SiriusXM To Cancel LGBT Channel OutQ

Michael Musto is reporting over at OUT that SiriusXM's lone LGBT station - OutQ - will end this Friday.

Last June, Sirius OutQ — SiriusXM Satellite Radio’s LGBT channel — bid farewell to the Derek and Romaine show after 12 years of news and banter.

Well, that was just the tip of the gay iceberg. I hear that as of this Friday, the channel is deader than the animals worn by Sir Elton John.

Tragically, they’re canceling the whole thing! Funnyman Frank DeCaro’s show is being forced to end after, yep, 12 years. (Fortunately for DeCaro, he has a burgeoning career as a writer and comic and has been opening for Lisa Lampanelli all over the place).

Meanwhile, though Morning Jolt host Larry Flick is staying aboard, they axed his sidekick Keith Price and are moving Larry to their EW Radio channel. And even some non OutQ gays are being shown the door. Lance Bass’s show on Radio Andy (Andy Cohen’s channel there) is bye-bye-bye, baby, ain’t no lie.

I originally subscribed to SiriusXM for the programming on OutQ.

I couldn't stomach Derek and Romaine (I once called in and Derek hung up on me mid-sentence), but enjoyed Frank DeCaro, Larry Flick and Michelangelo Signorile (before his show was moved to the Progress channel).

I listen to SiriusXM's CNN and MSNBC streams during my drives to and from LA from Vegas, so I'll continue to subscribe.

But I'm sad to see the end of something what that should have thrived. Clearly there wasn't enough traffic to justify the expense on SiriusXM's part.

LOGO TV leaves the LGBT programming behind, and now SiriusXM does the same.

I wonder if it's another case of LGBTs not supporting their own? Should they? Should they not? Leave your comments below. I'd love to know what you think.