Gay activist MARK SEGAL interrupted a taping of the Mike Douglas Show, which had recently cancelled two appearances with Rev. Troy Perry, founder of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches. It was his second arrest.
Segal has been a life-long gay activist. He is currently the president of the National Gay Newspaper Guild and is sometimes called as “the dean of gay American journalism”. He is credited with popularizing the “zap” protest. He is the founder of Gay Raiders, a Philadelphia based activism group, and the Philadelphia Gay News. In 1975 he went on a hunger strike on behalf of the passage of a law to guarantee equal rights for homosexuals. In 1988 he had a televised debate with a Philadelphia city councilman, Frances Rafferty about Gay Pride Month.