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.

Today on the Signorile Show

General James Conway, who leads the Marines, is threatening that if "don't ask, don't tell" is repealed, he will try to offer straight marines who are "very religious" the option of having separate living quarters. As the vote on DADT comes in the Senate, is this something a right-wing Republican senator made add as an amendment? The battle over gays serving openly rages on. We'll discuss!

Disneyland has told a Muslim woman she cannot wear a headscarf to work in a restaurant and created a bonnet for her to wear. She has refused and says her freedom of religion is being trampled. We'll put the question to you.

On Salon.com, a lesbian talks about the pressure to have a baby now that so many gays and lesbians are doing so, something she never had to think about before. It's an interesting discussion, and we'll take calls on your own experiences.

Guest / 4:30pm EST - James Dickerson, author of Inside America's Concentration Camps: Two Centuries of Internment and Torture, joins us this afternoon to talk about his latest book chronicling the long road of xenophobia and racism we've seen in this country and the fear that played out.

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.

WND's Farah: "My Eyes Have Been Opened"

Yesterday on the show I interviewed World Net Daily's Joseph Farah about his battle with Ann Coulter over her speaking at the gay Republican group GoProud's "Homocon" event in September.

Farah eventually admitted that the left was right all along about Coulter and her lies ("My eyes have been opened") and had to acknowledge that his comrades on the right -- from Coulter and Laura Bush to Glenn Beck and Elizabeth Hassellbeck -- are now shifting on support for gays ( he said conservatives always "give up.") He also seemed a little bewildered about Prop 8 and its future when I suggested that the people might well vote for marriage soon as polls are shifting across the country. The right's mantra of course has been that the people were usurped by the judges, but now would they accept it if people voted for marriage? No, he said, but clearly realizing he was contradicting himself. At that point, he turned to Jesus. Listen in to some highlights from the interview.

Today on the Signorile Show

The New York Times reports on a "groundswell" of support in the polls on marriage equality, as we've been discussing on the show for weeks now. The President of the United States, however, is far behind and has a confused and not very credible position. The New Republic looks at a President Obama's timeline of positions on marriage, while the publications executive editor calls the president's current position on marriage "increasingly absurd" and a "disgrace." Are we now seeing a groundswell of support even among pundits, who see the president as completely duplicitous on the issue? We'll get into it and take your calls.

More discussion of Laura Schlessinger's "first amendment" rights to say the N-word, and just why the whole argument is bogus.

Some conservatives jumped on the polling that suggested almost 20% of Americans believe the president is a Muslim by claiming it's true! The Rev. Franklin Graham said Obama was born a Muslim While Pat Boone railed about the "mosque at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue."

Guest / 3:30pm EST - Last week, the Pentagon sent to the spouses of current military servicemembers a survey about "family readiness" when the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy is repealed. Alexander Nicolson, executive director of Servicemembers United, joins us this afternoon to talk about this survey.

Guest / 4:30pm EST - Ann Coulter has been uninvited by Joseph Farah of World Net Daily to be a speaker at their "Taking Back America" Conference next month because she had accepted an invitation from GOProud, the gay Republican group, to be a speaker at their event. But Coulter has now said that she wasn't even scheduled to be a speaker in the first place at WND's event! We'll talk to Joseph Farah about the fight between Ann Coulter and him this afternoon.

A judge has ruled against the Georgia college student who claimed her religious rights were being violated by Augusta State University, a public institution, which she said forced her to accept homosexuality in order to complete the counselor education program. We'll get into the case.

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.

HRC Removes Target, Best Buy From Buyer's Guide

This afternoon the Human Rights Campaign did the right thing and removed Target and Best Buy from their Equality Buying 2010 buyer's guide. This morning my interview with HRC's Fred Sainz had been posted on many web sites. Glad to see HRC removing these companies from their guide, as there need to be consequences for Target's, and Best Buy's, actions. Wrote HRC's Michael Cole in a statement which he sent me:

Because we understand the impact of leaving Target and Best Buy on the various products associated with the Buyer’s Guide, both companies will soon be removed from it.HRC will not encourage people to shop at either store and believes that consumers should make their own decisions after careful consideration of all of the information available to them.

Today on the Signorile Show

Howard Dean has continued to defend his argument that the backers of the Islamic Center near ground zero should "compromise and move the site, even as his own group seemed to rebuke him. In interviews with both Glenn Greenwald and Keith Olbermann he tried to lay out his case as both men pointed to the double standards. We'll go through it on the show and get your thoughts as the controversy over this building continues to reverberate. Dean has always been a progressive who championed the left of the Democratic Party, so his stand is disillusioning. What do you think is behind Dean's comments? Is it inevitable that it will be moved?

Sarah Palin continues to defend Laura Schlessinger, while Laura talks about her "gay and black friends" and the woman who made the call to her show has gone public. We'll get into it and take your calls.

On Wednesday I talked with the Human Rights Campaign's Fred Sainz about the group's response to Target and the boycott of the company. It became clear that HRC is still telling people to shop at Target. We'll open it up to you and ask for your thoughts in hour two. UPDATE: Early this afternoon HRC announced it would remove Target from its buying guide. Kudos to them!

Guest: At 4:30 ET I'll speak with Paul Greenberg, author of Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food.

It's Friday, find out who the "Angel, Turkey, Gassie and Climax of the Week" will be!

All these stories and so much more, today on The Michelangelo Signorile Show!

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.

HRC: Shop at Target

It may sound crazy, but not only is the Human Rights Campaign refraining from joining the boycott against Target; it is still actively telling LGBT people through its Buying for Equality 2010 buyer's guide (for which the group has an iPhone app) that they should spend their hard-earned cash at Target, something which was confirmed by Fred Sainz of HRC when I had him on the show on Wednesday (audio of interview below). And that's because Target is still scoring a 100% on HRC's Corporate Equality Index -- a measure of workplace practices toward LGBT people -- and HRC tells LGBT people to shop till they drop at these high-scoring "equality-friendly" businesses.

Let me first say it's great to see HRC speak forcefully about Target's $150,000 political donation to a group that gave money to an antigay candidate and Target's refusal to now match that donation with one to a pro-gay cause or candidate. HRC's Joe Solmonese said in a statement after talks broke down,"If their initial contribution was a slap in the face, their refusal to make it right is a punch in the gut and that’s not something that we will soon forget."

Tough words, and I applaud them. But what exactly is Target's punishment now for the gut punch HRC will not soon forget? HRC announced in response to Target's refusal to "make it right" that it would now donate $150,000 to a pro-gay Democrat challenging the antigay Republican whom Target's money went to in the Minnesota gubernatorial race. I'm glad to see HRC helping local activists to defeat homophobes in elections around the country, as the group has commendably done in the past.

But how exactly is this a punishment for Target? I would hope, after all, that HRC would be helping out in the election in Minnesota, where the stakes are high for LGBT people, whether or not Target donated to an antigay candidate.

I posed the question of ramifications for Target to Fred Sainz on the show:

Signorile: My question is, how is the $150,000 that you’re donating...a punishment to Target?...What are you doing exactly to Target?...Are you joining the boycott? Moveon.org is calling for a boycott.Is HRC telling people they shouldn’t shop at Target?

Sainz: No, the organization doesn’t have an official position on the boycott. We think that consumers need to make their own decisions and that each person has an awful lot of choices today...And certainly this will inform consumers’ decisions on where they should make their purchases...

----

Signorile:...The [Corporate] Equality Index is a position on the boycott, because the reason you give the equality index is to tell people where to shop...

Sainz: No, that’s not true.

Signorile:...and what companies they should support...

Sainz: No, no, that's not true. The Corporate Equality Index is a measure of the workplace practices of companies. It was started as a guide of what the best employers are for LGBT people...It is not meant to be a statement on a company’s wholistic behavior. It is rather a measurement of the workplace practices of a company. That’s really–-

Signorile: HRC does tell people to shop at equality-friendly businesses, even has an app that is devoted to that.

Sainz: That is true.

Signorile: Okay, so the equality-friendly businesses are those that score high on the Corporate Equality Index.

Sainz: That is true…

Signorile: So right now, at this moment, Target still has a 100, and that means that’s a good place to shop.

Sainz went on to again explain how complicated it supposedly is to change the Corporate Equality Index criteria (something he told me a week earlier when I had him on the show) and how the group is trying to “grapple” with the new changes since the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United and that they don’t want to make a "knee-jerk" response and that they are working it through but in a "thoughtful” manner. That’s all well and good, but the boycott is now, and as it goes on, HRC (which, Sainz confirms, to HRC's credit, is no longer allowing Target to sponsor any of the group's fundraisers) is still telling people to shop at Target.

Listen in below.

UPDATE: Let me just add that the bigger problem here is HRC offering a "buyer's guide" at all. You're not an ad agency for corporations; you're a civil rights group. I know other groups do it, but it will always run into trouble. If you're going to do it you need to be able to quickly fix it, such as in a situation like this.

It's fine and good to list companies based on workplace practices and they should be letting LGBT people know what are the best companies to work for. But telling people to spend their money at these companies -- and then HRC taking donations from these companies, as they have done with Target -- puts your group in a bad position. It appears as if the reason for the buyer's guide is to get donations from the companies in return for sending LGBT consumers to them. And the reason HRC is now "grappling" and trying to figure out what to do is because they're worried about other companies in their index, some of which no doubt also give to antigay causes or candidates. If they remove Target they'll have to remove others. They shouldn't have been in this position -- or should be able to react quickly and change the buyer's guide immediately when a problem arises.

UPDATE II: Another thought: A simple solution for HRC, if it feels it wants to tell LGBT consumers where to shop, is to separate the Buyer's Guide from the Corporate Equality Index. For the buyers guide rate companies based on how they support the larger LGBT community and what donations they make to causes and candidates. And keep the Corporate Equality Index separate, as a rating of workplace practices.


UPDATE III: HRC has done the right thing this afternoon and taken Target -- and Best Buy -- off of its buyer's guide. Kudos to them!

Today on the Signorile Show

In light of new poll that shows that almost 20% of Americans now believe President Obama is a Muslim -- a big increase from last year -- I'll ask listeners how many of them believe it too. With all the calls we've received attacking the Islamic Center two blocks from ground zero, I'm sure our audience includes some who now believe the President is a Muslim too (even though the poll was done before the controversy). Why would the number increase? We'll go through it and take your calls.

Now Sarah Palin has come out for the woman who never was a doctor, Laura Schlessinger, tweeting " b thankful 4 her voice,America!" What's even more hilarious is that she tells Laura not to quit when that's exactly what Palin did! We'll get into it.

It's now all out war between Ann Coulter and WingNutDaily's Joseph Farah, who Coulter called a "media whore" because he dumped her from his web sites convention because she is the guest of honor at a party of the gay Republican group GoProud. Pass the popcorn!

What does it mean that the last combat troops have left Iraq? Did we win the war? Is it over? We'll take your calls.

Guest: 3:30 ET I'll speak with Dr. Heidi Cullen, author of The Weather of the Future: Heat Waves, Extreme Storms, and Other Scenes from a Climate-Changed Planet

4:30 ET Americablog's John Aravosis, who started his career as a web activist with the highly effective StopDrLaura.com ten years ago, joins me to talk about the campaign against the woman who never was a doctor and is now, finally, leaving radio, no doubt because she didn't want to again battle a campaign like the one Aravosis unleashed a decade ago.

Also, we'll read listener survey comments and take your calls!

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.