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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (March 2, 2007)
O'Neill and Elliott celebrate Valentine's Day by renewing the wedding vows of Kurt Jull (second from left) and Michael Teufel. Lane says probably 90 percent of mainstream radio personalities who are gay are not out on the air, with the exception of KGNY, a dance music station in San Francisco. Carter is probably the most Elliott visits Lake Union during his stint in Seattle. radio personality as well as a player in The 3rd Floor sketch comedy thought that it was kind of preposterous when he explained to me troupe. that he’d never been out on the air in a 20-year radio career.” While Elliott was immediately comfortable with O’Neill, and the two of she says she encouraged him to be honest with his new listeners, them decided he would come out on their show, once he was official O’Neill stresses that ultimately the decision to come out was entire “I think this example with Mitch will probably impact other ly hired at The Buzz. “1 think without Daria 1 never would have done ly Elliott’s. stations and make it easier for more people to come out on the air,” it,” he says. “I felt so safe with Daria. She is so respected in this town says Lane, who acknowledged that gay men are more likely to meet and so loved by her listeners, and Daria’s so nurturing.” prominent lesbian on a show targeted toward a general audience. KRSK program director Jeff McHugh says that he didn’t realize Elliott was gay when he was hired as O’Neill’s co-host but that once with opposition than their female counterparts. “There’s a lot of O’Neill, who attended the same high school as Matthew Shepard he found out, the choice was clear. “1 knew that if Mitch was going homophobia out there and people have these stereotypes in their in Casper, Wyo., has been a “straight but not narrow” ally for many to be on the air, he was going to have to be out. That was the only mind and when they just hear people who are people and just happen years. The Reed College graduate has served as host of Basic Rights [negative] thing in his demo is that he seemed kind of shallow, like to be gay, that will help people to see that it’s not that big of a deal.” Oregon events and voiced her support for the queer community at there was something missing." Elliott explains that he never lied to his listeners in Seattle or every opportunity. She says she couldn’t see how Elliott could not be McHugh says KRSK’s parent company, Entercom Communications, Atlanta. “I never acted like 1 was currently in a relationship, but out to listeners in Portland. “[Mitch] is a proud, gay man. 1 just was totally behind the move. He stresses that although there was I would talk about ‘my ex,’ and I would talk about how 1 missed my ex’s family, how 1 was really close with my ex’s brother and my ex’s mom and dad, and just had to be really careful to say ‘my ex’ instead of ‘Patrick’s mom and dad’ or ‘his mom and dad,’ ” he says. After KLSY changed its format to cut back on banter between radio personalities, Lane recommended Elliott as a co-host for Daria O’Neill’s afternoon slot on The Buzz. The format was similar to the morning show at KLSY before the cutbacks, with a lot of focus on personal stories and relationships, and music chosen by a music director based on research in the “adult contemporary” market. (Producer Ted Douglas describes the music on The Buzz as “what pop music has become.”) “There were many, many, many excellent applicants, but (Mitch] seemed genuinely interested in creating a dialogue and not sort of thinking about getting the next punch line in or what he was going to say that was funny, and of course his voice was very comforting and beautiful and excellently modulated,” says O’Neill, who has been some trepidation at the management level, he never encountered any "My face was flushed and we were nervous. We were watching the phones because we didn't know if we were just going to be screamed at, if some religious-right person was going to call and tell us we were going to hell. We didn't know what was going to happen." show targeted toward a general audience. This attitude of acceptance is pretty remarkable considering how few mainstream radio personal ities are out (only a handful in the entire country) and especially considering Entercom is the fourth-largest radio broadcasting company in the United States and the largest radio company in the country that focuses only on radio. Lane, who had helped coach Carter at the time she came out on The Bert Show in Atlanta, brought his expertise to the table as the team at The Buzz considered how to reveal Elliott’s sexuality to the listening audience. “We didn’t want to hype it too much, but we did want people to notice that it’s part of who he is,” says Lane. This is how the team came up with the idea of “The Mitch Test.” For Elliott’s first few weeks on the air, O’Neill and Douglas, who also appears on the air, kept track of Elliott’s ambiguous use of pronouns and —Mitch Elliott a favorite with Portland audiences for many years as a television and Continued on Page 22 ^4 ‘Vísta sQ Mar • 100% LOANS ’AVi»wofth«S»a" ___ • STATED INCOME I OCEANFRONT SUITES ^loùst/ • 1 DAY APPROVAL • CHALLENGED CREDIT OK overt opposition to the idea of an openly gay host for a drive-time Don Williams (503)680-4444 Our professionals unii arrange your delivery Where open minds result in closed loans WuancecLendfng Inc. ® Don Duncan owner quickloans4uOcomcast.net • www.mtglender.com Teleflora (503) 642-9992 1-800-356-1884 Aloha Market Centre 20455 SW TV Highway www. westsideflor i it. net INTERESTED IN AUTO INSURANCE? CALL MEH! 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