It was a dreary spring day here in Washington but we had a lot of exciting guests on last night’s episode of The Agenda with Joe Solmonese.

We started out covering new CDC numbers appearing to show a 50% increase in new HIV infections from 2005 – 2006. Turns out the increase is attributed to the way they had been collecting the numbers but advocacy groups are using the opportunity to point out the need for more prevention programs. AIDS Action’s Ronald Johnson was our guest to sort it out. Listen in.

Then we switched to entertainment with Lola Ogunnaike, CNN’s entertainment correspondent. Lola covers everything from the writers strike to the lives of Hollywood’s biggest stars. We found out the latest dish and got an idea of what to look forward to now that the writer’s strike is over.

HRC is leading an initiative called Welcoming Schools that provides administrators, educators and parents with the resources necessary to create inclusive learning environments. The project is currently being piloted in three school districts around the country and will move toward broader distribution this summer. San Francisco schools program coordinator Kevin Gogin was our guest along with HRC’s Ellen Kahn to talk about how the pilot is going. Listen in.

We looked at another angle of safe schools with Daryl Presgraves of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. GLSEN strives to ensure that each member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. Listen in.

Our second hour was chock full of politics – first with David Corn, Washington bureau chief for Mother Jones. This former editor at The Nation filled us in on the presidential primaries, the super-delegate counts and more. Listen in.

No matter who prevails in the Democratic contest, the nominee will face off against the presumptive Republican winner John McCain. The question for a lot of voters – including those who are GLBT – is who really is John McCain? Is he the maverick the media portrays him as or is he the politician who ran to the right to garner his party’s nomination? We talked to an expert – Dan Nowicki, the national political reporter for the Arizona Republic, McCain’s hometown newspaper.

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