Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (July 17, 2009)

A TOTALLY SERIOUS, IN-DEPTH LOOK AT ABSOLUTELY ALL THE NEWS THIS WEEK
Fort Worth's mayor is sorry — sort of. A sports columnist weighs on in all the criticism of President Obama, a political blog adds a gay page and Matthew Mitcham dives back in!

John Aravosis' Americablog has always done a very thorough job of covering gay issues. But with so much gay stuff going on, John has decided it's time to launch a political blog devoted solely to gay topics. He warns readers the gay site won't be updated quite as frequently, but I suspect it's going to be a happening place for gay political news.  

After the Fort Worth Police Department won our Asshat of the Week award two week's ago, this week Mike Moncrief,  the mayor of Fort Worth, issued an apology for the raid on The Rainbow Lounge. And then he took it back or "clarified" as public relations people like to say. Moncrief wasn't sorry for the raid which is still under investigation. Rather, he was sorry anyone got hurt during the raid.  I bet he is. Stay tuned for further clarifications. 

Award winning writer LZ Granderson recently penned a very interesting commentary for CNN.com titled Gay is not the new black. In the article, Granderson addresses the ongoing and troublesome disconnect existing between much of the white gay community and the black gay community, particularly when it comes to the issue of how President Obama has handled gay issues during his first six months. 

Granderson says many black gay folks resent this criticism, especially in light of the racism still far too prevalent in the white gay community. As one example, he cites last year's Human Rights Campaign national fundraiser in Washington, D.C. during which the only black people present on the stage were entertainers. That speaks volumes. And how many white folks even know the black gay community sponsors their own Pride events across the country? I confess I didn't.

It's an interesting and provocative piece definitely worth reading and discussing.  

The oh-so-talented and oh-so-adorable Matthew Mitcham will be back in the news and the water this weekend as the 2009 World Swimming Championships kick off today in Rome, Italy. Matthew is set to compete in the 1-meter springboard, 3-meter springboard and 3-meter synchro in addition to 10-meter platform..

Matthew also knows the Chinese are especially set on payback for his Gold medal upset in China, but says Matthew of his status as the frontrunner, "I do, but I'm not putting that kind of pressure on myself here because I'm doing very different things compared to how I used to do them."

Check back on Monday for coverage of how Matthew is doing! And since I'm such a nice guy, here is one more pic of Matthew from this year's Mardi Gras in Sydney. 

Next page! Will you make a penguin an Asshat of the Week? Or just find out who won Gay of the Week?