How a ‘Married, Heterosexual, Christian mother’ and NPR Host Became a Gay Rights Ally

The record number of openly-gay Congressional candidates elected two weeks ago “should be a wake-up call, on a number of levels, that the real America can be found in lots of places,” says National Public Radio’s Michel Martin.

A self-described “married, heterosexual, Christian mother,” Martin, 53, an African American, routinely addresses gay issues, as well as those of other minorities, on “Tell Me More,” the daily news-talk show she launched in 2007.

The struggle for gay equality “is one of the most important civil rights movements of our time,” says Martin, who last week received the first Randy Shilts Award for LGBT Coverage, sponsored by the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association. (Full disclosure: I am a long-time member of NLGJA.)

Gay rights “is also one of the most important human rights stories of our time,” Martin adds. “I don’t understand why we wouldn’t do those stories.”