THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

SPOILER: A trailer for the third season of the popular BBC series Downton Abbey has revealed, among other things, that the Right Honourable Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham (Emmy nominee Hugh Bonneville) tearfully confesses to wife Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) that he has lost all the family money, including hers, Deadline.com reported. Also, Maggie Smith's Dowager Countess has sharp verbal exchanges with Shirley MacLaine's character, Martha Levinson.

Oprah Winfrey has sold her Chicago co-op in the Streeterville area, according to the Chicago Tribune. She sold her eight-room, 4,607-square-foot unit for $2.75 million. Winfrey never actually occupied the three-bedroom unit, which is in the building at 199 E. Lake Shore Dr.; she paid $5.6 million in 2006 for the space but decided to remain in her duplex condominium in a different building a few blocks away.

Actor/comic Jimmie Walker—best known for portraying J.J. on the '70s TV show Good Times—has come out against marriage equality, according to the Huffington Post. While promoting his new memoir, Dyn-o-mite, Walker, 65, stated his opposition to same-sex marriage, basing it on "moral grounds." He added, "I'm a believer that gay marriage should be passed because the battle is not worth the war. The gay lobby is very loud. I'm totally against it."

The British publication The Guardian has released its list of the 100 most influential LGBT individuals in the world—and lesbian actress Jane Lynch (TV's Glee; the movie Best in Show) is number one. Some of the others in the top 10 include Lord Alli, the first openly gay peer in the House of Lords; U.S. politicians Barney Frank and Tammy Baldwin; tennis legend Martina Navratilova; talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres; Apple CEO Tim Cook; and British actor Sir Ian McKellen.

Oxygen Media released a study targeting the perspectives of women and men on the topic of adoption, according to a press release. Among other things, 73 percent of the women surveyed are open to gay and lesbian couples adopting (vs. 62 percent of males). The survey—which interviewed more than 1,000 people ages 18 to 49—coincides with the premiere of Oxygen's docuseries I'm Having Their Baby.

Several former supermodels talked with the New York Post to promote the HBO documentary About Face: Supermodels, Then and Now, which will air July 30. Paulina Porizkova, 47, said, "What people called sexual harassment, we called compliments. If a 16-year-old is kind of flattered by a man pulling out his penis in front of her, that's kind of noteworthy." Isabella Rossellini, 60, said, "What has completely disappeared from society is the wisdom of the old people. As you grow old, you don't count any more and that is, I think, the greatest fear about growing old."

Trainer Jillian Michaels wants to return to The Biggest Loser—again, the New York Post reported. Michaels last quit the NBC show in 2011 when she went to the daytime show The Doctors; however, that gig did not click for her. There is an opening on "Loser," since tennis player/trainer Anna Kournikova has left the show.

Rosie O'Donnell has paid approximately $8 million for a four-bedroom apartment with outdoor space in the building that was converted from St. Vincent's Hospital, the New York Post reported. Stars Cameron Diaz and Blake Lively both looked, but didn't buy in the 42-unit building, which sold out in eight months. The building, at 120 W. 12th St., features sustainable elements including a "green roof," filtered air and water and its own customized wireless network.

CBS has trashed the ABC show Dancing with the Stars in a mock press release, according to the New York Post. CBS' release stated that "Dancing" would be "broadcast live from the Hollywood Forever Cemetery and will feature moderately famous and sort of well-known people you almost recognize competing for big prizes by dancing on the graves of some of Hollywood's most iconic and well-beloved stars..."

The nominations for the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards were announced July 19. In LGBT-related news, out actor Jim Parsons of "Big Bang" was again nominated for best actor in a comedy. Out actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson was one of four men nominated from Modern Family for best supporting actor in a comedy series. Archie Panjabi, who plays a bisexual character on The Good Wife, was nominated for that role. The awards will be handed out Sunday, Sept. 23, on ABC.

Profiles in History has announced that costumes worn by Whitney Houston, Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez will be among those auctioned in late July, according to a press release. The Dreier Collection will be auctioned off July 28, the Animation Auction on July 29 and the Treasures from the Hollywood Vaults auction has been moved to July 30-31. Spears' catsuit from her "Oops!...I Did It Again" performance at the 2000 Grammy Awards and Houston's "Queen of the Night" costume from The Bodyguard will be included.

The third of three new "Absolutely Fabulous" 20th-anniversary specials will have its U.S. premiere Wed., July 25, on Logo, according to a press release. In the latest special, Eddy (Jennifer Saunders) has rented out her house to a Hollywood A-lister for the summer—but she's still living in it along with daughter Saffy (Julia Sawalha), mother (June Whitfield) and assistant Bubble (Jane Horrocks). Joanna Lumley is also featured as Eddy's best friend, Patsy.

Katie Holmes—who has been in the news lately because of her divorce from Tom Cruise—has landed a role in the Broadway play Dead Accounts, according to the New York Post. Holmes, who made her Broadway debut in 2008's All My Sons, will star as a woman living with her parents in Cincinnati when her brother returns home with a large sum of money and his wife mysteriously out of the picture.

Actor Ed Helms (TV's The Office; The Hangover movie series) is boycotting Chick-fil-A over the fast-food chain's anti-marriage equality stance, according to USA Today. Helms tweeted, "Chick-fil-A doesn't like gay people? So lame. Hate to think what they do to the gay chickens! Lost a loyal fan." In an interview with the Baptist Press, Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy said "guilty as charged" when it comes to allegations the corporation is against same-sex marriage.

The Muppets have ended their partnership with Chick-fil-A after having sold the company's Creature Shop toys for the chain's kid's meals, according to Joe.My.God. The Jim Henson Company posted a statement on Facebook that read, "The Jim Henson Company has celebrated and embraced diversity and inclusiveness for over fifty years and we have notified Chick-Fil-A that we do not wish to partner with them on any future endeavors. Lisa Henson, our CEO, is personally a strong supporter of gay marriage and has directed us to donate the payment we received from Chick-Fil-A to GLAAD."

Stephen Ira Beatty—the 20-year-old transgender son of actors Annette Bening and Warren Beatty—has opened up about his transition from female to male in a YouTube video, according to ABC News. In the video (posted on WeHappyTrans.com ), he says, "My name is Stephen. I identify as a trans man, a f***y queen, a homosexual, a queer, a nerd fighter, a writer, an artist and a guy who needs a haircut." Beatty is undergoing hormone therapy, but says he still likes to present himself as "fem." Last year, Beatty criticized Chaz Bono, saying Bono was "a misogynist who does not represent us."

Mariah Carey, 42, is joining the Fox show American Idol as a judge, according to the New York Post. Carey's salary may be as high as $17 million for next season, which would surpass what recent judge Jennifer Lopez earned. The series is being overhauled in the wake of declining ratings and the failure to secure an Emmy nomination this year.

Musician Frank Ocean said that being in the closet was like a "boulder on my chest" and coming out was "about my own sanity" in an interview with The Guardian. Ocean, 24, also said, "I wished at 13 there was somebody I looked up to who would have said something like that, who would have been transparent in that way." Ocean's comments follow his Tumblr post in which he talked about falling in love for the first time with a man. He recently released the CD Channel Orange.

The conservative group One Million Moms is now going after the new NBC show The New Normal, Advocate.com noted. The organization—which has gone after companies such as JC Penney and Kraft/Nabisco—is targeting out show creator Ryan Murphy's upcoming sitcom, which features a gay couple (Andrew Rannels and Justin Bartha) attempting to have a child with a surrogate. GLAAD President Herndon Graddick said the group wants to simply stir controversy.

One year after singer Amy Winehouse's death, father Mitch Winehouse took time to remember her, according to MTV.com . He discussed what happened the day he found out about his daughter's passing, and talked about an image that haunts him to this day: "I had a breakdown, and a recurring image in my mind of Amy being in the mortuary. She was very beautiful, looked like she was asleep, and I can look at it now without crying, which shows my progress, but it's not an image I want to keep in my mind."

Martha Stewart will be cooking—literally. According to USA Today, she will move to PBS in October with her latest how-to series, Martha Stewart's Cooking School. Asked why she is going to PBS, she responded, "PBS has the audience, I think, that really wants to learn these kind of lessons. It's important for me to have that kind of audience."

Madonna angered Scottish authorities when she ignored orders to not use guns during her show—just 36 hours after the Aurora, Colo., movie-theater massacre, according to the Scottish Daily Record. Cops had warned the "Borderline" singer not to perform with her pistols and AK-47 assault rifle at Murrayfield even before the mass shooting. Scottish Labour's Graeme Pearson MSP said, "It's crass and insensitive and, with Scotland's own gun tragedy at Dunblane [the site of a school massacre in 1996], she should have known better."

In the wake of the mass shooting that took place in Aurora, Colo., distributor Warner Bros. Pictures canceled appearances by the cast and filmmakers of The Dark Knight Rises in Paris, Mexico City and Japan, according to USA Today. In Finland, public broadcaster YLE television said movie distributor FS-Film's entire web campaign for the movie was temporarily shut down and that TV spots were withdrawn.

Singer/Broadway figure Ricky Martin is urging the Boy Scouts of America to lift its ban on gay scouts and leaders, according to Fox News. Martin is teaming with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) to express his anger towards the organization. Other celebrities who have joined Martin's stance include Julianne Moore, Glee's Dianna Agron, Benicio del Toro, Perez Hilton and Hunger Games' Josh Hutcherson.

Actress and LGBT ally Cybill Shepherd is engaged, People.com reported. The former star of TV's Moonlighting, Cybill and The L Word will marry jeweler-turned-psychologist Andrei Nikolajevic. Shepherd has three adult children from her previous marriages, including daughter Clementine Ford, who came out as lesbian in 2009. (Ford is now engaged to actor Cyrus Wilcox.)

Gay couple Kurt and Blaine could be headed for trouble on the next season of Glee, according to E! Online. Colfer (who plays Kurt) said, "I would like to do something besides say 'I love you,' and I think Darren [Criss] and I agree on that. We're ready for the next step. They've been together for a while. Let's throw some spice and drama into that." However, he laughingly added that there won't be a wedding anytime soon.

In a new video, biographer Patricia Bosworth said that iconic actor Montgomery Clift's torment over his own sexual orientation helped make him more mysterious to movie audiences, according to Advocate.com . Bosworth talked about meeting him when she was a child, saying, "He was absolutely gorgeous." Clift, a good friend of Elizabeth Taylor, starred in films such as A Place in the Sun, The Misfits and Suddenly, Last Summer. Clift, who was nominated for an Oscar four times, died in 1966 at age 45.

Sharon Osbourne has revealed that she's leaving NBC's America's Got Talent, according to the New York Post. Osbourne caught executives and fans off guard after tweeting, "My darling @HowardStern, money is not the reason I'm not returning to @nbcagt, it's because…" On his radio show, Stern said he's not sure he's returning next season and that Osbourne wanted a big pay raise for her to come back. Reportedly, she wants to be close with her family; son Jack recently revealed he has multiple sclerosis.

Sherman Hemsley, best known for playing George Jefferson on the sitcom The Jeffersons, has died at age 74, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Hemsley was found in his home in El Paso, Texas. He was unmarried and had no children. The Jeffersons, which premiered in January 1975, is believed to be the longest-running sitcom with a predominantly Black cast in the history of U.S. television.

Kellan Lutz (Twilight series) and Camilla Belle (Push; 10,000 BC) will co-star in Love Is All You Need?, from Wingspan Pictures, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The movie is set in a world where homosexuality is the norm, and follows several storylines. Belle will actually play a star quarterback while Lutz will be an aspiring journalist.