Barry Manilow Married His Manager Garry Kief In a Private Ceremony Last Year

1. While Barry Manilow has never publicly identified as gay, he apparently married longtime manager Garry Kief last year in a private cermony. A friend of the couple says it was a small, surprise event, and that while no official paperwork was signed, the two wear wedding bands and "are committed" to one another. [People]

2. Ryan Murphy confirmed today through a Twitter that Kathy Bates will be returning to American Horror Story: Hotel, a.k.a. season five. What's more, she'll be running the hotel. [Huffington Post]

3. In some scandelous news out of the Vatican, a priest has reportedly been fired for hosting gay bible-inspired orgies. The Italian priest was allegedly betrayed to officials by a gay prostitute he'd hired to play Judas in one of his role-playing evenings--quite fitting. [Pink News]

4. As of today, it is now illegal for federal contractors to fire someone for being LGBT. Following the failure of Congress to pass a federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act, President Obama signed an executive order in June of last year, which came into effect today. The new policy affects about 24,000 companies and 28 million workers, which equates to about 1/5 of the nation's workforce. [Huffington Post]

5. Last year, the city council of Springfield, Missouri, voted to enact workplace protections for LGBT individuals. However, after a ballot initiative, voters voted by a narrow majority to abolish them. [Pink News]

6. A while back, Irish Radio DJ Riyahd Khalaf shared a video of his mother reading messages sent to him on Grindr. The video went viral and even attracted the attention of Shirley Phelps-Roper of the Westboro Baptist Church. So, Khalaf decided to give her a call and ask what he needed to do to get into heaven.