Jeff vs. the bloggers: ex-White House reporter Jeff Gannon learned the power of gay bloggers the hard way, by being outed as a partisan operative and an alleged former hustler. Online activists have mainstream media playing catch-up, and they're reshaping the battle for gay equality.

On most mornings, over a cup of coffee, John Aravosis sits alone in his studio apartment in Washington, D.C., pushing through piles of computer printouts. He scans new e-mails from around the world, searching for content for his www.americablog.org, a blog, or Web log, that mixes commentary and news. Information comes from everywhere--influential newspapers, cable news, other blogs, average people. On one particular April morning the top headline comes from "Chris, in Paris," who is reporting that a new Iraqi president has been appointed. Another headline reads that conservative congressman Tom DeLay's approval rating is heading into the toilet, according to a survey conducted by the Houston Chronicle.

Aravosis, 41, is a pioneer among the media-savvy gays and lesbians devoted to the country's blogs. In February he bolstered his reputation as a gay advocate by helping blow the cover of one Jeff Gannon, who had come under fire for his partisan questions as a reporter in the White House briefing room. Media outlets discovered that Gannon was actually James Guckert, who had been hired to write for a Web site run by a wealthy Republican activist fr...

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