Square-Dancing and Cable TV

* Re “Cable TV Firm, Gay Dancers Argue Over Tape,” March 12.

John Robinson of Avenue Cable says the reason he declined to broadcast the program about gay square-dancing is that the group would not pay a $40 fee. This is not true. The intent is to divert attention from the real reason for denial--the show’s gay content.

John Ryan, the Ventura resident who requested the airing, had a number of meetings with Avenue Cable regarding the show over a period of four months. Each time, the story changed as to why they wouldn’t air it--but it’s clear that the real issue was the gay subject matter. Only at the final meeting, when Ryan picked up the tapes, did the $40 fee come up. But this reason was secondary to the primary reason, i.e., that the show was “obscene.” And this claim is more than just a “he said, he said” dispute. At the same meeting, John Robinson took some paperwork, highlighted every single line of the section dealing with obscenity and gave it to John Ryan.

The claim of obscenity is absurd. The program is as wholesome as apple pie. My mother is even in it.

This begs the question as to what a $40 fee to Avenue Cable can buy. If $40 is all it costs to air something that is “obscene,” what can be bought for $80? I fully understand, however, why Robinson would steadfastly maintain the $40 fee as the reason for denial. For to admit anything else would put the company in direct violation of the 1st Amendment. But this is exactly what has happened. And as a member of the media, Avenue Cable should be the first to defend 1st Amendment rights--not the first to trample them into the ground.

PAUL WATERS

Square-Dance Caller on Disputed

Show and Chairman,

Simi Valley Lesbian

& Gay Pride Festival