A gay man makes it to the final two of Big Brother Australia

The Australian edition Big Brother just wrapped up its 2007 season last night with a gay man in the final two. Unfortunately, in one of the series' closest votes, Zach Douglas lost to Aleisha Cowcher. However, the winning margin was extremely close -- a mere 500 votes out of hundreds of thousands cast, prompting the show's producers to delay the announcement as they took time to double-check the results. A late entry to the Big Brother house, Zach joined the show midway through its season and was initially seen as a long shot. By the show's end, however, he was gamblers' favorite to win.

Zach is the first gay man to make it to the final two on the Australian Big Brother. Hopefully, that can be taken as a sign of increased acceptance since the winner is picked by viewers. Typically, an "everyday bloke" type is chosen for the top prize. The series gave Aleisha and Zach a campy exit, transporting the two contestants from the Big Brother house to the studio where the winner was announced on a "Mardi Gras" style float (Mardi Gras is a major event for the LGBT community in Australia).

While Zach has gone further than any gay man has done on the USA edition of Big Brother, the leader in accepting gay housemates is still the UK edition, where a gay man, Brian Dowling, won in the second season. Dowling has since gone on to be a television personality, becoming the first openly gay host of children's programming. In the fifth season, Nadia Almada was the first transgender winner.

In season eight here in the States, we've just gotten to the point where two gay men can be on screen together. Any chance Dustin will be our first gay champ?