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Good Will Capturing: Big Ben Affleck was recently honored for his celebrity leadership on gay issues. "My cousin Jason and I have always been close, and I would hate to give that up just because he’s gay," Affleck said in a recorded acceptance speech at the 27th Annual PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbian & Gays) New York City awards dinner. Affleck was honored for being one of the first celebrities to appear in PFLAG’s Stay Close campaign with his cousin Jason Fleetwood-Boldt. "Jason and I are closer than ever because he was honest about himself," Affleck said. The ads ran in New York's subway system and were very adorable. (NYB)

Elephant in the Room: This would be comical if it weren't so sickening: The chairman of the Republican Party in Brown County, Wisconsin, faces criminal charges for allegedly fondling a 16-year-old Ethan House runaway and providing the boy with beer and marijuana late last year. Donald Fleischman, 37, of Allouez, was charged last month with two counts of child enticement, two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a child and a single charge of exposing himself to a child. (GBPG)

Survivor: Uganda: This is lovely: A leading Muslim cleric in Uganda has proposed to President Yoweri Museveni that gays be rounded up and marooned on an island in Lake Victoria until they die. Sheikh Ramathan Shaban Mubajje told reporters of his plan following a much publicized meeting with Museveni. "I asked President Museveni to get us an island on Lake Victoria and we take these homosexuals and they die out there," Mubajje told a news conference. "If they die there then we shall have no more homosexuals in the country." A reality show in the making, perhaps? (365Gay)

Catting Around: Ellen Degeneres is supposedly in hot water for giving away a dog she adopted back in September. It seems the lucky pooch didn't get along with Ellen's lesbian cats so she gave Iggy to her hairdresser, but neglected to tell the Mutts and Moms agency from which she got him by not informing them of the hand-off. She's a regular Michael Vick, that one. (AP)

13 Years Late: The prosecution in Vegas is getting its ducks in a row to put O.J. Simpson behind bars. (AP)

Uncivil Rights: Law professor Dale Carpenter makes a compelling argument for a gay-only ENDA in this week's New York Blade: "ENDA doesn't 'include' anybody if it can’t pass. Nobody knows how long it might take to educate Congress about trans issues. In the meantime, in 31 states there will be no job protection for gay people ... The opposition to ENDA is coming mostly from a cadre of articulate, politically aware and protected gay activists living in cocoons on the coasts and in large cities. They are imposing gender and queer theory on the lives of millions of gay Americans throughout the South, Midwest and West. They charge that a gay-only ENDA manifests a selfish willingness to throw trans people out of the boat." (Article)

Critical Condition: Police are investigating a hit-and-run outside the Ramrod as a possible hate crime. (365Gay)

'Girl 27': Here's a shocking old Hollywood scandal you may have never heard about. (NYP)

Bri-Guy: It would be hard to get me to sit through an episode of "Saturday Night Live" these days, but having my honey Brian Williams host just might do it. (NYP)

Dazed and Confused: As promised, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (once again) vetoed a gay-marriage bill in California. Isn't that tantamount to Michael Bloomberg doing the same thing for New Yorkers? I just don't get what the point of being a "small-government Republican" is if you're not going to practice what you preach. (GayWired)

Remembering Michael Sandy: The family and friends of Michael Sandy stood on a cold, windy Plumb Beach on Sunday to remember the 29-year-old who was chased by four men from a parking lot at the beach to his death on a nearby expressway last year. At Sunday's memorial Sandy's mother, Denise Sandy, said she hopes her son's death ends a cycle of violence toward gays: "We don't want this tragedy to happen to anybody else again." (Towleroad)