St. Andrew’s politely told the family, which also financed last year’s infamous “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth,” to take their donation and shove it in their “card catalogue”. "St. Andrew's has a policy not to accept conditional gifts,” school spokesman Bill Miller told the Austin American Statesman. “When the McNair family looked at their gift in a conditional manner, then the school could not accept it.”

A group of teen fiction authors so appreciated the school’s stand that they formed an organization, the appropriately-titled Authors Supporting Intellectual Freedom, and now each author is donating signed copies of his or her books to the school which will be displayed in a planned “Freedom Library.” Prominent among the teen authors are gay writers Brent Hartinger, Jeanne Duprau, Christopher Tebbetts, David LaRochelle, and Bennett Madison. Hartinger, author of the gay teen novel, The Order of the Poison Oak, says, “They gave up three million dollars rather than compromise the principles of academic independence and intellectual freedom. We authors wanted to show our thanks.” As my wise old grandfather used to say, "My gout is killing me!" He also said, “If ethics were easy, then everybody would have them.”

IS GAY BLACK THE NEW BLACK?
Not too long ago I wrote about how author E. Lynn Harris was taking on homophobia in the African-American community. Well, something must be in the water because there is a whole slew of new projects shedding light on the topic. First up are the DL Chronicles, a series of short films that tell the stories of men living on the “down low”, i.e. presenting themselves as straight while secretly having sex with men. The DL Chronicles are set to debut next month in Los Angeles at Outfest’s Fusion LGBT People of Color Film Festival.

Detroit News columnist Deb Price also discusses the topic of African-American homophobia when she writes about the National Black Justice Coalition, a group founded to combat the all too prevalent anti-gay attitudes found in many black churches. Says NBJC director Sylvia Rhue, “After the elections, we finally realized that you can't fight religious wars with secular tools. I can go toe to toe with any religious person. I can match them quote for quote from the Bible." They plan to do outreach by holding a Black Church Summit in Atlanta, as well as holding a rally to protest homophobia at the Millions More March being held to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March. Nor is the group shying away from more controversial tactics including the possibility of outing homophobic black pastors.

Finally, The Black Voice News details how the Reverend Al Sharpton is launching his own campaign to fight homophobia and the spread of AIDS in the African-American community. Says the Reverend, whose sister is a lesbian, ““I’m going to challenge the homophobia in our own backyard.” You tell'em, Al! And here is a tip of my Kangol cap to all involved!

SURF’S UP! QUEERS OUT!
Sure, there have been gay surf movies before. I mean, how gay were those Beach Blanket Bingo movies anyway? But coming next year to a screen near you will be something a bit more up to date. Tan Lines, a movie about gay surfers, is set to start filming this January in surf-crazy Australia. British filmmaker Ed Aldridge thinks a surf setting is the perfect place to explore a young gay man’s first love. In an interview, Aldridge says Tan Lines “...explores themes of sexuality which I am incredibly interested in. Each individual character has their own unique sexuality like we all do." Yeah, but methinks Mr. Aldridge might also be incredibly interested in the speedos worn by Aussie life guards. Or is that me I’m thinking of? Have I mentioned that I’m very, very gay?

NEXT WEEK ON DVD!
The pickings aren't a whole lot better than last week. But there are a couple releases of note. Last month, the first season of The Amazing Race (2001), which featured gay team Team Guido, was released. Want something a little more high-brow? Try Love in Thoughts, a movie (released on DVD next Tuesday) based on the true story of the infamous Stieglitz Student tragedy of 1927. Don't ask me. I've never heard of it either. And Orlando Bloom is doing a really butch version of his Middle Earth elf, Legolas, in Kingdom of Heaven.

My last DVD is The Longest Yard and I'm not recommending so much as warning. I’ve always appreciated the fact that Adam Sandler’s movies have been gay-tolerant, something unusual when it comes to today’s comedies. Sadly, the same can’t be said of The Longest Yard, though even here Adam makes sure his character isn’t homophobic. But the movie sure is, as several articles including The Funny Side of Prison Rape by Washington Blade executive editor Chris Crain make abundantly clear. Salon's Andrew O'Hehir weighs in with a review, though he is more forgiving than Chris. Says Andrew, "It's no touchdown, but this prison-football remake -- starring Adam Sandler and Chris Rock -- isn't a total fumble, provided you overlook the rampant homophobia." Yeah, and Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will ain't half bad either, provided you overlook the Nazism.

Speaking of Mr. Sandler, Comedy Central has announced they’re picking up Gay Robot, based on a character from Sandler’s comedy album “Shh...Don’t Tell”. Here’s hoping Adam’s newest project doesn’t turn out to be Homophobic Robot.

And now I’ll shut up so you can have the BEST. GAY. WEEK. EVER.

That's it for this week! Check back next Friday for a new installment of Best. Gay. Week. Ever., or read previous installments here.

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