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Briefs: SCOTUS Oral Arguments, "American Horror Story" Cast List, And Sam Smith Tour Dates Cancelled

Note: snicks remains under the weather today and has yet to emerge from the blogger's infirmary. We have him on bed rest and plenty of liquids, so with any luck he'll be back at his post tomorrow. What follows below is a pale imitation of his daily briefs. We welcome any additions readers can make via the comments!

Birthday shoutouts go to Glee star Harry Shum, Jr. (above), who is 33, his co-star Jenna Ushkowitz is 29, Another Gay Movie's Michael Carbonaro is 33, my imaginary boyfriend in 3rd grade Nate Richert is 37, Harper Lee is 89, and Jessica Alba is 34.

I'm not sure I trust International Business Times as far as I can throw them, but they're claiming to have a full cast list for American Horror Story: Hotel and it seems pretty legit. By that I mean it's loopy enough to have that authentic Ryan Murphy stamp. Sarah Paulson as Janis Joplin? Finn Wittrock as a sane man? Alexander Skarsgård as somebody who wears shirts? Pure lunacy.

Jayne Meadows passed away this Sunday at 95.

Sam Smith has been diagnosed with a vocal hemorrhage and has had to cancel his remaining tour dates until he heals.

The Tony noms are out! An American in ParisFun Home! Helen Mirren! Christian Borle! And John Cameron Mitchell finally getting recognition for Hedwig and the Angry Inch! Not bad, if I do say so myself.

SCOTUS is speculating whether it's too soon to push states into legalizing gay marriage, considering the rapidly shifting public opinion. The issues they're discussing in today's oral arguments include if states are required to give marriage licenses to same-sex couples and if states must recognize same-sex marriages that occurred out-of-state. The court's final decision will be made in June.

Anti-gay North Dakota politician Randy Boehning just outed himself by sending nude photos on Grindr. With a name like that, I suppose it was only a matter of time.

So far I'm digging the Scream Queens aesthetic, but until we get visual confirmation of Jamie Lee Curtis, I ain't putting any of my chips on the table.

What the hell is this? When straight people aren't around, we... mime terribly? I can't tell if this is offensive or just unfunny.

And here's The Weekly ShoutOUT™. Each week we focus on one out athlete/performer and feature a daily pic and career timeline. We'll be showcasing the big names, but also the lesser-known gay celebs who deserve more recognition. This week (or at least until snicks returns and picks someone else) we give a ShoutOUT™ to ... Nigel Hawthorne.

Nigel Hawthorne (left) with Paul Rudd and

Jennifer Aniston in The Object of My Affection

Yesterday we mentioned Hawthorne was the first openly gay man ever nominated for an Academy Award for best actor, for The Madness of King George. But few people are likely to remember he also had a small part in The Object of My Affection (1998) where he gave sage advice to Nina (Jennifer Aniston) and her gay best friend George (Paul Rudd). In fact, he delivers the line from which the title was taken: "One shouldn't be too hard on oneself when the object of one's affection returns the favor with rather less enthusiasm than one might have hoped."

snicks will be back tomorrow with another "official" entry in his 100 Greatest Top Ten Hits by Female Artists list (once we capture the monkey that bit him), but I'd like to offer my own plug for list placement to "99 Luftballons" by Nena. I have a soft spot for foreign pop music, and this #2 hit single has it all: a catchy synth beat, hilariously long German words, and a secretly powerful anti-Cold War message. Did you know that the song is about a kid who releases a bunch of balloons which are mistaken for missile, mistakenly launching nuclear armageddon? Well, now you do.

Nena - 99 Luftballons (99 Red Balloons) (German... by wonderful-life1989

Congrats to AJ who correctly guessed that Monday's Pixuzzle™ © ® was from The Chronicles of Narnia

Here's today's Pixuzzle™ © ®. This is a famous moment in sports...

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