Snap judgment: gay-porn king Nicholas T. Boyias is no friend to the Democrats--but that doesn't mean he's an enemy of the gays.

We don't often find ourselves in alignment with fervent Republicans, and we're surprised that a gay-porn distributor would, politically speaking, climb into bed with them. But we feel compelled to defend the rights of Nicholas T. Boyias. During the mudslinging run-up to the midterm election, reports revealed that Boyias--the CEO of Marina Pacific Distributors, which produces hard-core gay-porn flicks like Wet Palms and Jackhammer is a frequent contributor to the Republican National Committee.

Boyias's actions disgust some, since gay dollars feed the producer, and his good friends at the RNC have made it clear the queers are public enemy number 1. But we're offended by the GOP rather than Boyias. After all, it's the RNC that cashes checks from a man who caters to the sexual tastes of a group that hard-core Republicans have used, abused, and degraded (sounds like a Boyias film).

Boyias, on the other hand, is an individual (a straight one), who has never publicly expressed homophobic tendencies and who in fact produced the distinctly nonpornographic, critically acclaimed film Quinceanera. Boyias is a Tinseltown businessman--which may explain his Republican leanings--free to donate to whomever he wants. The size of his business aside, Boyias is no different from Republican Richard Parsons, CEO of media giant Time Warner. Parsons has donated oodles of money to the GOP, and he's probably pocketed more gay dollars than Boyias could dream of--Warner Music puts out Madonna's CDs, for Pete's sake.

We can't be sure if it's a love of tax cuts or a distaste for Nancy Pelosi that keep Parsons and Boyias stuffing RNC coffers, but their simply being Republican is not enough to classify either as a homophobe or a hypocrite. Boyias may not be endearing himself to all his gay customers by giving money to the GOP, but that's different from biting the hand that feeds him. Anybody who objects can stop buying his wares.