Here in Philadelphia we Eagles fans are not above insulting the Dallas Cowboys, and to my shame, many of those insults are directed at Tony Romo using a slur about gay people that rhymes with his last name. Oh, I’m all for gay rights, and know there is a certain cognitive dissonance going on when we go for such cheap insults. I suppose sports is a politically-correct free zone, even for us Eagles fans who are stinking liberals. I only explain so as to demonstrate why this story from Dallas Cowboys country is so funny to me. From NBC in Dallas-Fort Worth:

A gay-activist group plans to stage a “queer kiss-in” at the Fort Worth Stockyards on Saturday, claiming the popular tourist area is “nongay friendly.”

Queer LiberAction said it would set up a kissing booth, give free hugs and play kissing games right in the heart of the historic area highlighting Fort Worth’s Western heritage.

“It’s very upbeat and entertaining for us,” said Joe Remsik, the group’s Fort Worth leader. “We chose the Stockyards because it is so conservative, because it’s so sterotypically ‘cowboy,’ and it’s historically nongay friendly.”

He said the group wants to show that gay people have the same right to show affection in public as heterosexual couples.

Hub Baker, the long-time manager of the Cowtown Coliseum rodeo, in the center of the Stockyards, said he doesn’t exactly welcome the demonstration.

“My first thought is, in the Fort Worth Stockyards, we like to welcome anyone and everyone, and we don’t discriminate,” he said.

But he added that he has a problem with anyone kissing in public — gay or straight.

“Manners are manners,” he said. “If they don’t act right among cowboys, maybe they need to get a good whipping.”

A good whipping? Hey, those Dallas fans ought to break out the diapers the way their season is going, and the folks at the Fort Worth stockyards ought to just grin and bear it. After all, kissing is not going to harm them, though I’m sure they are in mortal fear for their marriages. To be serious for a moment, Queer LiberAction should be applauded for their creative protest. I am pleased, both as a supporter of the rights of gay and lesbian Americans, and as an Eagles fan.