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Host: Derek Hartley

Born a military brat in Fredericksburg, VA, Derek Hartley moved quickly and often through what was, for the most part, an extremely happy childhood. At the very least, it was extremely interesting. His family was large, complex, scattered geographically but also enormously loyal and upfront. Uniquely, he is second-generation gay on both sides of his family. Despite being a gay child, he was born with a terrible lack of fashion sense. In general, he liked to read, play by himself, fight with his sister Tiffany, and be a total smart ass when given half a chance.

As a kid and young adult, he always thought it would be great to be an actor, or at the very least, famous. In his early twenties, he did do a small amount of acting in college films, appeared in one humiliating German music video and did extra work in Ed Wood and D2: The Mighty Ducks. Not interested in suffering in a studio apartment and working as a waiter to support his headshot habit, he decided to try writing to get into Hollywood.

At first, he wrote movie reviews for a small gay paper in Los Angeles. From there, he launched an internet gossip newsletter called The Paige Report which enjoyed some popularity among Hollywood studio folks. The Paige Report fortuitously lead him to his first syndicated column (Deep Inside Hollywood) for Q-Syndicate, a brief stint as Miss Information on HSX.com and a weekly hosting job on PlanetOut.com doing live celebrity interviews online. The success of the online celebrity interviews led to the launch of a weekly column called FantasyMan Island. The column, a blend of relationship horror stories and advice from the trenches, earned him a reputation as “the gay Carrie Bradshaw.”

His success with relationship advice and pop culture led to the launch of Derek And Romaine, a daily radio show on Sirius Radio that blends both of those disciplines. He is working on a book entitled I Lost My Virginity To Barbra Streisand (and other true tales of dating horror) and he resides in New York City.

You can learn more about Derek Hartley on his personal website: DerekHartley.com

Host: Romaine Patterson

A Wyoming native, Romaine Patterson got started in activism when her close friend Matthew Shepard was killed in a brutal anti-gay hate crime in October of 1998. Immediately following his death, Romaine started speaking at vigils and community events across the country. Due to the massive media coverage Shepard's death garnered, Patterson quickly became a seasoned professional speaker. She has worked with media professionals from around the world and virtually every media format.

Patterson is best known for her work combating the anti-gay antics of the Rev. Fred Phelps, whose followers picketed Shepard's funeral and the murder trials. In April of 1999, she founded the Angel Action, an organization for peaceful demonstration.

Angel Action is now used all over the world as a means of combating hate.

Taking her activism to the next level Patterson went to work as the Regional Media Manager for The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) in February of 2000. While there she worked as a spokesperson on several national media campaigns.

Her work around the hateful lyrics of Eminem allowed Patterson to fulfill her goal of educating young people. In efforts to work with gay youth, Patterson spent a great deal of time speaking at colleges and high schools around the country on a variety of issues. She has always maintained that educating today's youth is the key to putting a stop to hate and continues to work with the Matthew Shepard Foundation to meet this end.

Patterson returned to school at the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences in the fall of 2001 in order to further her knowledge of the media industry. As a top graduate of the Conservatory's Master Recording Program in May of 2001 she moved to New York City where she currently resides. Her book “The Whole World Was Watching” was published by Advocate Books in October 2005.

You can learn more about her on her personal website: EatRomaine.com, and learn more about her book “The Whole World Was Watching” at her book website: ReadRomaine.com.

Voice: Ben Patrick Johnson

WEBSITE | MYSPACE | VIDEO BLOG

Johnson is also a human rights activist, working within the gay and lesbian community to eliminate anti-gay violence, encourage the passage of progressive marriage laws, and provide safe housing for elder gays and lesbians. In 2006, Johnson -- also passionate about education -- single-handedly funded the building of the first elementary school in a poor, rural region of Thailand.

ONE SIZE FITS ALL, Johnson's third novel, chronicles how one young fashion designer gets carried away in Oscars hype. It continues a series of Hollywood stories Johnson began with his autobiographical IN AND OUT IN HOLLYWOOD, and followed with the bittersweet THIRD AND HEAVEN.

An avid athlete and bodybuilder, Johnson has recently started studying Thai boxing and extreme fighting. He lives in the Hollywood Hills with a mixed-breed wildcat, six tortoises and a lizard.