There are gay factions out there that can definitely go after advertisers; no doubt about it.
There's no real "gay mafia". If you believe that then the factions have done a good p.r. job.
I hate to say this but the gay community is like many other minority communities - too much
in-fighting; too many people doing the political thing for personal glory and not for the greater good.
To those outside the community it might look like a powerful tidal wave like the Religious Right or
other huge and focused groups. It really isn't. The most focused gay activist groups are
those people fighting to find a cure for AIDS. It is admirable that so many are coming together
to find a cure, and that the "straight" world is joining in.
IF the alleged "gay mafia" modeled themselves after such groups like those who are seeking a
cure for AIDS, or awareness of AIDS, etc., you would, indeed, have the Gay Rights group that,
unfortunately, does not exist at this point in time.
Granted there are some powerful gay rights organizations - but none are as strong and effective
as what the term "gay mafia" implies. I wish there was an NAAQP out there. If you find it,
please let me know. The current groups are rag tag fleets like Battlestar Galactica, some get
good results, some do not. There is not enough emphasis in "the community" on individuals and
there are WAY too many politics.
Also, many homosexuals are still closeted (take a look at the Republicans and the Religious Right).
I know a LOT of gay men in "straight" marriages - I call them the "invisible" community. Their absence
from "the cause" is one of the reasons no real cohesive group is out there anywhere in the world.
GO from country to country and the stigma of being gay is just too much for too many people. That's
why the active ones seem so powerful - because they have to be so loud.
Calling Howie Carr in Boston a "fat bastard" is funny because he sanctions it, and part of his shtick is
self-deprecating humor. I did not care to dignify the DePetro slur because it was more hateful.
If Grace herself came out and had a T shirt on it would be funny. Self-deprecating is OK, a failed shock jock
using it for effect is like a rapper rolling the F word (the four letter one) off his tongue because he can't
be creative and thinks it makes him cool. Innuendo always works better in music. Had DePetro been
clever about it, say "Overweight Lebanese woman..." Gracey would've laughed. He was just being mean
and stupid. Good riddance because the bottom line is: his show was no good, and he had to sink to the lowest common denominator because he isn't clever.
what he said is no big deal.