CHECK UP
Jack Valinski & Deborah Bell

Of the two one-time radio hosts, one is still on the air and the other left town, but both remain activists

by Joyce Gabiola

People listen to the radio as they butter their English muffin in the morning or on weekend nights en route to their favorite club or bar, but everyone knows that prime time for tuning in to the radio waves is during the time we spend trekking across the city in our vehicles to and from our daily destinations. Some people enjoy the KRBE morning trio, and others listen intently to NPR or sing praises along to Christian radio. Is it news that valuable programming for the GLBT and general community is tucked into off-peak radio hours? Queer Voices, produced and co-hosted by Jack Valinski, airs on Monday evenings at 8. Try recording Everwood and tune in. Valinski admits that the hours are not optimal for the maximum number of listeners, but he points out, “We are lucky to have such a space.”

The June 1994 OutSmart featured Valinski and activist Deborah Bell as the voices of what was then known as Lesbian & Gay Voices. Valinski and Bell say today that they cannot recall exactly how they met, but KPFT definitely brought them together. With creativity and dedication, their program evolved, and Valinski and Bell became the voices behind a program aimed at the interests of the GLBT community, but also one intended to promote awareness among society.

Of course, such success is not achieved without obstacles. The program faced a major challenge, Valinski recounts, after it was canceled in November 1992 while Bell was away working on the 1993 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Equal Rights and Liberation. The powers at KPFT had tried to move away from specialty programs, Valinski says. The supportive community held a demonstration at a station meeting, but Lesbian & Gay Voices was not heard again until March 1993. “Houston has had some of the longest-running programs in the country devoted to GLBT programming or that are GLBT-inclusive, thanks to KPFT, even though at times it has been a struggle,” says Bell, who left the program in 1995 in support of her partner, who had experienced conflicts with station management.

“It’s also a challenge to keep the show fresh and have new people on, but we are lucky to have people who are dedicated,” Valinski says. He is referring to Glen Holt, Jone Devlin, JD Doyle, and Mary Morissette. “Jone is an incredible book reader, so it’s great to see her interview authors. JD probably has the biggest collection of queer music. These people are experts in what they do, but they don’t have big heads.” Valinski’s favorite aspect of Queer Voices is being able to talk to people in the community. He loves the intimacy of radio programming, which he says is like holding a conversation with someone sitting around a table.

Everyone who works on Queer Voices volunteers their time and talents, including Valinski, who also works his whazoo off all year as program coordinator for the Pride Committee of Houston. Valinski, one of the founders of the Pride Committee, also volunteers with the Houston Gay & Lesbian Political Caucus. The Syracuse University graduate earned a degree in radio and television and moved to Houston for a job with an ABC-owned radio station. (Kathy Whitmire was elected mayor on the day he arrived.)

Valinski and Bell agree that the biggest issue a decade ago was HIV/AIDS. “It was a challenge for the community to focus, and maybe we’ve lost focus now,” Valinski says. “Also, hate crimes and the fear of getting bashed for being queer was a big concern,” adds Bell. “The murder of Paul Broussard brought that home in Houston. I think we still have to be very cautious, but there is so much more understanding now on both those issues.”

Valinski and Bell also mention the 2003 overturning of the sodomy law as a momentous change in history. They have witnessed the GLBT community’s progress over the many years, including how the media portrays the community in connection with the Pride parade. “There’s more of a balance of who we are, as opposed to previous years when the media would spotlight only drag queens and the leather community,” he says. “There’s definitely better coverage, which has a lot to do with our visibility.” Since media portrayal is more positive than not, Valinski remarks, “I thought we’d be a lot further along with how the world is, how the country is. It seems that the country is so divided. The marriage thing is scaring them.”

Bell now lives in a rural community outside Temple, Texas, where buffalo have been recently spotted roaming up her driveway. A former Houston Pride parade grand marshal and member of numerous organizations such as the Houston Gay & Lesbian Political Caucus, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and Stonewall Democrats, Bell works for a medical institution and remains an activist. As a long-standing member of the National Organization for Women (NOW), she also serves as the moderator for an online discussion group known as the Feminist Online Network (FEMNET), which focuses on the greater Houston area, but reaches subscribers in other states and countries. Bell recently returned to Washington for the March for Women’s Lives, which took place on the 11th anniversary of the GLBT-rights march in 1993. Bell carried the NOW banner that was carried in the 1978 March for Extension of the Equal Rights Amendment, the first march she attended as a NOW activist.

Valinski has gone from toiling in a large corporation years ago to working for a small organization. He says he is happy as he remains focused on the things that truly matter to him: community and friends.

For those of you who are new to Queer Voices, when you tune in, you won’t ever hear disc jockeys yapping with Jessica Simpson. Queer Voices is a weekly opportunity for GLBT-interest programming where members, events, and issues of the local community are highlighted and discussed. Leaders of national organizations have been featured on the program, but for the most part the Queer Voices team aims to keep the program as local as possible. “Nobody is a star,” Valinski says. “We do the program for the community. Stars are the people who are in the program.”

Joyce Gabiola interviewed therapist Patrick Vachon for the “Check Up” feature in our May issue.

If you have any comments about this article, please email them to letters@outsmartmagazine.com.