Queer in America: Sex, the Media, and the Closets of Power

Gay activist, Advocate and Out columnist Signorile, a pioneer of ``outing,'' has exposed the homosexuality of public figures like Malcolm Forbes, Assistant Secretary of Defense Pete Williams and record producer David Geffen. In this combative, powerful, gutsy book, he charges that three power structures--Washington, Hollywood, the media industry--conspire to keep gays and lesbians in the closet. Without divulging names, he asserts that several high-ranking Pentagon officials are closeted gays, as were key figures in George Bush's reelection campaign who put forth the ``family values'' theme. Among the lesbians and gays he profiles are Anne-Imelda Radice, acting head of the National Endowment for the Arts; Chastity Bono, daughter of Cher; and Sheila Kuehl, formerly a star of TV's Dobie Gillis and now a radical feminist attorney. Signorile also tells the anguished stories of still-closeted people in power; describes his guilt-ridden childhood in working-class Italian Brooklyn; and surveys Silicon Valley's ``gay-positive'' computer firms. Author tour. (June)