Ignore "The" In Alphabetical Archives

Hi
I have an archive page that lists all my posts in alphabetical order. Is there a way to make it ignore the “The” in posts names?

<?php
if(isset($wp_query->query_vars['category_name']))
{
	$cat = urldecode($wp_query->query_vars['category_name']);
}
query_posts('category_name='.$cat.'&showposts=-1&orderby=title&order=asc');
?>
<a name="top"></a>
<ul id="archive">
<?php $count = 0; $newLetter = ''; ?>
<?php if ( have_posts() ) while ( have_posts() ) : the_post(); ?>
	<?php
	$count++;
	$oldLetter = $newLetter;
	$newLetter = substr(the_title('','',false), 0, 1);
	if(strtolower($oldLetter) != strtolower($newLetter))
	{
		if($count != 1)
			echo '<li class="entry-title" style="text-align:right"><a href="#top">Go To Top</a></li></ul></li>';
		echo '<li><h2><a name="'.$newLetter.'"> </a>'.$newLetter.'</h2><ul>';
	}
	?>

	<li class="entry-title"><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark"><?php the_title(); ?></a></li>
	<?php endwhile; // end of the loop. ?>

</ul>