MTV IS NOT PRO GAY
This week I happened to be lounging around my hotel room at the glamorous Reno Hilton when I caught an episode of an MTV show called Room Raiders. Room Raiders is yet another of those dating shows, the twist here being that the person searching for love chooses their date by "raiding" the room of three potential dates and then making their choice based on what they find. Hey, it beats eHarmony.com. The show I saw--a repeat from February--was the show's gay episode wherein a very attractive young man got to peruse the bedroom of three other cute men who were forced to watch after having been "kidnapped".

The show was deeply silly, but yet again I was struck by how inclusive MTV is when it comes to gay and lesbians. The temptation is to say they are pro-gay, but I don't really care for that term as it suggests promoting something as opposed to simply reflecting the world as it really is. And boy does that bug some people! Reading up on Room Raiders, I came across this posting on the rightwing blog Freerepublic.com. The idea that MTV would feature gay men on a show that "belongs" to straight people just drives some folks around the bend. And how much fun is that? Keep up the good work, MTV!

NOT EXACTLY THE CRYING GAME
The upcoming Ralph Fiennes flick, The Constant Gardener, based on the John Le Carre novel, features a gay twist, which, alas, I can't reveal without ruining the movie. Suffice it to say that Ralph sets out to find the murderer of his wife, played by Rachel Weisz, but in the process uncovers more than he bargained for. No, he doesn’t find out Rachel was really Richie. It turns out Ralph is actually a gay ghost (this is a joke, folks).

In totally unrelated news, Tom Cruise isn't claiming he's a ghost (much less a gay one!), but supposedly in a recent interview, he did claim he was Shakespeare in a previous life. It turns out the whole thing was a hoax, and Tom doesn't really think he wrote A Midsummer's Night Dream. No kidding. Tom is not happy about the hoax. As The Simpsons' Mr. Burns would say, "Release the hounds!" Or in Tom's case, "Release the lawyers!"

MAYBE THEY LEARNED SOMETHING FROM THAT AWFUL WAR AFTER ALL
While Bosnians and Serbs have many fine qualities, they are not known for their tolerance. Indeed, the Balkan states' hyper-masculine, hyper-nationalistic culture led, in part, to the Bosnian/Serbian conflicts of the ‘90’s. When news of Go West, a new gay film by director Ahmed Imamovic, hit the Serbian press, the reaction was none too positive. Go West, a gay Romeo and Juliet story set amidst the bloodshed of the Serbian/Bosnian war, tells the story of an ethnically mixed gay couple trying to escape the fighting. Some of the more mild comments included the editor of one Bosnian magazine calling Go West “blasphemy”.

Fortunately, the story doesn’t end there. Go West debuted last week at the Sarajevo Film Festival where not only were there no walk-outs at the 2,000 seat theatre, but much to the cast and crew's surprise, the movie received a standing ovation at the end. Perhaps people can learn from their mistakes after all.

THAT’S WHAT WE CALL A DOUBLE PLAY, ER, STANDARD
The Philadelphia Phillies recently hosted Gay Community Night, the baseball team’s erstwhile attempt to strengthen its ties to Philadelphia’s gay and lesbian community. Unfortunately, things didn’t go quite as planned. During the fourth inning, two men hung a banner that read “Homosexuality Is Sin/Christ Can Set You Free”. A reporter from Outsports was not allowed to interview the owners of the banner, and officials told offended ticket holders that the two men had every right to display their "Christian" banner. Turns out the Phillies also have a policy banning signs that incite violence. Something tells me a sign denouncing Christianity would have violated that policy. Perhaps the gay fans needed to instigate a stand-clearing brawl in order to prove their point. Nah, we’re better than that.

NOW THESE GUYS GET IT!
UK.GAY.COM recently reported that the organizers of the Music of Black Origin (MOBO) awards, a British group, have disqualified anti-gay artists from this year's awards ceremony. As a result, homophobic artists such as Beenie Man and Elephant Man won’t be accepting any accolades. Coming on the heels of Kanye West’s anti anti-gay comments last week, it really is starting to seem like homophobic cultures can change. Are you listening, Republican Party?

ISN'T THAT WHAT STRIP CLUBS ARE FOR?
A recent article in The New York Times posits the theory that the rise in male nudity on Broadway is due to increased acceptance of gay people. Says James Nicola, artistic director of the New York Theatre Workshop, "I think you could say that gay people coming out of the closet has paralleled the arrival of the penis onstage." Hmm, there's an odd image to contemplate. Also called the "Take Me Out Revolution" (referring to Take Me Out, Richard Greenberg's baseball play with a ten minute full frontal all-male shower scene), the rise in nudity is credited to the desire to be both more artistically honest and to increase the box office (ya think?). Whatever the reason, I think it simply proves the conservative's slippery slope argument: once the burqa's come off, men's jockey shorts can't be far behind.

AND THOSE ATTITUDES WOULD BE, OH, SAY, HYPOCRISY, HOMOPHOBIA...
Best-selling author E. Lynn Harris recently gave an interview to the Indianapolis Star. Mr. Harris discusses his unlikely rise to the top of the bestseller lists, his recent memoir about his difficult childhood and young adult years, as well as his views on gay marriage. Mr. Harris was writing about the down-low long before the term existed and managed to do so for a mostly straight audience, not an easy trick. In his new book, I Say a Little Prayer, he takes on the issue of African-American churches and their attitudes toward gay people. That should stir up some controversy. Is that Oprah on the phone? Hats off to Mr. Harris for taking on such a difficult issue that is sure to bring a lot of flak his way. Don't worry, E., I've got your back.

THEY DO KNOW TENNESSEE IS IN THE SOUTH, RIGHT?
Next month, Ida, Tennessee, will be hosting the sixth annual Idapalooza Fruit Jam queer music festival from Sept 19-25. Workshops, including a day of circus skills, parties and jams throughout the week will lead up to the day-long concert Saturday, September 24th. For more info visit planetida.com.