Wikipedia entry

A few days ago, I landed on Wikipedia to look something up and was only too pleased to see the ever-talented and handsome Jake Gyllenhaal being featured on their front page. As I read the short entry, however, something struck me as rather odd: A gay diss, by way of insulting punctuation.

The paragraph discussed some of Jake's screen roles: a teenager troubled by psychological problems, a student, a marine, and a "gay cowboy." Those are Wikipedia's quote marks.

I looked at it and wondered why Wikipedia felt compelled to say "quote" gay cowboy "unquote" (I'm holding up two fingers on both hands and making the quotation gesture when I say that), instead of just saying the words gay cowboy, no quotes, like they did for teenager and student and marine.

Do Wikipedia editors think there's no such thing as a gay cowboy? Or that, to put those two words side-by-side would be to defile the great American macho icon -- the cowboy? Maybe they are uncomfy with the love that Jack and Ennis made up there on Brokeback Mountain. Or perhaps they think Jake's heterosexual reputation needs the buffer of a couple of good quote marks to make the point that he was just play-acting, not -- eek! -- gay, like some gossip rags try to make him. You got me.

I'm not saying Wikipedia is anti-gay. God knows it's

chock full of gay this and lesbian that, and even though bajillions of editors contribute to it, I've never picked up an anti-gay vibe on the site. But nevertheless, I do wonder why it is that Wikipedia in this instance saw gay as "quote", "unquote" "gay" ... instead of just, you know, gay.

I realize that this is a minor point in the grand gay scheme of things. Certainly getting ENDA and a hate crimes bill passed is far more important to me than getting my 2xist underwear in a bunch over a couple of quote marks. Still, sometimes it's the little things we come across in the course of a day that remind us that even gay-friendly people and organizations don't necessarily always "get us."

Thoughts?

Now watch two handsome gay cowboys make some gorgeous gay love (no quotes), set to Jeff Buckley.