When the directors at WFHB decided a few years ago that they wanted to produce a show to reflect diversity, they got a lot of suggestions. Out of them all, bloomingOUT was the first to become a reality.

The local talk show, which focuses on LGBT issues, aired for the first time on Oct. 7, 2003, and still runs each Thursday from 6 to 7 p.m.

Co-hosts Helen Harrell and Victor Kinzer say that just as the straight community is diverse, so too is the queer community. It includes Blacks, Hispanics, men, women, transgenders and all types of people who fall somewhere in between those categories.

"If you look at the media as a whole there is one story here or there, but overall there is really a lack of coverage among the queer community," Harrell said.

Being gay is hard. Being black and gay is even harder.

In a 2000 study conducted by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), one-half of the 2,645 participants reported that racism was a problem in the white GLBT community.

Anthony Johnson Jr. agrees.

A junior majoring in opera and biology at IU, Johnson said he has faced more racial discrimination inside the white gay community than outside of it.

"I have to be more careful as a black, gay person," he said. "I get more attention drawn to myself simply because of the color of my skin."

When K.D. joined the military in 1988 at 17, she had no way of knowing the personal turmoil she would eventually face as a result of her choice.

"I wanted to see the world," she said of her enlistment in the Navy. Originally from Lawrence County, she sought to escape the small-town lifestyle and find something better.

K.D. (not her real name) still remembers the question about homosexuality.

"At the time I was shocked," she said. "But it didn't really mean anything to me because I wasn't aware of my sexuality yet."

Lynndi Lockenour

Listed as one spot not-to-be missed by GLBT travel brochures, Bloomington has a superior reputation within the state's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities.

However, a recent survey published by the Bloomington Beacon suggests GLBT needs in South-Central Indiana that are going unmet.

Launched in 1997, the Bloomington Beacon is a non-profit organization that works to provide a safe, welcoming and positive space for GLBT and questioning and intersex individuals, their families and allies. For the past two-and-a-half years the Beacon has updated information from surveys periodically handed out at GLBT events.