Ripple Effect as Gays Jump Into Mainstream

July 31 -- Gay America has been making a fabulous debut on the small screen — but the reasons for this coming out, and its impact, remain in the closet.

This season, two of the most-talked-about programs are gay-themed: Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, where five gay men make over a hopelessly un-hip straight man, and Boy Meets Boy, which can be best described as The Bachelor with gay guys.

Two more gay-themed shows are due this fall: ABC (parent network to this Web site) will launch It's All Relative, a sitcom about life with gay parents, while Showtime will reveal, The L Word, a new series about lesbians.

They join a roster of well-established gay-positive shows, such as Showtime's Queer as Folk, HBO's Sex and the City, and NBC's Will and Grace.

It's been a dramatic change from 1998, when Ellen Degeneres came out on her network television show. Advertisers pulled out and her show was canceled.

Now, recent signs suggest America may be growing more comfortable with its gay citizens.

Last month, for instance, the Supreme Court struck down a Texas law banning gay sex, ruling it an unconstitutional violation of privacy. This week, New York City, recognizing the discrimination often faced by gay, bisexual and transgendered students, opened the nation's first high school for such students.

Television executives' interest in gay America is not just a new gimmick or a new transgression, thinks Robert Thompson, professor of popular culture at Syracuse University.

"Lots of our fellow citizens are gay," he says. "I think it reflects the popular culture at large."

For Love or Money?

But there have been signs to the contrary as well. On Wednesday, President Bush told reporters in a rare press conference he believed marriage "is between a man and a woman."

Added Bush: "I believe we ought to codify that one way or the other, and we have lawyers looking at the best way to do that."

Also, a recent USA Today/CNN Gallup poll also found just 46 pecent think homosexuality is an acceptable alternative lifestyle.