ABC News' "Nightline" turns the nation's attention to Roanoke next week as part of a five-part series on gay life. Here's a viewer guide, based on information provided by ABC and a viewing of the preview video for the the first four segments. Some changes may be made in the final broadcast versions.

Series title: "A Matter of Choice?"

Air time: 11:35 p.m., Monday through Friday, on WSET-TV (Channel 13).

How Roanoke figures in: The final four shows focus on gay life in Roanoke, including a live town meeting on Friday night.

Local significance: This may be the most sustained scrutiny Roanoke has ever received from a network news program.

The audience: "Nightline" averages about 4.6 million viewers a night.

The interrogator: Ted Koppel, host of "Nightline" since its birth.

Why the series: Executive producer Tom Bettag said "Nightline" had been searching for a typical American town to use as a venue for a series on gay life. Like most TV news shows, Bettag said, "Nightline" had reported extensively on AIDS and anti-gay hate crimes, but it had never taken an in-depth look at the everyday lives of gays and lesbians.

Why "Nightline" decided to focus on Roanoke: Bettag said it was not the September 2000 shooting spree at a Roanoke gay bar that attracted the TV show's interest; it was the community reaction to a 2001 Roanoke Times series on gay life. "It's an issue that is usually buried -- that people would just as soon not raise. We said: 'Here's a town that has looked at this issue more squarely, more thoughtfully than most towns have.’ ”

Episode 1 (Monday): Koppel interviews residents of a gay and lesbian retirement community in Florida. Some had been in traditional marriages, but say they denied their true selves until they realized they were attracted to members of the same sex. Why would that be any different from him going to his wife of 40 years and telling her that he's attracted to a younger woman, Koppel asks? "Why couldn't you suppress that feeling?" Later an older lesbian tells Koppel: "My basic message that I got was God is love. And in this world, where love is not always present, I think that anybody who loves anybody else should be honored."

Episode 2 (Tuesday): "Nightline" begins its Roanoke segments with a look at the Backstreet Cafe shootings, which killed Danny Overstreet and wounded six others. Anna Sparks tearfully recalls Ronald Gay's rampage: "He came up to me with the gun and pointed it straight at me and looked at me. It was 'You're next and you're mine.' And the gun wouldn't fire. And he just lowered his arm and walked on out." Mayor Ralph Smith complains that the newspaper series attempted to "paint us a San Francisco-like city." A newspaper staffer discusses angry reaction to the series, reading from a letter that said it was "too bad" the six people who were wounded at Backstreet "weren't shot and killed" like Overstreet. Koppel ends by talking to four mostly conservative clergymen about their views on homosexuality.

Episode 3 (Wednesday): A conservative Christian tells of feeling under siege from gays and lesbians: "The homosexual establishment has done a tremendous job of portraying themselves as victims or martyrs, when in fact oftentimes I believe it's middle America that becomes a victim of the militant homosexuals." A lesbian couple raising a baby together describes their domestic life: "I think it is so normal," one of the women says, "it's boring."

Episode 4 (Thursday): Rhonda Chattin, who runs a support group for young gays and lesbians, tells of her own coming-out experience: "It was like, well, 'What is this called?' I found there was a name for it. I was a homosexual. 'And what does this mean?' Well, anything that you see in the local newspaper, it's a pervert or a pedophile. And I thought, 'Well, I'm not either of those.’ ” Two young gays tell of being rejected by their families. One says he quit school after being "outed" against his wishes.

Episode 5 (Friday): A live, 90-minute town meeting in Shaftman Performance Hall at Roanoke's Jefferson Center. "Nightline" producers say they want a cross-section of the community at the gathering. Only those in the meeting hall audience by invitation will be allowed to join in the discussion; "Nightline" says this is to ensure a diversity of views and to avoid having to station cameras throughout the hall.

The Koppel stance: The preview video of the first four episodes shows Koppel organizing his interviews around a couple of assumptions. In talking to conservatives, Koppel accepts their contention that homosexuality is sinful, but adds rhetorically: Aren't we all sinners? In his interviews with gays and lesbians, he emphasizes the idea that the vast majority of people disapprove of homosexuality.

Koppel, who has a reputation as a formidable interviewer, saves his toughest questioning for the young gays and lesbians who tell their coming-out stories. Koppel insists that biblical passages referring to homosexuality are the arbiter for everyone as to what is right and wrong. "There it is -- black and white. God's word."

Lisa Sineno, a young lesbian, replies that religion is a matter of personal conscience: "Why should your judgment be cast upon me? Who gives you the right to do that?"

"Why should your judgment be cast on me?" Koppel retorts.

Sineno answers, "I'm not making a judgment" on anyone else, but before she can finish her answer, Koppel cuts her off and returns to his theme that most people believe gays and lesbians can choose to change. All four of the young people agree that their sexual orientation was not a choice.

Impact: People on either side of the debate will find much to agree with, and much to disagree with, in the series. People who dislike homosexuality may believe the show gives too much airtime to the views of gays and lesbians. People who support the rights of gays and lesbians may complain that Koppel uses conservative religious views to frame the debate.

Mike Hudson can be reached at 981-3332 or mikeh@roanoke.com .

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