Thursday, May 13, 2010

Today on the Signorile Show

Yesterday, we spent the last hour of the show talking about the Ramin Setoodeh Newsweek article, Straight Jacket, in which he claims that gay actors can't play straight characters. There has been a lot of reaction to this article, with GLAAD calling for Newsweek to apologize for printing this homophobic piece. Newsweek still has yet to comment on the criticism or the boycott launched by Ryan Murphy, creator of the hit TV show "Glee." Should there be a boycott of the magazine and should Newsweek apologize for printing this article? Can a gay writer write something "antigay" and what should Setoodeh do now? We'll continue the conversation this afternoon.

There is another case of discrimination against a child of gay parents, this time in Massachusetts. St. Paul Elementary School in Hingham, Mass. has denied an 8-year-old boy enrollment because his parents are a lesbian couple. According to the parish priest Rev. James Rafferty, her relationship "was in discord with the teachings of the Catholic Church," and that "the school's teachings about marriage conflict with what he sees in his family." This is certainly a case where they are thinking about the children.

Bill Henson "spent years in a gay relationship, until he came to believe that homosexuality is a sin and married the only woman he says he's ever been attracted to." The minister founded Fish On The Other Side (FOTOS) -- yes, that's the name! -- because he believes the church drives away gays with a narrow focus on sexual orientation, compared to its own sins." Is this guy a hypocrite or can he successfully build a bridge between two divided ends of the spectrum?

Guest
/ 3:30pm EST - Helping us continue the conversation we had on the subject of whether gay actors can play straight characters, Michael Jenson of AfterElton, who points to Ramin Setoode previous, homophobic writings.

Guest
/ 4:30pm EST - At the dawn of the twenty-first century, advancements in technology, interconnected global economies and New Atheists have done nothing to change one thing: our world remains furiously religious. Stephen Prothero, author of God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run The World and Why Their Differences Matter, joins us today to discuss why the world remains this way.

We are already aware that Elena Kagan clerked for Justice Thurgood Marshall in 1988; we are currently learning the roles she played during this period. "[L]iberals and conservatives alike are attributing special significance to her clerkship year with Justice Marshall, who led the civil rights movement’s legal efforts to dismantle segregation before becoming a particularly liberal Supreme Court justice." Will it be her clerkship that defines who she will be as a Justice?

A few weeks ago, we talked about a case brought forth to the Supreme Court regarding a cross in the
Mojave Desert, a federally owned land. A Park Service employee had sued on the ground of separation between church and state. Now, the cross has gone missing. Is this a case of vandalism? We'll discuss today.

We're drawing closer and closer to the mid-term elections. Incumbents are on the line in many primaries, some already losing the support of constituents from their state. Could this be the case for Senator Arlen Specter, the Republican turned Democrat, who could potentially lose his seat to challenger Joe Sestak, a Pennsylvania Congressman who has won the backing of NARAL, a leading pro-choice group Wednesday?

We will also read some listener survey's this afternoon!

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We'll talk about these stories and so much more, today on The Michelangelo Signorile Show!


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