Colorado gay radio.

KGAY, the nation's new gay and lesbian radio station, went on the air last November in Colorado, just as Coloradans voted in a statewide referendum to repeal laws protecting gay and lesbian civil rights. After martial law was declared in Colorado, we looked at moving out of state," says station manager Clay Henderson, who started planning KGAY two years ago. "But we decided that someone needed to stay here." Colorado Springs, where KGAY is located, is home to the headquarters of fifty different right-wing religious organizations, and the place where Colorado's anti-gay-rights movement got its start. Surprisingly, though, the station hasn't had much of a problem with harassment, says Henderson. "About 30 per cent of the calls we get are people who start out saying, |I'm not gay but ...' They want to tell us they love the music and they admire us for being on the air. And I'm talking your good old boys from rural areas. We've really received overwhelming support." Each week, KGAY plays 105 hours of alternative and dance music, and sixty-three hours of news and talk shows on gay issues. In Colorado Springs the station broadcasts on AM radio. In the rest of the country it is available via satellite dish on Galaxy 5, Transponder 6, at 6.3 and 6.48 MHZ, discrete stereo. Henderson is now negotiating to get KGAY on cable systems and local radio stations around the country.