In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with legendary columnist and author Michael Musto who has reported on the club and celebrity scene in NYC for over three decades. His weekly celebrity and gossip column La Dolce Musto that ran in the Village Voice for 28 years came to an abrupt end as lay-offs shocked and saddened his loyal readers. As the trend continues to shake-up and end the era of print publications we wondered if the Village Voice may be headed on the same route as Boston’s only alternative newspaper The Phoenix which folded this year after 48 years. We talked to Musto about where he thinks print publications are headed, the future of journalism that we love and his spin on our LGBT issues.
When asked what his personal commitment is to LGBT civil rights Musto stated, “My commitment has been lifelong. When I started the column in 1984 in the Village Voice I was out gay from the very first column. There was no way I was going to hide and I was going to do that so that first of all I could effect other persons lives without any hypocrisy and also I could mix gossip reporting and party stuff with fights for gay rights. It’s super important that we get total equality, not kind of half-baked attempts at that. In the eighties when I started the column I became extra politicalized when the AIDS epidemic started to hit in a big way. That just made me filled with rage, not only at the horror we were suffering but the fact that nobody in power was doing anything about it. I joined Act-Up. I took to the streets. You know this was very not me. I was always just kind of a party person looking for a gift bag and suddenly I was doing all of that but at the same time I was protesting and demanding equal rights and demanding that the government address the AIDS Crisis. So I never turned back since then. It really politicalized and galvanized me and until the day I die I will be fighting for our place at the table.”
Michael Musto has authored four books and has appeared on numerous TV shows including a cameo appearance on the season finale of the NBC hit series “Smash” where he plays himself. In 2011, Musto was named one of the "Out 100" of the country's most influential LGBT personalities. He's appeared as a TV pundit on numerous network news shows and in documentaries about actor/writer Charles Busch, Paris Hilton, Warhol star Jackie Curtis, restaurateur Florent, Michael Alig, camp performer Divine, clubs like the Roxy and many more. Michael is currently doing a weekly column called Musto! The Musical! for Out.com, writing regular think pieces for the Advocate and weekly interviews for Gawker.
For More Info: facebook.com/michael.musto
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