The major strength of films like Brokeback Mountain and more recently Milk, come from the tragedy and inherent struggles and brutality that exist in those stories. I mean god, in both films you have people killed over their sexual orientation. It's shocking, it's tragic, it makes for amaaazing storytelling.

The genius of Brokeback Mountain existed in the tension of the storytelling. It was a constant push and pull. Like moments of the film where you just sink into the beauty and the bliss of the situation and then suddenly you're pulled out of it and there's this tense uneasy feel where the characters and by extension, the audience are bound by social constraints. The two words to describe Brokeback Mountain are freedom and suffocation.

Look at Harvey Milk's story. The first openly gay man to be elected into public office. And what happens? Death threats and eventually murder at the hands of a fellow politician.

A lot of the stories you hear in the news about brutal violence against homosexuals are committed against homosexual males rather than females. In general I do believe people are less... shocked by girlxgirl action than boyxboy action. That being said, there have been several Oscar nominated roles and films that feature lesbians. The Hours comes to mind. That was a great great film.

If Ang Lee had gotten his hands on a story as compelling as Brokeback Mountain (sad to say, but death really is compelling) and it featured lesbians rather than gays, then yeah, I do think it would have been an award winning film. Ang Lee is pretty genius.