Before Logo, before here! Networks, before Ellen and Will & Grace, there was – and is – In the Life. Now in its 16th season, this LGBT newsmagazine à la Frontline and 60 Minutes has brought the faces and stories of LGBT people to households all over the United States via public television.
What began as a variety show with a live audience airing on six PBS stations in 1992 is now an Emmy Award—nominated newsmagazine shown on more than 245 PBS stations. Originally titled Out on TV, what became In the Life was the brainchild of John Scagliotti, director of the Emmy-winning documentary Before Stonewall. He found volunteers for his vision of an all-gay television show among his friends and colleagues, as well as via advertisements in publications like the New York Blade and the now-defunct Outweek.
The “Let’s put on a show!” attitude was heartily embraced by the LGBT community, who in 1991 had just seen the first U.S. televised same-sex kiss on L.A. Law. The community wanted a show of its own and raised the $10,000 needed to fund the first episode.
In the Life’s early team: (L.-R.) John Scagliotti, Pamela Jennings,
Kevin McDonough, R. Katherine Brady, and Charles Ignacio.
Despite the fact that In the Life did not (and has not, even today) received money from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting – the nonprofit organization created and partially funded by Congress to promote public broadcasting – the show made the news before the pilot episode even aired. Bob Dole, then a U.S. Senator, denounced the show from the Senate floor, appalled that a gay show could be on the same station as Sesame Street and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.
Scagliotti tapped comedian Kate Clinton to host the pilot episode of the show. Clinton recalled: “I have fond memories of my first line in that first show: ‘I know what you’re thinking – not another gay and lesbian TV show.’ I hadn’t planned it. I just looked at the audience and thought, ‘This is an amazing thing that’s happening.'”
John Scagliotti (left) & Kate Clinton
The first show featured dancers, comedians, musicians and the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus. Though that may not sound groundbreaking or controversial now, In the Life was canceled by a station in North Carolina after only one airing and by another station in Pittsburgh before it even aired.
Getting In the Life on the air was one of the main challenges the show’s early volunteer staff faced. Longtime host Katherine Linton recalled that one of the many hats she wore when she first started working with the show was broadcast liaison. “I would call every PBS station every month, ask when they were going to air us, beg them to air us,” she said.
Public television stations have a mandate to air programming that represents the communities they serve. When reminded of this by Linton and others involved with In the Life, many station managers would simply say, “We don’t have any gays here.”
Stations that did air the show in the early years often put it on after midnight, and LGBT viewers were outraged. Clinton commented: “What I’ve learned in the gay movement is that you can never ever predict what people are going to get upset about and what is going to become their final straw. For a lot of people who had been pretty steady PBS contributors – and put up with winter fundraising drives, spring fundraising drives and the auctions – to find that there was not a space for them on their local PBS channel got lots of people upset, and it really activated them. People were outraged that what they considered a liberal bastion, which welcomed different opinions, was not going to carry something about gays and lesbians.”
Nonetheless, air it did, in expected places like New York City and San Francisco, but also in Nebraska and Dole’s home state of Kansas. Yet, the scrutiny In the Life faced from PBS station managers intensified. “Viewers complained that we were too conservative, but they had no idea what we were up against,” Linton said. “Our show was so fine-tooth-combed. They were just waiting for us to put sexual content in.”
Linton continued: “We covered Carnival in Brazil, and one drag queen had a penis-shaped water pistol aimed at the camera. It was on the screen for two seconds, if that. We got dropped across the country because of that. We had to pull the show, pull the shot, reupload it [to the American Public Television satellite].”
Though some of the refusals to air the show may have been personal choices of individual station managers, much of the resistance was due to a very real fear of reprisals. “People forget that it’s individual people who get the backlash,” Linton said.
Many stations that did air the show received hate mail and had visits from protestors. One station in Atlanta lost local funding for a larger building after airing Tales of the City; In the Life was moved to a 1 a.m. time slot as a result.
“I always say it was very brave of each and every one of them in the early days to pick us up,” said Linton. “After a while, though, it’s not brave anymore; it’s your mandate as a PBS station. … We’re in Wichita, Kansas. If they can do it, you can do it.”
After a while, the tenor changed and the positive mail started to outweigh the negative. With the increased visibility of LGBT people on television, and in society in general, came an increased number of PBS viewers who began signing their names to their letters of support for the show.
In the Life took to the road and documented the sea change that occurred in the ’90s for queer communities. It was there for the 1993 March on Washington, for the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion in 1994, and for cultural events like Ellen DeGeneres’ coming out.
Linton fondly remembered activist Urvashi Vaid’s comment about this period: “In the ’90s, the love that dared not speak its name, as it was called in the ’60s, would not shut up.”
Urvashi Vaid (front) with Kate Clinton
As the first show of its kind, In the Life took seriously its responsibility of serving people hungry to see their lives on television. “One of the challenges and the goals is to reflect all of the communities within our community, which is huge and diverse within itself,” said Sassie Freedberg, associate producer of the program since August 2007. “Because of our format, we can talk about a myriad of issues in the course of one show. It points to how exciting things are for the LGBT communities, reflects the diversity of the communities, and shares that with the world.”
This commitment to diversity includes expanding coverage of LGBT issues around the world. Former guest host Staceyann Chin, for instance, is currently working out the logistics with In the Life for a story about Jamaica. “In the Life has always been open about the idea that the discussion of homophobia in Jamaica has always been a little narrow, one-sided and not as comprehensive as it could have been,” Chin said.
“A lot of what’s missing from the international conversation about homophobia in Jamaica is a true Jamaican perspective,” Chin continued. “A tourist boycott is being initiated by the international gay community, but the local gay community is against it because it would create a gulf between the LGBT community in Jamaica and those whose livelihoods would be compromised by tourism being affected.”
Staceyann Chin
The newsmagazine format allows In the Life to give such stories more than the 30-second sound bite allotted by conventional news broadcasts. “I like the time they give to stories,” Clinton said. “They don’t gloss; they really go deeply into a story, with that Bill Moyers—magazine feel that I really appreciate.”
In addition to the education, entertainment and validation this affords LGBT viewers, In the Life has been a valuable tool in creating understanding, building bridges and informing our straight allies. As communications officer Scott Miller said about the show, “We’re a social-change organization that uses television as a tool to get the information out.”
Now well into its second decade, In the Life has faced changes throughout the years, both internal and external. Between 2001 and 2002, several longtime staffers, including Linton, left the show to pursue other projects. But unlike most organizations, where former associates are never seen again, many former In the Lifers return to work – and play – with the show in other capacities.
Linton continues to produce segments for the show, as does former staffer Desireena Almoradie. Clinton, who laughingly said she “lives right up the street,” continues to provide commentary and other assistance. Charles Ignacio, who was involved with In the Life before the first show aired, and his partner, John Catania, recently returned to act as co-executive producers.
“It is remarkable,” executive director Michelle Kristel noted. “We had this Valentine’s Day event, and there were former executive directors, producers, staff people there. It means so much to me to have that sense of family. … It speaks to the organization that we have so many long-term people who have stayed with the organization, so much affection in the community for the work we’re doing.”
And though many things have changed since 1992 (“I’m enormously proud of the history of hair that I’ve given them!” Clinton said), the importance and relevance of the show have not. Chin said: “In the big cities, people get the false sense that we’re done with gay rights, done with women’s rights, we’re done with black rights, we’re done with Asian rights. Everything’s over. People are so easy about everything, everyone’s equal.
“But in those places where big media markets don’t consider the lives of people who are under the duress of homophobia, In the Life understands and continues to make this show, because it knows there’s nothing in Madison, Wisconsin, for the kid who doesn’t get cable or who works somewhere where she cannot say, ‘I date women.’ … In the Life holds the identities and consciousness of people who don’t live in the metropolises, and that number is remarkably large.”
“Their forte is making large issues clear to people by using personal stories,” Clinton said of In the Life. “I always loved the things that Katherine Linton has done – wonderful things about sex, about immigration and problems that mixed couples have. Very early stories on trans issues. Great stuff on religion. They’ve also done great things with youth, covering the youth movement and the change in how kids identify themselves.”
Coordinating producer Jacqueline Gares added: “We don’t like clichés. We like to present a broad spectrum of ideas. We like to talk to the communities and talk to their hearts and minds.” The LGBT communities clearly appreciate this approach. Today 50 percent of the funding for In the Life comes from individual donations. (In the Life now has 501(c)(3) status, and the rest of its funding is obtained through foundations and grants.)
Communications Officer Scott Miller (left) and
Coordinating Producer Jacqueline Gares
Miller spoke with us about the current reach of the program: “In the top 25 markets, major urban areas, we air on 88 percent of the PBS stations. We also air on 56 percent of the stations who are not part of the top 25 markets.”
He added: “The San Francisco Bay Area viewers are watching the show because it’s interesting or informative. They may have a different mindset entering into the program. In Middle America, In the Life is a lifeline; it reminds LGBT folks there they’re not alone, that there’s a vibrant community out there to support them. … The reason we need to be on the air is slightly different in different places.”
What has also changed is the amount of LGBT programming available now, especially with cable television. Kristel spoke about the existence of LGBT networks such as here! and Logo: “It’s been a huge relief, to be quite honest with you, since for so long there was a great sense that we had to be all things, since we were for so long the only LGBT show on TV. … And to know that we’re no longer the only game in town, we can focus on what we do best.
“There’s no longer the sense that we have try to fill this great void, since we have other people who are working to bring images of LGBT people to media. We can get back to what makes In the Life so special – bringing the people and issues shaping the gay experiences to audiences across the U.S. and the globe.”
Chin fondly remembers hosting a show with a segment on Jewish lesbian rabbis. “They rocked my world,” she said. Gares especially enjoyed working on a show from the current season about Ann Bannon and the play based on her Beebo Brinker Chronicles book series.
The story of a girl named Emily touched Kristel: “We talked to her when she was 17, struggling to reconcile her sexuality with her faith. She’s an evangelical girl, and was working to get a [gay-straight alliance] in her school when she was exiled from her church. … I got a letter from a straight woman who was flipping through the channels and came across this story. This particular story really opened her eyes, because it never occurred to her that it was possible for her to share her faith with a lesbian. This speaks to the power of In the Life and public television. We have the power to change hearts and minds. This is what gets me up in the morning.”
Chin, who is currently “gearing up to get pregnant,” said, “As I move forward with the idea of bringing another person into the world, be it girl or boy, I feel it’s absolutely necessary to have shows like In the Life, which present a wider cross-section of LGBT identities.”
Much like the communities it represents, In the Life has not stood still. Episodes from the 11th through the current season may now be downloaded from inthelifetv.org, and older seasons will be available soon. In addition, In the Life is syndicated on Logo, AfterEllen.com’s parent company, and discussions are underway for an extension of the partnership between the cable station and the show’s producers.
“I think it’s terrific,” Kristel said. “Logo has introduced In the Life to a whole new audience. We’re reaching people who didn’t know we were out there.”
Looking forward, Freedberg is excited about a segment on LGBT lives in Nepal airing this June. And Kristel is pleased with a story currently in development for the fall season about the 30th anniversary of the 1978 National Women’s Conference: “Rosie O’Donnell spoke at the anniversary gathering. We’re looking at the women’s movement then and now, the role that lesbians played in the women’s movement, revisit some of the people who were there and talk with them about changes that have, and have not, happened.”
And speaking of women, they are now – as they have been since the beginning – an integral part of In the Life. Gares said: “There are a lot of strong women working here – it’s one of the things I love about this organization. It’s been a tradition; it’s very balanced. The people who work here are very passionate and dedicated, and it’s part of what makes the experience of working here so rich.”
In the case of In the Life, passionate and happy people are part of the formula for a show we can be passionate and happy about for another decade or three.
For more on In the Life and to watch episodes, visit inthelifetv.org.
