CASTING OUT

The gang at KOOP‘s OutCast graciously invited me to co-host last week and to consider making it a semipermanent deal (read: What were they thinking?). What fun. Radio is a blast, especially when you are there, live, making it happen, and you get to see all the dirty little behind-the-scenes bits. Not that there were any particularly dirty bits this past week, per se, but you know when you lock a couple of queens and a big ol’ faggy dyke into one studio – well, get ready to hear some rainbow fireworks. Watching the eyeball daggers that host Heath Riddles throws (mostly at co-host Stephen Rice) while remaining so calm and soothing and in-control on air is a view I shall forever treasure. This week the show experimented with a new forum format, as opposed to the traditional Q&A. New guest host and new format, unrehearsed, all in one week is, in any situation, a potential stinkbomb, but Heath & Co. pulled it off with decent success, I think (and not just because I was part of “& Co.”). We talked about the Equality March in Washington, D.C., and Obama‘s Human Rights Campaign speech, with Equality TexasPaul Scott and I weighing in “pro” and defending hope, patience, and the grassrooters (surprise!) and H & S weighing in “bitchy” (shock of shocks). Oh, and then Rebecca Havemeyer came in and everything went crawfish-shaped. You can listen yourself, either live, Tuesdays at 6pm on KOOP 91.7FM or at www.outcastaustin.com.

Send gay bits to gayplace@austinchronicle.com.

Visit austinchronicle.com/gayplaceblog

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.