Senator Joe Biden told reporters on Tuesday outside of his Delaware home, “I'm not the guy, see ya.” But it turns out he is the guy for Senator Barack Obama. Hello. And now, it's Barack & Joe on the campaign trail, not Hillary. What'cha make of that?

While Joe “ready to be president” Biden is a fine choice, gay politicos were still hammering for Senator Hillary Clinton up to the last moment.

Clinton or not, the gay vote is pretty much Obama's. That's evident by the record number of gay, lesbian, bisexual & transgender people attending this year's Democratic National Convention in Denver that opens Monday.

At a four-day pre-convention gay convention, sponsored by the National Stonewall Democrats, that started Thursday, gay leaders gathered to discuss equal rights and anti-discrimination laws, how to make the most of the National Convention, and strategize on the fall election.

Of primary concern is gathering support to defeat anti-gay marriage ballot initiatives that will appear in three states, Florida, California and Arizona. Proposition 8, the California initiative, is the most contested, with millions of dollars pouring into the state from both sides.

Missing at the National Convention will be Ohio Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, an outspoken gay ally, who died Wednesday in a Cleveland hospital after suffering a brain hemorrhage.

The loss of her voice in Congress will be missed by GLBT people. For it's rare to come upon someone who is able to roll back the smokescreen of prejudice that all too often accompanies right-wing opposition to equal rights.

That homophobia, unfortunately, still haunts our society.

Conservative radio talk show host Mike Gallagher recently attempted to equate gay rights with pedophilia. On Tuesday's show, while discussing Monday's California Supreme Court decision that bars doctors from invoking their religious beliefs to deny treatment to gays and lesbians, Gallagher agreed with a caller who said, “Because of sexual orientation they can't deny you service, so does that mean pedophiles could adopt?” Gallagher congratulated the caller on his “great” question and went on to agree that it did.

That, of course, is nonsense, since California has one of the most severe sex offender laws in the country. Here we are taking stock of his comments.

A New York mother says indifference by Vienna police to find her son is more likely homophobia. Kathy Gilleran has been searching for her son since October 2007. She says the police lied to her about efforts being made to find her son. But worse, they told Gilleran, and the media, that her son committed suicide due to being infected with HIV, when a recent lab report said he was negative.

Then, we have new heroes. That would include the very smart and eloquent Rachel Maddow, who will become the first out lesbian on prime-time cable news to host her own show; thanks MSNBC.

And it was our own Gay Entertainment Report that brought me news of cable channel here!'s plans to broadcast a fascinating documentary series on gay porn superstars. Watch for Everything You Wanted To Know About Gay Porn Stars *but were afraid to ask this November.

The Gay Slant pops in most Saturdays at On Top Magazine. Walter Weeks is a writer for On Top and can be reached at ww@ontopmag.com.