Internet station hopes to fill void in local gay community

[Blue_Tires]

There's nothing particularly gay about Lady Gaga, Prince and REM, some of the music airing on glbtliveradio.com, a new Hampton Roads Internet radio station.

But co-founder Philip Deal says that glbt - short for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender - aims to be the local gay community's new forum.

"There's no place for anyone who's queer in Hampton Roads to get the latest news in our community. That's where glbtlive-radio will take over," he said.

Deal, a gay rights activist and former professional dancer, said the station will add gay-oriented programming, including interviews with local gay or lesbian performing artists and discussion of gay-rights issues nationwide.

The station's Web site already lists links of local gay organizations.

Mike Barfield, a local DJ and activist, is co-founder of the station. The pair cover expenses, including a fee for hourly CBS news bulletins, out of their own pockets, Deal said.

The station could fill a gap left by the demise of local gay-oriented newspapers, said Michael Hamar, a board member of Hampton Roads Pride, a gay organization.

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/10/internet-station-hopes-fill-void-local-gay-community

[msongs]

1. in general, the gay community does not support its own music artists, and is NOT

really aware of gay music artists, particularly in the male community. sad really.

Msongs

[Toasterlad]

2. ?

It's my experience that people support the music they LIKE. I'm not going to listen to that techno-dance club shit just because a gay guy produced it. But I own tons of Broadway cast albums that feature more than a few homos singing their hearts out.

If there are a lack of gay musical artists, perhaps the problem is with the music industry itself not doing enough to promote gay artists. It's unfair to blame the gay community for not supporting artists they've never heard of.

[howlingmadjack]

3. The first line...

I'm having difficulty wrapping my head around that first line. It kind of left my head spinning. Was it meant to be funny? There's nothing particularly gay (or GLBT) about Lady Gaga (recently out bi), Prince (gender nonconforming) and REM (frontman Michael Stipe is out gay).