Gay Friendly

Let the Gaymes begin. And let the tourist dollars flow, the parties rage and the protests simmer. The seventh Gay Games -- called the Gaymes by those in the know -- begin Saturday with about 12,000 athletes marching into Soldier Field and wrap up a week later with closing ceremonies at Wrigley Field. In between, in 30 contests across the city and suburbs, gay and lesbian former Olympians will compete alongside weekend warriors in a sprawling event that leaders pride on its inclusion.

Re "Drake Bucking Court's Order," July 30: It's time the nation got a fuller picture of what's going on in Buena Park. Pastor Wiley Drake has successfully manipulated more than his 15-minute share of fame, painting himself as the savior of the downtrodden. He has taken advantage of the fact that very few people have been watching the details of his maneuvering, the months of his wrangling with the city over the illegal encampment of homeless at his church. Nor have many people seen the diligent patience and accommodation that the city has afforded him in trying to work out a solution to a real community problem.

The Southern Baptist Convention quit a global federation of Baptist denominations Tuesday as its leaders denounced the Baptist World Alliance and other groups for accepting liberal theology. At a meeting that affirmed the Southern Baptists' conservative values 25 years after its rightward shift began, more than 8,000 people also cheered as President Bush -- speaking through a live video link -- stressed his support for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

It's not the combo Chick-fil-A is used to: Instead of a chicken sandwich and waffle fries, the chain got a potent mix Wednesday of protest and support as Americans used Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day to debate gay marriage. Silver Lake small business owner Ari Solomon, 36, showed up at a Hollywood Chick-fil-A - but not to eat. Instead, he was there as a volunteer for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, informing customers of the chain's history of opposing gay marriage as well as its alleged cruelty to chickens.

Yoko Ono has joined the chorus in support of gay marriage by recording "Every Man Has a Man Who Loves Him," a gay-friendly version of a song she wrote nearly a quarter-century ago. The song "Every Man Has a Woman Who Loves Him," included on her last album with John Lennon before he was killed in 1980, was also retooled into another version: "Every Woman Has a Woman Who Loves Her."

Steven Spielberg's "Amistad" and Robert Duvall's "The Apostle" weren't among the best-picture Oscar nominees this month. But they made the top 10 list of movies for mature audiences announced by Movieguide Awards, a Christian group that will give out prizes at Universal City on March 18. Despite the conservative evangelical perspective of the sponsoring Movieguide magazine, the Camarillo-based organization named five Walt Disney Co.

Corporate America may just have well have sent its own telegram to Jerry Falwell after he recently mobilized his troops to protest the "gay-friendly" ad run by Anheuser-Busch in a regional gay publication. It would have said: Buzz off. The Fortune 500 are courting the gay consumer as never before, underscored by the provocative Bud Lite ad featuring two muscular male arms firmly holding hands, along with the slogan, "Be Yourself."

Things have been done in the bathrooms of Little Joy that would make even Keith Richards' skin crawl. The Echo Park dive bar was also notorious for the amount of times drunk, scrappy rockers got beat up outside of it. (Nobody likes a drunk, scrappy rocker. Not even other drunk, scrappy rockers.) And for more than 40 years, Little Joy was home to them all as well as a completely bent assortment of neighborhood characters, bums and druggies. In short, it was the Enabler's favorite dive for a couple of years.

Religious conservatives are turning up the heat on Walt Disney Co. following last month's vote by the Southern Baptist Convention to boycott the entertainment giant over its gay-friendly employment policies and adult-themed films. The American Family Assn.