What do you want to tell Big Thinkers?

Neil Giuliano:  I think the broader message is that your viewers can get involved.  I think a lot of people who are not members of the LGBT community but are very supportive of their family members, their friends, their coworkers, whoever it may be who are within the community, we need those people to actually not just be friends but actually speak up.  We need them to support the LGBT movement for equality, we need them to speak up for the LGBT community and speak out against hatred.  The LGBT community is a minority group; we're not the majority of people walking around the world, certainly not in the United States society or really any other.  So we rely, will rely and do rely, on the support of our allies.  And that's why we have a Be an Ally and a Friend campaign at GLAAD and we want people to sign up to be an ally and a friend and be visibly supportive of the LGBT community, because we can't do it by ourselves, we need other people to stand with us.  And so people can go to glaad.org, become an ally and a friend, sign up, speak out, and help tell your story about supporting the LGBT community.  Whether you're an LGBT individual or whether you're an ally, that's what we really need you to do.

Recorded on: Mar 4 2008

How do you rate the Presidential candidates on LGBT issues?

Neil Giuliano:  Oh I think they've made really strong outreach, they both have.  I have friends of mine who are working on both the campaigns, and actually friends of mine who are working on John McCain's campaign as well; perhaps not as visibly and as openly courting the gay vote as the Obama and Clinton campaigns are.  But because of history and relationships and so forth, I think there are gay people who are involved with all of the campaigns, some more closeted than others, and I think they all have the opportunity to do a lot of good, no matter who gets elected.  They're all going to approach it in different ways, they're going to have different ways of moving towards things, but they all have an opportunity, I think, to do really, really well.  And certainly the Democratic nominee, whoever that is, will enjoy the vast amount of support from the LGBT community; I think that goes without saying, and quite honestly appropriately so, given the support that the Democratic nominees are providing to the community.

Recorded on: Mar 4 2008 

 Will we ever have a gay President?

Neil Giuliano:  Oh I think so.  Yes, I don't think it's any time soon.  I think we have to first be treated equally within society, and once we are treated equally within society we then have an opportunity for- to participate more fully.  Think of it this way.  There's over 500,000 elected official positions in the United States of America; 500,000 from local city council to water district to President of the United States.  There's less than 300 who are openly gay or lesbian, bisexual or transgender.  So that's a long way to go in terms of elected representation of a community that is certainly much larger than its elected representation is within that community.  So we have a ways to go in that respect.  But I think that day will come.

Recorded on: Mar 4 2008 

What skills do you need to lead GLAAD?

Neil Giuliano:  They're not very different from the skills you have to have to be a mayor of a city, in some ways.  You have to have a vision and understand where you think the organization or the community needs to go.  You need to be able to articulate that vision very well.  You need to not get out of front of people but you need to bring other people along.  That's my, the way that I approach, have approached any kind of leadership position I've ever been in, that I may know where I think we need to go but I'm going nowhere if I'm not bringing other people with me.  So it's a way of sort of really helping people create what it is then we need them to support.  And that's the way that I approach it.

 Who inspires your leadership?

Neil Giuliano:  What's interesting is I don't look to necessarily the people who are in a big position or in- at the top of the ladder, so to speak.  I look for people of influence and I look for whoever has influence in a particular situation really is the person or the group of people who are the leaders.  Leadership isn't about holding an office or holding a job, it's about having influence over other people and then causing those other people to move towards doing something that makes things better; and that's the way I've always approached leadership.  It's not about me in a particular office or a particular job, but it's about the influence I can have on other people for us all to accomplish something. 

What mistakes have you made in your time leading GLAAD?

Neil Giuliano:  Oh.  In my time at GLAAD?  Well I've only been here about 2½ years so I don't know if I'm made a big enough, really, really big mistake yet.  But certainly as a leader in public life, yes of course.  I supported some big projects that ended up going nowhere, spent a lot of political capital on them.  And then even deciding when I was the openly gay mayor in Tempe and I publicly spoke out against funding the Boy Scouts in my community through the city's United Way Campaign and questioned whether the city should be supporting the United Way Campaign that then was funding an organization that discriminates.  Well that was pretty stupid of me because it led to a recall election, within my city.  Now we won the recall election with 70% of the vote almost, but it cost my friends a lot of money and it was a full year of having to deal with the campaign of the recall election-- that was from 2000 to 2001.  And what the folks who were driving the recall election were-- they knew they were never going to win the election, I think, but what they were really trying to do was cripple my ability to govern.  They really tried to limit my ability in all sorts of things by having a recall election, having to deal with that.  It ended up only making me stronger in the long run, but when I think back it would've been something nice to avoid.

 What’s one of the best decisions you’ve made as leader?

Neil Giuliano:  I think one of the best decisions I probably ever made was to be very public about the need for a stronger public transportation system within the Greater Metropolitan Phoenix area and help lead the effort, way back in 1996, for a half cent sales tax, for a bus system, and for some of that money to go for light rail planning and construction, to now where in 2008, here it is 12 years later, the bus system's been implemented, Light Rail will actually open in the fall in the greater Phoenix area, which I think will be a very good thing; it's one of the fastest growing regional areas in the country.  So I think my involvement with public transportation is clearly something that I think-- again spent a lot of political capital on but was something that'll be very long-lasting and good for the valley.

Recorded on: Mar 4 2008 

How do the Republicans and Democrats compare on LGBT issues?

Neil Giuliano:  Well the Republican Party is still very controlled by factions within the party that are religiously based and use religious based discrimination to justify their very anti-gay and defamatory comments and behavior towards the LGBT community.  Those leaders within the Republican Party still have that kind of influence on the party.  You need only look at what went on in the Republican primaries to note that kind of influence.  Now it’s of significance that there were- that John McCain got through those primaries, but if he had only been running against one very, very rightwing, religiously based conservative, instead of a couple, that might not have been the case.  So the dynamic worked very interestingly.  It’s fantastic and it is groundbreaking that the LGBT community’s relationship with leadership in the Democratic Party has brought us to a place where we had all of the major candidates for the Democratic nomination come before an LGBT audience, talk about LGBT issues, have it broadcast on an LGBT television network; I mean, that really shows a sense of arrival for the LGBT community as a political force, as a group of influence within that sphere.  And so that was just I think tremendous.  And I think nothing shows clearer the differences in where the parties still are than the fact that the Democrats came and participated in a forum on a gay television network, LOGO, and the Republican debate was still all controlled by those from the far right whose views about the LGBT community are really based on religious views that are not shared by, I don’t think, a majority of Americans.

Neil Giuliano:  I think one—it gives me an opportunity to say one of the people you should consider having on here is Alexander Robinson who’s the Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition, which is the largest organization of the African-American community working within the LGBT movement, and he is, by far, much more qualified to talk about that than I am because he spends every day working with African-American leaders around this country on LGBT equality and LGBT issues.  I still think we have a ways to go in that community, and Alexander’s doing a great job trying to build the coalitions with the various constituencies within the African-American community that are of influence in the broader sense, to try to get them on the page and to get them together, to learn about those issues.  But we clearly have a long, long way to go.

Recorded on: Mar 4 2008 

 Should the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” debate be more prominent?

Neil Giuliano:  Well I don’t know if it needs to be in public dialogue, to be truthful, because the reality is every poll shows that more than 70% of the American public believe that don’t ask, don’t tell needs to go away, that it’s not a good policy, it’s a flawed policy, and it’s not necessary.  So really where the conversation needs to happen is with 535, really 536 individuals: 435 members of Congress, 100 senators and whoever’s the President of the United States, because those are the individuals who need to change this policy and need to do the right thing and get rid of this policy.  America is already there, America is already saying in large numbers that this is a policy that has not worked, doesn’t serve a purpose and needs to be gone.

Recorded on: Mar 4 2008 

 Does the party scene affect perceptions of the LGBT community?

Neil Giuliano:  I think they may have a perception within the community itself.  I think large events within the community are again an opportunity to educate people within the community and come down to talking about individual behavior and individual choices that people make about their behavior, respecting that, and then also respecting that as a community we want to support and help each other and not push each other into harm’s way in that regard.  So I don’t think there’s anything wrong with those gatherings, in and of I.  I think there are certainly people who may attend those gatherings who are doing things that could be harmful to themselves or others, and people should take responsibility for that behavior.

 Why is crystal meth use so widespread?

Neil Giuliano:  I think it’s rampant because again people are being lured into a complacency that use of chemicals, whether it’s crystal meth or other chemicals, can somehow get them through and somehow make their life easier.  I have a very close friend that just came out of rehabilitation, in a crystal meth program, and I was one of the people that did the intervention to get him into that program to begin with, just a month ago.  So I know very up close and very personal the effects that crystal meth can have on an individual and on the people who are around that individual.  And anybody who may be watching this who may be having those problems should get some help and get some support and not be embarrassed and not be afraid to reach out for that support.

Neil Giuliano:  I don’t really make that distinction.  I hope most people don’t.  I don’t know if there’s more that’s behind that question, but I don’t really make that kind of a distinction.

Neil Giuliano:  I don’t think we should be held to any different standards.  We should be held to the standards of societal decency, of course.  But I think that’s because we’re all part of the same society, that’s not because this part of society is straight and this part of society is gay; we’re all still living together.

Recorded on: Mar 4 2008 

 What role does HIV/AIDS play in the LGBT community?

Neil Giuliano:  Well I don’t know if I would term HIV/AIDS as a negative aspect within the movement at all.  I think it’s a health issue that certainly affects more than just the LGBT community, and something that we—there still needs to be fair, accurate and inclusive coverage of what’s going on in the HIV/AIDS pandemic.  I mean, if you look at—especially for my organization, GLAAD was founded by individuals who stood up to the New York Post and other news organizations in the very, very early days of the AIDS crisis when their coverage was clearly defamatory, and as those men got together and said the newspaper is covering this story terribly, they’re using language that’s terrible, it’s unacceptable.  And they realized that when they went to the newspaper and talked about that, the newspaper said, oh, perhaps you’re right on this, and they modified some of their language.  And that’s the early birth of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.  And there’s still work that has to be done within the media with regard to covering the HIV and AIDS community, with regard to the way the disease is being treated, with regard to the way the disease is being transmitted. And I think even within our own community, to focus on the LGBT community, we do need to take responsibility for behavior and for actions and do as much education as we can.

 What effect have advances in HIV treatment had on the community?

Neil Giuliano:  I think there have been some who have been lured into a false hope with regard HIV and AIDS because of some of those treatments.  And so then again the burden is on us to communicate as much as we can and educate people as much as we can, especially those who are young in the community, who don’t remember the early days and don’t remember the amount of tragedy that existed very visibly on a regular basis, as so many in the community were dying off because of their infections.

Recorded on: Mar 4 2008 

 What are the divisions within the LGBT community?

Neil Giuliano:  Well I think more and more LGBT people realize that we’re all on the same page for equality and fairness, to be treated equally and to be treated fairly within society.  There are some folks within the community who believe that marriage equality is not something that we have to push for immediately, that they would settle, quote/unquote, to use some terms, we’d settle for civil unions in that case.  But really the role of movement leadership, I think, is to articulate a vision for what is right and for where we should end up.  And we realize that there’s going to be steps along the way to get there, but the vision is full equality in this society, and that’s marriage equality, that’s being able to serve openly in the military, that’s being able to work without fear of being fired because you want to live authentically and live openly.  I think there’s more and more agreement within the LBGT community than there is division, and I think part of our role as LGBT leaders is to focus on where we’re united and bring people together.

Recorded on: Mar 4 2008 

 The challenges of being a LGBT athlete.

Neil Giuliano:  Well if think about—this is the way we thought about it.  Where is the most defamation rooted in our society still?  What aspects of society is there still a lot of homophobia against the LGBT community?  And you look at the world of sports, and we have a long way to go.  And so we’ve created the Sports Media Program to start working with media professionals that cover the sports world.  When incidents come up that where there’s either been an act of defamation or there’s an opportunity to educate people through sports media, we want to have that kind of influence, the same way we have the influence in the entertainment world, in television shows and film and so forth.  So the Sports Media Program is working with out athletes, on the college level, some closeted athletes on the professional level still, and really creating the opportunity to begin some of those dialogues.  And then we’re also talking to professional broadcast journalists, people who are sportscasters, people who are writing stories about the sports world, to see if we can have more fair, accurate and inclusive representation of LGBT athletes, whether they’re—on whatever level they’re in.  But certainly there’s a lot of young athletes who want to be able to compete, maybe some day as professionals, certainly maybe in the Olympics, and they want to know if they can be out.  It’s a great story.  We got an email not long ago from a mother who’s saying my son is an amazing high school athlete.  He’s out and I want him to be able to go to a college or university where he can be out as an athlete and be safe.  Where should he go, where can he look to?  This is his sport, this is what he wants to do.  This is coming from a parent, which is just tremendous.  So we shared some information with that person, connected them with some people at some universities that are very supportive of the LGBT community, and some day we’ll be able to tell that young person’s story when he’s very successful as an athlete. 

 Recorded on: Mar 4 2008 

 How has technology affected the LGBT community?

Neil Giuliano:  Well what has happened over time, as technology has allowed us as a community to communicate with each other and to communicate externally more and more, we’re able to learn more, we’re able to have more knowledgeable information about society, and so people are more educated.  More and more—there are very few people around I think anymore, especially within the 20 to 30-year-old demographic, as we were talking, that believe sexual orientation is a choice.  I think everyone really acknowledges now sexual orientation is not a choice—and even if it was a choice we live in a country where we should be able to pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness—but it really isn’t a choice.  And so we talk to people who say, “Well you’ve chosen this.”  We say, “Well tell us about the day that you chose your sexual orientation, let’s have that conversation.”  And of course you can’t do that because people don’t choose their sexual orientation.  And so we’re seeing from the outgrowth of that, people then are more understanding, they’re more appreciative, they’re more willing to accept—not tolerate but accept—people who are different from themselves with regard to sexual orientation, and that’s what is our path toward full equality in society.

Has the Internet changed the LGBT scene?

Neil Giuliano:  I’ve talked to some bar owners actually who have seen a decline in people showing up to some of the clubs—this is from Arizona where I know some of the owners of some of the clubs—and so some of their mid-week business is off, probably because people don’t--.  The gay community now doesn’t have to go to the bar that’s hidden down the dark alley with the entrance at the back of the building anymore, we don’t have to do that, and that’s very, very good.  And so we’re able to be out, we’re able to be open.  And so people are using all the means that they can.  And I think the technology of the Internet, I think it is impacting the way that people communicate and interact with each other, without a doubt.

Neil Giuliano:  I don’t think they do a disservice; I wouldn’t put it that they’re doing a disservice.  I would say that they’re missing an incredible opportunity to be role models and to be leaders and to help lead the next generation toward equality and fairness for all people, without regard to sexual orientation.  We know that there are closeted celebrities, we know that there are closeted politicians still, we know there are closeted CEOs or closeted people sitting behind cameras that do this kind of work.  It’s just always the way it is.  What we talk about is how when someone chooses to live openly, it transforms not just themselves but it has an impact on people that are around them, and all the people that they know.  So we encourage people to tell their story to their neighbors, to their friends, in their neighborhoods, in their workplace, where they’re able to be comfortable, and do it in a way that enables them to live authentically.  We don’t even like to use the term ‘coming out’ anymore.  Coming out is sort of a term that goes back to the ‘60s and ‘70s when people literally had to still be hidden.  Society doesn’t require us to be as hidden as it used to.  So we encourage people to live openly and live authentically, and to allow themselves to be full members of society, and do that by allowing your sexual orientation to be a part of who you are.

Neil Giuliano:  The GLAAD Media Awards really is what the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation is most known for.  It’s our most visible brand and it’s the way that GLAAD honors and recognizes those individuals and organizations and outlets in the media or television shows, films, that get it right, who have used a fair, accurate and inclusive representation of the gay community in telling their stories, whether it’s a TV show or a film or a journalist, a newspaper article, whatever it may be, magazines.  And so recently here in New York we honored Brian Graydon, who’s the President of MTV Entertainment, for the work that Brian has done over his entire career, not just in reality television, which is what people first probably think of, but just by being an out executive himself and by being a role model within his world, within the entertainment industry, has done just a tremendous job.  And Brian’s work in television really helped raise—MTV specifically—really helped raise a whole generation of people who don’t see sexual orientation as a big issue, it’s just the way it is; and that really is a tremendous legacy for Brian and his work.  We also honored Judy Shephard, as a straight ally who for almost 10 years now has been just so on our side, speaking out against hate and bigotry, and speaking for fairness and equality, probably more than any other straight advocate I can think of.  And just think of in the wake of the tragedy that she had to deal with almost 10 years ago, she stood up and wanted to make a difference, and has now spoken to over a million people in the last 10 years.  Over a million people have sat and listened to Judy tell her story about trying to end hate and discrimination; a very, very powerful story and an amazing woman that we were honored.  In Los Angles we’re taking a tilt towards the entertainment community and we’re honoring Janet Jackson, someone who has embraced her gay fans, from day one has spoken out in favor of the gay community, particularly involved with helping raise funds for the AIDS/HIV community, within the gay community, and has been just a real great ally for the community.  And Ellen Degeneres is going to come and present that award to Janet on April 26th.  We’re also honoring an out performer, who’s really tremendous, in Rufus Wainwright, and just an amazing performer, an amazing talent, who’s been an out entertainer and performer for many, many, many years and is deserving of our recognition as well.  And then we’re also honoring the Herb Ritts Foundation.  When he was alive, and even since his passing, the work of Herb Ritts has inspired a lot of people with the tremendous way he captured people in photographs and then shared them.  And Cindy Crawford is coming to accept that award on behalf of the Herb Ritts Foundation.  And Tom Ford, one of our honorees from last year, at our show here in New York City, is going to be presenting that award to Cindy.  So it’s really going to be a great night.

Recorded on: Mar 4 2008 

What has changed since Matthew Shephard’s death?

Neil Giuliano:  I think one of the most important things to note in the almost 10 years since Matthew was tragically killed is that those tragedies have not ended.  In fact, there have been hundreds of other people who have been killed in the ten years since Matthew was killed; some very high profile ones just recently in Florida, in South Carolina a year ago, in Oxnard, California not long ago with Lawrence King.  And I think one of the things that has happened with regard to the broad defamation is that there—I would agree with those that would say, well there’s less and less defamation, people are more politically correct. I think that may be true, but what is also true is that the intensity of the defamation, coming from those who really believe that LGBT people are evil and morally wrong and so forth, that has only heightened.  I mean, just look just in recent weeks the state representative in the State of Oklahoma who said that gay people are a larger threat to society than terrorism—this is coming from an elected official—and then had hundreds of people rally to her support. So we have a long way to go.  Even though the broad defamation may have lessened, the intensity that exists is I think even stronger than ever. 

What is the status of hate groups today?

Neil Giuliano:  Well the number of hate organizations in the country—I think Southern Poverty Law Center and their publication, The Intelligence Report, that GLAAD is actually recognizing and honoring this year, does a tremendous job of pointing out the level and number of hate organizations throughout the country, many of which take on hate specifically towards the gay community as one of their causes.  And that’s there, that’s very real, and I think a lot of people in society don’t realize that those groups are there.  They think of those hate groups as being racially motivated, perhaps against women, perhaps against immigrants now, but there are many that are still geared towards people of sexual orientations that are not within what they consider to be the norm. 

What drives public perceptions of the LGBT community?

Neil Giuliano:  Well I think there have been some really strong portrayals of the LGBT community over time that have allowed Americans to get to know LGBT people, and because of that I think that is what has changed the culture.  The media landscape is tremendously influential on society.  And the images in the media over the last 15 to 20 years have been better—some still very stereotypical—but they have been better over time, if you look at the change that has taken place over time.  And I think that has influenced the younger generation and I think that, those portrayals in the media over the last 10 to 15 years are what have shaped the 20 to 30-year-olds today who when you ask them about gay and lesbian people being able to serve in the military, not a problem.  Should they be able to have a job without fear of discrimination?  Absolutely.  Even should they be able to have legally recognized relationships, whether in the form of civil union or a marriage?  Absolutely.  That 20 to 30-year-old demographic clearly has been raised in a society that does not have the same hang-ups about sexual orientation that people of my generation or older had, when they were growing up.  And that’s the promise, that really is the hope.

Recorded on: Mar 4 2008 

How has reality TV changed public perceptions of the LGBT community?

Neil Giuliano:  Well reality TV and shows on cable really have been among the leaders in having those fair and accurate portrayals of the LGBT community.  You think back to—it was only 1994, so 14 years ago, Pedro Zamora on The Real World.  You’re maybe too young to, some of your viewers may be too young to remember that.  But Pedro really was the first openly gay Latino, HIV-positive guy, on The Real World, talking about his life and showing to, not just people in the house there, but to everyone who watched The Real World, that he was very authentic and very real and very genuine.  And over time shows like that, over time, have really been transformative in helping people understand that their neighbors, their coworkers, their friends down the street, are all part of the broader society, and many of them are in the LGBT community.

Recorded on: Mar 4 2008 

 Do the media misrepresent the LGBT community?

Neil Giuliano: Well a lot of journalists have really come a long way and understand that the terminology is very important. So, for example, GLAAD was very instrumental in- for the AP Style Book to be changed over time to where now the word homosexual is really not used, except if it needs to be used in a very clinical setting. But really the gay and lesbian are the terms that are used now to talk about members of the gay and lesbian community, rather than homosexual, which immediately brings to mind people’s images of sexual relationships, and the LGBT community is not just about sexual relationships at all. So that was a very important thing. And our work with journalists over time has really helped them understand how to talk about the LGBT community.

What’s one thing you want to tell journalists?

Neil Giuliano: I would tell them, and ask them, to not allow people to use their religious-based views as an excuse for their own defamation and their own discrimination; because that’s really what happens. Someone will say, “Well these are my deeply held religious beliefs.” And very few reporters will push back and say, “Well are those deeply held religious beliefs coming from the same place where deeply held religious beliefs justified slavery in this country for many years?” Those deeply held religious beliefs justified women not being able to vote and women not having a place in our society. So those deeply held religious beliefs, there’s very little pushback to people about them because we’re afraid to do that. And I think we can respectfully have the conversation—and respectfully, people are entitled and should have their own deeply held religious beliefs—but those deeply held religious beliefs are not supposed to be portrayed as the view of our national government, they’re not supposed to be inherent in the way our society treats all of us. Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness should be every American’s opportunity, not just those of a few people or a group of people who have deeply held religious beliefs in this corner when there are others who have deeply held religious beliefs in other corners.

Does faith inform your worldview?

Neil Giuliano: It does, in a spiritual sense. I was raised Roman Catholic, and while I wouldn’t call myself a practicing Roman Catholic anymore, I still have a great spiritual sense and great- my own personal religious beliefs. So yes, I would say so.

 How did you get involved with GLAAD?

What does GLAAD do?

Neil Giuliano:  We are the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.  We do the media advocacy and anti-defamation work that we believe moves to changing hearts and minds about the LGBT community on our path for full equality in this country.  So media advocacy, dealing with people in the media, making sure they have fair, accurate and inclusive representation of the LGBT community, in their stories, in their portrayals, whether it’s television, film, news stories, whatever it may be.  And then we’re the voice against the defamation that the community still faces on a regular basis.  Just it doesn’t take long to count off the times that we’ve been very publicly defamed by high profile individuals, from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to Jerry Lewis on his telethon last year.  So there’s a lot of times when we have to step in and say, “You’re over the line, you’re wrong, you need to apologize for that; that’s not acceptable commentary and we think you need to apologize to not just the LGBT community but everyone for that kind of commentary and language.” 

Neil Giuliano:  Well I was- I had left office in July of 2004, was doing some consulting and working with real estate development projects in Las Vegas and in Arizona, and got a call one day from the search firm and they said, "There's this job open at the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation."  And I had heard about GLAAD but was not real, real familiar with it, and I said, "Yes, that's probably not something for me but let me give you some names of some people around the community, nationwide that I know who might be good for a job like that."  Because all I really knew about GLAAD was their work in the entertainment industry-- great parties with great celebrities, it'd be fun to go-- but really didn't know the extent to which GLAAD is an advocacy organization working in a wide range of activity, not just entertainment at all.  And so I gave them some names and they called back a few weeks later and said, "Well we've talked to some people and they really said we should talk to you about this role."  And I said, "Well I'll be happy to talk with you but I'm doing some other things, I really don't think it's something that's going to pan out."  And well here we are almost three years later.  So it did pan out and I find it's a great honor, it's really engaging work to be on the forefront of the LGBT movement, doing the media advocacy, doing the anti-defamation work, which is-- really for me the cultural change part of the advocacy work for the LGBT movement is the most important.  I spent time in the political world, so I understand that part, and I understand the importance of the legal work, but the cultural change, in my view, is what allows the legal work to proceed and allows us to build the political support we need.

Neil Giuliano:  We talk with people from all walks of life, but certainly people who are in positions of high profile, stature, in really whatever world they may be in, but certainly in the entertainment world, more so now in communities of religion and faith.  We started a whole program for outreach to media in communities of religion and faith, and this very week just released some information.  We’re working with Dignity USA and the out people within the Catholic faith who are going to be very vocal; when the Pope comes and visits the United States very soon they’re going to be very vocal about the way the Pope thinks and treats and talks

about the LBGT community.  And our role is to help their voice get as much visibility as it can.  When the Pope is here we want LGBT stories to be covered with his visit as well.

Recorded on: Mar 4 2008 

 Were you openly gay when you ran for office?

Neil Giuliano:  No I wasn't, although it was not a real big secret, but I was not publicly out.  And interestingly enough in the '94 campaign, after I got through the primary, the first election, and got into the general runoff election, there were some push/pulling that was done about did you vote for Neil in the primary; did you know he's single and has no family; would you support the civil rights of homosexuals if there was a ballot initiative in the community?  A lot of tying it all together.  And the press actually called me during that election and said, "We've heard about these calls.  We'll write this story, if you think this is a story."  And still in the closet and still really unsure of what it might mean if I was openly gay running for office-- this is 1990, '89/'90-- I said, "No, don't write that story, let's just sort of wait."  And interestingly enough the press waited, they didn't write that story.  It wasn't until two years into my 10 years as mayor that a lot of my detractors in the community, my adversaries, coming from a real strong religious right standpoint-- everyone know sort of what my sexual orientation was, although it was really not talked about at all.  And we supported the local Gay Pride Festival, we supported the Lesbian Resource Project, as a community-- and these were things that the community had done before I was mayor but we continued to do them-- and they started coming to council meetings and they would say, "Why does the city support these things?"  And finally one meeting they went over the line, in my view.  They came to the meeting and said, "We know that one of you leads this lifestyle and we also want to know about the lieutenant in the Police Department, and we want- we heard that there's someone in the Water Department, and we understand there's these homosexuals"-- their term-- "all over the city now and we want to know why this is the case."  And that was over the line for me.  I'm a political figure, you can come after me, I signed up for this, but you don't go after public employees in a public forum and their private lives; whether it's true or not you just don't do that.  So I walked over to the newspaper a couple days later, sat down in the editor's office and said, "Write the story."  And he said, "We can write the story now?"  Like yes, just write the story, let's get this over with.  They did and the lead paragraph in the story was, "Ending years of rumor and speculation."  So we dealt with it, put it aside.  And it came up in elections, of course, because I had religious right opponents just about every election since then, but it was never a majority, a vocal minority, and we dealt with it and still moved on serving the city.

Did you ever feel at risk?

Neil Giuliano:  Oh sure.  Yes, there were times where I received death threats.  I'll never forget this one time I-- some folks from the Police Department came to me and showed me a picture of someone and they said, "If you ever see this person anywhere near you, leave and call us immediately."  And it happened to have been an individual who was a bit deranged, had been serving some time, had written some hate mail.  And yes, so yes, that happens.  I think that's a fact of life for anyone who's going to be open about their sexual orientation in a place where it's not universally accepted that that's okay.

What has changed since you ran for office?

Neil Giuliano:  Oh a lot has changed.  A lot has changed in society in the last decade.  The visibility of lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender people has never been as high as it is.  The support that we receive and the opportunity to talk about our lives publicly has never been as high as it is right now, and it created a kind of dialogue and a kind of opportunity to communicate with people that we have right now about these issues.  And so really it's only a decade, 12 years almost, but it's really a world of difference in terms of the visibility for lesbian and gay Americans. 

Recorded on: Mar 4 2008 

 Where are you from?

Neil Giuliano:  I was born and raised in Bloomfield, New Jersey, as the son of a local elected official and a homemaker, and it shaped who I am by being brought up in a family that was very community oriented, very public service oriented.  And that was my world, I was the councilman's kid growing up through junior high and high school.

Neil Giuliano:  At first I really didn't anticipate entering politics.  I thought I would be having a career in university administration.  I aspired to be a dean at Arizona, where I went to college.  People encouraged me to get involved in the community and I joined the local Kiwanis club and got involved with the Chamber of Commerce and the Temple Leadership Program, and the next think I knew people were saying, "You should run for City Council."  And one thing led to the next and I did and spent 14 years in local office in Arizona, four as a council member and 10 as the mayor.

What was your platform when you first ran for office?

Neil Giuliano:  Well when I first ran I was young; it was 1990, I was living in a fraternity house two years before I was running for office.  But my theme and the things I was talking about was about bridging to the future.  That was the theme I used-- before Bill Clinton used it in 1996, by the way-- I used it as my theme for running for mayor of Tempe, Arizona in 1994.  And it was all about knowing the community, having been there from college until as a young adult and so forth, and then bridging to the future and looking to the future and what do we want our community to be?  And I was the youngest person with the least amount of experience running in that three-way race for mayor that year, but I somehow got elected and spent 10 years in that office. 

Recorded on: Mar 4 2008