

The hotness continues with Abercrombie & Fitch hunk du jour,  model of the moment and Rihanna video hunk Anthony Gallo. These scans from a five-paged fashion editorial in the new Instinct. New York City-based photographer Vincent Dilio also recently captured Sallieu Jalloh in Instinct's spring fashion preview. Dilio also lensed Rod 2.0 faves Oraine Barrett and Simon Tham in the April "Shirts & Skins" feature in the same magazine. Fewer shirts and more ski, tho.

Tony Gallo is represented by Major Model Management and was last seen bulging in all the right places for DSquared2 and Joseph Bleu, and getting nice and wet for Abercrombie.

AFTER THE JUMP, more Anthony Gallo hotness.

Senate Approves DoD Authorization, Hate Crimes Bill Attached

The Senate approves their final version of the 2010 defense authorization bill, which the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act is attached as an amendment, reports The Hill. 

The Senate has to resolve differences with the House, which passed its 2010 defense authorization bill containing a down-payment for more F-22s and funding for the Joint Strike Fighter ...

Moreover, the Senate bill also expands the federal hate-crimes law to those attacked because of their sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability. The House bill does not contain such a provision.

The Senate bill passed by a vote of 87-7.

The House approved the Matthew Shepard Act as a stand-alone bill in April. The competing defense bills will be resolved in conference committee during the August recess. Hopefully we should a final hate crimes bill by September. Hopefully.

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NYT Best Selling Author E. Lynn Harris Dies at 54

UPDATE: Server problems because of traffic.

Best selling black and openly gay author Everette Lynn Harris passed away overnight. He was on a book tour of the West Coast and only 54 years old.

Harris' work dealt with black gay culture, homophobia, religion and the black community. The plots—often featured around sports or entertainment—were a huge success with black women and made him a fixture on black talk radio. Harris was a passionate University of Arkansas Razorbacks fan and returned to his alma mater a visiting professor in the English department. Harris also recently became a mentor and father figure to two college students and athletes. "He was a very loving and involved dad," adds director Patrik Ian Polk.

In January, Harris wrote his 11th novel, Basketball Jones. The plot was ripped from the headlines about a closeted professional basketball player and a blackmail scandal. The book also featured the character of a well-known black gay blogger, which Harris said was inspired by this blog. Harris told Rod 2.0 the story came to him after a call from the manager of an NBA player. "The player wanted my advice because they were being blackmailed and were thinking about coming out. I was not told his name, or what team he played for, only that he might call and was considering coming out of the closet. ... So I started thinking, 'What if there were a professional basketball player who was involved with a man and wanted to come out?'"

Reportedly the author went into cardiac arrest last night after having dinner in Beverly Hills. Harris recently complained of his health and the stress of the book tour.

The news broke this morning across Twitter, the uber-popular instant message social networking platform. Patrik Ian Polk (@PatrikIanPolk), the director and creator of Noah's Arc, was supposed to meet Harris this afternoon for lunch and Tweets the details to Rod 2.0: "I called the [Peninsula Hotel] in Beverly Hills, to confirm lunch and hopefully laugh about the erroneous reports of his death. When the operator transferred me to a hotel manager, I knew something strange was up. This is unbelievable."

Polk adds that Lynn was visiting with one of his son's frat brothers "when he went into cardiac arrest ... I'm in shock. To have just spoken to him yesterday afternoon, this is hard to believe."

Keith Boykin adds: "Cedars-Sinai Hospital told Lynn's agent that [he] died Thursday night and his body is being transferred to the coroner's office." Harris' novel I Say a Little Prayer included a cameo by Boykin, marking his first appearance in a novel. Boykin's tribute to Harris is at The Daily Voice.

The Detroit native stormed the literary scene in 1994 with Invisible Life, an originally self-published story of bisexual Raymond Tyler. That and the sequel Just As I Am were among the earliest in a new wave of black gay literature that popularized and humanized black gay and bisexual literary characters. Harris was picked up by publishing giant Doubleday and had a string of best selling novels, including Any Way the Wind Blows, Abide with Me, Not a Day Goes By, and I Say a Little Prayer. Harris also wrote a memoir, What Becomes of the Brokenhearted, another New York Times best seller. Harris ultimately had ten  New York Times best sellers. This feat has never been rivaled by any black author.

On a personal level: Lynn was a friend, a mentor and a very strong supporter of  Rod 2.0. Before meeting in Chicago in the mid 90s, we actually had friends in common for several years and his ex, also named Roderick, was a mutual friend. (The joke was "Which Rod? 'Lynn' Rod or 'Rod Rod'?") Years later, when we finally met, ELH was guarded but extremely loving and giving. Lynn was very supportive of me last year during a personal problem and offered help, which I humbly refused. More importantly: Lynn never lost the common touch. Lynn often made Rod 2.0 his first stop on interviews and many times personally responded to comments, supportive and negative, via email. Classy to the end.

Thanks @PatrikIanPolk!

You May Have Missed...
E. Lynn Harris on New Novel "Basketball Jones" [R20]
A Conversation with E. Lynn Harris [R20]
We Don't Feel Welcome Here [R20]
Say A Little Prayer: ELH Interview [R20]