America's First Gay Morning Radio Show

SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco has always been known for breaking barriers for the LGBT community, and now morning radio shows can be added to that list. Energy 92.7FM has achieved rock star success with "Fernando & Greg in the Morning," the first commercially broadcast gay morning radio show in the United States.
"Our show really happened by accident," said Fernando Ventura. "We've known each other for over ten years from when we were working together in Texas. When I got offered the job in San Francisco with Energy, there was a definite need for content and Greg was a natural fit."
Greg Sherrell, known on air as "Greg, the Gay Sportscaster," started calling in as a guest to Fernando's morning show to talk about sports. "It really started with Barry Bonds and the whole BALCO scandal," said Greg. "When newspaper headlines are screaming about men injecting each other in the butt, a gay sportscaster has a lot of material to work with, and it just grew from there."
Avid listeners attribute the show's success to the natural chemistry between the two. "Many radio stations across America have tried to have a gay personality, but it's usually an attempt to pander to the community," commented John Peake, program director for Energy 92.7FM. "Fernando and Greg have a morning show that is entertaining and fun to listen to, they just happen to be gay."
Their on-air connection has started growing a fan base beyond the reach of the FM broadcast airwaves. Listeners across the nation have started tuning in via their live stream on the station's website, http://www.energy927fm.com.
"One of the hardest things about being gay is finding positive role models as you grow up," said Greg. "For example, if you're Hispanic, you can look to your family members for positive role models, but most gay kids don't have gay parents, so where do they turn? We hear from queer youth all over the country that they love tuning into our show, because not only can they identify with us, we help reinforce that being gay is normal and it's not something to be ashamed of."
Becoming gay role models wasn't originally part of the plan. "Our show wasn't created to be some sort of political statement," said Fernando. "But at a time when ministers and generals are on TV saying that we are immoral and that being gay is wrong, I'm proud we're able to counter those beliefs by simply living our lives as proud and out gay men and sharing our story with our listeners."
from Press Relaese