BBC may silence GayTalk

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The BBC’s continuous cost cutting has hit the airwaves of gay radio show, Gay Talk, after almost ten years of transmitting to Manchester’s gay communities.

Gay Talk, transmitted as part of BBC GMR, will end in April despite its unrivalled record of covering major gay events on the BBC network.

The BBC’s decision has prompted a campaign to save the show headed by the team behind it. Nathan Hamilton, who has set up a website to raise awareness of the closure, says it has been instrumental in chronicling the changing gay scene in Manchester.

“Gaytalk will be 10 years old this year and over that incredible time has been at the forefront of all gay and gay related issues, such as HIV/AIDS, gays in the police and military and the recent changes to civil gay rights,” Mr Hamilton said.

He is encouraging members of the city’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups to sign a petition calling on the BBC to save the show.

“The aim is to keep Gaytalk on air,” he says on the campaign site.

BBC Manchester spokesperson, Andrew Glynn said: “Nothing is final yet. The whole GMR network is having a revamp so it can be improved.”

“It doesn’t make sense to separate all the different communities with local stations when their issues can be brought into bigger programmes such as breakfast shows.”

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