Kudos to Harvey Levin, founder of TMZ, and therefore a major media figure. Speaking with Greta Van Susteren last night on Fox News Channel, he came out against GLAAD's pressure to get Phil Robertson suspended from A&E's Duck Dynasty. In an earlier tweet, and then with Greta, he porefaced his comments by saying that he is gay. He notes that "our country was founded on freedom of religion" and that you have to come out for freedom of expression, even for things that are "abhorrent" to you.

You can watch the segment here:

I don't spend much time at his website TMZ, but I am sure it must be among the most popular, and in some ways influential new media outposts. From what I have seen of Mr. Levin in the past, he  is obviously highly intelligent, and I think in this instance, his even-handedness in preaching tolerance is highly admirable. In addition, he is highly attuned to popular culture, and may be reading the tea leaves more accurately than GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign.

Two days ago, I wrote this:

Will cooler heads prevail in the gay community, realizing that Christians ought to be allowed to have their two millennia-old beliefs respected in the public square? That would be the optimal outcome, but I don't really predict it will happen, as things now stand.

I am gratified that Harvey Levin is using his considerable influence to nudge the gay community in the direction I described as optimal. Because of where I live (the San Francisco Bay Area) and the academic background I have, I know that there is no one-dimensional, homogeneous gay community. I am extremely happy to see cooler heads, people well-established and secure in their personal and professional standing, speaking up. Conservatives need to understand that not all gays and lesbians are raging leftists. There are many who are quite conservative in their lifestyle and political views (especially in the realm of lmited government -- after all, government was for a long time a major persecutor). As for the sinfulness of homosexual acts, well, everyone I know is sinful, including me. I judge people by their actions and frankly I have zero interest in other people's bedroom acts.

Maybe we are witnessing a true step forward. That would be a very nice Christmas present.