Is Brokeback Mountain backing away from gay content?

MSNBC.com's Jeannette Walls reports that director Ang Lee may be growing skittish about including explicit love scenes in Brokeback Mountain, the cowboy romance based on the short story by Annie Proulx. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger as two cowboys whose relationship continues over decades, even after both men marry women. Gyllenhaal has told the Malaysian Star, "We were all talking about the kissing in the movie just recently. Clearly, it's pretty challenging material, but Ang said two men herding sheep was far more sexual than two men having sex on screen." Walls reports that gay film fans are already balking at such a notion, citing a comment found on a gay gossip site: "If herding sheep is to be used as a metaphor for the very real sensuality (and sexuality) of the story, the movie will be an insult to the writer, the reader, and the gay community."