Off for the Holiday Weekend

No live show today -- I'm taking a five day weekend. "Best of" shows will air today, tomorrow and on July 4, Monday. Have a great Independence Day weekend. Back with the live show on Tuesday.

Today on the Signorile Show

President Obama is having an LGBT Pride cocktail party in the White House, but his position on marriage equality is hanging thick in the air. Today, once again, he was asked several times during a press conference and got tongue-tied. And now Michele Obama is denying claims that she is in favor of marriage. Can the president really sit out marriage into 2012? We'll get into it and take your calls.

In her book Quirk: Brain Science Makes Sense of Your Peculiar Personality, neuroscience writer Hannah Holmes explains how biology can provide significant clues about why people feel and act as they do. She discusses how five personality factors work in your brain, and even has a test to show which ones you score hi on. I'll interview her at 3:30 ET. I took the test and you'll be shocked to know I didn't score high on "agreeableness."

At 4:30 et, pop singer, actor and former boy band member Lance Bass joins me a few days before the Friday launch of his new show on Sirus XM OutQ: "The Pop Ten Show." (Friday at 10 ET.) We'll talk about that and about what it's like to be an openly gay celebrity icon these days.

Listen to The Michelangelo Signorile Show weekdays live from 2-6 pm ET on Sirius XM's OutQ 108 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 or Blackberry, go to the app store and download Sirius XM for free, for a 7-day trial, and listen on your phone.

Should Ken Mehlman Be Forgiven?

Yesterday I asked on the show if former RNC chairman and Bush 2004 campaign manager Ken Mehlman -- who, while closeted, helped push the antigay, anti-marriage ballot measures in the states to re_elect George W.Bush -- should be forgiven now that is out of the closet and helped to get marriage equality in New York? And I played this clip from activist Jon Winkleman, who confronted Mehlman at the Stonewall Inn on the night of the historic vote. Andy Towle explains some of Winkleman's reasoning also outlines some of the work that Mehlman has done for marriage equality. On the show, most callers were completely unforgiving -- "he has blood on his hands, he'll have to do much, much more" -- but one, a gay Republican, said we should move on. What do you think?

Today on the Signorile Show

We will be all about the big victory in New York on marriage equality, and how it happened. We'll go through all the speeches, on floor during the historic vote, and the comments from Governor Cuomo and others afterward. We'll be taking calls from all of you in New York and around the country. What does it mean to you? Your thoughts, observations feelings -- and wedding intentions!

We'll be talking to some key people in the fight as well At 2:30 ET, Evan Wolfson of Freedom To Marry joins us. At 3:30 ET, Nate Silver who writes the FiveThirtyEight blog at the NY Times keys us in to how this plays out politically, and what it means about Gov.Cuomo and for President Obama. And at 4:30 ET, Assemblyman Danny O'Donnell, the openly gay legislator who led the fight for marriage equality in New York. A lot to do, and we definitely want to hear from as many of you as possible, so call in and let us know your thoughts.

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 108 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 or Blackberry, go to the app store and download Sirius XM for free, for a 7-day trial, and listen on your phone.

Boston Globe: Barrios Should Have Resigned

In a stinging editorial the Boston Globe says that "gay bloggers were justified in hounding Jarrett Barrios," the former president of the Gay an Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), for endorsing the AT&T/T-Mobile merger:

Barrios’s fall tarnishes the reputation of the former Massachusetts state senator, a charismatic politician once thought to be destined to hold higher statewide office. But the episode raises deeper questions about GLAAD and its peer organizations. Two other organizations with no official business related to telecommunications — the NAACP and the National Education Association — wrote letters in support of AT&T’s merger with T-Mobile after receiving large contributions from the company. Clearly, some activist groups have grown a little too fond of their corporate backers, at a cost to their credibility. A lawmaker who receives a letter from GLAAD or the NAACP on a mundane piece of business like a corporate merger might understandably give less credence to their letters on civil rights. Shilling for AT&T makes them seem more like paid lobbyists than clarions of justice; it carries more than a whiff of hackery.

GLAAD moved in the right direction, the editorial notes, by having Barrios resign. Certainly, as I've pointed out, the resignation of the former AT&T official Troup Coronado was a welcome development too, in addition to 7 other board members, mostly Barrios supporters. The next thing the board should do to regain the trust of the community and move on from this is withdraw its endorsement of the merger.

Less "Evolved" Than Dick Cheney?

It's Pride Day 2011, and as the AP points out, the day gets a big boost from the passage of the marriage equality law. It will probably the biggest Pride parade ever in New York.

Lot's of celebration in the air but we must also look toward the future: And part of that is focusing on President Obama's ridiculous stance -- "evolving"-- on marriage equality. He only gives ammunition to our enemies by being opposed to marriage now. After the monumental New York win, and the powerful push for equal rights by Governor Cuomo, and the vote by a Republican-controlled state senate, the president looks so far behind. He came to Manhattan to take gay money last week, only to tell us that what we just achieved is something he is opposed to. That is not just some minor point for us to give him pass on it. It is a direct assault on our rights. The president is now on the side of the people working against, while the universe of those working for us and joining us in this fight has just grown exponentially.

As I said to Politico, in a quote that has been picked up by CBS and others, "When your position on something like this is behind Laura Bush, that is a problem." I'd add, to use the president's "evolution" term, if you're less evolved than Dick Cheney that is pretty scary.

Jubilation!

What a night it was, and what a Pride weekend it is going to be. Congratulations New York and congratulations to the world, as getting marriage equality here is a monumental achievement for our movement.

As the most influential and most populous state to make marriage equality a reality, New York has completely reinvigorated our movement. This is a game changer of huge proportions. New York State follows pioneering states like Vermont and New Hampshire which also attained marriage equality not through the courts but through a vote by legislators, the people's representatives. As small states,Vermont and New Hampshire -- which followed Massachusetts, the first state to have marriage equality, after its highest court ruled gays and lesbians couldn't be excluded from marriage -- are often able to experiment with new ideas. They did something big by showing that the world does not fall apart and heterosexual marriage is not affected in any way if legislators have the guts to allow gays and lesbians marry. Now, the sheer magnitude of New York takes the fight for equality in a different direction. New York City's position as the center of the world on so many fronts brings marriage equality far into the mainstream. New York, as a business leader, a cultural leader, a media leader, an education leader, an entertainment industry leader, a fashion industry leader and political leader in the U.S. -- and as the seat of the United Nations -- will have enormous influence in bringing equal rights and marriage equality to many states and to the world.

It's not that marriage is the be-all and end-all. Marriage is a right that not everyone, perhaps not even most LGBT people, may want to exercise. But it is something denied us, an institution that for too long has been cordoned off for straights only. That can't be tolerated. Knocking down the walls of marriage knocks down many other walls of inequality. We cannot accept any laws written against us.

And make no mistake: Over 30 states have ugly amendments to their constitutions banning marriage for gays and lesbians, defining LGBT people in those states as less than everyone else. In most states it is legal to discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in housing, employment and public accommodations, because there are no civil rights protections. In some states LGBT people cannot adopt children. We nave no federal civil rights protections beyond the long overdue hate crimes act. The Defense of Marriage Act is still harming us, challenged in court but still there preventing the federal benefits of marriage. And though it is on its last legs and we hope it will be gone in a matter of months, "don't ask, don't tell" is still the law of the land.

So, there is much work ahead. But what happened in New York last night will be seen to have been as pivotal as what happened in this state, in this city, over 40 years ago when patrons at the Stonewall Inn said, "Enough!" In the streets of Manhattan last night, all over Chelsea and the West Village, couples were proudly holding hands, celebrating the fact that they're not second class citizens in their relationships. I was energized by all the young people dancing in the streets, packing the Stonewall Inn and spilling way outside. There must have been over 1000 people there -- gay, straight, transgender, young, old, men, women of every race -- on Sheridan Square and in the street, embracing and dancing at the site where it all began. The history of the struggles and triumphs of this movement -- from the Stonewall riots up through the darkest and most ghastly days of the AIDS pandemic and into this period of dizzying achievements and the occasional, expected heart-sinking losses -- was in the air. Everyone was connecting, euphoric and realizing that it is our time.

Happy Pride to all!

Finally, A Vote

Finally the Senate will vote on marriage tonight. This could be a historic weekend. No one knows what time, but it will come up in the next few hours. I'll be here and on twitter. And you can watch the live stream from the NY Senate floor on Towleroad.

Excruciating!

Last night I went to a party honoring Dan Savage, in town to be grand marshall of the Pride parade, on a weekend that could be a major celebration in New York or an all out protest depending on what happens in Albany. Everyone was on pins and needles about marriage in New York and the vote, but we all were really believing this was the last night, as the Republican leader Dean Skelos said senators would be pulling out an "all-nighter." Shortly after I got home, however, Skelos abruptly adjourned the senate, at about 11 p.m., without votes on several major issues, including property tax caps, rent regulations and marriage equality. I guess in Albany, an all-nighter means going to bed at midnight.

It's outrageous that these people negotiate in secret while our rights hang in the balance, and the New York Times slams them all, including the governor and the Democratic assembly leader, for doing so. By not voting last night they actually allowed rent regulations to expire in New York. Apparently the rent and tax bills weren't even printed up yet and there were still major changes and they'd be there until four or five a.m. And it's clear they're waiting to the very end to even decide on a marriage vote, let alone take one. They're reconvening at 10 a.m. this morning.

So that means, hopefully, there may be a vote today. Skelos is planning on it, saying "I'm convinced -- how many times have I said that? -- we will get it done.I want to have all the bills in print, everything, and then we'll discuss the same-sex marriage [bill]."

But it remains unclear if they'll have the time. Governor Cuomo's office still appears confident a vote will be taken. Seantor Ball, meanwhile, previously one of the undecided Republicans, has said the religious exemptions he fought for are not enough for him, and he is voting no, though he believes the bill will pass. So, we'll see what this day brings in Albany, and everywhere. And we'll go live to the NY Senate floor if this vote happens during the show today. Listen in!

And don't forget to vote on this week's Gassy of the Week award. I think a certain New York State senator is the top contender.

Today on Signorile Show

So many conflicting reports of what's happening around the marriage vote in New York. We'll g live to Albany for the historic vote if it takes place, but now we're told it's likely going to happen tomorrow. We're checking in with activists in New York and Albany, as well as journalists such as Paul Schindler of Gay City News.

UK activist Peter Tatchell is in from London, and joins me in studio to talk about all the great work he does taking on homophobia around the globe. 3:30 ET.

President Obama ave a speech announcing the early withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. Republicans are already criticizing it, even though Mitt Romney seems to agree. We'll go through the speech and break it down and listen to the criticism.

The President is visiting New York for a gala gay fundraiser. And GetEQUAL and other activists are protesting outside, demanding he go all the way -- evolve already -- on marriage. We'll talk with Robin McGehee all about it. 4:30 ET.

And more on the pilot's hate rant!

GLAAD Kicks AT&T Exec Off Board

In a welcome action that will help GLAAD move on from the AT&T gaywashing scandal, Troup Coronado, the former AT&T official and former Orrin Hatch staffer, has resigned from the board of GLAAD. A statement from GLAAD notes that he "resigned voluntarily, stating that he 'wanted to do what was in the best interest of GLAAD,'" but clearly he was pressured in the wake of the scandal. The conflict of interest -- the backing of the merger with an AT&T lobbyist on the board -- was obviously enough reason to take action. In recent days it came to light that Coronado once worked for the Heritage Foundation, the conservative, antigay think tank. Coronado still sits on the board of the Equality Californa Institute, and activists are pressuring that group and others to remove him.

GLAAD announced Coronado's resignation in the first formal press release announcing the board's acceptance of Jarrett Barrios's resignation as president as well. It was the first communication from GLAAD on the controversy since Saturday, when communications director Rich Ferraro emailed media outlets that Barrios had resigned and noting that a statement would be forthcoming that night. But no statement materialized. Since then, as I reported, the board met to discuss the resignation and, according to sources, Barrios at first was trying to keep his job, even claiming he never resigned and rallying friends on the board not to accept his resignation, but ultimately decided to bring closure to this controversy.

That report appears to be backed up by an email from Barrios to the board, sent last Saturday, that is included in the GLAAD release. It seems on the surface like a resignation but never quite says "I resign," only vaguely referring to "the right course of action," without saying what that is:

“None of you have asked me to resign, and I have appreciated such confidence in me. I have been pained by the difficulties that have beset GLAAD over the last three weeks. As you know, they concern GLAAD’s endorsement of the AT&T / T-Mobile merger—and inaccurate but effective characterizations that suggest GLAAD has supported this merger because of our relationship with them as a corporate sponsor. As many of you have observed to me, this entire situation is wrought with miscommunication and assumptions. Be that as it may, I respect the function and responsibility of my position, and know this is the right course of action."

"Of utmost concern and foremost in all of our minds must be the well-being of GLAAD. The staff continues to work hard and does not deserve to work under a cloud, nor do they merit the distraction that it has become from our organization’s fine brand."

GLAAD also announced that seven board members have resigned -- Gary Bitner, Jocelyn Bramble, Kelly Dermody, Humberto Mata, Michael Nutt, James Walker and Randi Weingarten -- in addition to Coronado, bringing the total number to eight resignations from the board. The statement also makes clear that GLAAD doesn't oppose net neutrality, AT&T's position, but that it does not have a position on net neutrality "at this time."

GLAAD announced that Chief Operating Officer Mike Thompson will be Acting President.

UPDATE: This post has been corrected. Coronado is no longer on AIDS Project Los Angeles board, having left in January 2011.

A Vote on Marriage

The latest reports are that the marriage vote in New York will happen today. We've heard that before of course, but it does look like work on other major bills winding down and the Senate is going to take up the marriage equality bill.

Meanwhile, President Obama is headed to New York to raise lots of cash from gay Democrats at a gala fundraiser. His timing couldn't be worse -- or better -- depending on how you look at it. What the hell will he tell the audience? Congratulations, even though I don't agree with you -- but hey, give me some more cash?

GetEQUAL, Queer Rising and Join the Impact, direct action groups, plan to protest outside the event, demanding that Obama "evolve already" on marriage equality.

We'll be going live on the show both to the protest at 5:30 ET and, if we're on the air when it happens, to Albany for the historic vote. Could be a very big day!

More Fallout of AT&T Scandal

It's amazing how far-reaching the AT&T gaywashing scandal turns out to be. Now, Equality California, which also has the AT&T official and former Heritage Foundation staffer Troup Coronado on its board, has admitted to supposedly being duped by the "trojan horse" letter opposing net neutrality, having sent it to the FCC. And they have now retracted it. And now the San Francisco LGBT Center, which has taken over $100,000 from AT&T has been revealed to have backed the merger of AT&T and T-Mobile with a letter to the California regulators. The corporate buy-up of LGBT groups appears to be more widespread than anyone imagined.

GLAAD Board Member Worked For Antigay Group

The Washington Blade reveals a startling bit of information about Troup Coronado, the GLAAD board member and AT&T executive at the center of the recent controversy, and who we know helped install antigay judges: He previously worked for the right-wing, antigay Heritage Foundation and is in C-Span videos touting representing the organization:

After an investigation into Coronado’s past, the Blade has discovered that a Troup Coronado who graduated from the University of Texas at Austin the same year as AT&T’s Coronado, and whom an anonymous source confirmed is the same person, appeared in several CSPAN videos from 1991-1993 as a representative of the anti-gay conservative think-tank the Heritage Foundation. Jeremy Hooper of the GoodAsYou blog was able to identify several instances of media outlets covering the Heritage Foundation opposition to pro-LGBT legislation in the 1980s and 1990s, and Heritage has been vocal in opposing same-sex marriage over the past decade. The CSPAN video gives Coronado’s title at the organization as Director of the New Majority Project.

The Heritage Foundation declined to comment about the purpose of this now-defunct program, but according to a July 14, 1991 Newsweek article by Charles Lane, titled “Defying the stereotypes,” the project is defined as the body’s “minority outreach program.”

A search of the Heritage Foundation archives reveals transcripts of presentations given on behalf of the program including controversial conservative figures such as Errol Smith, who would go on in 1996 to serve as vice chair of the California Civil Rights Initiative, which successfully pushed for a ballot measure prohibiting the use of so-called “Affirmative Action” at California public institutions. Coronado was present for Smith’s February 1992 speech before Heritage Foundation members on racism in the African-American community, and was referenced several times in the text of the speech.

In addition, CSPAN’s website features videos of Coronado acting as president of the Washington chapter of the Ex-Students Association of his alma mater, as well as another video introducing disgraced radio host Armstrong Williams, who later apologized for taking $240,000 from the Bush administration to promote the Department of Education’s “No Child Left Behind” law on his television and radio appearances.

Just absolutely stunning. Go read the whole piece, great work by Phil Reese.

Six GLAAD Board Members Resign

In the wake of the AT&T gaywashing scandal and the resignation of GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios, six GLAAD board members, including American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten, have also resigned, reports Politico:

Six board members of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation have resigned amid the fallout over the organization's letter in support of AT&T’s proposed bid for wireless rival T-Mobile, a person familiar with the matter told POLITICO.

Some board members were said to have resigned because of concerns that GLAAD failed to adhere to its conflict of interest standards and to protest GLAAD's failure to protect its president, Jarrett Barrios, who submitted his letter of resignation to the group Saturday amid a growing backlash in the gay blogosphere over the group's AT&T stance.

Most of the six are Barrios loyalists whom he'd installed, including Gary Bitner, p.r. guy whom the board insisted come on my show with Barrios (a request I refused). Not on the list, however, is Troup Coronado, the Republican former Orrin Hatch staffer and AT&T executive on the board who pushed for the backing of the merger and the net neutrality letter (and has helped put antigay judges on the bench.) The board now must act to remove him. And he must step down from the boards of other groups, including Equality California, or be removed.

Is Today the Day?

Yesterday was the longest day of the year -- and the longest day of the year! Waiting on the New York State Senate on marriage equality has been excruciating. And every day that goes by without a vote just gives more ground to our enemies. Governor Cuomo now says he believes the votes are there, that the marriage equality bill will pass, and it looks like today will be the day. I'm not holding my breath, but if so we will go live to Albany for the historic vote if it comes during the show, interviewing activists and others. And always go to Towleroad for the latest updates. Governor Cuomo spoke to reporters late yesterday.

GLAAD, AT&T, Barrios: The Fallout Continues

Jarrett Barrios may be on his way out, but many of the details surrounding the AT&T gaywashing scandal continue to emerge, shining a bright light on Barrios's tenure, exposing further questionable actions on the part of the former GLAAD president. Yesterday I referred to sources telling me that Barrios had paid his administrative assistant Jeanne Cristiano in part from his political campaign committee as a political candidate in Massachusetts (where he was a state legislator), in addition to her salary at GLAAD.

These records confirm that in fact Cristiano was paid $15,000 from Barrios's campaign finance committee in 2010 and in 2009 she was paid $7,500 toward the end of the year, after she took the job with GLAAD. Cristiano, a long-time aide and confident of Barrios's, is indeed named at the top of the documents as the Treasurer of the Barrios Committee, an officer of the campaign. Many politicians keep their campaign committees open should they decide to run again in the future, and Barrios has over $500,000 in campaign funds. When not running for office the expenditures should be minimal. For the most part they are in this case -- except for the payments to Cristiano.

If you look you'll see that most of the expenditures in 2010 -- the total of which amount to little over $40,000 -- amount to financial service fees, tax payments and one payment to an accountant, all standard fees. But there are two very curious payments to JMC, Inc., at 53 Abbott Avenue, in Everett, MA. Property records show that the home at that address is owned by Jeanne M. Cristiano, and the two payments, presumably to her company, JMC, are for $7,500 each for "database management." But what database management is required of a dormant political campaign, and should it cost $15,000 a year?

During that time, Cristiano, as treasurer of Barrios Committee, was also getting a salary at GLAAD as Jarrett Barrios's administrative assistant. But according to one former GLAAD staffer, that position had been phased out in budget cuts by former GLAAD President Neil Giuliano, who instituted a reduction of force. The position was eliminated before Barrios got there, for cost saving. Somehow Barrios managed to carve out money for that position. But perhaps it wasn't enough money to cover Cristiano's needs so he supplemented her with $15,000 from his campaign committee and called it "database management." Whether or not that is the case, and whether or not her "database management" work on the campaign is legit, this arrangement surely raises a variety of serious ethical questions.

Meanwhile, the extent of AT&T's attempts to buy influence in the LGBT community, and LGBT groups' interactions with the FCC, are coming into sharper focus. Bil Browning at Bilerico reports that Barrios and GLAAD board member Tony Varona -- who several insiders describe as Barrios's chief sponsor on the board, having brought him in and remaining his main defender until recently -- had "met with the FCC chief Bill Lake and Deputy Director Bob Radcliffe in mid-May of last year. Varona is a former FCC attorney." (Emphasis added.) According to a GLAAD spokesman speaking to Bilerico, they "met with the FCC in May 2010 to discuss GLAAD's involvement in present and future FCC proceedings (including broadband proliferation items, public interest programming initiatives, etc.)"

And yesterday I and others received an email from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. They too now claim they were duped by AT&T's "trojan horse" form letter, in which AT&T sent the groups a letter for them to just sign and send to the FCC regarding net neutrality. The NGLTF letter was the same letter that GLAAD sent to the FCC, and though it is written in a way that makes it seem innocuous or in favor of net neutrality, it is, to the eye of those in the telecommunications industry, an anti-net neutrality letter. Like GLAAD, NGLTF withdrew the letter once the deception was brought to their attention. Unlike GLAAD they didn't lie or cover-up the letter, nor did they go on to back the merger of AT&T and T-Mobile. According to their statement, the dupe had them revisit their policies:

"The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force submitted a letter to the Federal Communications Commission on Jan. 5, 2010, about rules and regulations regarding net neutrality. The letter was a response to a request by AT&T. However, we quickly realized that we had not gone through an appropriate internal process on such policy matters and that the Jan. 5 letter did not accurately reflect our views and was a mistake. As a result, on Jan. 14, the Task Force submitted an additional letter to the FCC clarifying the organization's position on net neutrality."

"The Task Force has established a clearer internal review process that applies to any request for sign-on or policy endorsement from any group, organization or corporate partner. We have not issued any additional letters on net neutrality. Additionally the Task Force has declined requests from our corporate partner AT&T for further action regarding this issue and declined requests to write a letter regarding the proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile."

How can any group continue to have a relationship with a corporation that is trying to trick the group into backing its policies to government agencies? Of course, the groups allowed themselves to fall for it. It is absolutely astounding how eager they are to please the corporations to the point where they don't even carefully read a letter to which they are committing themselves and the LGBT community -- every one of us.

Today on the Signorile Show

Guest / 3:30pm EST - Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington (CREW) has filed an ethics complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics last week against House Speaker John Boehner for violating House rules when hiring outside counsel to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Melanie Sloan, executive director with CREW, joins us this afternoon to explain what these ethics complaints could mean for DOMA as it moves along in the House.

Guest / 4:30pm EST - Michelle Goldberg, a senior contributing writer with The Daily Beast, joins us on the show today to talk about a piece she wrote exploring Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann and "the radical roots of her ideology."

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 108 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 or Blackberry, go to the app store and download Sirius XM for free, for a 7-day trial, and listen on your phone.

A Historic Day?

All indications are that, finally, in the last day of the legislative session, the marriage equality bill will come to a vote in New York State. And Governor Cuomo and advocates are confident they have the votes to pass it. We will go live to Albany on the show if the vote happens during airtime -- 2-6 ET and we'll be connecting with reporters, activists and others on what could be a very historic day.

Is Barrios Trying to Get GLAAD Board to Save Him?

Jarrett Barrios emailed me Sunday evening confirming that he resigned as president of GLAAD. Why is that important? Because I'm told that right now Barrios is denying to GLAAD board members that he resigned, trying to get the full board of GLAAD to save him, not accept (nor call for) his resignation, and rebut the executive committee, which voted to remove him. He is counting on friends and supporters on the board whom he put in place last year after several board members left in protest of his egregious behavior.

On Saturday evening media outlets were told in an email from GLAAD communications director Rich Ferraro that Barrios had resigned and that we would all get a full statement later in the evening. It has been over 24 hours since then, however, and no statement has materialized. Is that because Barrios indeed has pulled back on his resignation? Is Barrios prepared to throw more people under the bus, including his communications director, and claim he never resigned?

I hate that it's all going this way and that I must report this, but Barrios is the one who is now prepared to take everyone down with him. As Politico reports, the fallout continues at GLAAD, and certainly it will be magnified if he refuses to leave. So, I emailed him directly asking if he has backed off resigning, and I brought up further questions that would remain relevant if he is not resigning.

One has to do with reports from several sources that major foundations are ready to pull all funding from GLAAD over this controversy. The other has to do with his administrative assistant, Jeanne Christiano, who two sources tell me is paid in part from Barrios's campaign fund from when he was a political candidate in Massachusetts, where she is listed as the campaign treasurer. Not only does that fact raise many issues, but it is of even more concern considering that Barrios says she sent the FCC letter. Did she send it in the capacity as treasurer of his campaign as well? I asked about these issues and said that if he is not resigning they remain relevant.

I received this response back from Jarrett Barrios:

From: Jarrett Barrios
Date: June 19, 2011 6:17:19 PM EDT
To: "'mike@signorile.com'"
Subject: Re: Some questions

Mr Signorile,

I have resigned and there is nothing further to speculate about.

Jarrett Barrios

So, for the record, Jarrett Barrios has said, in an email to me, that he has resigned. Let's see if that indeed is what he is saying to the board, or if he is going to continue to lie and manipulate in order to save himself while destroying GLAAD.

Breaking: GLAAD President Resigns

Jarrett Barrios, the president of GLAAD, has just sent the board of GLAAD his resignation letter. A statement will be going out from GLAAD tonight, but GLAAD confirmed in an email that Barrios did resign. This comes following the report earlier today from Ben Smith at Politico, that the executive committee of the board had voted to remove Barrios.

The resignation capped a controversy that began with the startling news of GLAAD's backing of the AT&T/T-Mobile merger and then reports of a letter to the FCC written by GLAAD opposing net neutrality, which was later withdrawn. The circumstances around that letter had been covered up by GLAAD and Barrios, until he finally admitted he had sent the letter. Allegations that Barrios was trading favors with board members, including AT&T's Troup Coronado, were first made by former board co-chair Laurie Perper on my show last week.

Jarrett Barrios has done much for the movement,certainly as a legislator in Massachusetts, and we should thank him for his service and wish him well. Now, all the hard-working activists at GLAAD,many of whom are friends and colleagues of mine, can get back to working for LGBT rights without this distraction. The GLAAD board now must remove Troup Coronado from the board. And it has much more to do in looking at the future of the organization.

Today on the Signorile Show

This morning, news broke that Rep. Anthony Weiner will be resigning from office over "Weinergate." He will make the announcement during our show, we'll carry it as the news breaks.

Guest / 3:30pm EST - We've talked about the initiative in San Francisco to get voters to vote for a circumcision ban in the city. Today, we speak with Lloyd Schofield, the Proponent for San Francisco's Male Circumcision Initiative, about what this law would look like and what the penalties would be should they circumcize someone under 18 years old.

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 108 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 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

Guest / 2:30pm EST - Shannon Minter, legal director with the National Center for Lesbian Rights, joins us this afternoon to explain the decision out of California in which US District Judge James Ware decided that Federal Judge Vaughn Walker's decision should stand and that his sexual orientation has no bearing on Perry vs. Schwarzenegger.

Guest / 3:30pm EST - At this very moment, you are growing older. And as we grow older, we worry about our looks, our health, and our jobs. Margaret Morganroth Gullette, author of Agewise: Fighting the New Ageism In America, joins us today to discuss her new book, which reveals what we dread most about aging is actually the result of ageism.

Guest / 4:30pm EST - Slate reporter Annie Lowrey returns to the program to talk about a recent article she wrote, "The Rent Isn't Too Damn High," which explains why more and more American's are renting rather than buying... and why that could be a good thing.

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 108 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 or Blackberry, go to the app store and download Sirius XM for free, for a 7-day trial, and listen on your phone.

No, Tracy Morgan Did Not Try to Have Sex With Me...

...but what actually allegedly happened is certainly jaw-dropping.

A caller to Howard Stern's show this morning said that he heard discussion on my show about Tracy Morgan -- specifically about Morgan making sexual advances, and said he thought I, too, said Morgan came on to me. That is not true. Here is the actual phone call to my show, from a man who told of a run-in with Tracy Morgan in the bathroom of the New York restaurant Cafeteria.

GLAAD Board Member Helped Install Antigay Judges

As the scandal mushrooms regarding GLAAD's leadership selling the group and the community out to AT&T -- having sent an AT&T-written letter opposing net neutrality to the FCC and backing the AT&T/T-Mobile merger -- we are now learning much more about the former AT&T lobbyist on GLAAD's board, Troup Coronado.

Jane Hamsher exposes how Coronado, a Republican operative who once worked for Orrin Hatch, helped to put antigay judges on the federal bench, all in the interest of helping his corporate clients and employers:

After the 2004 election, George Bush wanted to jam 10 extreme right-wing judges onto the bench who had been filibustered by the Democrats in the Senate: Miguel Estrada, Priscilla Owen, Charles W. Pickering, Carolyn Kuhl, David W. McKeague, Henry Saad,Richard Allen Griffin, William H. Pryor, William Gerry Myers III and Janice Rogers Brown. Troup Coronado played an affirmative role in helping him do that...

...Now, I know why Coronado was part of the effort. Bellsouth, AIG and BofA were “corporate members” of the group, and the Chamber was in a no-holds barred war to get Bush’s corporate-friendly judges onto the bench. But for any LGBT group, the bottom line should have been that when LGTB rights were pitted against corporate rights, Coronado was willing to give a group of people with seriously homophobic judicial histories enormous power to determine the future of lives of people within the LGTB community.

Why is this guy on on the boards of any LGBT groups? And how could GLAAD continue to allow him to serve after the damage he's done to the group and to their president, Jarrett Barrios, who at this point has lost the faith of so many and has no choice but to resign?

Today on the Signorile Show

Back after a day off on Friday (under the weather) and so much going on. We'll get into the controversy over Tracy Morgan's antigay rant, as I speak with Kevin Rogers, the man who went public about what he heard in that auditorium in Nashville. Also, blogger and activist Rod McCollum joins me to discuss how it plays out when a black comic makes antigay comments and the most visible voices speaking out are white activists, while some black public figures (in this case CNN's Roland Martin and, initially Chris Rock) support him. A lot to think about and talk about.

Kevin Rogers joins me at 2:30 ET, and Rod McCollum at 3:30 ET.


Also a big week for marriage equality, with a possible vote in New York. Will the Empire State make history, becoming the largest state in the union to led gays and lesbians wed? Paul Schindler from Gay City News joins me to discuss it.


And of course, more on Anthony Weiner's fate and the Democratic leadership caves in and shamefully calls for him to resign. And speaking of resignations, will Jarrett Barrios, the president of GLAAD, resign amid the recent controversies. We'll update you on the latest.


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 108 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 or Blackberry, go to the app store and download Sirius XM for free, for a 7-day trial, and listen on your phone.

No Live Show Today

Hey all, feeling under the weather after I ate something that didn't agree with me last night, and off from the live show. A "best of" will air. Back on Monday when we'll get into the Tracy Morgan controversy, the latest in the GLAAD turmoil and so much more.

GLAAD President Admits Allegation on FCC Letter True

After having his staffers call around and savage the reputation of GLAAD former board co-chair Laurie Perper, GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios has now admitted that one of the most serious allegations she told me on the show earlier in the week is true. Barrios would not come on my show to respond to the allegations, and instead had his staff trying to cover them up or change the subject and vilify and attack the messenger.

Barrios now admits that the letter to the FCC opposing net neutrality on behalf of GLAAD was sent by his office and he did approve it. He is blaming his administrative assistant for sending the trojan horse letter -- a form letter which GLAAD sponsor AT & T sent to GLAAD for the group to sign onto, a letter that opposes net neutrality even though the wording is very vague and to those outside the industry it might seem like it is pro-neutrality when it is not. But Barrios admits that he did sign off on it, even though, he claims, he didn't really know what it was nor did he read it. Barrios spoke to Bil Browning at Bilerico.com:

The letter's origins lay with AT&T; the telecom giant sent Barrios suggested wording for another letter to the FCC. Barrios' special assistant used the language verbatim to create the letter, signed his name to it, and sent it in.

Barrios recounts that he was at an airport when his assistant called him to go through some items on his agenda. In a hurry to board his plane, when she told him that "they" wanted him to send in the letter to the FCC, Barrios assumed he needed to resend his first letter again. He authorized her to send the letter without any oversight.

Barrios' special assistant, Jeanne Christiano, is a longtime staffer for the embattled leader. When he served in the Massachusetts state senate, she was his Director of Budget & District Relations. When Barrios became the president of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, Christiano joined him at the new office. When Barrios accepted the position with GLAAD in New York, Christiano relocated with him to continue serving as his special assistant.

While her job entails administrative duties like scheduling and filing expense reports, staffers describe her more as an advisor and confidante of Barrios. He confirmed she fills a much larger role than an administrative assistant and says she advises him on administrative decisions but not policy decisions.

"This was from a letter with language from AT&T suggesting that we support this, and at the time, it was not something I had seen," Barrios said. "When I saw it, we withdrew it to reflect our perspective."

As Browning notes: "This belies Barrios' earlier statement to the FCC that he didn't authorize the second letter or have any knowledge of it's origins. In actuality, he was trying to cover up for a longtime friend and advisor's mistake."

It also is an act of enormous incompetence in which no one was made to take responsibility, as the assistant is still with the group. Perhaps she is still with GLAAD because she really didn't make the mistake after all. Laurie Perper stated that Barrios did in fact send the letter, but used the assistant story as cover. According to Perper, the assistant is taking the hit for her boss's incompetence. Whatever the details, the fact that Barrios and GLAAD at first tried to cover up the allegations and savage Laurie Perper is outrageous. As in all scandals, it's the cover-up, the deception that is more egregious here. As one of his board members telegraphed yesterday, Barrios is not "qualified' to run the organization. It pains me to see this, as I admire and respect the great work of people like Rich Ferraro, who runs GLAAD'S media operation, and others who work at GLAAD who I consider friends. These people work hard to fight for the cause. They deserve better leadership.

Jarrett Barrios must resign. From what I'm told, he actually is looking to get out of GLAAD, having applied for an opening as executive director of Equality California. He didn't get it. And it's hard to imagine who would hire him after this fiasco.

GLAAD President Not "Qualified" To Speak

Yesterday, after GLAAD declined to have the president Jarrett Barrios come on my show without a board member accompanying him to discuss the recent controversies, GLAAD began offering the duo to other media outlets. One of those was Bilerico.com, where Adam Polaski conducted an interview.

For a live radio broadcast there is limited time, and having two guests, particularly one who is unnecessary and might be there to run interference -- the board member GLAAD offered is a p.r. guy -- doesn't lend itself to a productive discussion. (As we told GLAAD, we're happy to have Barrios, who represents the group, and then have a board member later, separately, if we feel there are more answers needed.) For an online or print interview, however, you have more control in terms of what you use from either of the individuals, weeding out what is unnecessary. Adam Polaski did a good job at laying out the issues and asking questions that needed to be asked, and using the pertinent responses.

A few things that stuck out: In the only quote that Polaski used from Gary Bitner, the board member/p.r. guy, Bitner said that Barrios wasn't "qualified" to speak on some of the issues. I found that a very interesting choice of words for a board member to use in speaking about the group's president:

"Our decision was to go on," Bitner said, explaining that Signorile and his producers wanted to speak exclusively with Barrios. "But for the issues that would have obviously have come up, Jarrett wouldn't have been qualified to answer those questions."

On the issue of the AT&T/TMobile merger, Barrios of course said that there was no connection between the group writing the FCC in support of a merger out of the blue (they've not fully endorsed mergers and acquisitions before) and the fact that one of the board members is an AT&T executive. But it was in the discussion of the equally bizarre net neutrality letter, and the events surrounding it, that Barrios said something very interesting:

A letter under Barrios' name was submitted to the FCC that seems to support net neutrality...On Jan. 15, 2010, however, Barrios filed another letter requesting the withdrawal of the Jan. 4 letter, writing to the FCC, "I have never seen this letter and it is not my signature. Furthermore, the contents of the letter do not accurately reflect the views of our organization."

Barrios maintains that he did not sign off on the Jan. 4 letter, saying, "The letter was submitted in administrative error over a year and a half ago, and when I realized it [a few days later], I withdrew it.

This actually seems to back up former board co-chair Laurie Perper's story that Barrios or someone at GLAAD sent the letter and that Barrios later would tell people -- donors who complained and others at the group -- that his secretary or another assistant wrongly sent the letter (Perper said that this was cover, throwing his secretary or someone else under the bus, because Barrios had really sent it, but then freaked out after the complaints). In his retraction letter to the FCC, Barrios implies the original was some sort of forgery or malicious deception, but sticking with a story like that now would only continue to raise the question of why an investigation wasn't launched. So, now Barrios is saying it was an "administrative error." I wish that Polaski would have asked what that "error" was, specifically, and I hope other reporters will ask.

Polaski concludes his piece:

...[F]or a media organization to be this off-message and out of sync with its various parts is disconcerting and leaves more questions than answers.

Seems like GLAAD's damage control isn't working.

Today on the Signorile Show

Guest / 3:30pm EST - Mr. Manners Steven Petrow joins us on the show this afternoon to talk about his new book, Complete Gay & Lesbian Manners: The Definitive Guide To LGBT Life, in which he offers advice for some of the social situations LGBT people find themselves in on a daily basis.

Guest / 4:30pm EST - Openly gay Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank returns to the program to discuss with us the status on several issues, including the implementation of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal, something he has asked the president about in a recent letter addressing the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act which House Republicans have added amendments to in order to slow down the repeal effort.

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 108 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 or Blackberry, go to the app store and download Sirius XM for free, for a 7-day trial, and listen on your phone.

GLAAD President Declines to Defend Organization

After the former board co-chair of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Laurie Perper, came on the show yesterday and made very serious allegations about the motivations for GLAAD's endorsement of the AT&T/TMobile merger (and other serious concerns that have arisen), I invited GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios to come on the show today. We were told by his staff that he was indeed available for 2:30 ET.

Most of the claims about him -- that he traded favors with a board member who was an AT&T employee in backing the merger, and that he actually did write a letter to the FCC on net neutrality which Barrios had claimed was not written by him (implying it was forged) and had retracted -- were serious and I certainly wanted to give him equal time. But we were soon told that he would only come on the show with a member of the GLAAD board -- who happens to be a p.r. guy whose firm does crisis management -- and this just seemed ridiculous. GLAAD's media rep claimed only the board member could respond to what Perper said about the board members and key staffers (upwards of 14) who left the organization because of Barrios' performance. But only those board members and staffers who left could speak to that, not a current board member.

And it's interesting that they weren't even offering a board co-chair or even the board member at the center of this, the AT&T official, but rather one who does p.r. This seemed more so like Barrios needed a coach and someone who would run interference, perhaps to keep him from answering some of the questions he might not like to answer but which the LGBT community needs answers on. There is absolutely no need for a board member to come on the show because Jarrett Barrios represents the group, the job the board hired him to do.

Perhaps most telling is the complete crisis mode the group is in. Various staffers have been frantically calling around, including to my producer, trying to do damage control, refute the story, and, in some instances,smearing Laurie Perper.

It is absolutely stunning that the president of an organization facing very serious allegations cannot come on a radio show and answer questions. This only leaves all of those questions, much bigger than simply why the group backed the merger, unanswered, and the serious allegations open and not responded to. GLAAD did post a weakly written statement, but it does not address most of what Laurie Perper said (fore example, that American Airlines has dropped GLAAD entirely as a supporter); claims she lied when in fact it doesn't refute her statements; and plays creatively with numbers to make it seem as the the group is doing gangbusters, when in fact her points still stand regarding a drop of about $8 to 10 million in revenue from 2008 to 2009. (With 2010 going up a mere $657K, as the GLAAD statement claims, that drop is huge and still being felt.) And it means that the troubles at GLAAD are much bigger than any of us imagined.

Interview with GLAAD Former Board Co-Chair Laurie Perper

When the news broke on the blogs that the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation bizarrely endorsed the ATT/T-Mobile merger with a letter of support to the FCC, I decided to speak with former GLAAD board co-chair Laurie Perper, who made some serious allegations about why that endorsement happened. (The audio of the full interview is below).

Perper came into the studio today for an in-depth interview in which she said that GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios supported the merger in a letter to the FCC by trading favors with GLAAD board member Troup Coronado, a recent ATT official. Barrios, she said, needed his support because of anumber resignations of board members and staffers (unhappy with Barrios), and dwindling support for Barrios among the rest of the board. BShe revealed quite a few other things as well and made other allegations. I will go through and pull out some key points to transcribe later on. We have offered Barrios to come on and respond but GLAAD has not returned our calls all day.


Update: Perper calls for GLAAD to be completely dissolved. Says that other groups can take up the work and that GLAAD's brand is damaged.

Update: Perper says that Barrios wrote a letter to FCC opposed to Net Neutrality but then withdrew it after an uproar. However, in his retraction Barrios said the letter was not from him, and was not his signature. She claims that he told people his secretary wrote the letter without his permission when in fact he had written it. (GLAAD curiously had not launch an investigation into the allegedly forged letter.)

Update: GLAAD did get back to us in the evening and Jarrett Barrios will be on the show tomorrow, 2:30 ET.

Today on the Signorile Show

Guest / 3:30pm EST - Author and historian Michael Bronski joins us to talk about his new book, A Queer History Of The United States (Revisioning American History), which chronicles LGBT history in America, from pre-European settlers to the Stonewall Riots and rise of the gay movement in the 1970's.

Guest / 4:30pm EST - Out In America: In Their Own Words - A Moving, Diverse Portrait of LGBT Americans airs this Wednesday, June 8 on PBS (check local listings). In this program, director Andrew Goldberg brings together the stories of everyday and notable LGBT people who share their stories about love, relationships, and coming out. He joins us today to talk about the program.

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 108 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 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

Guest / 4:30pm EST - Frank Bailey, author of a new tell-all book, Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin: A Memoir of Our Tumultuous Years, joins us to talk about all the behind the scenes, working with Palin in 2006 for her run for Alaska governor to her being chosen as John McCain's Vice Presidential running mate in 2008 and shares with us her abuse of power and her not being ready for the political spotlight.

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 108 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 or Blackberry, go to the app store and download Sirius XM for free, for a 7-day trial, and listen on your phone.

Interview: ESPN's Jared Max on Coming Out

Back on May 19, ESPN Radio sports commentator Jared Max told his audience on his daily show, Maxed Out in the Morning," that he is gay. It came at a time when the sports world has seen other high-profile individuals addressing homophobia, such as U.K. Rugby start Ben Cohen, or coming out, such as Phoenix Suns CEO Rick Welts. I spoke with Jared Max yesterday about why he decided to come out and what the reaction has been.