Gay Fairfax: A History - page 4

Early on, a few conservative extremists at Channel 10 launched a campaign to have Gay Fairfax removed from the programming. This encouraged Barry to run for a seat on the FCAC Board of Directors. Barry was elected and became a very influential board member for the next two years.  He was able to stem the tide against Gay Fairfax and invited the opposition to produce their own program (which they never did).

After many months the crew of Gay Fairfax began to expand and the program switched from a monthly to a weekly program. Barry became the executive producer and C-SPAN’s Ruthanne Winterhalter and Rob Wilson were producers of each studio taping. During a studio taping the introductions to each segment called “wrap-arounds” would be taped.  At other times, a series of studio interviews were held with representatives of area gay organizations.  This scheduled taping was called a “community forum.” 

Beth Goodman (former FLGCA president) and Dave Hughes joined as new co-hosts.  Regular segments like Peg McGraw’s Gay Trivia question, Rick Sincere’s Gay Book Beat, and later Karen Brown and Judy Hittman’s Gays on Film (these lipstick lesbians were television chic before it became so trendy) helped fill the now expanded airtime.  Directors at this time included Bill Bayer, Ralph Maxwell, and Rob Wilson.  As Lance became experienced on the editing equipment, he took over much of the editing responsibilities from Barry.

On May 7, 1991 Gay Fairfax celebrated it first year on the air with a special anniversary program.  Casually hosted by Dave Hughes, Beth Goodman, and Barry, the program featured the media coverage of the series debut, a review of the first year’s programming, and the legendary outtakes.