Gay Christian Network Conference – What's Next

Contents:

• NEW YORK GAY BATHHO SNAS
• THE FOTTEN GAY CABLE NETWORK THAT CHANGED LGBTQ HISTORY
• GAY PORN FILMMAKERS THRIVE NEW YORK
• WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT A SEEMGLY FAKE DOCUMENT A GAY RIGHTS CASE
• GAY NEW YORK

NEW YORK GAY BATHHO SNAS

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GCN — the Gay Christian Network — and s founr and executive director, Jt Lee, released jot statements that they were partg ways, and that the anizatn plans to change s name. GCN was started 2001 by Lee as a way for gay Christians to nnect onle and provi mutual support as they navigated the prer procs of rencilg fah and sexualy a relig world hostile to homosexualy. Up until that time, most LGBT Christians wrtled wh g to terms wh their inty alone, often aaid to tell fay or even their clost iends that they were gay.

It is largely due to the populary and succs of GCN that the words “Gay Christian” are such a mon topic of discsn church life the days. “Gay” uld once serve as an umbrella term for most of the sexual diversy wh the muny, but soon beme aquate as a label for those who were not cis male homosexuals.

THE FOTTEN GAY CABLE NETWORK THAT CHANGED LGBTQ HISTORY

Trans* people, though part of the LGBT/GLBT acronym, are not necsarily “gay”. For 16 years the Gay Christian Network has been meetg the spirual needs of the LGBTQ muny throughout our natn.

The Gay Christian Network, Inc. Lou Maletta was termed to get gay life—om porn reviews to polil verage—on TV. 25, 1982, rints of Woodstock, New York, turned on their TVs to fd gay porn airg on their lol public accs statn.

The program, technilly a review of gay pornography lled Men & Films, clud a clip of two naked men kissg bed.

GAY PORN FILMMAKERS THRIVE NEW YORK

The ntroversy soon attracted natnal attentn: Playboy and NPR vered the town’s cri to censor Men & Films, and the Village Voice asked, “Do nstutnally guaranteed eedom of exprsn extend to public accs TV shows pictg nsentg gay mal gettg on wh, pardon the exprsn, equally nsentg u? Men & Films was created early 1982 by gay entreprenr Lou Maletta. On the show, which first aired on Manhattan Cable’s racy leased accs Channel J, Maletta terviewed gay porn stars and reviewed slightly eded X-rated clips om newly released vios of gay pornography.

To support his programs, he lnched the Gay Cable Network, one of the first productn pani dited to creatg LGBTQ televisn seri. GCN shows clud Be Our Gut, a satire of 1950s game shows hosted by drag queen Sybil Bncheon; Candied Camera, a queer variety and sketch show siar to Saturday Night Live; In the Dungeon, an rmatnal seri about New York’s leather and BDSM scene; Sixth Floor Harrison, one of the first scripted gay soap operas on TV; and Gay USA, a news show that offered LGBTQ polil mentary, on-lotn verage of LGBTQ events, and terviews wh LGBTQ artists, activists, and public tellectuals. GCN programmg received numero mendatns and awards, cludg om the Coaln for Lbian and Gay Rights, the Gay and Lbian Prs Associatn, and the GLAAD Media Awards.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT A SEEMGLY FAKE DOCUMENT A GAY RIGHTS CASE

” The typil narrative has that between the 1950s and 1980s, gay characters on TV were few and far between, and were picted primarily stereotyp or nuendo. … [He]was verg AIDS on the show when no one else was, ” said longtime Gay USA -host Andy Humm, who joed the GCN team as a volunteer 1985. After watchg the health of a close iend rapidly terrate followg an AIDS diagnosis (the disease was known as gay-related immune ficiency at the time), Maletta cid to expand Men & Films to clu weekly LGBTQ news and health segments.

GAY NEW YORK

GCN footage also clus other aspects of LGBTQ life: monstratns at the 1987 and 1993 March on Washgton; muny events like Wigstock, the Gay Gam, and Mr.

Fancials were a nstant ncern: Maletta soliced advertisements om lol LGBTQ bs, cludg gay bars and sex hotle servic (and even anized his own sex parti his personal dungeon), to offset the st of his programmg. But the spir of Maletta’s GCN liv on Gay USA, which activist-journalist duo Humm and Ann Northrop cid to keep producg whout him. Gay USA soon found a home at the Manhattan Neighborhood Network, where Northrop and Humm still film the show weekly on Wednday afternoons.

Airg nsistently sce 1990, Gay USA is now the longt-nng LGBTQ televisn seri, and one of the very few programs dited to airg LGBTQ news on a weekly basis. In a ntemporary media market which many LGBTQ publitns are closg and/or layg off staff, Gay USA provis an example of fancially staable, pennt, and progrsive LGBTQ programmg. What keeps Gay USA on the air such an unstable media market?

” Bahlman, a seasoned AIDS activist who has volunteered wh Gay USA sce 2004, created and manag the show’s webse and posts the weekly episos to YouTube and iTun.

Gay USA is not jt about reportg the news: As Northrop put , “the show is about spirg the dience to actn. Gay USA is fancially supported by viewer donatns and small grants.

Costs are mimal bee MNN provis the film equipment, stud, and human rourc the form of Gay USA director Rich Speziale, a succsful producer and broadster on staff at MNN. As Humm and Northrop get olr, they both are nsirg the future of Gay USA.

Whatever the future of the show, Gay USA’s long history offers some important lsons.

The succs of Gay USA and the longevy of GCN suggt that LGBTQ media might be most staable when and is fund by lol rourc and produced by people eply engaged wh the muni they reprent on screen. Gay and straight porn dtri alike have ma their home Wt Hollywood and “the Valley” for s.