NGLTF on Girlie Men

I came across this press release from Matt Foreman, Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and it made me smirk.



It's an open letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in response to his "economic girlie men" comment during his address to the Republican National Convention. When I clicked on the link I was expecting an analysis of the issue of stereotyping, the difference between a satire of a character and actually making such statements, etc. Instead he took another approach - that girlie men, contrary to his comparison to "pessimistic critics," are typically "hopeless optimists," and he cites icons to make his point:
I've never known girlie men to be pessimistic about much of anything. Think of our leading girlie men icons - Liberace, Paul Lynde, Charles Nelson-Reilly, Freddy Mercury, Nathan Lane, and Harvey Fierstein - all hopeless optimists, smiling and fighting on in the face of adversity.
Foreman then speculates that perhaps Schwarzenegger meant to suggest that the critics "BE girlie men."



It's refreshing to see a sense of humor being used as a tool while still making a serious statement.