Weekend Back Talk

Here are some of the listener survey comments from last week which I read on the show. If you're a listener to the show and haven't taken the survey please do so by scrolling down and clicking through on the right. Thanks!


Kansas City, MO (XM)
I used to enjoy your show, but since you have taken up the cause for the NY mosque, I've lost a lot of respect for you. It isn't as cut and dried as you make it out to be. It's turned into a pro Islamic rant fest. Also, just because one is gay doesn't mean they agree with you on this issue. Move on to things relevant to the gay community!

Colorado Springs, CO (Sirius)
I started listening in the months leading to the last election. Almost immediately, I knew this was a different radio talk show. Michelangelo definitely welcomes differing viewpoints and opinions. Equal time (sometimes more than equal) is given to the guests/callers who disagree. I honestly don't have any complaints about the show – at least no complaints about things over which you have control. I'm referring to the recent callers against the Islamic Center near ground zero who really don't have a valid argument. It's been said before, but I agree that you truly do have the patience of a saint to listen to them parrot the same tired talking points and still keep your cool. Keep up the good work.

Orlando, FL (XM)
It's time to stop complaining about what Obama has NOT done, and start cheering about what he has. As a gay "leader", stop contributing to the enthusiasm gap!

Arlington, TX (Sirius)
I've been listening to your show for about 4 years and really enjoy it. I don't know how you are able to keep your cool with some of the idiots that call in. I'm a cross country truck driver and I experience the prejudice of the closed minds and bigots all over the country. I'm not a flamboyant queen, but I don't hide it either. I do get looks and stares and sometimes comments all the time. I find it best to ignore the closed minds most of the time.

Glastonbury, CT (Sirius)
I tell everyone I know to listen to Michelangelo before deciding anything. His opinions are always underpinned by a keen sense of right vs. wrong and articulated with a passionate clarity that is so persuasive, one finds oneself being pulled along, nodding in agreement. Thank you, Michelangelo.

Indianapolis, IN (Sirius)
OMG you are gonna caused your own city to get blown up! i love your show but please! arent you OUT Q RAdio GAY RADIO? i blame you and the other media for the violence happening around and to the Muslum Center! My God the Media will Not let it go away!!! quit talking about it and the violence will go away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Marion, MA (Sirius)
I love it when you patiently yet powerfully engage opposition voices on the radio. Your interview with WorldNetDaily's Joseph Farah was a model of restraint and illumination. By the way, I called in recently, attempting to explain that those who assert Obama is a Muslim are bearing false witness. Isn't bearing false witness a sin for self-professed Christians? Unfortunately, I stumbled in my explanation and got cut off as a result. Just wanted to correct the record.

Evanston, IL (Sirius)
Michael I hate to say this but I think you are the weakness part of OutQ. The rest of the shows on OutQ actually care about their listeners and try to bring topics of interest that their listeners are interested in. You on the other hand expect your listeners to be interested in only the things you are interested in and if they don't have the exact opinion that you have you put them down. You need to get over yourself and make the focus about your listeners and not just about yourself.

Potosi, MO (XM)
I love the show. Since I have started listening I have begun to pay more attention to the news and news that affects the gay community. Also I am wanting to get more involved in supporting gay rights.

Dallas, TX (XM)
ENOUGH of Ken Mehlman. Seriously? Three days of wall-to-wall Mehlman? There's NOTHING else in the world going on?

Hayward, CA (XM)
This is my personal way to show my appreciation by taking your listener survey. I enjoy your show and I will admit that I have wanted to call you off and on in the last 2 years that I have listened but didn't have the nerve!....and I am gay! Your show topics have opened a dialogue between me and my partner Chris, on those timely topics that not only affect gay life but within our society in general. You are one handsome, intelligent young man, thank-you for all that you do for our community.

Doylstown, PA (Sirius)
Often when your read these comments on the air, many listeners protest your "passion" which some view as "aggression" to the callers -- however, some may lose sight that this is your show. In turn, you dutifully poll your audience on these observations. However, if there is any assessment, from someone who appreciates your no-nonsense handling of the uneducated, misinformed, or confused, it's this: the power of your convictions may cause some bright, yet, timid, individuals who have excellent contributions to hold back from calling. I have learned as a diversity and inclusion trainer that these voices often provide some of the best fodder for discussion.

Lizz Winstead Guest-Hosting Today

Have fun with Lizz today, always love having her sit-in and I know you do too. I'll be on on the show on Friday for our live broadcast from San Francisco.

Outing: 20 Years Later

Though we’d planned it for months, the timing of our special show on Friday, live from San Francisco, couldn’t be more perfect. In the wake of national discussions about former Bush-Cheney '04 campaign manager and RNC chairman Ken Mehlman (who recently came out as gay), federal Judge Vaughn Walker (who overturned Prop 8) and Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan (who, in the end, had a friend come forward to confirm she is straight), “The Michelangelo Signorile Show” hosts a special live broadcast and panel discussion: “Outing, 20 Years Later: The Ethics of Reporting on the Sexual Orientation of Public Figures.”

The two-hour event takes place at the National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Association (NLGJA) 20th annual convention at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco, as a plenary discussion on Friday, September 3rd, 11 PT, 2 ET and broacasts live on Sirius XM OutQ (Sirius 109, XM 98). It will air live for the first two hours of our regular show (it will rebroadcast during the last two ours of our regular show).

Our panel includes Mike Rogers of Blogactive, who was at the forefront of reporting on Senator Larry Craig, Congressman Mark Foley, Ken Mehlman and many others; LZ Granderson, columnist for ESPN Page 2, host of the web-based ESPN360 talk show “Game Night” and a frequent commentator for CNN.com; and Michael Triplett, a contributor for the media analysis site Mediaite, assistant chief of correspondents for the Bureau of National Affairs, and a board member of NLGJA. They and other gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender NLGJA members in the audience, journalists from across the country, will be participating, asking questions and commenting, as will be listeners from coast to coast calling in.

It was 20 years ago when the issue of “outing” first exploded on the national scene, shortly after I wrote a cover story for OutWeek magazine, titled “The Secret Gay Live of Malcolm Forbes,” within weeks of the multimillionaire’s death. The issue dominated the 1st convention of NLGJA in 1992, as newly out journalists in the mainstream media grappled with how to report on gays and lesbians in public life.

The late Randy Shilts, the groundbreaking reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle and author of the acclaimed "And the Band Played On," spoke out against reporting on the sexual orientation of public figures and dubbed gay journalists who promoted such reporting as "lavender fascists," while the late Advocate editor Richard Roulard defended outing antigay hypocrites in government. Gay conservative Andrew Sullivan, then the editor of The New Republic, came out forcefully against outing, battling with me and others at the convention. The New York Times published a terrible and biased report on the convention and on the outing debate, which actually claimed to be able to delineate our positions by the way we dressed! (Honestly, don’t believe much in this bad article, though it is an interesting artifact to take a look at.)

Twenty years later, positions have changed dramatically: Andrew Sullivan, for one, formerly attacking “the gay left” for outing, focused a great deal of time and effort in early 2010 trying to get the corporate media to report on the sexual orientation of Supreme Court Justice nominee Elena Kagan – to the consternation of many, including those who normally support reporting on closeted hypocrites. Openly gay journalist Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic, to whom Ken Mehlman came out, now says he would have outed Mehlman years ago if he had the evidence. California State Senator Roy Ashburn was outed on Facebook by the mayor of West Sacramento, but no one in the media took notice. Not until he was arrested on a DUI after leaving a gay bar did the truth come out though editors and reporters had known for a long time. Meanwhile, Judge Vaughn Walker was reported on as gay based on nothing but an “open secret,” something which media from across the country would pick up on months later, spurred by antigay zealots after he handed down his decision overturning Proposition 8.

All of these and many other revelations over the past 20 years – from Congressman Mark Foley to Senator Larry Craig -- show that the ethics and standards for reporting are still very uneven even if such reporting has moved forward. And so, we’ll exchange ideas and raise many of the questions that need to be raised in this ongoing discussion and debate. I hope you’ll all join us, Friday, 2 East, 11 West.

Listen to The Michelangelo Signorile Show weekdays live from 2-6 pm ET on Sirius XM's OutQ: Sirius 109, XM 98 and on the Sirius XM iPhone, Blackberry and Android apps. Not a subscriber? Not a problem! Listen online any time with a free seven-day pass or, if you have an iPhone, Blackberry, or Android-based phone go to the app store and download Sirius XM for free, for a 7-day trial, and listen on your phone.

Today on the Signorile Show

Florida Governor Charlie Crist, the Ken Mehlman of Sunshine State, has come out for a federal marriage amendment, banning gays from marrying, only to "clarify" by saying he meant only a amendment and he supports civil unions. How long will the media allow this charade to go on?

So much talk about Glenn Beck's rally in Washington and what looked more like the same old religious revival crowd then any newly configured conservative movement. We were told the Tea Party wasn't so into the old time religion, but all the God-talk was evident. And what is clearly a lot of white anxiety about black people was on display, as has been the case for a while now. We'll go through the speeches and take your call.

Guest / 3:30pm EST - Last week, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum lost the GOP primary nomination to Rick Scott. Who is Rick Scott? Igor Volsky, health care researcher with the Center for American Progress joins us to talk about exactly who Rick Scott is.

Guest / 4:30pm EST - Robin McGehee, co-founder of GetEQUAL, joins me this afternoon to talk about the direct actions group to push harder for ENDA with their "ENDA Summer" Campaign. She'll talk about what you can do to get involved.

Marking the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina we'll go back and listen to some clips from listeners on the Gulf Coast who called in with their stories, before, during and just after the tragedy struck.

What is President Obama and the Democrats running on this fall? As Americablog points out, young people aren't turning out it seems. And everyone else isn't getting a plan from the president on the economy, which is the issue everything will turn on. Are the Democrats in for a slaughter at the polls? We'll discuss.

And, don't forget, you can follow me on Twitter and Facebook!

Listen to The Michelangelo Signorile Show weekdays live from 2-6 pm ET on Sirius XM's OutQ: Sirius 109, XM 98 and on the Sirius XM iPhone app. Not a subscriber? Not a problem! Listen online any time with a free seven-day pass or, if you have an iPhone or Blackberry, go to the app store and download Sirius XM for free, for a 7-day trial, and listen on your phone.

Today on the Signorile Show

We'll take more of your calls and discuss the continued reaction and fallout of former RNC chairman Ken Mehlman's coming out as gay.

Guests / 3:30pm EST - After Judge Vaughn Walker made his decision that Prop8 was unconstitutional, the Right attacked Walker, saying he was bias because he's an openly gay man. The press went along with this claim, whenever they discussed Judge Walker and his historic ruling. But Judge Walker never has said publicly that he is openly gay. These claims of the judges sexuality have been said to have originated from a San Francisco Chronicle article, which said that it was an "open secret." We'll speak with Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross, who had written that article in February and their thoughts on the misrepresentation.

Guest / 4:30pm EST - Stephanie Miller, daughter of William Miller, Barry Goldwater's running mate in the 1964 run of the Republicans and progressive radio show host, recently came out publicly as a lesbian. We'll speak with her about her coming out and why she decided to do it now.

Glenn Beck is planning a rally on the 47th anniversary of Martin Luthur King's historic civil rights march, and claims he's going to "relaim civil rights." It has many civil rights leaders outraged. We'll get into it.

We didn't get to do them yesterday, but we'll read Listener Survey's today. Have you taken it yet?

And it's Friday, so we'll be giving away out "Angel, Turkey, Gassie and Climax of the Week!"

And, don't forget, you can follow me on Twitter and Facebook!

Listen to The Michelangelo Signorile Show weekdays live from 2-6 pm ET on Sirius XM's OutQ: Sirius 109, XM 98 and on the Sirius XM iPhone app. Not a subscriber? Not a problem! Listen online any time with a free seven-day pass or, if you have an iPhone or Blackberry, go to the app store and download Sirius XM for free, for a 7-day trial, and listen on your phone.

CNN Discussion Last Night on Mehlman

The Ken Mehlman Self-Outing

We discussed this in the entire last hour of the show yesterday as the news broke and we'll be focusing on it much on today's show. At least from our calls and from statements I've been reading from LGBT leaders and bloggers, there's lots of anger over former RNC chair and Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman's ugly and cruel work against LGBT rights and his seemingly unrepentant desire to now move on. And there's also the pragmatic understanding among some that Mehlman can now be very helpful and certainly it puts more pressure on President Obama and the Democrats. Mehlman has not really taken responsibility for his involvement in horrendous antigay campaigns in the few interviews I've read, including with The Advocate's Kerry Eleveld, either claiming he tried to temper the attack or just wasn't emotionally equipped yet to deal with them, something that seems hard to believe.

What is outrageous about the media coverage right now is the whitewash of history and the downplaying of Mehlman's role in making laws against us. The media covered up Mehlman's hypocrisy for years -- while they had no problem outing Judge Walker as gay -- and now have a vested interest in making it seem like he wasn't so involved in antigay efforts. The New York Times even claims he "personally" avoided social issues (they actually added the word "personally" last night) which is just ridiculous. This man, as RNC chair and as campaign manager for George W. Bush in 2004, okayed all of the antigay ads that ran in states across the country, as Mike Rogers points out in detail.

Mehlman's coming out may be good thing -- it splits Republicans further, isolates the homophobes even more at a time when other prominent conservatives are jumping from the antigay ship and, as I said, puts pressure on the Democrats and President Obama. But it's important that history not be obscured, no matter what Mehlman's motives are and whether or not he intends to now do much good working for the cause. And there must be accountability for the actions of people who do the kind of work that harmed gay people -- perhaps even caused young LGBT people to commit suicide, believing all the hate and bile that was spewed in these campaigns -- and so far, Mehlman hasn't been the least bit apologetic or contrite, while the media and some gay leaders are giving him a pass.

We'll get into all of the issues on the today's show and take calls.

Today on the Signorile Show

At 3:30 ET the Rev. Jane Spahr joins me to talk about the Presbyterian Church trial she is being put through for having married 16 gay and lesbian couples in California when marriage was legal there briefly in 2008.

At 4:30 ET Jane Brox, author of Brilliant: The Evolution of Artificial Light

And lots of other topics, just don't have time to jot them down today!

And, don't forget, you can follow me on Twitter and Facebook!

Listen to The Michelangelo Signorile Show weekdays live from 2-6 pm ET on Sirius XM's OutQ: Sirius 109, XM 98 and on the Sirius XM iPhone app. Not a subscriber? Not a problem! Listen online any time with a free seven-day pass or, if you have an iPhone or Blackberry, go to the app store and download Sirius XM for free, for a 7-day trial, and listen on your phone.