Is gay the new straight?

So, the Los Angeles Times is running an op-ed piece about how the gay identity is becoming less distinctive because "more homosexuals are coming out and joining the mainstream." Wait, what?

Neat. (And, I'm probably going to be saying that a lot for a week or so after having watched "Annie Hall" for the first time.)

The author, Gregory Rodriguez hits on interesting points, mostly bringing up demographer Gary Gates and his data on various reasons he thinks people are becoming more accepting of the queer folk. It's intriguing, if only for quotes like this:

"Society is beginning to say that being gay is not such a big deal," Gates says. "What that means for gays is that homosexuality won't have the centrality to their identity it once did. Being gay then becomes one of a variety of an individual's competing identities."

Huh. I sure hope that Rodriguez is right when he writes, "the tolerant will multiply."

I'll be waiting.