We mixed it up a little last night on The Agenda with Joe Solmonese – namely there wasn’t any Joe Solmonese. Unfortunately, Joe couldn’t make the show so Joe Sudbay filled in. He’s a DC-based political consultant with over twenty years of experience at both the state and federal level and also a blogger at AMERICAblog.com.

We started out the show looking at a new documentary called “Red Without Blue” which follows identical twins as one begins a gender transition. Filmmakers followed the pair for three years after Mark Farley came out as a gay man and Clair Farley began living full time as a woman. Filmmaker Tom Sills and Clair Farley were our guests.

Then we looked at GLBT issues on college campuses with the author of The Gay & Lesbian Guide to College Life. John Baez was our guest to discuss controversial and practical issues affecting GLBT students on college campuses; which colleges are in the forefront on GLBT issues; and the Princeton Review rankings of the top gay friendly and gay unfriendly colleges. Listen in.

After that we discussed a new documentary currently airing on PBS that follows a small-town reporter as he uncovers a molestation scandal. Peter Zuckerman discovered a cover-up involving the Boy Scouts and the Mormon church and he never expected that his sexual orientation would be used as a smear campaign weapon against him. “In a Small Town” tracks his story and Peter’s editor at the small town paper, Dean Miller, was our guest.
Listen in.

So having covered a film, a book and a TV special, we turned to magazines – The Advocate specifically. News Features Editor Sean Kennedy was our guest from our New York studios. He grabbed an exclusive sit-down with Presidential contender Sen. Hillary Clinton and he discussed this cover feature as well the magazine’s 40th anniversary.

Finally we celebrated another anniversary with filmmaker Deborah Chasnoff. Her film that turns 10 this year is “It’s Elementary,” which showcases the wonderful diversity of families and works to educate children on respect and tolerance. Only some local communities have banned the film after anti-gay organizers protested. Hear Deborah’s story.

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