For more than two decades, Gay USA has been a gay news/information show of choice for LGBT New Yorkers. Gay USA was born in the early 1980s, the brainchild of Lou Maletta, who saw a need in the community for television programming we could call our own. Ellen, Will & Grace, Queer as Folk, Logo and Here TV all owe a debt to Maletta, whose Gay Cable Network filled Manhattan Cable's leased access Channel 35 with everything from news, sports and entertainment to soft-core gay porn.
Four years ago, Maletta decided to call it quits, but with his blessing, Andy Humm and Ann Northrop, longtime co-hosts of the network's weekly news show Gay USA, carried on. For a few years, New York gay show-business entrepreneur Barry Z kept Gay USA on Channel 35, and sold ad-time from local LGBT businesses to keep the show afloat.
"Then we got an offer from the Manhattan Neighborhood Network," said Ann Northrop in a recent interview. MNN is a four-channel public access network featuring everything from political activists and artists to kids talking about comic books, even hate groups! As per FCC regulations, MNN is open to all. "For the first time, we were in a real television studio. Prior to MNN, we did our show in parks, offices, even our own homes."
But MNN gave Gay USA a technical polish that had been missing. Soon, Humm and Northrop got a call from Free Speech TV, with an offer to air the program over satellite. Suddenly, the two hosts had a national audience.
"We record our show at MNN every Tuesday," said Northrop. "Then we FedEx the tape to Colorado, so Free Speech can air it Friday. Free Speech is carried into 11 million homes nationwide on Dish Network's Channel 9415, plus a few select cable systems around the country. We still air on MNN ever Thursday night at 11 p.m. Anyone with a computer can tune into MNN.org, click channel 34, and watch! [That's Thursday at 8 p.m. in the Bay Area.] We are also podcast, free of charge, at itunes.com."
Has Gay USA been noticed by a national audience?
"Andy's our e-mail guy, and he's gotten responses from viewers in Alaska, South Dakota, Hawaii, Florida, North & South Carolina, even overseas! We are now reaching places that are not served by the mainstream networks and have no LGBT media of their own. The executive director of Jerusalem Open House, Israel's leading LGBT organization, is a regular viewer. When he visited the States recently, he appeared on our show.
"We even have straight viewers. A lot of them are P-FLAG people, but there are others who say, 'I love your point of view.' It's important to do a show that's accessible to everyone," said Northrop. "I think there's a wide audience for this information and for this point of view, for discussions of LGBT and civil rights. We try to be honest and respectful of all people.
"The world is a complex place. We explore all issues in their complexity but don't take a hard line. We don't defer to people in power, and are not afraid to explain the good and the bad in the LGBT community. We're eager to have conversations with our viewers. We don't have a problem with making corrections or re-thinking our positions."
As volunteers, do Humm and Northrop enjoy doing the show?
"It's extremely satisfying and gratifying, but we'd happily go to a major network. We are open to any offers."
For more information on Gay USA, contact [email protected].