Talking about gay marriage and our culture of division with Michael Irvin

Over the last few years I've been blessed by a friendship with an incredible man named Michael Irvin. I met Michael through his former radio partner, Kevin Kiley, whom I'd done radio with for years. One of the various reasons I call this man "incredible" is his willingness to listen and discuss issues of the day. Homophobia, sexism, racism, religion...you name it, Michael's ready to talk about it with you, not at you.

Today he and I, along with his radio partner Curtis Stevenson, had a 15-minute discussion on air about Barack Obama and gay marriage. You can listen to the interview, dated May 18, here. The Bible, Manny Pacquiao and TD Jakes all factored into the conversation. And for 15 minutes on sports radio in Miami, we talked about how the lack of same-sex marriage affects our culture and the lives of people.

I've learned a lot from Michael about listening to others. Not long ago I would say I hated religion and resented religious people. Like Obama did with same-sex marriage, I've come full circle back to where I was 15 years ago and can listen to and respect religion. My mind and ears have opened to others almost exclusively because of my long conversations on and off the air with Michael. 

I've also learned that as I listen and process, it invites the other person to do the same. So many people in the gay community fail to listen to the "other side." And religious folks do the same. It reflects our increasingly divided culture: We all want to talk, no one wants to listen, and we get pushed further and further into our own corners. Hopefully someone heard our conversation on WQAM today and became slightly ore willing to listen to those who disagree.

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