Jenny Stewart: Bio, Interviews, Articles, Etc.

Howard Stern Pro-Gay? Yes...

He hired openly gay actor George Takei. He gave a rave on-air review to "Brokeback Mountain" a while back. He's an "L Word" fan and he's vehemently not a fan of anti-gay athlete Tim Hardaway. The most shocking thing about shock jock Howard Stern: He's not who you think he is.

Most people in the gay community -- at least those not familiar with Stern, and few have bothered to familiarize themselves -- believe him to be a loudmouth and a homophobe, a nothing-is-sacred Don Imus type who does nothing but make faggot jokes and exploits lesbians on air by reducing them to sexual objects.

But as a lesbian who's been listening to Howard daily for more than 20 years, I can say that this is so not true: Just take a look beneath his shtick, and you'll find one of the most pro-gay media personalities in the country. And his show on Sirius Satellite radio is better than it's ever been...

 

 

Howard Stern Pro-Gay: Howard Takes on Tim Hardaway

As reported a few months back on PlanetOut, the famed radio personality is proving very gay friendly these past few years. On Stern's Sirius Satellite radio broadcast today, he took on basketball star Tim Hardaway's shocking anti-gay statements in classic Stern fashion.

"Tim Hardaway's got to be the dumbest guy in basketball, I mean, you just don't go around and say this kind of shit. What is he, fucking nuts? He doesn't know what's going on in the world?"

Later, after playing the full audio of Hardaway's shocking diatribe, which included his saying, "I don't like gay people and I don't like to be around gay people. I am homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world or in the United States," Stern had had enough.

Howard Stern Pro-Gay: Martha Stewart does Howard

We've always loved Martha Stewart for her control freakiness which -- let's face it -- is downright drag diva-esque. But after her recent appearance on Howard Stern's Sirius Satellite radio show, we now adore her: It was arguably the most entertaining, honest, sexy and absolutely fascinating interviews of her -- and his -- career.

Stewart visited Stern to promote the one-year anniversary of her own Sirius Satellite show, and the seemingly opposite pair got along so well during their 40-minute talk that, by interview's end, each promised to have the other over for dinner.

Stewart answered every question Stern dared to ask, with a candor and sassy sense of humor she's rarely shown. Naturally, quite a few of Stern's questions revolved around her sex life -- and Stewart was more than game to reply.

While she never had lesbian sex in prison, Stewart admitted she saw many beautiful women there -- and that she'd witnessed several female inmates involved in sexual relations. Well, sort of. "So you never saw two girls getting it on in front of you?" asked Stern. "Oh yes," replied Stewart. "Not naked girls, but I saw them in the dark. They had trysts behind the buildings and the doorways."

According to Martha, the butch women liked her the most.

Howard Stern Pro-Gay: Artie Lange Goes too Far

For the past year, I've been reporting on Howard Stern's Sirius Satellite radio show -- and as both a fan and a journalist, I've provided a gay perspective of the show from all angles, the good and the bad.

Well, make way for the ugly. A recent on-air clash between popular cast member Artie Lange and show employee "High Pitch" Mike devolved into a vicious, epithet-strewn fight that left both studio members and listeners confused about Lange's true feelings toward gays.

For those of you unfamiliar with the show, Lange is a hugely successful comic/actor with a fanatical blue-collar fan base, thanks mostly to his gig on Stern's show. He's a recovering drug addict, and -- some would say -- also a recovering homophobe.

How he's doing with the drugs is unclear, but it seemed he was making progress in his attitudes toward gay people by exhibiting some acceptance of gays in on-air discussions. When he learned that openly gay wrestler Chris Kanyon was going through hard times, he went above the call of duty by offering him some real-world, off-air help.

Howard Stern Pro-Gay: Stern's "L Word" Education

As we've written about several times Howard Stern is one of the most gay-friendly celebs anywhere, but is Shane from "The L Word" his lesbian kryptonite?

Howard (along with his on-air crew, Robin, Fred, Gary and Artie) spent close to half an hour on Tuesday's show discussing Stern's fiance Beth's crush on Shane from "The L Word."

As always on the show, the discussion was hilarious, insightful and downright fascinating. Beth's crush on a girl seemed bothersome to Howard, and the fact that the crush seemed to be getting more and more intense a mere two weeks after the couple announced their wedding engagement seemed to make him even more insecure.

Given Howard's decades-old on-air fixation with lesbians, the extent of his genuine insecurity over his fiance's lesbian crush may seem shocking. But longtime listeners know that Stern has made it clear time and time again that, unlike most men, he would panic in a threesome out of fear the two women would fall in love and forget about him.

"Beth has some sort of weird thing for this chick on 'The L Word,' Shane," he complained. "You know, sometimes at night we watch separate TV shows in separate rooms, and every time I go in, she's watching that Shane."

Howard Stern Pro-Gay: Stern Hires Takei

When it was announced last year that openly gay actor George Takei was invited to be an official announcer on Howard Stern's new Sirius Satellite radio show, it made headlines. Non-listeners likely read the news and assumed Stern's decision was a publicity stunt -- after all, isn't Stern a shock jock, a misanthropic narcissist who rode to success on strippers, swear words and racists?

Given Stern's reputation, it's easy enough to see how his hiring Takei could have been construed as a "goof." But the real story is actually much more interesting: After being a favorite guest of the show, Takei had earned Stern's respect -- as well as his millions of mostly straight listeners -- for his wit, his candor and, most important, his sense of humor. He was hand-picked by the self-proclaimed "King of All Media" to join the show.

The result? A cultural demystification of gay life that's having a measurable, meaningful effect on a national audience otherwise completely isolated from gay America.

Here's a quick back story on the quirky partnership: During a quick interview to promote a project back in the early '90's, Takei uttered two words that would wind up making him one of the most memorable voices in Stern Show history: "Oh, my."

Are Lesbians Afraid to Look at Each Other?

By Jenny Stewart, PlanetOut Editorial Director

I have a question for all the lesbians out there.  Why is it that we never make eye contact with each other in public?   Whether out grocery shopping, jogging, at the gym, at Starbucks or most of all – inside a lesbian bar or club – we always avert our eyes.

Ok – what's going on?  Do lesbians have a fear of eye contact?  Now with gay men, we know that it’s all about the smoldering stare.  One look and boom – no hello is necessary.  Clearly, when it comes to the mating habits of gay men and lesbians, we couldn’t be any more different.  But seriously, would it kill us to at least look at each other?  Maybe even smile?

Recently, my friend and I went to a lesbian bar in San Francisco and did a little experiment.   We sat at a prominent table with a bird’s-eye view of the crowd and we not only locked eyes with every single woman there, we also smiled.   But as predicted, the response we got was averted eyes and even some frightened looks.   There was even this one woman there all by herself who you’d have thought would appreciate a friendly smile. And as always the case when you’re alone in a bar, she was running out of places to look.  Finally, she looked.  We smiled… but she quickly turned away. She decided to instead focus her attention to a sign on that wall that read, “Closed Sundays.”  

Lesbian Eye Contact Heats Up...

By Jenny Stewart, PlanetOut Editorial Director

Last week, I wrote an Op-ed piece titled, "Are Lesbians Afraid to Look at Each Other?" for PlanetOut.  I focused on the topic of lesbians who refuse to make eye contact with each other in public.

I wanted to know more, so I solicited your feedback:  Was I the only person who experienced or even noticed this?  Was this strictly a San Francisco phenomenon?  Or was this common among women in every city around the world?  Why are lesbians -- and even women in general -- not looking at each other?

"Really? You Don't Look Gay..."

Something funny happened the other day that I wanted to share.  I was on my lunch hour, paying for takeout at a nearby deli and the always friendly cashier was making small talk with me as she usually does.  But this time, she got more up close and personal, and the conversation went something like this:

Cashier: Are you excited for the weekend?

Me: Totally!  I am so glad it's Friday.

Cashier: What are you going to do?

Me: I really don't know yet, but I think I'm just going to play it by ear. 

Cashier:  Do you have kids?

Rosie Reveals All To Stern

 Erroneously written off as a homophobe by some, Howard Stern is actually a supporter of gay performers and gay rights. 

Rosie O'Donnell did his show this week, which was a shocker to some, given their less-than-friendly history.  But it turns out that Howard and Rosie really like each other. And it was definitely the single most revealing interview Rosie's ever done...

As they chatted, Howard got Rosie to dish about everything from how old she was when she first had sex to whether she has ever thought about a celebrity while masturbating.