Do Ask, Do Tell

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The shows are about talk; the more silence there has been on a subject, the more not-telling, the better a talk topic it is.

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Certainly Donahue makes moves to counter its 'liberal' reputation, inviting right-wing black preachers and the widely discredited 'psychologist' Paul Cameron, who argues that cross-dressing preceded the fall of Rome, that people with AIDS should be quarantined, and that sexuality 'is going to get us.' But more often than not, Donahue himself is making statements about how 'homophobia is global' and 'respects no nation,' how 'we're beating up homosexual people, calling them names, throwing them out of apartments, jobs.' The 'we' being asserted is an 'intolerant' population that needs to get over itself. We are, he says at times, 'medieval.' In fact, Donahue regularly asserts that 'for an advanced, so-called industrialized nation, I think we're the worst.'

Oprah Winfrey, the industry leader, is less concerned with the political treatment of difference; she is overwhelmingly oriented toward 'honesty' and 'openness,' especially in interpersonal relationships. As on Lake's show, lesbians and gays are routinely included without incident in more general themes (meeting people through personal ads, fools for love, sons and daughters you never knew), and bigotry is routinely attacked. But Winfrey's distinctive mark is an attack on lies, and thus the closet comes under attack -- especially the gay male closet -- not just for the damage it does to those in it, but for the betrayals of women it engenders.

On a recent program in which a man revealed his 'orientation' after 19 years of marriage, for example, both Winfrey and her audience were concerned not that Steve is gay, but that he was not honest with his wife. As Winfrey put it, 'For me, always the issue is how you can be more truthful in your life.' One of Steve's two supportive sons echoes Winfrey ('I want people to be able to be who they are'), as does his ex-wife, whose anger is widely supported by the audience ('It makes me feel like my life has been a sham'), and the requisite psychologist ('The main thing underneath all of this is the importance of loving ourselves and being honest and authentic and real in our lives'). Being truthful, revealing secrets, learning to love oneself: These are the staples of Winfrey-style talk shows. Gay and bisexual guests find a place to speak as gays and bisexuals, and the pathology becomes not sexual 'deviance' but the socially imposed closet.

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The vicious voice -- shouting that we gay people can be as mean, or petty, or just plain loud, as anybody else -- is the first voice talk shows promote. It is one price of entry into mainstream public visibility.

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