checking in on the petty queer establishment

Imagine the PQE’s reaction if Jeremiah Wright used the pejorative “pansy” and Barack Obama said nothing. Same goes for McCain.

But when a Clinton supporter says it, and Hillary laughs, the Human Rights Campaign merely shrugs:

Trevor Thomas, the group’s deputy communications director, sent out this e-mail a few minutes later: “We certainly wish the governor would have chosen his words better and have expressed our disappointment to his staff.”

It’s a non-issue to me, though if anyone but Hillborg was involved, you can bet the allegedly impartial gay advocacy group would summon its usual indignation (here’s why they’re in the tank for HRC).

Then again, they may be preoccupied with the great “Project Runway” panic. The hit reality show is moving from Bravo to Lifetime, the channel for women who like movies starring Meredith Baxter Birney, and gay fans are fretting the shift.

“The thing that concerns us is that they talk about the show in terms of it being a women’s show,” said Tom Fitzgerald, 41, one-half of the blogging team behind the popular Project Rungay blog, which obsessively chronicles every episode as well as any and all behind-the-scenes gossip. “And we’re living proof that that’s not entirely the case. It has a very large gay viewership. It has a very large straight viewership that likes the fact that it’s an urban, intelligent, creative reality show. Our hope is that they don’t forget that.”

They better not, ’cause I won’t hesitate to organize a Vagisil boycott.

“We just don’t know. One of the many reasons we love the show is because it was on Bravo, the most gay-friendly cable network around. While Lifetime certainly isn’t UNfriendly to the gays, we can’t help but fear for our baby.”

Bravo is certainly cliche-friendly, with shows built around makeover queens, a self-important physical fitness dyke and, of course, flamboyant fashionistas. I feel so represented.

If only I liked the things the PQE says I’m supposed to like. If only I could be a … what’s the word I’m searching for … oh yeah, pansy.

$12 million, and still no crappy ashton kutcher flick

That’s how much the city has spent since 2005 developing and marketing a pair of ultimately listless slogans. Local reaction has been underwhelming, and no amount of creative research can convince me that a convention chose Atlanta because of its clever theme. (Memo to visitors: There are no more Opening Days here.)

But let’s not give up on Brand Atlanta just yet. Vegas’ slogan has been co-opted for a new “comedy” starring Mr. Demi Moore and Cameron Diaz, sure to be every bit as original as its title.

Who knows, this summer’s “What Happens in Vegas” could be next year’s “City lights, Southern nights,” starring Larry the Cable Guy and Delta Burke.

Yep, the joke’s on us.

science = death

Ben “Bueller, Bueller” Stein has officially abandoned his senses, issuing a fatwa against science on the Christian freak show network. The former Nixon speechwriter rallied the Flat Earthers with his declaration that “science leads you to killing people.”

“I was thinking to myself the last time any of my relatives saw scientists telling them what to do they were telling them to go to the showers to get gassed … that was horrifying beyond words, and that’s where science — in my opinion, this is just an opinion — that’s where science leads you.”

Too bad “Win Ben Stein’s Money” is off the air; with his brain now resting on a shelf, I’d like my odds.