Yesterday may have been Memorial Day but we cranked out a whole new show for you on The Agenda with Joe Solmonese.

We started out with a nod to our veterans with former Marine 1st Lieutenant Antonio Agnone. He finished his service last month and now having come out as gay, is embarking on a tour across the country to help change the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that keeps brave men and women from serving their country as he did. Hear his story.

Then we turned our attention to New York, where two issues are bringing the marriage debate front and center. First, a recent Massachusetts court ruling certified as valid the marriages of New Yorkers who wed in the Bay State. We talked to Amy Zimmerman, a mother of four, along with her partner, who was a plaintiff in the case that made it happen. We also talked to state Assemblyman Danny O’Donnell, an openly gay legislator and sponsor of a marriage equality bill endorsed by Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

Pride month is also just on the horizon so we checked in with Joe Jervis, the project director for Pride magazine, who also writes the popular blog Joe. My. God. and contributed to the book From Boys to Men: Gay Men Write About Growing Up. He had a lot to say about his hometown pride — New York — and some lesser-known gems. Listen to the segment.

Since Memorial Day is also the summer kick-off, we talked to two people who know a lot about summer entertaining. Brian Rafanelli made an encore appearance on The Agenda to share some of his best tips as a party planner to the stars. And then we got some great grilling advice from Kim Severson, the New York Times food critic. Listen to Severson here.

Finally, with the television season wrapping up and fall schedules being announced, we had to bring back Damian Holbrook to help us sort it all out. He’s a TV Guide columnist and always has his finger on the pulse of the tube.

Don’t forget you can download last week’s entire edition of The Agenda for free. Just click on last week’s blog entry.

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