GLAAD Strikes Back at Smith Film
 
 NEW YORK (AP) - GLAAD is striking back against writer-director Kevin
 Smith for gay jokes in his new film ``Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.''
 
 The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation has asked Dimension Films to
 donate money to the Matthew Shepard Foundation, named for the Wyoming
 student beaten to death in 1998. Smith agreed to make a donation, Entertainment Weekly
 magazine reported in its Aug. 10 issue.
 
 "As a result of the constructive dialogue between Kevin and me, Kevin will include a
 brief comment during the end credits of the film, indicating that use of the film's anti-gay
 slurs in real life is not acceptable,'' GLAAD entertainment media director Scott Seomin
 said in a statement Friday.
 
 In an earlier statement, Seomin said: ``The audience members who a)  think that Jay and
 Silent Bob are cool, and b) see Jay and Silent Bob making anti-gay jokes may think that they
 can be cool, too, if they are intolerant and cruel toward gay people. This is not OK, and GLAAD
 has an obligation to speak out against representations that pose a threat to gay and lesbian people.''
 
 But Smith said his donation is not tantamount to an apology.
 
 "I'm not sorry - because I didn't make the jokes at the expense of the gay community,'' he said.
 "I made jokes at the expense of two characters who neither I nor the audience have ever held up
 to be paragons of intellect.   They're idiots.''
 
 The movie, which opens Aug. 22, features a cast including Matt Damon,
 Ben  Affleck, Shannen Doherty, Chris Rock and Carrie Fisher.
 
 
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