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In a blistering essay which name-checks right wing gays Roy Cohn and Ken Mehlman, today Michelangelo Signorile posts an Advocate column ripping GOProud and its chairman, Chris Barron. An excerpt:

[D]enialists and elitists who believe they are superior to other gays — even if the attitude masks a pitiful self-loathing — are clearly as prevalent as ever in the LGBT movement, except that they can now be out of the closet. Perversely, the fact that we can find such people in GOProud is a measure of our success. The other thing we’ve learned is that the Christian right, contrary to all the media blather about it losing steam as the Tea Party ascends, still has a grip on the GOP, and this can actually be helpful in gaining civil rights through the Democratic Party—if the Democrats recognize a useful wedge issue staring them in the face. [snip]

GOProud’s Chris Barron fits right in, often appearing desperate for Republican acceptance, compromising his positions at a moment’s notice—if he even had any to begin with. Formerly political director for the Log Cabin Republicans, he broke away and cofounded GOProud, claiming that Log Cabin wasn’t conservative enough. Since its founding in 2009, GOProud slowly moved in the direction of not taking any pro-gay positions, all in an attempt to be included in the Republican Party, even though Barron oddly once tweeted that GOProud is “a gay organization, we only work on gay issues.”

"I’ve received a message or two from Brian [Brown], who basically has – he’s trying to intimidate me to stop talking. He’s saying that if I don’t remove the posts I’ve posted on my site and I don’t stop telling the truth about who they are he may pursue legal action. I considered it an intimidation tactic. On two occasions he wrote me a message saying if I don’t comply with his wish that I remove certain posts from the site…that he would have no option but to pass it on to his attorneys and pursue legal action." - NOM defector Louis Marinelli, speaking to Michelangelo Signorile. Hit the link for an audio file.

This morning SiriusXM host Michelangelo Signorile posted an interview with NOM defector Louis Marinelli. Hit the link and listen to Marinelli's explanation for his dramatic change of heart.

Last week California's Crystal Cathedral demanded that its choir sign an anti-gay statement, leading to turmoil within the family of Pastor Robert Schuller, the church's relatively gay-friendly founder, who has now denounced the statement. Cue Peter LaBarbera: "If the biblical model for sex in marriage is now too controversial for major pastors like Robert Schuller, we are really in a precipitous fall towards moral oblivion." Yesterday an anti-gay member of Crystal Cathedral tangled with SiruisFM's Michelangelo Signorile. Clip below.

I'll be on Michelangelo Signorile's SiriusXM show today around 4:30PM to talk about GOProud and the CPAC "bigot" controversy. You can stream the show online for free if you sign up for a temporary trial.

SiriusXM host Michelangelo Signorile has posted an audio clip of today's on-air meltdown by GOProud chairman Chris Barron. Signorile writes:

Barron has come on the show several times in he past. My program was among the first media outlets to give his group any attention when it first broke off from the Log Cabin Republicans. We've had a spirited but respectful discussion, as we disagree on just about everything. He seemed to revel in it, enjoying the back and forth, and certainly was not as angry and defensive as he is in this interview.

Not only did GoProud always come on the show when asked -- either Jimmy LaSalvia or Barron would come on -- but they reached out to my producer to come on the show at other times when we did not ask and we declined, as it wasn't the best time or was not about something we were interested in. I say that because Barron outright lied in this interview, claiming that he often doesn't come on my show (implying I asked and he declined), supposedly because of the way I treat him. That's when I ended the interview. I'm not going to put up with a liar who had clearly become flustered because he was caught in a contradiction so now was changing the subject.

Many of you have wondered about Dan Choi's decision to attend CPAC with GOProud. Yesterday Choi appeared on Michelangelo Signorile's SiriusXM to talk about it. Click over to Signorile's blog for the audio.