Actors Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna as well as director Alfonso Cuaron ( who all collaborated on the movie Y Tu Mama Tambien ) were among 51 people who published a half-page open letter in newspapers supporting a Mexico City civil-union law passed by local lawmakers, the Associated Press reported. The law, signed by Mayor Alejandro Encinas, allows same-sex couples living to register civil unions with authorities, granting them inheritance rights and other benefits given to spouses.
WGAY-TV, America's first free-to-air terrestrial TV station aimed at LGBT audiences, will launch in Key West, Fla., at midnight on Jan. 1, according to Digital Spy. However, Citizen Staff reported that the station got some national exposure when David Letterman recently aired a Top 10 list of shows that will air on the station, naming such titles as Gary's Anatomy, Desperate Pool Boys and Everybody Loves Raymond—Especially Steve.
Out actor Mark Espinoza—probably best known as Andrea's husband, Jesse Vasquez, on TV's Beverly Hills 90210—is the cuisine official of TheWhole9.com, a blend of MySpace and CitySearch.com, according to The Advocate. According to the TheWhole9's creator, the users of the site—which targets creative individuals—are about 30 percent gay.
Meg Ryan will star in The Best Awful, an HBO miniseries adaptation of the Carrie Fisher novel, according to an item on Advocate.com . The novel extends the story of Fisher's loosely autobiographical novel, Postcards From the Edge, which is about a bipolar ex-actress with a gay ex-husband.
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers ( ASCAP ) has announced that The Christmas Song has topped the list of the Top 25 most performed holiday songs of the past five years, based on performance data tracked by radio airplay monitoring service Mediaguide. Other songs in the top five include ( from second to fifth ) Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, Winter Wonderland, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town and White Christmas.
A very cool Yule: Congo Square Theatre Company will unveil its critically acclaimed production of Black Nativity: A Gospel Song Play to the Duncan YMCA Chernin Center for the Arts, 1001 W. Roosevelt, through Sun., Dec. 31. Tickets are $37, passes for seniors are $20 and student tickets are $15. Call the Congo Square Box Office at 312-587-2292 or visit www.congosquaretheatre.org .
Protective attire: 'Dress Up Against AIDS: An Exhibition of Condom Dresses' will be shown at Columbia College Chicago's Glass Curtain Gallery, 1104 S. Wabash, through Jan. 5. See www.colum.edu/criticalencounters.
Casting a spell: The Chicago Chamber Musicians, together with Chicago Shakespeare Theater, will present 'Witches, Wizards, Spells and Elves: The Magic of Shakespeare' on Fri.-Sat., Jan. 20-21, at 800 E. Grand. Call 312-595-5600 or go to www.chicagoshakes.com .