When "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" briefly became a national phenomenon, articles like this CNN.com piece boasted about the show's ability to "open minds" to homosexuals in society.  I question if that was really the case.  If anything, the show reinforced the stereotypes already held by society:  Gays can dress well, like to dance, care deeply about hair, can remodel a living room with flair, and speak with effiminate voices.  Nothing in "Queer Eye" was new except that they incorporated the same preconceived notions society has about straight men into a show celebrating those stereotypes.

Personally, I do not think there is real acceptance, especially in a circumstance where the belief is so ingrained, until society understands that playing up the stereotypes in shows like "Queer Eye" is only a joke.  Right now, that truly is not the case.  When a friend or relative comes out of the closet, most people think things like "but he was good at sports," or "she hates sports"...Or even something non-sports related where he or she did not fit the preconceived notion one had for what makes a person gay.  Those realistic people who realize that homosexuality is not a choice seem to want to believe that the attraction to someone of the same gender is something that could be cured with the same B-12 shot that Rafael Palmerio got from Miguel Tejada...meaning, the men need more testosterone and the women need less.

Just like it has been in the past, I think sports will be what finally breaks the barrier in the public consciousness.  When Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier by playing for the Brroklyn Dodgers in 1947, white Americans had preconceived notions about people of color.  Many were reinforced by Hollywood with that generation's "Queer Eye" being movies that featured "Stepin Fetchit" as a simple minded, lazy black man.  People of that time knew that black men were just as, or more, capable physically to handle professional sports.  What Robinson brought to the table of breaking the stereotypes, though, was that he was just as able in every other aspect of life.  He proved to bigotted whites that a black man could be just as, or more, capable as a white player to be civil, intelligent, or eloquent.  He became an ambassador of sorts that opened way for the large scale civil rights movements during the sixties.

There have been hints that a homosexual superstar may be losing his closet door soon.  A couple of Summers ago, the editor of Out magazine let it be known that his boyfriend played for a baseball team on the East Coast.  Nothing ever came from this except Mike Piazza receiving a lot of pointed questions because of his frosted hair.  (He later married a Playboy Bunny.)  When a friend from Boston told me, during the 2004 playoffs, his wife knew a popular Red Sox player who was gay, but would not tell me who, I researched the team bios and could not find a player who was not married and met the popular requirement.  So, either my friend was wrong, or a gay Red Sox player is in a sham marriage.  Then there was the story of Esera Tuaolo who was a lineman for several NFL team who announced he was gay on an HBO program.  A big, strong man like that could have broken the stereotype, but he parlayed his sudden fame into a turn playing ukelele on Applebee's commercials which reinforced the artsy gay mold.  Even when a current sports superstar came out of the closet, it only gave more fuel to the stereotype of butch lesbians.  So, poor Sheryl Swoopes lifted the burden of remaining in the closet to actually set back the mainstream acceptance of homosexuals.

There are plenty of reasons why it has not happened yet.  Lockerrooms are boys clubs and homophobia is strong in them.  It is almost a requirement that slurs are tossed out to taunt guys who dress too well after the game or spend too much time in front of the mirror grooming.  Even the guys who are not hostile to gays could become uncomfortable if they feared another player might be checking them out in the shower.  So, for a player to admit such a penchant would likely wreck their career as his presence would probably disengage him from the rest of the team.  Tuaolo and other players who have outted themselves after retirement have spoken of this fear.  With today's political climate, with gays pushing for more acceptance while cultural conservatives fight hard to keep the status quo, the straight players may even feel a justification in freezing the guy out.

That being said, I think it is still going to happen someday.  A superstar player is going to smash forty homeruns or run for twenty touchdowns, and exit the closet as he accepts his MVP trophy.  Until then, the stereotypes will continue to be reinforced by mainstream television shows like "Queer Eye" and "Will and Grace," and they will take credit for opening the minds of the public.