Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (February 8, 2008)

Several weeks ago, I wrote about Shelter, the upcoming movie from here! about two surfing buddies who fall in love. To say the reaction to those clips was strong would be an understatement. That makes me all the more pleased to announce that we have the world premiere of the brand-new trailer for the highly-anticipated gay surfing drama.

Shelter hits the big screen next month and then exclusively on here! networks in April. Be sure to check out the film's website and Myspace page for more about the film, and check back here for upcoming reviews and interviews!

IT'S NOT JUST STAR TREK THAT CAN'T FIND THE GAYS
Did you know that 450 men and women have gone into space and yet not a single one of them — active or retired — is openly gay? So all of those who mocked Lance Bass for training to go into space didn't realize he really would have gone where no gay man had gone before.

A blogger on Wired.com speculates as to why this is the case including the conservative nature of NASA, the fact that many astronauts have military backgrounds, and — I love this one — the fact that all of the astronauts have to live in Texas. Ouch!

Two of NASA's field centers do have GLBT support groups, and there have been some prominent out NASA employees, but it truly is depressing that in 2008, not only has Star Trek not managed to put a gay person into space, but neither has NASA. Beam me out of here, Scotty.

BUT AT LEAST WE HAVE BROKEN THROUGH THE "SAND" CEILING!
Earlier this week, a Google alert about gay lifeguards in Australia caught my attention because, well, gay Aussie lifeguards! Come on! I lived in Australia for a number of years, and I can attest to the fact that Australia is indeed a very macho country and that ethic extends to the country's lifeguards who are venerated like we do cowboys or firefighters.

Face it, you have to be pretty macho to wear you speedo rolled up and those little caps that the Aussie's all sport. So it actually is noteworthy that the numbers of gay lifeguards in Australia are going up thanks to the efforts of groups like LifesaversWithPride who are actively recruiting gay men and women like those pictured below to join their ranks.