It's a sad day for the GBLT community in Sydney.  The harbour city is internationally recognised as the gay capital of Australia, but the home of Mardi Gras has missed out on getting its own full time radio station.

The ABA decided to allocate the licences to Free Broadcast Incorporated (FBi), Gadigal Information Service (Gadigal) and Muslim Community Radio (MCR).

According to the ABA "FBi will serve the youth and non-mainstream arts communities, while Gadigal will serve the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and those interested in indigenous culture and issues. MCR will provide the first permanent Muslim radio service in Sydney."

Fourteen other community stations we trying to get a fulltime licence.  Of these the ABA said that "eleven either did not demonstrate the capacity to provide or did not establish a clear community need for their proposed service." Three of those stations did however meet those needs and they included both GBLT radio stations along with youth station WILD FM.

So where did it all go wrong for the GBLT stations.  Well it seems our community just isn't big enough to justify a radio licence.  In the words of ABA boss Professor David Flint:  

"The ABA recognises that there is a substantial need for a service that addresses the needs and interests of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. Both applicants claiming to represent the gay and lesbian community presented strong applications and there is a high level of support within the community for a community broadcasting service, regardless of the provider. 

However, on balance, the ABA was not persuaded that the needs of the gay and lesbian community for a dedicated broadcasting service were greater than the needs of the communities represented by FBi, Gadigal and MCR."

So how do we attach a number to the GBLT community.  Recent studies out of the US suggest the number of gay men per capita is between 7 and 8 per cent.

Membership is always a good indicator of the support for a community radio station.  But as someone who has spent his entire career working in radio that by no means is an indication of listening audience.

There are tens of thousands of people who will never be 'on the scene'.  People who will either live gay lives in private or will remain in the closet.  For them turning on a radio is the one and only contact they will have with the mainstream gay, lesbian, bi and transgender community.

There are also those people struggling to come out, many of them teenagers fighting to understand their sexuality.  Gay radio is the perfect medium for them to learn about the GBLT community and for them to understand they are not alone.

Coming out was a painful and difficult time for me,  I felt very alone and isolated. Right now there are young people in the same situation.  People trying to come to terms with who they are.  

I don't doubt that the Sydney stations awarded licences deserved them.  But I also feel the GBLT community has been let down greatly.  

There is a light at the end of the tunnel for OUT FM and Free FM.  The ABA says it recognises a need for more community licences in Sydney.  "the ABA has formed a preliminary view that an additional wide-coverage community radio service should be made available in Sydney."

There is also a chance one of the GBLT station could try for an AM licence.  This is what the ABA is now saying about that additional licence. The ABA is calling for public submissions on a proposal to vary the Sydney licence area plan to make a further community service available rather than an open narrowcasting radio service. The service is proposed to operate in the AM band on 1386 kHz from Homebush. Submissions are due by 27 July 2001.

So what about other gay radio stations in Australia.  Joy Melbourne has made its application to the ABA for a fulltime licence.  As was the case in Sydney there are numerous community groups and organisations bidding for a full time licence.  All applications can be viewed at:  http://www.aba.gov.au/what/broplan/community_applications/melbourne/submissions.htm#melbourne
The ABA at this stage hasn't given a firm time for its Melbourne announcement, but it could be as early as the end of this year.

Joy Melbourne is now back on air and in need of more community support than ever before.  The decision in Sydney by no means precludes the Joy application.  There is no question that Melbourne has a large enough gay, lesbian, bi and transgender community to justify a licence. Joy broadcasts on 90.7FM Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.  It's web site is www.joy.org.au.