Philadelphia Gay News press release, Oct. 1

Gay History Month yields largest GLBT circulation in history

Celebrants of October’s Gay History Month will have a new way to look at the Harvey Milk assassination and their struggle for equality as the largest collection of leading GLBT newspapers will recognize national and local pioneers from the GLBT community.

Last year — the first year of the Gay History Project —16 GLBT newspapers from across the country participated. This year, the number has doubled.

This year features exclusive articles from some of the nation’s most well-known activists, authors and elected officials. Among the features is an exclusive article by U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin titled "Leaning Toward Justice," in which she compares the gay-rights struggle with that of the civil-rights movement of the 1960s. Another feature is a look at gay-rights pioneer Randy Wicker, whose activism dates back to the 1950s. Award-winning journalist Tommi Avicolli Mecca contributed "Stonewall was not the first LGBT riot,” a controversial look at riots in San Francisco three years before the Stonewall Riots. The nation’s first out elected state representative Elaine Noble, whose seat was later taken by a closeted Barney Frank, tells her story and why she left politics, and famed author Eric Marcus looks at the way the psychiatric profession has treated LGBT people in the past in a featured called "Nuts."

Mark Segal, publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News and the founder and coordinator of the Gay History Project said, "Local gay newspapers are the most complete, comprehensive record of LGBT history; no individual, organization or traditional medium has the knowledge and experience that make up our almost 40 years of coverage."

Among the publications that have participated are Philadelphia Gay News, Dallas Voice, Chicago's Windy City Times, Michigan’s Between The Lines, Boston’s Bay Windows, L.A.'s Frontiers, San Francisco's Bay Area Reporter, Seattle Gay News, Echo Magazine of Phoenix, Ariz., Washington, D.C.’s Metro Weekly, Out Front Colorado, Minnesota’s Lavender Magazine, New York's Empty Closet, San Diego’s Gay and Lesbian Times, insideOut of Nashville, Cleveland's The Gay People’s Chronicle, QSaltLake, Vital Voice of St Louis, Tampa's Gazette, She Magazine, Indiana’s Reality Magazine, Baltimore's OUTloud, New Mexico Voice, Tennessee’s Out and About, Metroline of Hartford, Conn. and Outword in Sacramento.

The participating publications have a combined print circulation of over seven-hundred thousand — not including Web presence — making the Gay History Project the largest GLBT media promotion in the history of the gay press.

The Gay History Project is the brainchild of Philadelphia Gay News publisher Mark Segal. Segal is a founder and former president of the National Gay Newspaper Guild and current member of the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.

[BACK TO HEADLINES & DEADLINES HOME PAGE]