Morning Sweep

Gay City News has a great summary of the controversy leading up to Wednesday’s election of Malcolm Smith as Senate Majority Leader.

The New York Blade writes that although the new NY Senate is the most gay-friendly ever, there is still much work to be done before marriage equality can become a reality.

The Blade also writes on the emergence of LGBT advocacy Facebook groups and mentions the Pride Agenda’s OffSprung! group for young professionals in New York.

Despite Gov. Paterson’s instructions to state agencies to recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages in New York, it appears that legally married same-sex couples here will not be able to file joint state taxes this year. The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance has said that state taxes must be filed the same as federal taxes, which cannot be filed jointly by same-sex couples because of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

The New Yorker extensively profiles Barney Frank, the openly-gay U.S. Congressman.

Supporters of Prop. 8 are suing to block their campaign finance records from being public, saying the reports have led to the harassment of donors.

Ex-Senator Larry Craig has finally given up his attempts to withdraw his guilty plea from his 2007 airport sex sting.

Nine men in Senegal have been sentenced to eight years in prison for committing “unnatural acts.” The men were arrested at the home of a prominent gay activist. International gay rights groups are shocked at the ruling.

GLAAD has released its list of the "worst anti-gay voices of 2008" (from Joe.My.God).