Lou Maletta
American broadcaster (1936–2011)
Louis Phillip "Lou" Maletta Jr. (December 14, 1936 – November 2, 2011) was an American media executive and LGBTQ rights activist. Maletta founded the Gay Cable Network in 1982.
Life and career
Maletta was born in Brooklyn, New York and served in the United States Army. After his discharge, he worked as a freelance photographer and travel agent. Maletta married and had a daughter with his wife before divorcing and coming out as gay. He was with his partner Luke Valenti from 1974 until Maletta's death.
Maletta's start in media came with the show Men and Films on Manhattan Cable Television's Channel J, a show that evolved from showing edited gay pornography to covering events important in the community. He was inspired to start Gay Cable Network after seeing the effects AIDS had on a friend. The network went on to produce original programming, including coverage of Democratic National Conventions and Republican National Conventions between 1984 and 2000.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Lou Maletta” as american broadcaster (1936–2011). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as american broadcaster (1936–2011). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6685625. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1936, 2011, 1982 and 1974.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Lou Maletta”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Lou Maletta primary sources, Lou Maletta archive and Maletta research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Lou Maletta”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Lou Maletta” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.