Last week's LGBT Files article was about gay friendly travel in the U.S. and around the world. This week, we're taking it back home to Massachusetts to examine some of the gay culture here in Boston's media scene.
First, a brief look at Boston's gay marriage history:
On May 17th, 2004, just over 8 years ago, Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same sex marriage. This would then make us the 6th jurisdiction world wide to incorporate same sex marriage laws into legislation, along with Belgium, Quebec, the Netherlands, Ontario, and British Colombia at the time. Since 2004 the list has grown to include 8 other countries and 5 more U.S. states: Spain (2005), Canada (2005), South Africa (2006), Norway (2009), Sweden (2009), Portugal (2010), Iceland (2010), & Argentina (2010) along with U.S. StatesConnecticut (2008), Iowa (2009), Vermont (2009), New Hampshire (2010) , and New York (2011).
Boston is known for being a very open and gay friendly city. In fact, if you search around its easy to come across the gay hot spots and communities inhabited by openly LGBT & queer individuals (Jamaica Plain, the South End, Provincetown, etc).
The music scene here is jam packed with some of the best local LGBT musicians around. Some of my personal favorites include Nicole D'Amico & Friends, Danielle Lessard and theTrauma Queens, Brief Awakening, & UNregular Radio's ownDJ Leah V. among a long list of others.
Although my radio show Three Strange Women is currently the only program at UNregular Radio geared specifically towards the LGBT community, I am very happy to say it is not the only time and place that you can find positive LGBT voices and content on the station! Every Saturday from 6 to 8pm you can tune in to UNregular Radio UNcensored to hear Citywide Blackout, co hosted by the out metal drummer of Protean Collective and dear friend of mine, Matt Zappa and every Sunday from 2 to 4pm you can catch The Anthony Duva Show, co hosted by trans activist and founder of SIsters Family, Ashley Amber Bottoms. Our cast of UNregulars is full of all kinds of strange and queer people who are experts at keeping an audience entertained.
The Boston Phoenix plays a huge role in spreading LGBT news and topics through their many activist writers and bloggers. Last month The Phoenix dedicated their cover and an entire issue to the community, calling it "The Queer Issue". The ever so talented Phoenix writers covered a number of different topics ranging from the music scene, to transgender rights, to transgender life in popular culture. The article I found most interesting and appealing was written by transgender activist and executive director of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, Trans activist Gunner Scott says, "despite increased visibility, it’s still dangerous to be transgender in America". In the article Scott examines some of the struggles that members of the transgender community face, and he even gets down and dirty, explaining some of his own personal struggles in the world of female to male gender transition.
But Boston's Queer/ LGBT scene doesn't start or end there!
On January 16th, I had the pleasure of having not one, but TWO of the most influential women in Boston's radio history as guests on Three Strange Women. We were joined by Carmelita of WFNX (otherwise known as Bay State Rock Carmelita) along with Sue O'Connell of One in Ten & Bay Windows! I was beyond thrilled to be running a radio show with two insanely influential women as my guests.
The following is a transcript of the interview I conducted with LGBT activist Sue O'Connell on being a part of WFNX's One In Ten radio program:
Jackie: Sue, tell me a little about what you've done with One In Ten?
Sue: God bless The Boston Phoenix and WFNX. One In Ten started in 1992 and the hosts were Mary Breslauer, who is a well known political activist and a former journalist here in Boston, and the late Michael Smith, who was an entertainment, kind of fun writer, and a stand up comic. One In Ten was the first comercial radio station show for gays and lesbians, and at the time in 1992 we took a lot of heat. I mean people cancelled some advertisements and contracts at FNX of all places. Mary and Michael hosted it until about 1996 or 7. Keith Orr took it over with me and we hosted it until about two years ago when we went off the air. We were on every Sunday, we were able for two hours a night to do whatever we wanted. Stephen Mindich the chairman of the board at the Phoenix allowed us to program it ourselves, we reported directly to him. We were able to do health stuff, fun stuff, one of our favorite pieces at the time was "Ask A Homo Anything". We'd ask straight folks to call in and ask us questions that they'd be afraid to ask because people would think they were a biggot... you know just have fun with it. You know, I still get people, young adults come up to me who the only thing they had was the radio station, was One In Ten that they could listen to and its sort of what radio does best. No matter what its doing or who its reaching, its that intimiate talking just to you. Listening to a radio station wasn't trackable. You could listen in your room, you could listen from a transistor radio, or you could listen in the car... It was just a great show. I miss doing it. Now I get to do a far more serious one at WGBH radio, where I fill in for Callie Crossley who does a daily show from 1 to 2. I get to do fun stuff there as well, but you know the FNX and the One In Ten was really the most fun I think I've ever had!
Jackie: It sounds like a wicked good time!
Sue: Oh it was a BLAST! You know, we'd get call ins. Keith and I would take any call we didn't screen them. It was the best, and the most fun, to get into an argument with some whack job.
Jackie: That's what I do here, we don't screen, we like to take awkward calls. They're kind of more fun...
Sue: You know, I actually love to call in to radio too. So I called in on WBUR Sir Ben Kingsley was being interviewed by On Point and I called in and the screening process it was like "alright when you get on, you've got say this, and you've got to do this, and what are you going to ask, and how are you going to say it?", and I know it makes for a better show when you're listening, but you know the spontaneity of it was kind of tough...
Having Sue and Carm with me in the studio at that time, I figured it would be cool to find out a little more about what Sue does at Bay Windows, New England's LGBT News Paper.
Jackie: Tell me a little bit more about Bay Windows.
Sue: Oh jeeze, Carmelita, how old is Bay Windows? 30 years?
Carm: Oh, yeah its been a long time, about 30 years now!
Sue: Bay Windows one of the oldest, I think there are two older newspapers in America serving the gay and lesbian community, I bought it 7 years ago with my business partner Jeff Coakley. We do it every week. Every week we publish the old fashion, analog news paper and daily its updated on the web at BayWindows.com, still the place we think to go to in New England for all the cutting [edge] news, breaking news, whether it be political, or social, we give you world news at BayWindows.com and we also own South End News, which is a community news paper, sort of like your family/hometown news paper. Another involvement we have is with the online magazine Edge. Edge Boston, Edge New York, Edge Los Angeles is also a company that we're involved with. Its a lot of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender media information that we're trying to push out and connect, in any form. It doesn't matter what kind of form it is, to me, its all the same, it doesn't matter how it gets wrapped.
Jackie: Its really awesome to have you here today in the studio with me to tell me about some of this stuff because I'm you know, l very young and finally, kind of within the past couple years being okay with myself as the person I'm becoming and am and have been... its nice to see two positive role models in the radio industry, especially Sue with the LGBT community following you as well. Thank you so much!
Sue: You're welcome, thank YOU! One thing about being yourself, its that great line from Buckaroo Banzai, you remember that, Carmelita, that old movie? "No matter where you go, there you are!"
I think its great how many LGBT activists we have in the Boston media scene! The list of people who work hard to promote the LGBT lifestyle is much longer than what I've listen here, but if you're interested in getting more involved with Boston's scene, this is a great place to start!
-Jackie Soriano
No comments:
Post a Comment