Just received an email confirming that at the moment, GIMP 2.6.11 will not work in the new, soon to be released operating system, OS X 10.7 for Mac computers!!
Well that seals it for me...I wont be getting it until I can use GIMP. I just thought this might be of interest to any other mac users out there. and use the following reference as a guide to what else will and will not work in the new OS. This is a table of what will and will not work with LIon.

http://roaringapps.com/apps:table

thanks for that info. I'm with you, not upgrading until gimp can work with Lion

I realize this is an old post, but I was able to launch Gimp on OSX Lion by going to Terminal, and executing it from there:
1) Go to Applications->Utilities->Terminal
2) Type the following commands (followed by [Enter/Return] key):
cd /Applications/Gimp.app/Contents/MacOS
./Gimp

The "cd" command changes to the package directory.
The "./Gimp" command simply runs the Gimp program.

And for those wondering, I didn't have to install any X11 packages.

What version of Gimp were you using? Also, if it can be opened via terminal, maybe there can be some small program written to make a clickable icon to do it automically.

I just opened it up without doing anything special in Lion. I am using GIMP-2.6.11-Snow-Leopard.

you are making it tempting to get Lion...but maybe I should learn how to use snow leapard first...I'm also wondering if Lion has improvements that are worth the change.

I have had further confirmation that it will work on LIon...someone had some idea that GIMP needed rosetta to work...and we all know thats rubbish...what it does need is X11...as long as that is there in Lion it will work...Having said all that...I dont have Lion yet...thanks for the info ei003...I need to be able to use that when the time comes...just as an aside, have you figured out how to get python scripts for GIMP working, and if so can you also post those instructions..PLEASE!!

Actually if you look at that link now it says GIMP will work, whereas it didnt before.

ei003, you shouldnt have to install X11 as it is natural with OS X operating systems...its already there...

Oh well that just is sooo annoying, I've got a Macbook Lion from school to use for free till year 12 then I return it, I got it as a macbook lion, and I want to use GIMP with it, and paint too.

I am currently using the lion to type this up, it works pretty well but no GIMP, no paint. I can't even find a compatible paint to download....it's sooo annoying.

I am not upgrading because I would have to pay to upgrade my iLife 09. Also, a friend who upgraded now cannot use her Cisco router with Lion...among other problems. She wished she hadn't upgraded. The only think I would have been interested with Lion was being able to use the cloud with my iPhone and my laptop.