“Brokeback Mountain” is a gay movie. No ifs, ands, or buts. There’s some hot and heavy man-on-man kissing with the most beautiful line of spittle since Winona Ryder kissed Christian Bale in Little Women. There’s homosexual sex. There’s even - sadly - male prostitution. And of course, pervading every little crack and nuance of the film available, there’s layers upon layers of homophobia, both actual and self-perceived.

You can argue all you want about how the movie isn’t really a gay movie but really one that has universal appeal. You can argue about how people, both gay and straight, can relate to a story that isn’t actually about homosexuality, but about forbidden love. But there’s no escaping the fact that this is a gay movie about two gay men who happen to work in one of the most un-gay-friendly occupations in an area of the country that’s arguably still the most un-gay-friendly today. How many times do I have to say the word gay?

Now, what’s wrong with still saying the movie has universal appeal and relatable themes? Absolutely nothing. In just about every article or critique I’ve read, both before and after seeing the movie, there are arguments that either it’s a gay movie or that it’s a human interest movie (the implication, of course, being that it’s okay for this movie to be considered “mainstream” if you don’t focus too much on two guys kissing). Dude, wake up. It’s both. Yes, that’s entirely possible.

If there’s not one gay bone in your body, this movie still applies to you. Case in point: both cowboys end up married to women. These women are hurt, of course, by the lie these two concoct in trying to conform to our society’s expectation of them. So are the children they bear with these women.

Next time you think you have absolutely nothing to do with homosexuality, think about all the gay or transgender people you know (or don’t realize you know). And yes, unless you’re living under a rock, gay people are around you. And no, try as you might to convince yourselves you can, you cannot choose to avoid people of varying orientations.

What messages do you send that tells them they’re wrong, abnormal, or don’t deserve to live their lives pursuing their own dreams? When you say to somebody that you believe they weren’t born gay, but chose to be “that way,” aren’t you alienating them? Aren’t you hurting them, telling them they can’t be the way they are without some sacrifice (namely, your acceptance and your wholehearted respect)? When you go to the voting booths and support bans on gay marriage or unions, aren’t you violating another person’s civil right to choose to legally be with somebody they love? Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness, my ass.

Or, conversely, think about all the homophobic people you know. Y’know, the ones who think, like one family member I’m very close to, that it’s okay to see some guy wearing a tight t-shirt (a trend, which, by the way, is not solely reserved for gay use) and holler out that he’s queerer than a three-dollar bill. Or the ones who profess to love every brother and sister because it’s written in the bible to do so… and then will turn around and hurt, demean, or oppress the same brother or sister because they’re gay and therefore apparently sinning. Love is patient, love is kind… not.

When you laugh along with the jokes or even say nothing, aren’t you saying it’s okay to label gay people weird? Aren’t you committing the worst kind of disrespect, relegating someone to an inferior position for no good reason?

If my daughter ever comes home and tells me she’s going to spend the rest of her life with another woman who rocks her world, I want her to tell me with the same sense of anticipation and excitement as I had when I told my mother I was getting married. The last thing I want her to experience is fear and anxiety and wondering whether she’ll lose respect or be kicked out of my life or anyone else’s. But that, unfortunately is happening to other people, even now, after Brokeback Mountain has been released.

Was this country ready for Brokeback Mountain? The plethora of gay jokes and comics (like in the Boondocks, for example) and the notorious banning of showing BBM in certain places says it wasn’t, not entirely. But man, did this country need this movie.

We’re at the point where we’re no longer arguing whether gay people deserve any legal rights, but how much legal recognization they deserve. It is my wholehearted hope that this movie will provide the momentum that we all need to make us think. And think hard enough to bring this issue entirely out into the open.

During the viewing of the movie, I could see several people, male and female, gay and straight, fidgeting nervously during slightly homoerotic scenes. But no one batted an eyelash when Ennis (Heath Ledger) bedded his wife (real-life girlfriend Michelle Williams) much more graphically than he bedded Jack (Jake Gyllenhaal). And these people are no strangers to gay issues. That tells me this is still brand-new territory, even for the people, gay or straight or somewhere in between, who are fighting for and dreaming of the day when gay is a-okay and we don’t have to be careful anymore.

Now, this is one gorgeously photographed movie. An amazing portrayal of enforced loneliness just because the world wasn’t a little friendlier. A little slow (how many montages of herded sheep can a person stand?!), but beautiful to look at. Heath Ledger did a gorgeous job of portraying somebody who didn’t want to be who he was or want what he wanted. The emotional tension between the gay characters and their families had me gripping my armrests.

But BBM has its weaknesses too. I did not understand the jump from co-workers to lovers. Sorry. I did not see the attraction, the build-up. I just saw a slam-bang surprise consummation and then a frantic attempt to not really be attracted to each other. I did not appreciate Jake Gyllenhaal’s immature portrayal of a reckless lover (although I absolutely loved his performance during the “boys should watch football” scene with his character’s overbearing father-in-law). I didn’t understand completely the motivation behind just about anybody’s actions. Overall, the emotional landscape of the movie left me wanting.

But it was well enough done to have me (and many others) crying at the end of the movie. That’s the true brunt of its universal appeal, that a movie about an issue that people still call perverse today can bring you to tears.

And I hope the movie’s well enough done to impact our world today. Racism is alive and well, but we’ve had enough dialogue on the issue that people of all races can vote, can marry who they choose (except for someone of the same sex), can own property, and so forth. In short, somebody who isn’t white can walk around for the most part without fear. We’ve also had enough dialogue on feminist issues that a battered woman can now speak up (hopefully, anyway), and not be poo-pooed.

Just this morning in class I had a classmate announce that “Faggots drink chai tea.” Now the guy he said that to is determined never to order chai tea again. And no one (including myself, unfortunately) said a damn thing.

We very obviously haven’t talked enough that my gay friends can go out and hold hands or give their partner a peck on the lips in public (in most places, anyway) like I do with my husband without fear of being attacked, either verbally or physically. We haven’t talked enough that my friends are even willing to consider trying.

They’re too afraid. Afraid of whom?!

Afraid of all the people who are afraid of them.

Every one of the arguments against allowing legal gay unions that I’ve heard has to do with respecting the sanctity or tradition of marriage or family. I translate that as fear of change or difference. That’s the same attitude that killed any chance Ennis and Jack had at happiness.

So, yeah. Just because Brokeback Mountain is a gay movie doesn’t mean it’s not for you to see. Just because an issue has to do with gay people doesn’t mean it doesn’t concern you. Pretty much, if you’re alive, it does.

Even though I wasn’t so wowed by Brokeback Mountain cinema-wise, I was wowed by its potential cultural impact. Now, if we can just get a movie made about gay NFL players made…

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