Summer’s officially here, and most of you probably have backyard barbeques and beach time on your Agenda, but we had some great news and views on last night’s The Agenda with Joe Solmonese.

We started out the show talking to Harry Knox, the Human Rights Campaign’s director for religion and faith programs. Harry is back fresh from the United Church of Christ’s 50th Anniversary General Synod in Hartford, Conn., where he delivered a speech entitled, “Remembering Who We Are: LGBT People and the United Church of Christ in 2057.”

Then we turned to science and tackled the age-old question of nature versus nurture with New York magazine’s David France. He has an article in the current issue called “The Science of Gaydar” which looks at some of the physical traits shared by gay men and the latest research into the basis of sexual orientation. Listen in parts one and two.

We were thrilled to welcome two long-time activists and authors to The Agenda. Last week co-host Mary Breslauer sat down with Sue Hyde, the author of Come Out and Win: Organizing Yourself, Your Community and Your World, and the director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s Creating Change Conference. Then Lisa Keen joined us to talk about her new book, Out Law: What LGBT Youth Should Know About Their Legal Rights. She is the former executive editor of The Washington Blade, and now writes for The Boston Globe and for GLBT newspapers in several major cities.

Then we turned from activism to fashion with Katherine Wheelock of Details magazine. Her article on newsstands now is titled, “Who Says All Gay Men Are Stylish?” Katherine, Joe and Mary dished about fashion dos and don’ts and dispelled some of those stereotypical myths.

Finally, Wednesday is the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion in New York City — the birthplace of the modern GLBT rights movement. Author and historian Martin Duberman was our guest to talk about his seminal work on the event, Stonewall, as well as his new book, The Worlds of Lincoln Kirstein. Listen in.

It was sweltering in D.C. last night but we were tucked into our nice air-conditioned studio to bring you a great new edition of The Agenda with Joe Solmonese.

We started out the show as we always do with the news of the day. Massachusetts state Sen. Ed Augustus was our guest to talk about the recent defeat of an attempt to put marriage equality — and the rights of same-sex couples — up to a popular vote. The Legislature defeated the discriminatory constitutional amendment last Thursday. Listen to the interview.

Then we took a turn to the airwaves, looking at GLBT-friendly and not-so-friendly advertising. Mike Wilke, the founding executive director of the Commercial Closet Association, joined us from our New York studios to talk about their third annual Images in Advertising Awards. Listen in parts one and two.

Then on to the segment that co-host Mary Breslauer and I were most looking forward to — we talked with Joe’s assistant Maya Rao on her last day at the Human Rights Campaign before hitting the campaign trail. Rao had some great stories about traveling the country with Joe.

We took a turn back to politics with a report I put together on HRC’s new Legacy of Service tour. Five gay veterans kicked off the nationwide speaking tour last week in Iowa and we heard their voices on why the military’s discriminatory ban on gay and lesbian service members is hurting our national security. Listen in.

It is summer after all, so we went lighter with two views from the entertainment industry. First Dori Berinstein, who directs the new documentary ShowBusiness, joined us. The film is her look at a year in the life of Broadway.

Finally, we were absolutely thrilled to welcome a Hollywood legend to The Agenda — actor Farley Granger. Granger made his name in the Hitchcock thrillers Rope and Strangers on a Train and his new memoir, Include Me Out, talks about his life a bisexual man in Tinsel Town.

I missed our live show last night because I’m in Iowa for the kick-off of HRC’s Legacy of Service tour, but thankfully I’m listening right now on XM Online. In case you missed the The Agenda with Joe Solmonese last night too, here’s a recap.

We started out the show by looking at President Bush’s nomination of Dr. James Holsinger to be the next surgeon general — “the nation’s doctor.” Holsinger’s past writings suggest a scientific view rooted in anti-gay beliefs that are incompatible with the job of serving the medical health of all Americans. We got the perspective of a real medical professional — Dr. Ken Haller, a past president of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association.

Then Joe and co-host Mary Breslauer welcomed Irshad Manji back to the show. She is a Muslim lesbian activist and author of The Trouble with Islam Today. From her new post as a senior fellow with the European Foundation for Democracy, she came by to talk about differences in how Muslims are integrating in the United States versus Europe.

While I wasn’t in-studio, I did leave behind a report on the Point Foundation and their new class of Point Scholars. The 38 recipients are granted an average scholarship of more than $13,000 to pursue their educations and I spoke with two of them — Angela Clements and Tim Bresnahan, both of whom previously worked at the Human Rights Campaign. They talked about how the Point Foundation is making their future careers as professional GLBT activists possible.

Then Mary shared an interview she had last week with Sandra Bernhard, the lesbian comedian and author. They talked about her newly released CD, plenty of politics and her thoughts on being an out performer.

It’s not The Agenda if we don’t have a big segment on politics, and to that end we welcomed Jennifer Senior, contributing editor of New York Magazine. She recently penned a cover story on the presidential candidates but focusing on their particular personalities. Take a listen to this fantastic conversation.

Finally, we gave a nod to dads this week before Father’s Day with Dan Savage, author and editor of The Stranger — Seattle’s alternative news weekly. Savage talked about his decision to be come a dad and some of the trials and joys of fatherhood. Listen here.