Actress Karen Black lost her fight against pancreatic cancer today, passing away at the age of 74.

Black starred in seminal films like Five Easy Pieces, Easy Rider, Nashville and the 1974 version of The Great Gatsby, as well as camp classics and Hollywood blockbusters. “It is with great sadness that I have to report that my wife and best friend, Karen Black has just passed away, only a few minutes ago," her husband posted on Facebook. "Thank you all for all your prayers and love, they meant so much to her as they did to me.”

One of Black's most memorable roles was in Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, where she played a trans woman who reunites with high school friends. She later revealed many people thought she actually was transgender.

President Obama announced today that he will award civil-rights legend Bayard Rustin a posthumous  Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's honest honor. Rustin was a pioneer in the struggle for African Americans to gain equality—advising Martin Luther King, organizing a 1963 March on Washington and joining in on Freedom Rides through the South. Sadly, as an openly gay man in the 1960s, Rustin found himself increasingly marginalized.

Don't Ask Don't Tell has been dismantled and DOMA's been chucked. Now it looks like the legal spouses of gay servicemembers may finally get what's coming to them, sort of: Under a Defense Department proposal, same-sex spouses could be eligible for housing, health insurance and other benefits that are standard for heterosexual families. But that would only be for couples who wed in states where same-sex marriage is legal. If you're stationed, say, in Florida, you're SOL.  So the DoD is coming up with an odd solution: It wants to give  military personnel in same-sex relationships up to ten day's leave so they go to New York, Maryland, or another state where they can make it legal.  "I have determined, consistent with the unanimous advice of the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that the spousal and family benefits far outweigh the benefits that could be extended under a declaration system," wrote Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko thinks we all just need to calm down about the country's anti-gay laws.

While activists are calling on the Miss Universe pageant to pull out of Moscow, a gay-friendly beauty competition is making its grand return: Miss'd America is returning to Atlantic City on September 21. Begun by makeup artists, stylists and other staffers at the Miss America pageant (back when it was held in AC), Miss'd America sees drag queen contestants competing in swimsuit, talent, evening gown and interview challenges.

A gay couple in California has taken their love of Batman to the next level with a wedding themed around the Caped Crusader and his rogue's gallery. The men asked guests to doll up as characters from the long-running comic and sported stylized dress suits that recalled Batman and Mr. Freeze.