Producer of Gay News Rails at Guidelines : Public TV: Proposed guidelines for access to community television channel is opposed by the producer of a show for homosexuals; a suit is threatened.

The producer of a cable news program geared to homosexuals is objecting to proposed guidelines for the city of Orange’s public access channel and has notified city officials that he is prepared to sue them if the guidelines are adopted.

Under the guidelines, producers of public access programs would have to submit their shows at least two weeks in advance of broadcast for review by the advisory board that oversees the city’s cable operations. K. Bradley Hudson, producer of Spectrum News Network, which airs every other week over the Cablevision of Orange public access channel, said the proposal is “a guise for censorship” and “a denial of speech.”

“Basically they’re rendering some of our information as useless with this delay and are not allowing us to get information to our viewers in a timely manner,” Hudson said Thursday. Currently, Hudson said, he submits Spectrum news programs to Cablevision the same week that they are aired.

Steve Everett, treasurer of the Community Video Advisory Board, said the two-week review period was proposed to give the volunteer board, which until now has not screened any of the channel’s programs, sufficient time to view submissions.

Hudson further maintained that the proposal discriminates against certain programs in that the board would only screen those shows about which it has received complaints. But Everett said that no programs would be singled out for screening and that all would be reviewed.

Hudson remained dubious. “They have about 50 shows that go on there. I really don’t think they are going to screen everything,” he said.

Some Orange residents have objected to Spectrum News Network and other shows aired over Cablevision’s public access Channel 17.

In a letter to the board, resident Steve Barke wrote that he found the news program offensive for its “suggestion that Christian counseling caused the suicide of a homosexual youth,” for “the invitation to attend upcoming homosexual events” and for “the presentation of minors that have been inculcated into unnatural homosexual practices as being healthy and happy.”

Barke also wrote that he took umbrage at “American Atheist,” aired on the channel, for “the anti-Catholic focus of the entire 30-minute show” and “the disrespect extended to the Holy Sacrament.”

Hudson said a member of Spectrum’s board of directors has informed Ben Pruett, acting president of the cable board, of the possibility of a Spectrum lawsuit against the board and the city.

Pruett could not be reached Thursday. Wednesday, he had refuted any charge of censorship, saying that the proposed review process is meant to help the board remain sensitive to the needs and interests of Orange residents.

Everett said that the screenings are “not meant to dissuade anybody or prevent any specific group or organization” from public access and that the shows would be screened only to make sure they do not contain obscenity and are not commercial in nature.

Karen Nobrega, an assistant to the Orange city manager, said Thursday that the board will review recommendations for the new policy in January. No date has been set, she said.

Locally produced Spectrum News Network is a 30-minute program carried over 12 cable stations in Orange and Los Angeles Counties. About 18 months old, it has focused on such topics as AIDS and political issues involving homosexuals.