He shall be Levon! Elton John and David Furnish welcome their first child.

Pop legend Sir Elton John (62) and his partner David Furnish (48) are now a couple of proud poppas. The duo told Us Weekly that their son, Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John, was born on Christmas day to a surrogate and weighed in at 7 lbs., 15 ounces.

Us Weekly mistakenly reported that the couple were married in 2005. They actually had a civil union ceremony in the UK, which does not offer same-sex marriage. The singer angered a lot of his gay fans in recent years by saying that American gays and lesbians should be satisfied with civil unions and not push for full marriage equality.

John and Furnish were denied their application to adopt a Ukrainian HIV positive baby in 2009, as the Ukraine only allows adoption by married couples and did not recognize their civil union.

Baby Zachary was born in California and a representative for the two said the identity of the surrogate will not be released in order to protect her privacy.

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Introducing Portia DeGeneres

Actress/wife/activist Portia de Rossi has decided to change her name to Portia DeGeneres. Portia and wife Ellen will now share a last name, just like millions (billions?) of married couples throughout the ages. The celesbian couple wed in 2008 during the five-month window between legalized same-sex marriage and the passing of Prop 8.

This helps to resolve the age-old question of what to do about the last name when a gay couple gets married. Some hyphenate, many just keep their own name, but if you want just a single, shared last name, how do you decide which partner will change their name? Easy. The one who makes the most money gets to keep their name. Besides, Ellen doesn't even need her last name. You just say the name "Ellen" and everybody knows who you're talking about. If you say "Portia", people think you're talking about a "Porche", the most awesome car ever.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

Portia de Rossi has petitioned the Los Angeles County Superior Court to change her last name legally from "de Rossi" to "DeGeneres."

The actress married Ellen DeGeneres on Aug. 16, 2008, during the period when same-sex marriages were legal and licenses were being issued. The request for the name Portia Lee James DeGeneres was filed Friday, though the document made available by E! Online was signed by De Rossi in March. De Rossi, born Amanda Lee Rogers, first changed her name at age 15, she told the Advocate last year.

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"Inception" star Tom Hardy on gay sex: "Of course I have. I'm an actor."

British actor Tom Hardy, currently co-starring in the Leo DiCaprio film "Inception" this summer, reveals that he is bisexual and has had several relationships with men in his younger days.

In an interview with the U.K.'s Now Magazine, Hardy was asked whether he'd slept with men, he replied, "As a boy? Of course I have. I'm an actor for ****'s sake.

That's what I love about the British tabloids. They don't mince words and ask you straight out. Hardy, who may be more familiar to U.S. audiences for his role in 2005's "Star Trek: Nemesis", as Capt. Piccard's evil clone Shinzon, continued, "I've played with everything and everyone. I love the form and the physicality, but now that I'm in my thirties, it doesn't do it for me."

Hardy, who is now engaged to British actress Charlotte Riley, says he's all about the ladies these days, but still needs gay men in his life and explains his appeal to his gay fans. "I'm done experimenting but there's plenty of stuff in a relationship with another man, especially gay men, that I need in my life."

Hardy adds, "A lot of gay men get my thing for shoes. I have definite feminine qualities and a lot of gay men are incredibly masculine. A lot of people say I seem masculine, but I don't feel it. I feel intrinsically feminine. I'd love to be one of the boys but I always felt a bit on the outside. Maybe my masculine qualities come from overcompensating because I'm not one of the boys."

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Breaking: Rachel Maddow was a Blond High School Hottie

 If you're like me (and who isn't?) you have an unhealthy obsession with before and after pictures of people who've been through drastic makeovers. This pic has been making the rounds on the web for the last day or so. Yes, that's lesbian heart-throb and MSNBC political junkie Rachel Maddow's senior yearbook picture from high school. I can just see randy high school boys being rebuffed by the blond bombshell. Poor suckers. The ravishing Rachel wasn't out of their league, she just played for the other team.

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Melissa Etheridge and Tammy Lynn Michaels Split

Okay, folks, I admit it. It's a slow news day. I don't like doing a lot of fluff celebrity stories, but this one is at least a gay celeb story. Word came out this weekend that Melissa Etheridge, who's being called in some circles "the gay Liz Taylor" for her seeming inability to keep it in her pants, and her domestic partner Tammy have officially filed to end their 9-year relationship. People Magazine reports:

Melissa Etheridge went to court Friday to formally end her partnership with Tammy Lynn Michaels, seeking joint custody of their 3-year-old twins.

In a Petition for Dissolution of Domestic Partnership filed in L.A. County Superior Court, the singer, 49, cited irreconcilable differences and asked that the court not award financial support to Michaels.

Etheridge and Michaels, 35, who had registered as domestic partners in August 2005, ended their nearly nine-year relationship late last year. Michaels gave birth to son Miller and daughter Johnnie in 2006.

After the pair announced their separation in April, Michaels blogged that the split was not mutual or amicable, despite Etheridge's claims to the contrary.

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Anna Paquin Comes Out as Bi in Ad Campaign for Cyndi Lauper's GiveADamn.org (video)

Several gay, lesbian, bisexual and straight celebrities have lent their faces and voices to a new video ad campaign for the launch of pop diva Cyndi Lauper's new web-based project, GiveADamn.org.The organization is project of Lauper's True Colors Fund and is dedicated to increasing awareness of LGBT issues.

The video ad includes a lot of familiar celebrity faces, including Elton John, Clay Aiken, Wanda Sykes and Cynthia Nixon, but the newest celeb to come out is Oscar winner and "True Blood" star Anna Paquin, who tells us in the video that she is bi-sexual. Straight allies appearing in the ad include Eric Roberts, Judith Light, Kim Kardashian and Sharon and Kelly Osborn.

According to the Give A Damn site, the project is designed for anybody who gives a damn about LGBT equality, but is especially  aimed at our straight allies. The interactive site contains space to share stories and videos, a page devoted to keeping up with all the issues and a blog. I know I'll be checking it out frequently. I hope you will too.

Reports are that when news hit of Anna Paquin's coming out announcement in the video, there were so many visitors to the site that it crashed. Here's the video that's been causing such an uproar.

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