KPFK in Hot Water Again With '1965'? : Radio: The station wants to avoid a confrontation with the FCC over John Watson's psychosexual drama.

KPFK in Hot Water Again With ‘1965’? : Radio: The station wants to avoid a confrontation with the FCC over John Watson’s psychosexual drama.

By GREG BRAXTON

June 30, 1990 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

For John G. Watson, his semi-autobiographical, one-person radio drama, “1965,” is a painful but therapeutic attempt to come to grips with the traumas of his childhood and the turmoil that marked his life as a gay teen-ager during the beginnings of the hippie era.

But for KPFK-FM (90.7), “1965” represents something more--a controversial program about a sexual issue that could get the station into more hot water with the Federal Communications Commission. The station is still smarting from being reprimanded for indecency by the FCC over the August, 1986 airing of “Jerker,” a play that contained four-letter words and explicit descriptions of homosexual acts.

So the station ran the program by its attorneys. The question was not whether “1965” should go on the air--it is a comparatively mild drama with none of the profanity and sexual descriptions of “Jerker”--but whether it could be broadcast early enough to reach the young people for whom it is intended.

The lawyers gave the go-ahead to air it Sunday at 8 p.m.

“The specific descriptions of sexual activity were pretty mild and the language was tame,” said KPFK program director Lucia Chappelle. “But since the whole play is the psychosexual biography of one person, we were concerned about what the FCC’s reaction to it would be.”

She said that there appeared to be “a lot of homophobia” in the FCC’s opinions on what is considered offensive.

Watson’s play, which he wrote and performed, is a monologue by an awkward and troubled gay 18-year-old who committed suicide in 1965. He comes back from the grave to comment on the events that led to the suicide. He ultimately concludes that suicide is wrong, and that he killed himself for the wrong reasons.

The subject of gay teen-age suicide is largely ignored by the mainstream media, said Watson, who went through his own suicidal period in 1965.

More than grappling with his homosexuality, the narrator of “1965” is dealing with larger issues he can’t understand--an abusive, alcoholic father, a dysfunctional family, the inability of close friends who are straight to deal with his homosexuality.

“I wanted it to air at an early hour,” the 43-year-old Watson said. “Sure, there are some references to sex and drugs, but that’s just a normal part of adolescent life. It’s dealing with issues that are crucial for adolescents to understand.”

Chappelle and other officials agreed, but it wasn’t quite that easy to put “1965” on at an early hour.

David Salniker, executive director of the nonprofit Pacifica Broadcasting, KPFK’s parent organization, said that federal actions over the past three years have left no official “safe harbor” for airing programs with sexual references or descriptions. “It used to be (that) those programs would have to be aired after 10 p.m.,” he said. “Then it was after midnight. But now it’s unsure.”

Pacifica is awaiting the FCC’s decision next month on whether it will enforce a law approved by Congress in 1987 that would put a 24-hour ban on indecent broadcasts. The legislation, initiated by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), calls for penalties of a $10,000 fine and the possibility of two years’ imprisonment.

“Now it is our job to review all the material that might come under the FCC’s definition of obscenity, which puts us in a real impossible position,” Salniker said. “It makes us censors, particularly in the presention of poetry and dramatic works. We never put on shock jocks or titillating material.”

On April 16, 1987, the FCC announced that KPFK violated broadcast decency standards by broadcasting “Jerker,” and asked the Justice Department to prosecute Pacifica. The Justice Department decided against such action.

Since then, KPFK has been sensitive about reviewing materials that might be considered offensive by the FCC. But station attorneys felt that “1965” would not be considered indecent.

“They said it fit within the guidelines, and they would be surprised if there was one complaint,” Chappelle said. “That’s good, because this needs to be on at a time when young people can hear it.”

The hourlong program will air during a day of KPFK’s annual celebration of gay pride, and will be followed by a panel discussion hosted by Watson on gay teen suicide.

Watson said that he was pleased with the decision to air the program at 8 p.m: “Doing this program was very important for me in dealing with important issues, and I really want it to be heard by as many young people as possible.”