America Online charted new queer territory earlier this year when it unveiled its LGBT blog, QueerSighted. The gamble paid off, indeed, with over 3.5 million page views a month and the potential for endless advertising revenue. Then, about six months later, that dream died - or, rather, was killed, when AOL canned editor Kenneth Hill and told the other homo-journos to start packing.
Now, one former member of the collective's raising some not-so-rhetorical questions. Writes Richard Rothstein:
And, at the end of the day, I suppose we can't accuse AOL of homophobia or politics. After all, Mary Cheney remains a vice president at AOL and she, as we all know, is a staunch supporter of the queer community, our rights and our voice. And just because a number of AOL's openly homophobic and conservative right wing bloggers remain employed and blogging doesn't mean that the termination of large numbers of senior gay employees means anything.
Rothstein also alleges that AOL attempted to silence the site's former writers. Obviously it didn't work.
• The wonders of airbrushing and Photoshop apparent: Drew Barrymore does Missoni. We love her, but we saw her on the Golden Globes and know what she REALLY looks like. [Made In Brazil]
• Yet another Brokeback spoof: the Brokeback Mountain Happy Meal! Giggle. [You Tube]
• Boozhy asks the gay lobby a tough question: “What the F*CK did they do with the money I sent to them? “ [Boozhy]
• Is this really Marlon Brando giving head? You decide. [D Listed]
• AOL launched a gay music channel. You know, an extremely stereotyped gay music channel. Of course, we’ll love it! [Gizmodo]
What do you do when your father’s a dick? If you’re Mary Cheney, you support his vice-presidential re-election bid and never make a peep about gay rights issues. Mary Cheney once worked for Coors Beer to change that company’s image in the LGBT community after it sponsored a campaign against our rights.
Yet when it came to impacting the nation’s attitude towards our civil rights, the vice president’s daughter acted like the lesbian cat got her tongue. Alan Keyes, who was running for an Illinois Senate seat, said Mary, like all other gay people, was a sinner and a selfish hedonist. Even then, V.P. Cheney, though a Dick, didn’t have the balls to stand up to odious Republican bigotry.
Now comes a rumor that Mary Cheney has been hired by AOL to whip up GLBT content. If past is prologue, the rugs at AOL are going to be bulging with everything that gets swept under them. We also hear that Mary is writing a memoir; no word on if it includes mention of her mother Lynne’s novel “Sisters,” which included a heaving bossoms lesbian love subplot.
