The Monitor spoke with Paula Hare in the Studio B Control Room recently. Paula produces the show Rainbow Flag, which is on Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. on Channel 16. Tell me about your show. My show is "Rainbow Flag, Transgender Veterans of the United States of America." I belong to a group of transgender combat veterans. They wanted me to do a show. A friend of mine helped me get started at MTN, so we could get the word out about transgender combat veterans. My show is about bringing the truth of who we are to the American people. We also wanted to talk about drugs in America and tell the truth about what they do to people. Why is it important for you to do your show? Straight people can hear and listen to who we are and get to know us, instead of judging us without knowing us. I walk down the street and people make fun of me. They want me to hide in the closet. People don't want transgender people living next door because they don't know who we are. Last month, people tried to throw me off a bridge and kill me. They don't know me but they judge me. They don't know who we are. How has your show changed over the years and how do you cover different topics? I started out talking about drugs, telling people what cocaine is and what it does to you, what crack is, what heroin is, and what they do to the human body. Then I filmed the drug dealers and how they act; I filmed the prostitutes with the pimps beating them. I filmed them right on the street. I showed crack users and how they act, what the drug is doing to them. Then I changed the show and brought on people who have gone through sex change. I talk about my life. I went through sex change; I had the operation on Veteran's Day. So now I'm a woman. I talk about the governor and the mayor when they mess up. I talk about them when I think they do something good. I talk about the police department because I have been beat up, many transgenders have. I bring this out to bring change, to wake the people of Minneapolis and Minnesota up, so they get to know us. My brother died recently. He was a gay male, in the closet all his life. He held the bronze star, the silver star, medal of honor, two purple hearts. He and I fought for this country. There are other voices out there not being heard. What advice do you have for others who need to get their message out? I think they need to come down to MTN to get their message out. One voice can make a difference; you just have to get on MTN. Your voice goes out and people hear it. If the voice makes sense, people listen. And you have made a difference somewhere, whether with one person, forty people or a thousand people. What do you think about the mainstream media and how MTN is different from them? The mainstream media is money-bent. They don't talk about people like me. The only time they do is when they can kick at us. On MTN I have a show. I can't get a show any place else. The other channels are about selling you something because someone gave them money. MTN is not about money. It is about truth and freedom.