Radio

Journalist & Radio Host

b. December 19, 1960

“When it comes to LGBT civil rights, as with other marginalized groups, our fundamental personhood is not an issue that has two sides.”

Michelangelo Signorile is an outspoken American journalist, author and radio personality. He gained notoriety in the 1990s for using his media platform to “out” well-known public figures and closeted anti-gay public officials.

Signorile was born in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in journalism. After college he moved to Manhattan and gradually came out to his friends and family. 

In the early 1980s, Signorile worked for an entertainment public relations firm where he witnessed the carefully orchestrated closeting of gay celebrities. In the late ’80s, he became an HIV/AIDS activist and joined the media committee of ACT UP to highlight the epidemic. By this time, he had concluded that public figures who kept their homosexuality hidden were hurting the gay rights movement and the fight against HIV/AIDS. 

Signorile cofounded a New York LGBT weekly and first ignited controversy in 1990 with a cover story “outing” the late publishing magnate Malcolm Forbes. He subsequently outed Defense Department official Pete Williams, at a time when gays were banned from the military, and the actress Jodie Foster, among others. Though Signorile’s views on the subject were contentious, he made a strong case for outing powerful public personalities and sparked debate about the line between the right to privacy and the exposure of hypocrisy. 

Throughout his career, Signorile has covered gay issues, culture and politics for media outlets such as the The New York Times, USA Today and the Los Angeles Times. He has served as editor at large for The Advocate and Out Magazine and has provided commentary on “Larry King Live,” “The Today Show,” “Good Morning America” and other television programs. He currently hosts his own three-hour weekday radio program, “The Michelangelo Signorile Show,” on Sirius XM and serves as editor at large for the HuffPost.

Signorile has authored several highly acclaimed, best-selling books including the groundbreaking “Queer in America: Sex, the Media and Closets of Power” (1993), which exposes the double standard for heterosexuals and homosexuals; “Outing Yourself” (1995), a step-by-step guide on the subject; and “Life Outside” (1997), which explores the history of gay culture from the ’50s through the ’80s. 

Signorile was featured in the book “The Gay 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Gay Men and Lesbians, Past and Present,” published in 2002. In 2011 The National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association inducted him into the LGBT Journalists Hall of Fame. In 2012 Out Magazine honored him on its annual Out100 list.

In 2013 Signorile married David Gerstner, a film historian. 

Pop Singer

b. May 4, 1979

“The constant fear of people discovering who you really were and the inevitable shame that would fall upon you and your family dictated how you lived your life every day.”

Lance Bass is an American singer who rose to fame as a member of the pop group NSYNC, one of the best-selling boy bands of all time. NSYNC produced two Billboard No. 1 albums, “No Strings Attached” (2000) and “Celebrity” (2001), before splitting up. Bass came out as gay in a People magazine cover story in July 2006.

Born in Laurel, Mississippi, Bass was raised Southern Baptist. He sang in the church choir and in local and state performance groups. He joined NSYNC at age 16 and toured Europe with the group from 1995 to 1997. RCA Records signed the band in 1998, launching their career in the United States.

NSYNC performed five national and international concert tours and sold over 70 million records. “No Strings Attached,” the group’s second album, was the fastest-selling record in history with sales of 1.1 million copies on the day of its release. Two of the band’s best-performing singles, the No. 1 hits “It’s Gonna Be Me” and “Bye Bye Bye” appear on the album. NSYNC received eight Grammy Award nominations between 2000 and 2003, including the 2001 nomination of “Bye Bye Bye” for Record of the Year.

Bass also enjoyed a career in film, television and radio. In 2001 he guest starred on the television drama “7th Heaven.” The same year, he played the lead in the romantic comedy film “On the Line.” In 2005 Bass finished in third place on the seventh season of the television series “Dancing With the Stars.” From 2012 to 2016, he hosted “Dirty Pop with Lance Bass,” a daily radio show on Sirius XM featuring LGBT-related topics.

In addition to his entertainment endeavors, Bass is a space exploration advocate. From 2003 to 2005, he served as World Space Week’s Youth Spokesman, traveling to high schools to encourage students to explore science and space-related careers. Since 2004 he has served on the National Space Society’s board of governors.

In 2014 Bass married Ben Thigpen, a New York City hairstylist, in a ceremony on the E! channel. The broadcast made them the first same-sex couple to wed on an American television network.

The Human Rights Campaign honored Bass with its Visibility Award in October 2006. His autobiography, “Out of Sync,” debuted on the New York Times best-seller list upon its release in October 2007. NSYNC received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in April 2018.