In case you hadn't heard, Gawker Media threw a fundraiser last night to benefit the Empire State Pride Agenda Foundation, which is still battling to make same-sex marriage a reality here in New York (and a vote, we hear, is imminent). Here's what you missed.

The battle for legal same-sex marriage is currently being waged in Albany, and though we are this close to victory, we're not there yet. The cause still needs your help!

To help New York pass a bill allowing same-sex marriage, we here at Gawker are throwing a fundraiser/party. It's going to be a big, exciting bash, and now the stakes are higher than ever!

Last week we told you about Gawker Media's Summer of Love marriage equality fundraiser. While compiling our star-studded guest list of New York's best, brightest, and Real Housewifey-est, we realized there was someone very important missing: you!

TV funny lady Kathy Griffin stopped by Gawker HQ on Tuesday afternoon for a few hours of very hard labor. She delivered lunch, got us beverages, and even wrote her first ever blog post. She even chewed out Gawker chief Nick Denton. Take a look at how she spent her day as our indentured servant.

"One good tactic for speeding up a deal is to show lack of interest in it," writes Donald Trump in Trump: How to Get Rich. Trump ignored our offer Friday to buy his silence. The appropriate response? Press ahead, clearly.

This one goes out to all you who read Gawker only for the Nick Denton coverage. Former Gawker weekend editor Foster Kamer has interviewed Nick Denton about the big iPhone scoop. A sampling:

Today's Page Six had an especially glorious item, pitting the designs of two gossip blog networks against each other, with chatter that someone's totally biting our shit off: the socialite chronicling Guest of a Guest, and Gawker Media. That's us.

"I'm a natural sceptic," a British-born web publisher says to explain his recent Tweets expressing doubt about the validity of the science behind climate change. Coincidentally, that's the same argument used by everyone who prefers conspiracy theories to science.

Overlord Nick Denton was so tickled to learn that CNN anchor and well-known gay guy Anderson Cooper's buying an old Greenwich Village firehouse that he left the info in comments back in October. Now the New York Post knows, too.

Working out in the open is one of the joys of working at Gawker. So — if just to head off those annoying "you'll do anything for the pageviews" comments — I thought I'd pass along this morning's memo from overlord Nick Denton to all of Gawker Media. In a nutshell, Nick's changing all of that for 2010 to a new bonus system that's going to be based on each site's monthly U.S. uniques instead of pageviews.

Pictures may only be worth a thousand words, but they can certainly sear an image onto your brain for all eternity. Here are the pictures that defined 2009 on Gawker.

• You know that New York's crime rate is at an all-time low (or it's just a really slow news week) when NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly injects himself into any investigation involving Jon Gosselin that doesn't include the reality TV trainwreck's murder. Kelly says the NYPD has yet to determine whether someone really ransacked Jon Gosselin's Upper West Side apartment last weekend, or if it was just a big publicity stunt carried out by Gosselin and/or girlfriend Hailey Glassman. But the investigation continues, he says, so rest assured a few more of your tax dollars will be spent getting to the bottom of things. [NYDN]
• The call that Charlie Sheen's wife, Brooke Mueller, made to 911 on Christmas Day has been released. According to a one report, the couple's argument—in which Sheen allegedly pulled out a knife and said he'd kill her, thus landing him in the clink—was all over a Christmas present. [People, Us, E!]
• You knew Michael Lohan wasn't the world's best father or ex-husband. But he sounds like a pretty horrific fiancé, too. In newly filed court documents, Michael Lohan's ex, Erin Muller, says Lindsay Lohan's dad repeatedly abused her during their relationship, once beat her up for having a male friend on Facebook, and even kicked her "in the vagina" on one occasion. [TMZ]

MC Hammer pumped up a Silicon Valley rap battle; Nick Denton mocked a laid off New York Timesman; and a Fox Newser lashed out at the "hippies." The Twitterati love a fight.

The moment's almost here: one lucky bidder is going to be the proud owner of our charity-friendly National Book Award-winner and James Franco-endorsed copy of Sarah Palin's Going Rogue, which is going to benefit Save The Children. Not Dave Eggers.

At 2009's National Book Awards we honored Sarah Palin's Going Rogue as 2010's frontrunner for the NBA Fiction Prize by getting it signed by the gathered literary luminaries. And now, it can be the best charitable, tax-deductible present ever.

Last week we were telling Adam Lambert to gay it up because no one cares he's a 'mo. Now his über-gay performance at the American Music Awards cost him a spot on Good Morning America. We're sorry, Adam.

• Samuel L. Jackson is reportedly the mystery buyer behind the purchase of a 2,578-square-foot condo at 76 Crosby Street. The second-floor apartment, which was sold by Wall Street exec Eric Gross and just happens to be located next door to Gawker founder Nick Denton's pad, was most recently listed for $4.35 million. Jackson is reportedly picking it up for just under $4.1 million. [NYP, Sotheby's]
• Joseph Betesh, president of the Dr. Jay's chain of clothing stores, has put his 28th-floor condo at 15 Central Park West on the market. The 2,367-square-foot apartment, which Betesh bought for $5.6 million in April 2008, is listed for $12.9 million. [Cityfile, JCRE]

I must've inadvertently done a rain dance to the gossip gods yesterday, because here at Gawker Weekend HQ, Christmas is here. Not often do I get too many O RLY?! moments like this. Everyone, meet my boss Nick's new neighbor:

• Another one of the 15 homes around the world that Nic Cage picked up in recent years has been turned over to a new owner. Cage has closed on the sale of his 48th-floor condo at the Olympic Tower, albeit for quite a bit less than he'd been hoping to get. The 3,550-square-foot apartment, which had been listed for $9.75 million when it went into contract last month, reportedly ended up selling for $7.5 million. [NYP]
• Fortress Investment Group co-founder—and former billionaire—Randal Nardone has dropped the price of his condo at 240 Riverside Boulevard for the second time since he put it on the market for $11.75 million in February. Nardone, who plunked down $22 million for a pad at 101 Warren Street last year, is now asking for $9.2 million for the place. [Cityfile, Corcoran]