Illinois' Gay Nup Clock Is Ticking And 5 Other Tidbits We Learned Today

1. The Illinois State House has only a few more weeks before their legislative session ends, meaning time is running out on a marriage equality proposal. Luckily, insiders say the votes are there and that it could come any day now.

2. In 1979, Michael Jackson wrote a personal manifesto in which he spelled out his game plan to improve his game and change his image: "MJ will be my new name. No more Michael Jackson. I want a whole new character, a whole new look. I should be a tottally [sic] different person. People should never think of me as the kid who sang 'ABC,' [or] 'I Want You Back.' I should be a new, incredible actor/singer/dancer that will shock the world. I will do no interviews. I will be magic. I will be a perfectionist, a researcher, a trainer, a masterer [sic]. I will be better than every great actor roped into one."

3. Speaking of Europe's complicated same-sex relations, Czech President Milos Zeman refuses to give historian Martin C. Putna a professorship because of his gay activism. The Washington Post reports, "Zeman told Czech public TV that he 'does not recognize people aspiring to teach at universities' who attend gay festivals."

4. The Chinese government arrested an 18-year-old man known only as Xiang for organizing a gay pride march.

5. Sen. Charles Schumer needs to step up for binational same-sex couples.

6. Here, for your viewing pleasure, the first trailer for JJ Abrams' new NBC drama Believe. Do you believe it can safe the ailing network?