Just read it in the Willamette week page 61.
Daria's new co host announced he was gay on the radio. He did it like a month ago, and nobody posted on this?

Is it a problem? Hey whatever a person does in their personal life so be it. I may not agree with it but hey it's their life. The only problem I see is the public forum in which he announced it. Because it is such a political minefield his employer probably only slapped his limp wrist and told him to keep it off of the air in the future! Does he sound like a flame out or a regular dude?

Edit Add:
Could it be that nobody was listening at the time?

I agree that it shouldn't be an issue, but a PD has every right to control the nature of what's said on the air.

Agreed....not a forum for personal issues and quite frankly most listeners could care less! IMHO

according to the post on oregonmediainsiders.com
it looks like the station knew he was going to come out
No big deal

I agree that no one prob heard it It has been tough to listen to, the new afternoon show on 105.

Nobody is talking about it cause nobody listens to that show.

Whats the point in announcing you are gay on the radio? Does he expect us to care? Why does nobody go on the radio and announce that they are straight? I just don't get why he thought it important to tell us he likes guys.

Great, good for you.

It's interesting that he would wait until he got to Portland to make this announcement. How long was he in Seattle?

I always kind of figured that KUFO weekend jock, BUZZ, was gay.

I heard the announcement. They made a small big deal of it.

If they are going to use their personal lives for fodder, it is necessary to be completely open. It is not common to be out on the air, so making a pronouncement of it was appropriate. From this point on, the fact that he is gay is no longer a big deal. That's all.

Publicity stunt that nobody cares about. So what if he is gay, lots of people are.

Don't need to go on radio and announce it for some sort of approval though.

Its like he was looking for accpetance.

From Who? This Group.....HA!

I was just gonna say I wonder what his Clark Kent name is in here and thought of a real zinger...but out of taste I will refrain from posting it!

Whats the point in announcing you are gay on the radio?

Acceptance?

I think that's part of it. More important is the simple freedom to be who he is.

A date! (if he's single and wookin pah nub)

Love,

Buck Nekkid

My question is Why do people feel the need to announce personal things publicly? Hi, I'm Biff Stevens, I'm gay. Hi, I'm Brenda O'Rosie, I'm a lesbian. Hi, I'm Wanda Round, I'm transexual, Hi, I'm Roger, I'm Slovenian. It doesn't freakin matter. Does it make a person better?

Hello, My name is Michael, I am a black man.

In every case the pronouncement screams, I am separate but equal. Wasn't the whole civil rights thing to get away from that?


My feeling is it just puts one on notice that if something comes up to affect a career move, it is an issue that can be used. So if he loses his job at any point, is it because the station wants a change, or because of the public announcement.

Ellen, Rosie, and anyone else.... I is something that most people have no need to know.

...the simple freedom to be who he is....

which he was able to do prior to a public announcement.

A few years back Mike ( the last name evades me)
was doing talk on KVI and pulled the same bit.

Is the goal public trolling? Call now on the gay date line, 1 800-4gaysex....... and I'll also play your favorite song..........

stop already.

Gay, schmay, so long as you find a nice girl and settle down.

People talk about their personal lives on the air all of the time...listen to Don and Mike or Rick Emerson...the KUPL morning show talks about their wives, People everywhere talk about their lives...I personally think it makes the person behind the mic more real to the listener.

While I don't care if a person is gay or not, I do believe that if they think that the listeners need to know...it is just one more thing that makes the listener feel like they know the person.

I really do believe that the bond is created by being yourself and letting them into your life just a little bit...not everything (you don't need to appear to be a drama queen) but making real life references just makes you seem like a person rather than a personality.

which he was able to do prior to a public announcement.

Completely true.

However, his conformance to social norms set expectations that built inhibitions. Now, he's resetting those, thus breaking down the inhibitions.

It's for him as much as it is anybody listening.

If you have never known someone who has come out, then it may not be clear why this is important. Imagine knowing something about yourself that nobody else recognizes... something that your loved ones may hate you for being...something that makes people want to do you bodily harm. Now imagine that you are not allowed to be seen in public holding hands with your spouse or significant other.

When a person spends his life repressing something like that which is not obvious, and not acknowledging urges that are common to the rest of us, the conflict creates pressure that is overwhelming. "Coming out" is that release. Most out gay people I know don't really care what you think, but the closeted ones do.

So, yes, I do think station management was aware of the outing; yes, I do think it was important, and maybe even a first for FM radio in PDX; and I do think it will open a few minds in the process.

Copernicus and Larrybud- You have hit the nail on the head. Excellent observations. Things like this are what can make radio more than just liner reading. And this issue is a big deal because society has made it a big deal.

While it's not as taboo as it once was, being gay gives one pause enough to decide on whether or not to let people know. If people make assumptions that you are straight, then it comes up in conversation that you are not, then it looks like you were trying to hide it - to some people. I think there is a large enough contingent to address it. Yeah, there are those that go " Who cares? " That's neat. You are evolved. Congratulations. Mitch cares that you know. He doesn't care what you do with it, I don't think. But he doesn't want to be accused of hiding it. And if he " hid " it in Seattle? Fine too.

My wife and I share stories of our lives to our listeners. We keep it limited but do add some details outside the radio station of our passions and hobbies. It works well with our smooth jazz audience.

We do get on our pedestals on some issues too but for the most part it's about the music, local content and information.

Good for Mitch. IMO, talking about your personal life on the air is essential to establishing intimacy with your listeners, which I believe is radio's strongest asset. By announcing his orientation, he just made that easier to do without changing pronouns and feeling as if he's hiding something.

What's cool is that PDX is probably one of a handful of markets in the nation where he would be allowed to do so.

This might mean something to a few gay guys who want to date him, but for the rest of us....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

His coming out might boost ratings. Remember the big female ratings that TV shows like "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" got? "The Buzz" seems to do best with females 18 to 34.

I agree with the essence of some of the previous posts: why do we need to know whether he is gay, straight or otherwise?

What if he had said he wears womens underwear? Would we need to know that as well?

piss on him and that crap station. I don't want to know....shut up. Flush 'em.

Nope.

That's different. The social norms are not impacted in the same way being gay is.

A fetish is just a fetish.

Women and GAY GUYS love the BUZZ! Infact The Buzz probably has the most Gay listeners than any other station in portland.

Oh I almost forgot, did you catch the big announcement on K-Happy this morning? If You missed it, I came on the air and let EVERYONE know that I am straight. It felt really good to, well You Know, let the cat out of the bag, It's such a liberating experience to let people know that Im STRAIGHT.

See now, I didn't think that was the case. Good to know.

Unfortunately, I will judge you for it though.

The Yugo is FINALLY out of the repair shop and I can know listen to portland radio again. Was listening to Daria and Mitch and its really not that bad. By the way Mitch might be gay but he is not flamboyently (sp) gay on the air, as far as I know he doesn't have a lisp when he talks. I also havent heard him talk about Depeshe Mode lately. Here's a little secret, if you ever go over to a buddys house and his cd collection consists of Depeshe Mode, Erasure, and " Cher 's Greatest hits", 9 out of 10 times he is gay.
No I'm not Dr. Phil, but I wouldn't mind his paycheck!

I really hate to be a downer but if radio continues its downward spiral with quality on air talent and programs it dishes out I would rather just put my ZUNE on shuffle and say the hell with it! Luckily there are still some good ones out there. It seems most channels are stuck on stupid right now.....lame ass jokes, stale liner card sounding, promoting celeb crap over real news stories from local events, QUIT WITH TRASH RADIO and get back to the music.....who gives a shit about Paris and Britney and who they bed down with! I want to hear about recent concerts, music news that is interesting, local events that I may want to donate my time and help out, why do I care what some celeb loser, say like K-Fed, said or did.....he and the like are not news...they are trash and should just be kicked to the curb with the rest of the garbage!

I'm not done venting but I think you get my point! Return radio to the music and get out of Hollywood! That place is reserved for American Idiot....I mean Idol!

Wow, Buns, I never would have known. You're so.....ya know....queer.

Buns, I'll try to find you a "straight" bumpersticker so you can proudly advertise it to the world! You are so brave!

For some reason its very "trendy" to be gay these days, thats Why I thought I'd be an original and come out to the world and let people know that its ok to be straight. People may judge me, but thats ok, I'm alright with that!

Wow a gay DJ in Portland radio. Big deal that's nothing new at all. Back when Moving 1075 was the Beat at 107.5 more than half the air staff was gay.

OMG....gives new meaning to Jacko's song "Beat It" now don't it!

I also heard they married gay couples on air on valentines day ..true?

Back when the Multnomah county commission legalized same-sex marriage for about an hour and a half there, I remember seeing bumper stickers that said, "Marriage is SO gay."

Kurtis-

They married 24 straight couples and 1 gay couple. It wasn't a legal ceremony it was a redo for couples who had disastrous first ceremonies. Please get the facts in place before writing something that could be seen as inflamatory.

Yeah, Buzz from KUFO is hella gay...

That afternoon show is difficult to listen to for me since they changed to the "all new", 20 minute stories from a book that Daria reads is not my cup of tea, but I guess I am in minority cuz folks listen to it or they wouldnt request her reading it each day for a half hour.

I like Daria alot I think she is one of the better air talents in portland, but some of her Ramblings go on for way too long. Ive never understood her Local Entertainment guides. They go on for way too long, I would think thats a huge LISTENER TUNE OUT! But thats just me, that being said she still is a great talent.

another article to share.
http://justout.com/feature_story.aspx

The Local Entertainment Guides require a long attention span, no doubt. Probably more than the average radio lister!

I am done listening to Daria's aftenoon show because it is way too gay for me. I don't appreciate hearing Mitch talk about his partner Daren every day so screw the whole show. This is the main reason I registered here was to see if there was any discussion of this and if anyone else was as disgusted as I am.

WOW, you even know his partners name is Daren. You must REALLY be listening closely! Mission accomplished! Thanks for listening. You must be a p1.

Is he still gay? Geez it's been two months.

News flash: Nobody that matters cares.

> Oh I almost forgot, did you catch the big
> announcement on K-Happy this morning? If You missed
> it, I came on the air and let EVERYONE know that I
> am straight.

This has been done before. About 10 years ago, somebody designed a "heterosexual symbol" as a parody of all of the rainbow flag and similar symbols that had started to flourish on bumperstickers at that time. I am a little bit suspicious of your association with KHPE/"K-Happy" because a synonym for happy is: GAY

I am disgusted, Nomoshocks - by you.

We have wars going on, students being shot and prejudice issues back and forth between all races and the thing you're "disgusted" by is a gay DJ?? Get your priorities in order. Change stations and go troll some place else.

when the DJ starts talking about his boyfriend on any station in pm drive there are a certain ammount of people who will tune out.

whether you are disgusted or not doesn't matter, actions have consequences.

By all means, if it bugs you change stations. It just bothers me when a person states he/she only registered to stir up hate.

I'm willing to bet that many people are not paying enough attention to notice that the male DJ just said "my boyfriend" when talking about division of labor in the house.