Michelangelo Signorile: On Balance

To me, objectivity is less important than being fair and striving to be fair. I always make sure to show the opposing view, and present it fairly, even if it's clear what my view is. But [on homosexuality] the opposing view is now completely debunked when it comes to a scientific point of view. There are no reputable scientists, medical associations, sexologists, etc., who see homosexuality, bisexuality or transgender identity as harmful -- and so all the media is left with to show an opposing view is bigotry, most often from religious conservatives. And they just do not have a place anymore - and perhaps never should have - in public policy debate. The media no longer bring white supremacists on to debate racial issues. It's time they stop bringing on anti-gay hate groups too. It's not about censorship - and I'm not saying there shouldn't be debates about our issues -- but with these particular people, simply promoting bias, the debate must be over...

From an interview with Huffington Post Gay Voices, promoting It's Not Over: Getting Beyond Tolerance, Defeating Homophobia, and Winning True Equality.

See also MS talking about 'Victory Blindness' and 'Covering'.

There's an interesting wide-ranging discussion with Tim Teeman on The Daily Beast.

For Signorile... the most fundamental hang-up in America toward homosexuality is around sex itself. 

“It’s why the guys don’t have sex on Modern Family. We’ve ‘gotten married.’ But, whether it’s Hollywood, or Washington, or the public health establishment, the one thing we cannot talk about, or show, is our sex lives,” says Signorile. “That’s the biggest sign that ‘it’s not over.’ The thing that makes us different is how and who we have sex with. It grosses people out.”

Signorile points to the thesis of Kenji Yoshino’s Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights. In Signorile’s words, Yoshino argues that “LGBTs are not being accepted if we are covering aspects of ourselves that are uncomfortable. If you’re covering things you don’t want them to see about you to help you fit in with them, it’s not real acceptance.”

That’s why, to Signorile, “Sex, probably, is the final frontier on some level.” ...

Update: Excerpt - How true are those breathless polls about public support for gay rights.