Out Loud: The Best of Rainbow Radio is a collection of material drawn from the first three years of the Rainbow Radio show and reflects the diverse LBGTQ audience and culture found in Southern Carolina. The Rainbow Radio program began broadcasting on Columbia’s Air America radio station, WOIC 1230 AM, on October 2005 and was the first in the state dedicated to addressing topics and issues of concern to the LGBTQ community and their allies.
The collection contains original essays, commentaries, poems, and stories read by their authors at the conclusion of each half-hour program. The editors have categorized the writings into three broad areas of perception – listening, learning, resisting – that allow the reader to dip into the collection depending on individual mood. While the stories have the South as a common backdrop, the experiences are universal. This is not to minimize the importance of Rainbow Radio or the writers, as the stories will resonate with readers from across the country and around the world.
Reader interested in the history of the LGBTQ community and the media would be well served by reading two earlier books, Alternate Channels: The Uncensored Story of Gay and Lesbian Images on Radio and Television, 1930s to the Present (2000) and Queer Airwaves: The Story of Gay and Lesbian Broadcasting (2001). Both books are national in scope and provide a good historical context of the roles LGBTQ people had in radio and television. Out Loud is not a history; however, it does provide the reader with a unique opportunity to view the world through the lenses of a diverse set of people reflecting and sharing personal experiences and perspectives.
This book, recommended for all libraries with an existing LGBTQ collection, is an easy, enjoyable read.
Reviewed by, TJ Lusher
Assistant Dean, Technology Initiatives and Support Services (TISS)
Northern Illinois University Libraries