ABOUT GAY USA

ann-andy-desk2Gay USA is a weekly hour of news, analysis and interviews co-hosted by Andy Humm and Ann Northrop. This long-running TV show originates at Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN) in New York City and is distributed nationally by Free Speech TV on the DISH Satellite Network, DirecTV and many cable systems around the country. Gay USA is available on YouTube and as an audio podcast on iTunes. See our Watch/Listen page for specifics.
Our goal each week is to keep you up to date with the latest developments in LGBT and AIDS/health news in the United States and from around the world. With our decades of experience in journalism and activism, we work to provide historical context for the stories that we cover. We strongly believe in LGBT liberation, but we aim to be fair to those who oppose us and to provide critical perspective on the groups within our movements working to change things. While we approach each story in a conversational style, we try to pack in as much content as possible.

History

LouGAY USA was created in the early 1980s by gay activist and video producer Lou Maletta. Lou realized that mainstream news outlets had only a superficial understanding of the LGBT community and — in particular, at that time — the AIDS crisis. So he decided to create a more knowledgeable, sophisticated, honest source of news. He took news crews to LGBT events around the country. He sent reporters to the Democratic and Republican conventions from 1984 to 2000, grilling politicians on gay and AIDS issues, while covering demonstrations in the streets. He covered every major news story of discrimination and liberation for twenty years, and put it all on television around the country.

Co-hosted by Andy (since 1985) and Ann (since 1996), the show continues to report — every week — the latest developments on legalizing same-sex marriage in the U.S. and worldwide, fighting for equality in Russia and South America and Asia, stopping murders of LGBT people in Africa and Central America, and much, much more. We continue to cover the HIV/AIDS pandemic and other health news. And we have an Entertainment News segment each week, focused on LGBT people and subjects in show business and in movies, TV, theater and books.

In 2002, GAY USA was invited to move to MNN in NYC and, shortly thereafter, was picked up by Free Speech TV for national distribution. Richard Speziale took on the role of Director. Rich is an award winning producer, broadcaster and blogger. He scripted and served as editor on the film Burma: An Indictment, winner of Best Documentary — 2010 Soho International Film Festival.

In 2004, veteran videographer & activist Bill Bahlman assumed the role of Associate Producer of GAY USA. Bill with his many years as an HIV Treatment Advocate/Activist added greater depth to our AIDS reporting. He established our website: gayusatv.org and created a weekly podcast of the show when podcasting was a new uncharted territory of the web. He continues to administer the website & the podcast which is available on iTunes. Bill is also in the studio every week to ensure all goes well with the taping of each week’s show.

In almost thirty years of programming GAY USA has built a loyal viewership in New York, around the nation, and — through the Internet — around the world, with new viewers finding us every week. Thousands of emails from an extremely diverse audience of LGBT and non-gay viewers testify to what a unique and indispensable source of news and context Gay USA is for them. We don’t just tell the news; our informal, conversational format allows us to explain it as we go. Reaching into areas of the country and the world where visible LGBT life is scant, the show is cherished as a life-saver by many.

With a new program every week of the year, GAY USA provides insight into timely news stories, with in-depth analysis and the perspectives of expert guests, including movement leaders, attorneys, filmmakers, grassroots activists, authors and more.

GAY USA shows back to 1984 are archived at New York University’s Fales Library

We have donated archives of our programs to The NYU Fales Library located in the heart of New York City’s Greenwich Village. GAY USA and other shows produced by the Gay Cable Network (1984-2001) and GAY USA at MNN (2002-present) can be viewed by appointment and — for some video — free online. Click here to learn more.

News Coverage of GAY USA

MNN Diaries: Ann Northrop and Andy Humm, 2013
http://www.mnn.org/news/mnn-diaries-ann-northrop-and-andy-humm

Headliner: Ann Northrop, Vassar, The Alumnae/i Quarterly, 2008
http://vq.vassar.edu/issues/2009/01/features/ann-northrop.html

19 Years of LGBT Video History Preserved; NYU acquires Gay Cable Network’s 6,100-hour archive, Gay City News, 2009
http://www.pzfoundation.org/grant/fales_humm.html

Lou Maletta, TV Pioneer, Dead at 74, Gay City News, 2011
http://gaycitynews.com/lou-maletta-tv-pioneer-dead-74/

Lou Maletta, Gay-Television Pioneer, Dies at 74, New York Times, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/10/business/media/lou-maletta-founder-of-gay-cable-network-dies-at-74.html?_r=0

“I get nourished in some way from your show, and I always have a deep smile, feeling proud and stoked after.” – Geoffrey, Santa Cruz