Tomorrow April 16 at 6.00 a.m. the first ever GLBT FM station will hit the airwaves. PROUD FM 103.9 was granted a license after a 10- year wait, not because of the homophobic attitude of the Licensing Body the CRTC (Canadian Radio And Telecommunication Comm..) but the availability of Air Space.
http://www.thestar.com/artsentertainment/article/203205
Claiming to be the first commercially licensed radio station to specifically target the gay, lesbian and transgendered communities, the Prime Time morning slot will by hosted by a couple of a very well-known commodities Ken Kostick and the (still not outed) Mary Jo Eustace. The pair had been together for more than 600 episodes of "What’s for Dinner" T.V. shows.
For Kostick and Eustace, it's been an easy transition – they like to bring up the fact that years ago, Eustace outed Kostick on television long before it was fashionable ("We though it was an obviousity, but not to all the viewers. Many thought we were married. Can you believe that?" she says). Although as they've been pre-taping a few pieces and preparing for tomorrow's debut, there have been a few slips of the tongue that come with the new gig, although none of the Don Imus variety.
The Mid-Day show will be dejeeyed by Deb Pearce who has this to say about the new station:
"At Jack FM, ( a sister FM station) I didn't want to be looked at as a lesbian, I wanted to be thought of as the talented woman on the morning show. So now I'm exactly who I am and I don't have to change pronouns, I don't have to pretend I have a boyfriend or say I went for dinner on King West last night, instead I'll say I went to Drag Idol on Church St. It's just a sense of honesty that I enjoy," she says.
"This feels like sort of an arrival. And almost a validation, it's important there's enough of us that exist to have a radio station built about taking about our issues, or gay people talking about any issues."
On in the Afternoon Slot enter Maggie Cassella, the lady of Rant, better known for her Loudmouth that being a Lesbian and here what she has to say:
"It is what it is, and they hired me to do what I do. To be honest, I've never had any issues since I moved to this country," said the American ex-pat. "It's never been about me being a lesbian, it's been about me being a woman who's loud and aggressive and that doesn't always work on television, but with radio, every time I check myself, they say no, no, no, don't check yourself."
There is something new coming out of this city in particular and the country in general every now and then and it is healthy. We have evolved. For the Listeners it is chance to hear how different sexual orientations sound or no difference at all.
Addendum:: You can Listen to the Station Live at:
http://www.proudfm.com/player.php
