'She's Basically a Short Man With Boobs'

Aw, what a happy couple. And no, the one on the right is not Mason Reese. Of course if you or I called her a "short man with boobs" you'd be branded a homophobe or something.

As Cynthia Nixon juggles motherhood and relationships in the upcoming "Sex and the City 2," the actress also faces her own similar struggle off-screen.

In the June issue of Advocate, Nixon opens up about her decision to come out and what life is like with fiancée, Christine Marinoni.

"It wasn't something in me that was waiting to come out," she explains. "It was like, this person is undeniable. How can I let this person walk by?"

Nixon, 44, began dating Marinoni in 2004, one year after splitting from her partner of 15 years, photographer Danny Mozes, with whom she has two children, Samantha, 13, and Charles, 7.

"If anybody, prior to my meeting and falling in love with Christine, had asked me about what I think about sexuality, I would have said I think we're all bisexual," the actress says. "But I had that point of view without ever having felt attracted to a woman. I had never met a woman I was attracted to [before Christine]. And maybe if I'd met her when I was 20, I would have fallen in love and only dated women. But maybe if I'd met her at 20, I wouldn't have responded at all. Who knows?"

Thanks for clearing that up. She certainly doesn't sound confused about anything.

Though many of Nixon's fans were used to seeing her with the fabulously dressed women of "Sex and the City," many were taken aback with Marinoni's masculine appearance – a trait the actress says she finds most appealing.

"She's basically a short man with boobs," Nixon says. "A lot of what I love about her is her butchness. I'm not saying I fell in love with her in a sexually neutral way. I love her sexuality – it's a big part of what I love about her – but I feel like it was her.

'I Don't Really Want to Get Married to Get Married Pretend'

No comment.

Cynthia Nixon is making it official with her girlfriend of nearly six years, education activist Christine Marinoni.

The Sex and the City star, 43, showed off her diamond engagement ring at the Love, Peace and Marriage Equality rally for gay rights in New York City Sunday. The event supported New York governor David Paterson's proposed bill legalizing same-sex marriage.

Nixon has said she would wed "if it became legal in New York. "I don't really want to get married to get married pretend. I think we'd like to do it in a real, actual, legal way that the state would recognize."

NY Teacher's Union Funding ACORN and Working Families Party

Do the teachers in New York State even realize their union dues are going to radical groups such as ACORN and the Working Families Party?

Do they even care? I suspect if they realized the level of corruption within their own ranks they may not be too happy seeing huge chunks of money going to these very suspicious groups.

Next week, a coalition of advocacy groups will bus an army of parents into Albany for a "lobby day" against mayoral control of the city's schools -- a prime example of how Randi Weingarten's teachers' union shapes public perception and policy behind the scenes.

The May 5 event, part of the Campaign for Better Schools, is meant to show lawmakers that there's massive grass-roots opposition to Mayor Bloomberg's stewardship of the school system.

The lead organizer of the Campaign for Better Schools is the Alliance for Quality Education, whose celebrity spokeswoman is "Sex and the City" star Cynthia Nixon.

It received $775,000 last year from the United Federation of Teachers' sister organization, New York State United Teachers, to fund a media campaign, federal Department of Labor filings show. That's on top of a $35,000 grant the UFT gave directly to the Alliance last year.

If they wanted better schools they sure have a funny way of showing it, opposing charters schools every step of the way, unless, of course, Weingarten can find a way to unionize them. Meanwhile, ACORN and the WFP are essentially on the union payroll.

ACORN, a national network of antipoverty community organizations, has worked hand in hand with Weingarten and is now taking a leadership role in the Campaign for Better Schools.

The UFT paid ACORN $406,730 to help the union organize 28,000 child-care providers that contract with the city.

Earlier this month, ACORN also helped organize protests against the proposed phase-out of PS 194 in Harlem to make way for a charter school. The Department of Education eventually caved, and the school will not be closed.

Even smaller participants in the Campaign for Better Schools receive funds from the teachers' unions. The New York Immigration Coalition accepted $15,000 last year. Another immigrant rights group, Make the Road New York, was given $5,000.

Community groups aren't the only outsiders receiving money from the UFT and its state affiliate.

The union-backed Working Families Party received $1 million from New York State United Teachers for a media campaign last year. New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, a pro-union think tank and advocacy group, received $190,000.

"I would challenge anyone in New York to find when they [ACORN, the Working Families Party, and the Alliance for Quality Education] have opposed anything on the union's agenda," said Joe Williams, executive director of Democrats for Education Reform, an advocacy group funded by proponents of charter schools.

The last time the WFP organized a bus tour they didn't get too many people to show up, but they sure as heck got plenty of media attention.