Singer Melissa Etheridge, 53, married Linda Wallem, her fiancee of nearly a year and the creator of the show Nurse Jackie, on May 31 at San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito, California, People.com reported. All four of Etheridge's children participated in the wedding: Bailey Jean, 17; Beckett, 15; and twins Miller Steven and Johnnie Rose, 7. Among those also looking on as Etheridge and Wallem exchanged their vows were Jane Lynch, Chelsea Handler, Rosie O'Donnell, Whitney Cummings, Peter Facinelli and recording artist Sia.

R. Kelly's 14-year-old daughter, Jaya Kelly, has come out as a transgender boy, according to NewPittsburghCourierOnline.com. On his Facebook page, Jaya announced that he is a "transguy," and is now living his life as a male. Jaya now goes by the name Jay; R. Kelly's ex-wife Andrea is fully supporting Jaya, although there's been no word about reaction of the singer, who will headline Chicago's 107.5 FM WGCI Summer Jam on June 22 along with J.Cole, Trey Songz and Jennifer Hudson.

Yaya DaCosta, who made her television debut in cycle three of America's Next Top Model, has been cast to play Whitney Houston in Lifetime's upcoming biopic, according to CNN.com. The Brown University graduate has acted in TV shows such as Ugly Betty, All My Children and House as well as films like Lee Daniels' The Butler. Lifetime previously announced that Oscar winner Angela Bassett ( who appeared most recently in American Horror Story ) will direct the film about the pop star, who died in 2012 at 48.

When he won his Drama Desk Award recently, Neil Patrick Harris thanked fiance David Burtka instead of discussing his own accomplishments, according to US Weekly. "I'd like to thank David Burtka, my fiance. We've been together for over ten years and when we first met I was doing a show, Cabaret, and he was [the character] Tulsa in Gypsy," Harris said. "So, thank you so much for your love and for your patience and your sacrifice in all that you do."

Theater insiders were reportedly upset Jennifer Hudson was hired to perform "Neverland"—from Harvey Weinstein's upcoming musical Finding Neverland—at this year's Tony Awards because she won't be starring in the play and has no ties to Broadway now, according to The New York Daily News. One person said, "It's like Beyonce being hired to sing Fiddler on the Roof." Also, the Oscar-winning Hudson was reportedly there because Weinstein wants to make a huge splash in the Broadway world and become as respected there as he is in the movie industry. Weinstein said Hudson will be part of a concept album to be released shortly before the show comes to Broadway, according to Deadline.

Fran Drescher attended the 2014 Tony Awards June 8 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City with her ex-husband Peter Marc Jacobson and her new boyfriend Shiva Ayyadurai, according to Just Jared. Drescher and Jacobson got divorced back in 1999 after he revealed that he is gay, but they have remained best friends ever since, even turning their story into the TV Land series Happily Divorced.

The Tonys took place June 8 at Radio City Music Hall—and some big stars were honored. Neil Patrick Harris predictably won the Tony for performance by a leading actor in a musical for his portrayal of an East German transgender rocker in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, also named best revival of a musical. Audra McDonald earned her sixth Tony—a record for a performer—for playing Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill. In addition, Rosie O'Donnell was given the Isabelle Stevenson Award for her philanthropic effort. Hugh Jackman hosted the show for the fourth time, beginning with him bouncing through the venue while interacting with various stars, and delivering a monologue with several gay references.

Initial casting has been announced for the Hollywood Bowl's upcoming production of Hair, which out Emmy nominee Adam Shankman will direct and choreograph, according to Advocate.com. The staging will star Weeds alum Hunter Parrish as Vietnam War draftee Claude, the apex of a bisexual love triangle within a bohemian tribe. The Hollywood Bowl production ( running Aug. 1-3 ) will also feature Frozen's Kristen Bell as Sheila, Glee's Amber Riley as Dionne, Glee's Jenna Ushkowitz as Jeanie and National Lampoon's Vacation's Beverly D'Angelo as Mom.

Las Vegas' Venetian hotel will present an all-female comedy series, "Lipshtick: The Perfect Shade of Stand-Up," from July through December, according to Las Vegas Weekly. Television personality and talk-show host Wendy Williams will perform at the Strip property July 11. Other confirmed acts include former host of The View Joy Behar; comedy's "Queen of Mean," Lisa Lampanelli; veteran Vegas act Rita Rudner; comedian Whitney Cummings; Sabrina, the Teenage Witch actress Caroline Rhea; and Jennifer Coolidge, maybe best known as "Stifler's mom" in the American Pie movie franchise.

Showtime has given the greenlight to a second season of its macabre Victorian drama Penny Dreadful, according to The Wrap. The series, which has drawn 4.8 million weekly viewers across all platforms since its debut, features new characters intermingling with literary characters like Dr. Frankenstein and Dorian Grey. It stars Josh Hartnett, Timothy Dalton and Eva Green.

So You Think You Can Dance judge/producer Nigel Lythgoe, along with the YouTube's DanceOn network, plans to launch two new online shows later this year: Dance School Diaries and Every Single Step, The L.A. Times reported. DanceOn, which recently spotlighted dance-centric campaigns spotlighting Michael Jackson's newest album and Jamba Juice, has sponsored or created more than 400 channels that boast 9.5 million subscribers and 1.8 billion page views. Lythgoe has said that Every Single Step "is a choreography competition."

Showtime will give viewers a look inside the daily struggles of a group of Southern lesbians in L Word Mississippi: Hate the Sin, which will premiere on the network Friday, Aug. 8, according to a press release. The 90-minute documentary—executive-produced by filmmaker Ilene Chaiken ( The L Word; The Real L Word ) and the award-winning Magical Elves directing-and-production team of Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz ( Top Chef; Katy Perry: Part of Me )—spotlights the unique challenges of being lesbians in between the "coasts" in the religious, conservative deep South.

British artists Adele and Arctic Monkeys could be removed from YouTube if independent record labels do not sign on the video-sharing website's terms following the plan to compete with the digital-music service Spotify, according to a Fashion Times item. Dominated by music-industry giants Warner Music, Sony Music and Universal, YouTube is accused of attempting to cut out Merlin, the body representing the independent record labels in rights deals. Among the independent recording labels affected by the new terms are XL Recordings and Hostess; Adele and Arctic Monkeys are signed to those respective labels.

A free "Jenny From the Block" concert brought thousands of people to watch Jennifer Lopez sing her way back into her hometown of New York City, according to 7Online.com. The performance at Orchard Beach attracted 25,000 fans included her older hits as well as songs from her upcoming CD.

Emboldened by the success of the live-action fairy tale Maleficient, starring Angelina Jolie, Disney is already working on another one: a live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, according to People.com. On board to direct is Bill Condon, who directed the final two films in the Twilight series and won a Golden Globe in 2006 for the musical Dreamgirls, which he wrote and directed. Disney's 1991 film version is one of the most beloved animated musicals ever, earning a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars and being adapted into a Broadway musical in 1994.

The Netflix series Orange Is the New Black has been drawn into an ACLU campaign—against exploding jail toilets, according to The Wrap. The New York branch of the ACLU is suing Suffolk County over conditions at its Riverhead facility—where the branch claims the show is filmed. However, the show has shot at the jail for only two days, and films most of its on-location prison scenes at a former children's psychiatric hospital that now stands empty except during shoots.

HBO's dragons-and-swords fantasy series Game of Thrones has become the most popular series in the history of the premium cable outlet's history, with the current season averaging a gross audience of 18.4 million total viewers, The Wrap reported. The 2002 season of The Sopranos held the previous record, averaging 18.2 million viewers. "Game" has been renewed for two more seasons ( its fifth and sixth ).

Meryl Streep, Sandra Bullock and Michael Douglas were among the stars who turned out to honor Jane Fonda as she was presented with the American Film Institute's 42nd Life Achievement Award at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Chron.com reported. Streep and Bullock both gave speeches, along with Sally Field and Lily Tomlin, and Douglas, who received the same prize in 2009, was on hand to present Fonda with the trophy. Fonda, who follows in the footsteps of her actor father Henry Fonda in receiving the AFI award, said, "I'm so happy to add another woman's name to the list [of AFI award winners]."

Speaking of the Jane Fonda tribute, lesbian comedian Wanda Sykes caused some controversy by joking about Michael Douglas' throat cancer, according to E! Online. Sykes—dressed in a Barberella outfit—said, "Michael wanted us to know he got throat cancer. He got it from all that cunilingus. Folks, I'll tell ya, it's not smoking unfiltered cigarettes and drinking whiskey ... it's eating p—sy that'll kills ya! But I don't know about that because I feel fine."

Ed O'Neill is known as Modern Family's grumpy but loveable patriarch, Jay Pritchett. However, while playing Al Bundy on the TV series Married with Children, his relationship with lesbian co-star Amanda Bearse ( who played Marcy ) was decidedly frosty, according to NewNowNext.com—so much so that O'Neill was one of only two cast members ( the other being David Faustino ) not invited to Bearse's wedding. Talking to the Television Academy recently, O'Neill said the tension started when Bearse became "more masculine," and that when he talked with Bearse he told her that the idea of two women in tuxedos was "fucking funny."

As part of TakePride month, Pivot is showing its new summer series The Better Half through June, according to a press release. It's a comedy series about the relationship ups and downs of a lesbian couple ( played by real-life couple Lindsay Hicks and Amy Jackson Lewis ). Created by Leyla Perez and her girlfriend Christine Ng via their independent production company, The Verb Project, the series "serves up original content and attempts to debunk stereotypes about lesbian relationships," according to the show's website.

On June 17, now-out British singer/songwriter Sam Smith will release his debut album, In the Lonely Hour, and Target is offering fans with three bonus tracks on the store's exclusive deluxe edition of the album, according to a press relase. In celebration of the announcement, Target has a first listen of bonus track "Reminds Me of You." It is at abullseyeview.com/2014/06/sam-smith-target-exclusive-album-in-the-lonely-hour.

The new Michael Jackson song "Love Never Felt So Good" has gotten the remix treatment—from the late house-music icon Frankie Knuckles, according to Idolator.com. The overhaul is actually a tribute to Knuckles from fellow DJs David Morales and Eric Kupper. The smooth disco sound of the original is updated to a piano-heavy house tune that the article says, "manages to be respectful to both the much-loved DJ and Michael."

Johnny Weir is moving on amid his "very public divorce" from lawyer Victor Voronov, calling the breakup one of several failures of which he is proud, according to E! Online. The 29-year-old figure skater and reality star announced the split March 19, a month after he served as an NBC commentator during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. He and Voronov, who wed in December 2011, have both spoken about their split in the press and details about their divorce proceedings, including distribution of personal possessions and even custody of their dog, have made headlines in recent months.

Casper Smart is shooting down rumors that he had been romantic with transgender model Xristina Marie while dating pop star Jennifer Lopez, The New York Daily News reported. The choreographer, 27, who recently split from the singer, 44, said there is "no truth" to Marie's claims of a romantic relationship. Last month another transgender woman, Sofia Vissa, claimed to have corresponded intimately with Smart through social media.

Joan Rivers opens her memoir Diary of a Mad Diva with a quote from Kanye West—but disses the rapper, according to Page Six. The quote reads, "Sometimes people write novels and they just be so self-absorbed … I am a proud nonreader of books." The next page of "Diva" states, "This book be dedicated to Kanye West, because he'll never f—in' read it."

Michael Sam, the first openly gay football player to be drafted by the NFL, has said his teammates respect him as a human being, according to On Top Magazine. "They respect me as a human being," he said. "And as a football player." Defensive end Chris Long, a former first-round pick, said none of the players care that Sam is gay: "Only the media cares. The players don't care—we just care about what kind of football player you are."

Actor and former Los Angeles Laker Rick Fox says the public must demand acceptance for gay athletes, On Top Magazine reported. Fox, who last played for the Lakers in 2004, made his comments during an appearance on Larry King Now. Fox—who said he did not know gay players during his NBA career—said, "I think you have to demand it. I think you have to just demand equality in general."

Energized by Wisconsin's milestone move towards marriage equality, PrideFest Milwaukee welcomed a record-breaking 31,295 visitors to Milwaukee's lakefront June 6-8, according to a press release. This year's attendance reflects a three-percent increase over the previous record of 30,385, set in 2010. Among the talent at the festival were comedian Lisa Lampanelli, entertainer Sandra Bernhard, singers Mary Lambert and Steve Grand, rapper Cazwell and musical act Big Freedia.

Actress Rose McGowan ( Charmed ) recently hosted a "gay-in" party at The Beverly Hills Hotel, which has been embroiled in controversy since its owner ( the sultan of Brunei ) has implemented sharia law in his home country, according to The Huffington Post. ( The law punishes homosexuality and adultery with death. ) McGowan and others, believing that a celebrity boycott of the venue was counterproductive, decided to host a party on the balcony of the hotel's Bar 1912 to show support for the hotel staff and to thumb their noses at the sultan.