Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (November 16, 2007)

FOR STARTERS, I'M THANKFUL ARI GOT ELIMINATED ON THE AMAZING RACE
Next Thursday is our Thanksgiving holiday here in the States so naturally it presents a great opportunity to reflect on what I'm thankful for. First, however, I want to let everyone know we'll be taking next Thursday and Friday off for a little rest and relaxation and, of course, to watch A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. We'll have new articles up on Monday the 26th and blogging will resume the same day.

So just what am I thankful for? I'm incredibly grateful that I live in a time when there are actually out gay people on television. Yes, it's true that gay visibility has slipped in recent years on the broadcast networks, but all you have to do is take a look at the the list of nominees in our poll to determine the All Time Favorite Gay and Bisexual TV Characters to see just how far things have come in the past thirty years.

So count me very grateful for Nuke on As the World Turns, Marc and Cliff on Ugly Betty, Captain Jack on Torchwood, and Kevin, Scotty, Jason, Saul, and Chad on Brothers & Sisters. And I'm thankful for the writers, showrunners, producers, and actors who bring these characters to life week after week.

In regards to my work here at AfterElton.com, I'm also unbelievably thankful to have such a great boss in Sarah Warn and two fantastic associate editors in Brian Juergens and Dennis Ayers who knock themselves out week in and week out to bring you such great content. And, of course, my thanks also go to all the writers who do such a great job with our recaps, blog posts and articles. Finally, we wouldn't have a site if we didn't have readers, so I'm especially grateful for all of you folks who make the site so vibrant with your comments and feedback. You're a smart, witty bunch and it's a pleasure to write for you every day!

EWWW! I JUST STEPPED IN SOME BILL O'REILLY!
One of the things I'm definitely not thankful for is Fox News's Bill "The No Spin Zone" O'Reilly. On Tuesday's episode of The View O'Reilly proved just how idiotic his "no spin zone" rhetoric truly is while promoting his new book Kids Have Rights, Too. As soon as he started discussing his book, he solemnly intoned that the two groups of kids most getting bullied in school are religious kids and gay kids.

Um, okay, Bill. I guess that's why we keep hearing about kids saying "That's so Christian!" in reference to something they don't like. And gay kids who get called "faggot" don't suffer nearly as much as those kids getting called, um, "Jesus freak", I guess.

Don't get me wrong. I'm sure religious kids do get bullied and that's not cool, but A) it isn't nearly to the same degree as what gay kids suffer and B) to hear O'Reilly say gay kids getting bullied is a problem is flat-out hilarious.

Remember this is the gasbag who just last week got his knickers all bunched up because two teenage lesbians in Illinois were named cutest couple in their high school yearbook. Was O'Reilly concerned about the girls safety when Dr. Laura Berman pointed out that gay teens have the highest rates of being bullied, drug use and risk of suicide? Nope. O'Reilly didn't even mention it. All he cared about was how the girls were flaunting their sexuality.

On the other hand, O'Reilly sure is an expert on bullying. He's a big enough one himself. And here is the clip of him on The View.