STUDY: Gaydar exists, and armpit sniffing proves it.

New Jersey passes two gay rights bills that give gay couples equality in funeral rights, inheritance rights, and health benefits in the public sector.

REPORT: Townhouse Restaurant on the Upper East Side of Manhattan closes. The restaurant/bar was a neighborhood fixture. I can count on one hand the number of times I stepped into the place but doing so always felt like stepping into another era. UPDATE: I’ve just been informed that just the restaurant closed, not the bar.

A Senate Republican in Washington state has announced he has had a change of heart and will now support a bill that would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. Senator Bill Finkbeiner released this statement Monday: “I’ve had a number of conversations over the past year that have led me to more fully understand the level of discrimination against gays and lesbians, and I now find it is both appropriate and necessary for the state to make it clear that this is not acceptable.” Senate Democrats are calling it “a watershed moment” for gay rights in the state. Last year (immediately following the Microsoft debacle), the bill, which had not been brought to a vote for 30 years, was rejected by one vote.

The grisly strangulation of a Manhattan masseur has prompted officials to arrest a 17-year-old whose stepfather claims he was “just a witness…in the wrong place at the wrong time.” I’d say. “Authorities say Tavares left Rejwan with his pants pulled down and set fire to the third-floor apartment to mask the murder. Police said Rejwan’s hands and feet were bound with black wire.”