Jan 06, 2006  |  By: WAYNE BESEN  | COMMENTS     

IF IT WEREN'T for gay people and gay bashers, would anyone know about Wyoming? Sure, it is a beautiful state with some fine folks. But Matthew Shepard, Mary Cheney and now the movie "Brokeback Mountain" are the only reasons it makes news.

One would think the state would be so ecstatic about the national attention generated by the gay cowboy movie, it would produce custom "Brokeback Mountain" vanity plates.

But no, the movie has yet to find an exhibitor in the state. Aren't Wyoming's residents the slightest bit curious why the rest of the nation can suddenly find their state on the map?

Wyoming isn't alone in miscalculating America's readiness to embrace this cinematic masterpiece. I've been getting e-mails from people who are furious that they are being treated like children and denied the opportunity to share in the "Brokeback" experience.

THEATERS THAT WON'T show this movie will ignorantly cite "community standards." This reminds me of efforts to close strip joints in small towns citing the same reason, yet conveniently overlooking that people who live in the community pack these places.

In all corners of this nation, you find substantial numbers of gay people and thoughtful, progressive straight people. So, to deny a substantial minority enriching cultural opportunities, such as "Brokeback Mountain," does not reflect community standards, but rather tyranny of the slight majority.

Try as some might to suppress the movie, "Brokeback Mountain" is an unstoppable force. The acting is superb, the cinematography magnificent and the message piercingly honest. But most important, it was released in a diffuse media age where the real impact won't be felt until the movie goes from the big to little screen.

Those denied the theater experience by local yokels will still see "Brokeback" on DVD. The movie will also be available on digital cable's multitudinous channels. And now, people will be able to literally watch the gay cowboys from the closet on their easily concealed video I-Pods.

MAINSTREAM AMERICANS WILL watch this movie in the coming years in the privacy of their own homes. Attitudes about gay people will be transformed and greater acceptance will follow.

People will learn how destructive the closet is, not only for gays, but also on the people caught up in the sham families created to protect these closets.

It will also help undermine the right wing's promotion of ex-gay ministries. The dramatization of shattered families in "Brokeback Mountain" exposes these groups for the divorce mills they truly are.

Indeed, "ex-gay" leader Stephen Bennett told USA Today about how his program is so feckless that merely seeing “Brokeback Mountain” caused one of these arranged marriages to nearly shatter.

"I just spoke with a married man on the telephone who is contemplating leaving his wife and children," said Bennett. "He says he's gay, and 'Brokeback Mountain' has influenced his decision."

What has not been talked about is the profound affect the movie is having on out gay people. It has caused many people I know to re-evaluate their lives and ponder love and relationships. Watching the struggle of the two protagonists Jack Twist and Ennis del Mar makes many of us stop and think, "I really have it easy. Given this freedom, have I lived true to myself and opened myself to the possibility of love?"

The main reason "Brokeback" will be a crossover hit is because of its universal message. Its success comes down to the final scene where Ennis is alone in his bare-bones trailer overlooking the haunting prairie. It is a gut wrenching moment for the character, but also for moviegoers.

The film subconsciously asks us to embrace our passion because life is short and fragile. It is that searing, powerful message, and not the sexual orientation of its lead characters, that will ultimately help people understand our struggles and themselves.