Your (almost) weekly, gay-news, post-inauguration roundup

• Yup, the gays (and lesbian) band association actually was invited and actually marched--in a first--in the presidential inaugural parade. There's video proof! Watch for the drum major, he really gets into it.
  
  
• Maybe you only saw this if you were in the huge crowd at the inauguration, but Ellen was called upon, Tuesday, to warm up the crowd in a way that only Ellen can.
  
  
• Right at noon-o'clock on Tuesday, when Barack Hussein Obama was geting sworn in, Whitehouse.gov was updated and, in a show of change for the LGBT community, now includes a list of "Support for the LGBT community" on the Civil Rights page.
  
  
• A little less than a week ago, CA labor organizations--50 of them, to be counting--joined in the fight for marriage equality and signed on their support for same-sex marriage rights, explaining, "Our organizations stand for fairness and equality for working people—not only in the workplace but in all aspects of society."
  
  
• Obama has added more gays in line to be his senior advisors, and Queerty has the line-up. Although none might be on the short-list for succession to the presidency, he also recently has chosen Michael Smith, and openly gay man, to be Whitehouse Interior Designer.
  
  
• In a NYT op-ed column today, Mary Frances Berry, the chair of the Commission On Civil Rights from 1993-2004, calls for the "abolishing" of the commission she headed for 11 years and its replacement with one that will fully address LGBT rights.
  
  
• Milk grabbed five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director and Best Screenplay, who cares that Benjamin Button got more?