Interview: What Made “The View”’s Joy Behar So Pro-Gay?

We’re all seen it: a guest on a TV talk show makes some outrageously bigoted or factually incorrect statement about GLBT people — and the host, who surely knows better, stays absolutely silent, leaving the impression that the statement is either (a) accurate or (b) part of acceptable discourse.

But there’s one bright, shining exception: that kind of thoughtless bigotry never goes unanswered on a talk show hosted by Joy Behar – whether it’s on the long-running female chat-fest The View or the new HLN show The Joy Behar Show (which airs at 9 PM ET/PT on HLN). When Joe the Plumber recently said gays can’t be trusted around children, Joy demanded he explain himself.

Even when the interviewee isn’t anti-gay, gay issues frequently come up when Joy is in charge. She had ex-Mormon and Oscar winning Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black on recently to talk about gays in the Mormon Church. And while it’s natural ask to gay-fave Dolly Parton about her large gay fan base, Joy took it one step farther, trying to pin Dolly down on exactly where she stands on same-sex marriage.

We were curious to know where the comedian’s pro-gay views came from — especially considering she’s 67-years-old (although, it must be said, she doesn’t look a day over 50!).

We found her to be exactly the frank and funny person we see on television.

AfterElton: Congratulations on the new show. I can’t imagine how busy you must be!
Joy Behar: I don’t mind being busy as long as I have my weekends free.

AE: As you know, we’re a site for and about gay and bisexual men, and we’ve wondered where your great attitude about gay people comes from.
JB: I keep coming back to something Richard Belzer said on my show. During the Holocaust era, the people who saved the Jews, those people, to a person, had never been spanked as a child. Every single person had that in common. Isn’t that interesting? They’d never been spanked and, therefore, they were not afraid.

I was treated very well as a child, never hit, never spanked. I was never even told to shut up. So I’m never afraid to speak up. I don’t feel like I should get credit for it. I feel like it’s just who I am. It just comes from the fact that I was treated well, and I want other people to be treated well.

Next Page! Does anyone ever tell her to just shut up?