Rosie talks about being "not gay enough"

In an E-mail interview with PlanetOut.com columnist Paula Martinac, newly out talk show host Rosie O'Donnell addressed a number of topics, including her clashes with gay activists and journalists. "[S]o many of the loudest gay folk cast judgment and assign blame to those they consider quietly gay--'not gay enough,'" O'Donnell writes. "I have been accused by some of being 'not gay enough.' My response has always been, I do not have to be gay like you. I only have to be gay like me." O'Donnell goes on to say that her coming-out was about alerting "people to the fact that there are half a million kids in foster care in America...[t]hat the laws in the state where I live prevented me from adopting the child I fostered for over 16 months, because I am gay," and not about appeasing her critics in the gay community. When Martinac asked about gay journalist Michelangelo Signorile's assertion that O'Donnell came out to silence gay critics, O'Donnell responded, "He is a moron. His idea of gay America consists of only those he deems worthy enough. I do not enjoy him, his point of view, or his rhetoric. (He isn't even funny.) One reason I did not come out sooner, I didn't want anyone to associate me with Signorile in any way. Same goes for [Village Voice columnist Michael] Musto." Regarding ending antigay discrimination, O'Donnell said, "I think it is important. I think everyone moves through life at their own pace, and patience is a virtue."