Some would say it's a great time to be gay in North America. Canada just legalized gay marriage, the US Supreme Court struck down sodomy laws, and cable network Bravo has stepped up to fill the niche MTV/Viacom decided to abandon (the media giants recently determined that launching a gay cable network would be risky in our current economy and put their plans for the Outlet network on hold) with two new series aimed at the gay audience.

But let's talk about gay television. We've come a long way since "An Early Frost" (1986) and the no-kissing policy on thirtysomething (1987-1991). Hell, we've come a long way from fashion victim Rickie Vasquez on My So-Called Life (1994-1995). Now we've got Will & Grace (1998-) Thursdays on NBC and Queer as Folk (2000-) on Showtime (the pay-cable network plans to premiere a lesbian drama, The L-Word, in January). And this summer, Bravo has given us Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (in which five gay stereotypes make over a straight guy) and Boy Meets Boy, TV's first gay dating series (the shocking twist? Not all the suitors are gay). As Advocate editor Bruce Steele said in a recent Boston Globe interview, "the networks...now feel that gay audiences are an important enough demographic that they can build programming around them."

Let me just say that I am honored that "the networks" have finally decided that the gay audience is "important enough" to them that they're going after it. It's a step forward, yes, but that's not good enough for me, not when nutcases like Pat Robertson are spewing hatred disguised as love five days a week on thinly veiled religious shows.

So let's talk about The 700 Club. This shit has been going on since 1972! That's longer than I've been alive. I get that what is now the ABC Family Channel was long ago the Christian Broadcasting Network, and I understand that there's some sort of bizarre-ass legal proviso that requires ABC Family to continue airing Robertson's propaganda show. What I can't grasp is how the show finds its way into so many local markets with such little resistance. Believe me, there is no FCC regulation requiring a minimum number of hours of religious programming. I accidentally happened upon the show today in the middle of a "report" about how homosexuals have a shorter life span than heterosexuals, which was followed by some Bible readings and a reminder from the reporter that they're not trying to judge anyone, even though they had spent the last ten minutes judging me (and trying to scare me by telling me I'm going to die sooner than them AND GO TO HELL).

I guess what outrages me the most is the fact that if there had been a gay news and issues talk show/newsmagazine airing daily on cable and on local stations all over the United States since 1972, there wouldn't be all this crazy crap about a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. (And also the religious right would be all over any local stations that tried to air the gay show and corrupt their children, which is why I plan to call, write and e-mail my local 700 Club affiliate as soon as I'm done ranting, but anyway...)

I have some trouble understanding why, in a country that prides itself on equal access for all citizens to its institutions, there are no definitive gay voices in the media. We've tackled the print media, sort of, and sure, Ellen DeGeneres is launching a talk show in September, but it'll be more in the vein of celebrity interviews and such than in politics and news. Our shot at a pay cable network has been put on the back burner, but the tide is turning. We have a gay sitcom, a gay soap opera (and soon we'll have another), a gay makeover show, and a gay dating show.

I suppose it's only a matter of time before that gay news show or gay talk show (why not a roundtable like Meet the Press, only more entertaining, like Politically Incorrect?), but what's with the waiting? The time is right. Acceptance of the gay "lifestyle" (riiight) by "normal people" is at an all-time high. The recent changes in the North American political landscape have led many gays to be more open about their own lives, which is another small step toward equality. How could a gay 700 Club hurt? There are public access programs in major cities that have been tackling these issues for years, but it's time for someone to step up on a national level. MSNBC gave Michael Savage an hour every weekend to spew his bigoted views (before putting us out of our misery earlier this month). Why can't we have an hour each weekend to present issues and stories that are important to us, to help viewers go, as Pat Robertson would say, "from information to understanding"?

Maybe because it's a long road from information to understanding. Maybe because it's a long, hard fight. Maybe because, for every ten people who are silently accepting of the gay community, there is at least one zealous anti-gay protester. The 700 Club wasn't built in a day, after all; it's been around for thirty-one years. Those aren't excuses, or if they are, they're not good ones. This long, hard fight is one we need to keep fighting. I leave you with the words of a pioneer in another fight for equality, Gloria Steinem: "The future depends entirely on what each of us does every day...a movement is only people moving."

Reading: Skipping Towards Gomorrah, although I'm sad to admit I haven't picked it up in, like, two days. I'm getting to it, though. Listening to: Ben Folds Five, the self-titled CD, 'cause I got it back from Kevin today. Eating: Microwave popcorn and macaroni and cheese.