Man Outed on Radio Show to Receive $270K

[seriousstan]

SAN FRANCISCO -- A San Francisco man who says he was devastated after he was identified as gay on a national Spanish-language radio show will be paid $270,000 by Univision Radio, an arbitrator has ruled.

Roberto Hernandez, 45, was driving to work in 2002 when he received a phone call from a man who said that he met Hernandez at a San Francisco gay bar. The caller then announced that the conversation was being broadcast live on the "Raul Brindis and Pepito Show," based in Houston.

Hernandez worked for the local station that broadcast the show, and sold advertising for the program. He said he was so depressed by the incident that he could no longer work.

"It's a nightmare," Hernandez said. "How do you live with such an embarrassment in your life? How do you live when someone makes your life so insignificant? "

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/14/AR2005081400361_pf.html

I actually heard this clip from a net posting.

[girl gone mad]

1. "How do you live with such an embarrassment in your life? "

You shove it in the closet, apparently.

:eyes:

[Toucano]

24. Well put, GGM! n/t

[TrueAmerican]

2. The man is owed no money

Whatever happened to freedom of speech. He's Gay, he needs to get on with his life and stop blaming others for his problems.

[ldf]

3. oh puhleeez!

would you like some brie with your whine?

how can you live your life hating yourself so?

[Placebo]

4. Just another person making "gay"...

sound worse than death, hell, and the devil all rolled into one. :eyes:

"OMG, people know I'm gay! my life is over! how can i ever go back to work or show my face in decent society again? i now must live the life of a hermit! an outcast!" :eyes: :nopity:

do it, don't talk about it

fuck that shit

[Doremus]

5. Agreed, Placebo.

BTW, the picture in your sig -- is that Johnson? Whose face is he getting into?

[Gildor Inglorion]

6. It's Senator Richard Russell of Georgia, I think

he served on the Warren Commission that investigated President Kennedy's assassination.

[Doremus]

7. Thanks Gildor. Any idea what he was so riled about? n/t

[Gildor Inglorion]

23. Possibly...there's a taped phone recording

of LBJ talking to Russell, who was very reluctant to serve on the JFK assassination commission, and "jawboning" him into doing it. Or maybe it had to do with the Civil Rights bill. Who knows? As Shakespeare says of Henry V: "I love the bloody bully." LBJ was rough and crude, but he knew how to get things done. If ONLY he'd got the hell out of Vietnam, he'd be fondly remembered as one of our most effective and beloved presidents. We need more Democrats like him, I think.

[Placebo]

8. Senator Richard Russell....

captain of the Southern opposition to all civil rights legislation.

[begin_within]

9. What's he doing in San Francisco if he doesn't want to be openly gay?

He should move to Talladega or Tyler, Texas or someplace like that where there are closets galore.

[Spider Jerusalem]

10. Now that's just pathetic.

'How do you live with such embarassment...?'

If being gay bothers you that much, commit suicide. There's a short and simple fix for your self-loathing...otherwise, learn to accept who you are and say 'fuck you' to anyone who can't.

[MsUnderstood]

29. Wow what a pompous response

I'm glad you take so lightly the problem of suicide, the issue with a person trying to come out and the combination of which causes so many teenage deaths to suicide each year.

Do you know how many times a day I hear "That is so gay", "he is such a homo", "Being gay is just plain wrong" or other words that bite into me reminding me I may be in love but nobody likes it. . .

Being gay is STILL NOT a good, acceptable way of life. This person was outted in San Fransisco but on a spanish radio station. Last time I checked, the spanish population is still laregly catholic which means it is anti-gay. He works not at a pro gay, embrace your gay neighbor place but as a SALESPERSON in a spanish speaking station. How embarassing that the people he works with to get ads to the station had to hear this crap.

[6000eliot]

11. I think if you're afraid to be identified as "gay,"

you should stop sucking you-know-what (don't want to get the thread locked).

[IndianaGreen]

12. Latino culture is very patriarchal and it is tough to be GLBT

I would not be sarcasm on my part to tell Mr. Hernandez that I really feel his pain.

[catnhatnh]

13. Nice replies here...

...a poor bastard locked into his own denial and already leading the life of a cripple is kicked in the nuts and people on this site find that COOL??? No more...I'm disgusted

[Pepperbelly]

14. his privacy is his business ...

good for him. I hope he manages to salvage a bit that the lawyers don't get.

[madrchsod]

15. i think he`s a bit over dramatic

but to be outed this way on a radio show for the "entertainment value" is worth going to court over. they invaded his privacy for their economic gain and he deserves every penny. this has nothing to do with sexuality it has to do with privacy

[Coventina]

16. I agree.

Frankly, I'm a little disheartened by some of the lack of compassion shown in this thread.

[Maine-ah]

17. yep, ditto that.

Your sex life is your own business.

[ovidsen]

18. He deserves every dollar

And then some. Just because you're gay doesn't mean you're required to tell the world. You can, IF you wish, at the time you want. You can keep it quiet if you wish, too. Your sexuality, no matter what it is, isn't something you have to brag about. People who think he deserved to be "outed", no matter what, are insensitive idiots, and that's putting it nicely.

It's about CHOICE, morons.

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ovidsen]

21. Nice debating skills.

It's still a choice, friend. His choice, not yours. And I won't critize you either should you choose not to overtly express your sexuality.

Choice... choice.... remember that word. Choice.

[terrya]

27. Being gay is NOT shameful, contrary to what you might think.

Why should we go back in the closet just for the likes of you?

No, goddammit, I WILL tell the world that I'm gay.

[ovidsen]

28. And that's your choice.

And that's my point.

If you choose to be out, I applaud you. If you choose to be discreet, I will not condemn you. NO ONE should be allowed to dictate how someone else choose to portray himself/herself.

Get it?

[meganmonkey]

19. Half the reactions on this thread are mind boggling to me

learning all about compassionate conservatism, I guess.

I am glad everyone else is so fucking secure with themselves that they can ridicule someone who is obviously having a hard time dealing with who he is.

:puke:

[Obamarama]

22. I'd sue the bastards, too....

Granted, I think the guy is being just a little over dramatic. I mean he is 45 and presumably single, at least from the perspective of his family. I think a lot of people he knows probably already had it figured out.

Plus, if he can't be comfortable being gay in San Francisco of all places then he must be really fucked up.

That being said, he still has his right to privacy and the radio show seriously overstepped their bounds. I hope he spends some of his winnings on a good shrink so he can accept who he is and be happy.

[Occulus]

26. I wonder if the guy had a baaaaaad experience in his past

I know I did. It didn't push me into the closet- though that's what my parents would have wanted- but it did (and has, throughout) affected me in ways I mostly fail to change. In fact, if this had happened to me, I'd be pissed enough to file suit too.

Can one file suit against one's family for pain and suffering inflicted by their reaction to discovering one is gay? I'm just asking.

[Mister Mark]

25. Yes!

I'm so glad he sued and won. I was really pissed when I heard this story a couple years ago. The defense of the radio show was, "He needs to lighten up. He can't take a joke."

I'm guessing that a lot of the "me too" posters here didn't actually read the story. The guy deserves every penny he gets out of Raul and Pepito (the assholes).