2007: BEST GAY YEAR EVER!

MAY: BARBARA, OPRAH, DIANE AND DINA
Creepy ex-Governor of New Jersey Jim McGreevey no doubt watched with annoyance as ex-wife Dina McGreevey launched her "Woe is Me" tour that took her to all of the major talk shows. Naturally, Dina had a must read tell-all book to tout, ironically titled Silent Partner.

Dina, who claimed she had no idea Jim was on the make with dudes, was treated with varying degrees of disbelief. Oprah gave her a bit of her trademark, "Girlfriend, you really expect me to believe you had no clue?" attitude. Diane Sawyer meanwhile seemed much more interested in showing viewers the picture of the naked man McGreevey and his new boyfriend had hung in their bedroom and that Dina claimed was so offensive she deserved full custody of their daughter and a top ten slot on The New York Times Bestseller list.

Barbara Walters didn't chat with McGreevey instead devoting her time to a very well-done look at transgender children and the issues facing them especially as they come out at younger and younger ages. Finally, this month Rosie O'Donnell was in the midst of her very interesting run as co-host on The View. Almost every week, Rosie locked horns with conserv-a-twit Elisabeth Hasselbeck as millions of middle-of-the-road Americans saw Rosie discuss gay issues on an almost daily basis.

Jerry Falwell died this month -- yeah, I know, boo hoo -- but not before talking one final potshot at the gay community during an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour. When Falwell's death was announced, millions of gay people bit their tongues so as not to gloat that the homophobe had departed.

In other news, fans of As the World Turns' gay teen Luke Snyder (Van Hansis) cheered as Luke's future love interest Noah Mayer (Jake Silbermann) arrived on the show. What followed were months of sexual confusion for Noah, hot, shirtless embraces, an even hotter kiss, then a homophobic father's murder attempt, paralysis and more! You know, the sort of stuff that happens to gay boys all the time.

In an in-depth two part article, we examined the issue of "Gay Newsmen", including interviews with nine out journalists as well the network executives

that direct the news departments. Most disconcerting were the folks working at Fox "News" who somehow thought they were making a difference in how the network covered gay issues. In other deluded headlines, Baghdad is the number one tourist destination for Americans this year.

In possibly the greatest travesty of the year, ABC declined to pick-up Bryan Singer's remake of England's Footballers' Wives thereby denying gay men everywhere the chance to see Eddie Cibrian find a new excuse every week to get shirtless and/or appear in a towel.

We still feel faint contemplating this news and must retire to our resting couch to sniff our smelling salts. Fortunately, Mario Lopez is still contractually required to disrobe on at least one television series per season.

One of the best sources for gay books, the mail order book club Insight Out announced their new owners weren't going to accept any new members and the club would eventually be shuttered. What's that? What's a book? Well, once upon a time in a land far, far away...

IMHO — The Year in TV

Rosie O'Donnell might be gone from The View, but won't soon be forgotten. Frankly, the up arrow is for having Rosie on in the first place. Despite the addition of Whoopi Goldberg the show is kind of a snore now and with Hasselbeck coming back and joining forces with Sherri Shephard scientists fear a black hole of stupidity will form beneath The View's stage resulting in the destruction of all life as we know it.

Yes, sometimes Oprah can dwell a bit much on the "I can't believe some gay men marry women" moment, but overall she gets gay issues and her audience is mostly straight women after all. Plus she did her special "Gay Around the World" episode which is more than you can say for Bill O'Reilly. Or Chris Matthews. Or Joe Scarborough.

She can do the Emmys, the Oscars, and probably even the ESPN Awards if she put her mind to it. This year she got T.R. Knight, Neil Patrick Harris, and Nathan Lane to open up about being gay celebrities. That's more than you can say for Bill O'Reilly. Or....