Lavender
by Bill Burleson
Issue 317 July 20 - August 2, 2007

"Do you have any powder?" Phil asked Heidi.

Seems my hairless noggin was like a flair going off in the camera. This wasn't my first appearance on KinPride, a TV show dedicated to the issues of the GLBT community. Since it probably won't be my last, I guess I should invest in some powder.

Appearing on TV is a lot of fun. The process itself is interesting: when the cameras are running it's the fastest 28 minutes you can spend. However, all that is preceded by hours of getting ready.

But the downtime is good, since it gives me a chance to talk with the host, Mike Smith and his partner, Jim Grabinski. "We've been together for about 17 years," Smith and Grabinski agree. Smith was a St. Cloud State student from the Twin Cities, and Grabinski a successful businessman originally from Sauk Rapids. Now, they live together in St. Cloud, produce KinPride, and travel. "We've been to Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam," Smith recounts. "Next, we'll be going for a month to Africa."

I remember running into them in Chicago several years ago and having dinner together. Tonight, we're not in Chicago. Instead, we're in Luxemburg. Not the Luxemburg that's wedged between France and Germany, the one that's a tiny town just west of St. Cloud.

Smith started KinPride when working a "boring corporate job," and saw a cable access show and said, "I can do that!"

"It was a unique show," Smith says. "It was cutting edge because there weren't a lot of gay talk shows [at the time]." Since then, KinPride has enjoyed the kind of success most cable shows only dream about. It's going into its second year with Twin Cities Public Television's Channel 17, where it appears on Sunday nights at 10 PM. As for cable access, he's on practically everywhere in the state and just recently started airing in Chicago.

"Eventually, I would like to go to Logo," the GLBT network, Smith says. Sound pie in the sky? Hardly. Smith and Grabinski were recently on the West Coast, going to meetings. "We met with an agency there." Plus, they have plenty of street cred: KinPride was selected "Best Cable Access Show" in 2005 by City Pages, and the last two years, the show has won the Videographer Award from the Association of Markets and Communication Professionals for outstanding production values (thus the concern for my forehead).

Smith credits the crew, Phil and Heidi, for that. In fact, the production is interesting - the set is two chairs surrounded by green, with the background the viewer sees inserted like a weatherperson's map.

Smith has a radio show now, too, on KNSI in St. Cloud. Story is, he called into a conservative radio show to give his opinion, and impressed the host so much he was invited to appear on the show live. Soon, he had his own. Now, it's been four-and-a-half years. "I'm a liberal on a conservative station," Smith adds.

It's importatnt to remember: We are talking about all this going on in St. Cloud. Not Minneapolis, not West Hollywood...St. Cloud. Nothing against St. Cloud, mind you, not at all - there's a thriving little GLBT community there, with a regular bar night and a film festival. Still, I've not heard anyone call Stearns County a hotbed of liberalism. Obviously, I'jm carrying around a lot of sterotypes about how "out" a person can be in Greater Minnesota. "Jim and I are really out there," Smith says. "I've never felt threatened. I think when you are comofrtable with yourself, others are comfortable with you."

And KinPride is an example of how Smith has channeled this confidence into work for the community. "I get to show these organizations to the [GLBT] community so they know more about what's available to them. Plus, he gets to "teach the world about us."

Not that it's all been a one-way street; he's gained, too. "Once I started the show, I got to really connect with the community."

As I look around the GLBT community, I am amazed - in the face of misunderstanding, discrimination, and, at times, outright hatred - how often I meet members of the community who not only survive, but thrive. It seems in the absence of support from the broader culture, some people are given the opportunity to be leaders and, rather than be squashed, instead find their voice.

Says Smith, "Just be proud of who you are." That, and pring powder for your forehad.