gaydirt -- new word?

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Sep 29, 2004, at 10:11 PM, Bill Mullins wrote:

>  From _Philadelphia_ magazine, Oct 2004 issue, "Under the Gaydar:
> Why the press didn't out James McGreevey" by Jason Fagone.
>
> Regarding the search for proof of rumors that McGreevey is gay:
> " While running Christie Whitman's '97 campaign, Wilson had fielded
> calls
> from "great old venerable metropolitan institutions" whose reporters
> were
> looking to hit gaydirt. "
>
> I had heard gaydar before, but "gaydirt" is a new one on me.  Didn't
> find it
> anywhere else:  Google, Google Groups, Proquest, cursory search of
> Lexis-Nexis, Wash Post, LA Times, SF Chron.

"gaydirt" looks like a creative innovation to me.  "gaydar" (not in
HDAS, but in Green as from the 1980s) has been around for some time;
pretty much all lgb people who aren't socially isolated are familiar
with the word (and the concept).

arnold, who'll check his "gaydar" sources later, when he's where they
are