Hey, got a sec? Let's pick our gay rights figurehead!

The NY Times ran a slight but thought-provoking piece over the weekend discussing the fact that the gay rights movement has come leaps and bounds in recent years despite lacking a figurehead (like the abolitionist, black civil rights and feminist movements had, for example).

The piece points out that while there have been local leaders over the years (Harvey Milk being the most notable), the national cause has pushed forward without a representative. Meanwhile, Will & Grace creator Max Mutchnick mourned the absence of a gay rights posterboy and groaned about the tired "vapid gay twink" trope that he feels represents gay men these days (and, which many commenters on his essay are quick to point out, he himself helped create).

Well it's never too late, right? And after all, our readers pick a Gay of the Week and an Asshat of the Week on a regular basis, so choosing the face and voice to represent our collective civil rights on a national level shouldn't be that much more complicated.

So let's pick our national figurehead! Here are my off-the-top-of-the-head suggestions, and I invite you to share your own!

The Obvious: Anderson Cooper

Of course, he'd have to be gay, and openly gay. But let's just say he were: Could there be a better-connected, more highly visible or more squeezably adorable advocate? 

The Song-and-Dance Man: Neil Patrick Harris 

If life really is a cabaret, then NPH is the ideal MC. He can jazz-hand us into the White House and beyond! 

The Dark Horse: Adam Lambert

The kid is outspoken, proud and knows a thing or two about spinning a public image.

The Cyanide Pill: Perez Hilton

If we decide as a community that we should just get it over with and hasten the gay rights apocalypse, Hilton is our Swarovski-encrusted harbinger of doom.

The Dynamic Duo: The Gay Penguins

They may not have much to offer at the podium but OMGTHEYARESOG-DAMNEDCUUUUUUUUUUTE>>>>> 

The Loud Guy in the Grey Suit: Barney Frank

Okay, okay ... I'll pick someone who may not be marquee-sexy but who actually knows a thing or two about politics. Out Democratic Rep. Frank is as close as we have to a gay rights figurehead these days ... so is it wrong to wish he'd refine his image a little? I realize that as a legislator his primary concern is not to sell magazines, but we're talking image here, and is a guy whose quirky mannerisms are regularly lampooned SNL  too tough of a sell as a civil rights icon?

So who are your suggestions for a figure to represent all gay causes and concerns in today's media? Or, like the Times suggests, do we not even need one?