The news came via a Facebook status from another automotive journalist: "Interesting. Phrase 'Electric cars are gay' pulled from Ron Howard movie."

To which we could only respond, huh?

[UPDATE: Turns out that there's even a Tesla angle too.]

Turns out the upcoming movie The Dilemma, starring Vince Vaughan and released by Universal Pictures, used that phrase as the opener in the trailer now airing on television and in movie theatres.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and others, including CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, complained about usage of the term "gay" as derogatory.

In a statement, the alliance said that the studio "decided to open the trailer for their new Ron Howard-directed feature 'The Dilemma' with the phrase, 'Electric cars are gay' in an attempt at humor."

But, GLAAD continued, "it’s hardly a joke for LGBT audiences growing increasingly frustrated by use of the word 'gay' as a pejorative."

Now GLAAD has announced that Universal has agreed to remove the line from the trailer. We've embedded that trailer below, although we can't guarantee how long it'll remain in the original, unedited, form.

Left unclear is whether the line remains in the actual, ummmmm, movie. GLAAD's announcement did not address that issue.

Are electric cars gay? We ain't touching that one.

We would, however, observe that there may be a higher-than-average proportion of gay people floating around the electric-car advocacy world. You know, progressive, forward-thinking, different perspectives, all those kinds of things.

And while we've seen a misguided site or two reprise the tired golf-cart cliches, we can only assume that those sites haven't been offered the chance to test a Tesla Roadster.

Because gay or not, good or bad, angelic or evil, that car goes to prove that electric cars can be a hell of a lot of fun.

[hat tip: Joel Arellano]