Monday, June 28, 2010

Today on the Signorile Show

The hearings are underway today for Elena Kagan's Supreme Court nomination and opening remarks by the senators are already showing the Republicans attacking the Supreme Court Justice nominee. Their bluster aside, a lot of us have questions for Kagan and we'll be going through some of what should be asked of the nominee on the show today.

Speaking of the Supreme Court, in another landmark, reckless 5-4 ruling, the court has potentially thrown out gun laws in many states, a decision that will inspire more lawsuits and could inspire more gun ownership among many Americans -- and more gun violence. We'll talk about the issues.

And in another important 5-4 ruling for LGBT Americans, the Court's liberals, with Justice Kennedy as the swing vote, ruled that Christian groups on campus can't ban gays while taking funding from a university. It's an important case in which the rights of a minority (and not fostering discrimination) trump religious freedom. What does it mean as well for the historic same-sex marriage case that is heading its way to the Supreme Court in which Justice Kennedy is expected to be pivotal? We'll get into all of it.

Guest 3:30 ET: Does the "ex-gay" movement's policies promote "social death" and thus "genocide" of gay, lesbian, and bisexual people in society under the United Nations Convention on the Prevention of the Crime of Genocide? That is what a new study concludes and we'll be joined by co-author of the study, Christine Robinson, Associate Professor of Justice Studies at James Madison University in Virgina.

Guest 4:30 ET: What ways did gay and lesbian activists educate themselves and the gay and straight populations regarding safer sex in the face of the brutal and negligent government policies against funding safer sex eduction? And how is that continuing today? Filmmaker Jean Carlomusto joins us to talk about her film, Sex in an Epidemic.

Lots of laws are being passed to fight bullying in schools. But should the battle extend online, and what would that mean for Internet privacy? The New York Times reports that one recent study by the Cyberbullying Research Center, an organization founded by two criminologist who defined bullying as "willful and repeated harm” inflicted through phones and computers, "said one in five middle-school students had been affected." What to do? We'll take your calls.

What does West Virgina Democratic Senator Robert Byrd's death early this morning at the age of 92 mean for Democrats in the Senate. We'll explain.

Queen Latifah once again says she won't talk about her so-called private life even as she opens up for a magazine interview -- just don't ask the gay question. Pam Spaulding takes issue, and so do we. Your thoughts? We'll discuss.