As far as I'm concerned, "gay" used to be a great word once, a long time ago, until it got coopted in the modern era to mean "homosexual"...but that's the way it goes with language. I suspect that "gay" is going through the latter phase now of becoming gradually less fashionable, just as previous terms did, such as "Afro-American" or "Negro" or "colored"...all replaced by "Black".

There will come a time, I'm sure, when "Black" and "gay" are both replaced in acceptability by some other more fashionable words in the popular vernacular. Wait and see. ;-)

By the way, I finally saw "Brokeback Mountain" last night. Excellent movie. Very good acting by all concerned. I can't relate at all to two men being sexually attracted to one another...it just doesn't connect for me...but I could certainly relate to their powerful emotional connection, so as a love story it was a good one. Very tragic! Larry McMurtry was in on that project, and he simply loves depicting the crushing finality of little private human tragedies, specially if they are set in the American West.