The future of LGBTQ+ journalism begins with you
One survivor hosted the night. There were maybe 20 people there in total. There were drag performances, laughter, tears, and memories shared among this group of people who were acquaintances before Nov. 19, 2022, but were forced to become more after the shared traumatic experience.
I sat at the dimly lit bar, having been invited by one of the survivors I interviewed for a story on the shooting. When I first got there, an activist from Denver who had become a dear friend and support to many of the survivors took me aside before I even walked in.
'Who are you with?' they asked, protectively. I told them I worked for The Advocate, and I assured them I was just observing, getting contact information from folks, and wouldn't record what was said inside the bar.
I drank with them.
I danced with them.
I listened to them.
Mental notes were taken, but something that kept piercing through my mind even then was that this is what journalism should be. It connects. It reveals. It honors. It reopens wounds to let them air out.
I wrote in my oft-forgotten notes app: 'An observer reaching for the impossible idea of objectivity will never be privy to this. So, they lack the story. It's listening and talking and being.'
All journalists have an ethical duty to uphold the truth, and in queer journalism, we have an ethical duty to report and write factually about LGBTQ+ lives and experiences. Us in queer media — to borrow from my colleague Tracy E. Gilchrist — are authentic in our journalism because we're approaching our work through sympathetic yet informed lenses (we're often queer ourselves).
I think about (queer) journalism a lot. Are our sources diverse enough? Would this make a good series? How can we get funding for investigative stories? How do we ensure we can keep doing this work for the next month, next year, next decade?
Support queer media. .
The Advocate has brought queer news to readers since it was a newsletter in Los Angeles, first drafted after a police raid at a gay bar in 1967. A small group was spurred to act, driven to help LGBTQ+ people in L.A. know what was happening in their community.
Our mission remains largely the same since then: To inform the queer community. While we've grown to a national (and international) audience, that focus has stayed on what news our readers need to know to live their best lives — from the latest Supreme Court ruling to what's happening at local Pride events.
This is a precarious time for journalism. NPR has sued the Trump administration after the president signed an executive order slashing its funding. CBS News cowered to a lawsuit that experts say it could have won against Trump. The Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty have been decimated by cuts of their federal funding. The Trump White House has repeatedly attacked the press — see the Associated Press debacle over the Gulf of Mexico. It's clearly becoming more risky for journalists to criticize this administration.
Just as journalism is under attack, so too are queer lives. The American Civil Liberties Union is tracking 588 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the U.S. this legislative session alone. The right-wing backlash against gay and trans rights has led many corporations to pull back from publicly supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion. That includes funding things like Pride events, and yes, advertising in LGBTQ+ publications.
Queer media — reported by, reported on, and involving LGBTQ+ people — is needed more than ever. It's a journalism that goes beyond superficial attempts to see the world in binaries and instead accepts the nuances and variety of people and their stories. It's why we're asking you, our readers, for your direct support.
Today, we launch a membership program for The Advocate. Your financial support will go directly to the sort of reporting I did in Colorado Springs, and much more.
When you become a member, you'll back the community The Advocate created in 1967 – you'll also get special perks like a behind-the-scenes newsletter from me, with exclusive insights into our reporting. If you join at The Advocate's founding level – for $19.67 a month – you'll receive a free print subscription to keep or give to someone, as well as a specially designed enamel pin to show your support of LGBTQ+ journalism. Celebrate this Pride Month by directly supporting The Advocate's work. Become a member today, and let's keep providing our community with the news it needs.
I go back to that night in Colorado so often because for me it is what queer journalism is: Empathetic storytelling that reports the real LGBTQ+ experience. It's what we strive for at The Advocate.
Since our founding in 1967, the LGBTQ+ community has been our north star. It continues to be. In this moment, we are fighting to keep bringing audiences the best of queer journalism.
Thank you for reading, and thank you for supporting The Advocate.The Advocate.
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Atlantic
7 minutes ago
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Google Might Be Next to Settle With Trump
Of all the titans of social media, Google CEO Sundar Pichai tried to keep the groveling to a minimum after Donald Trump won last year. He did not, like Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, go on podcasts to praise the benefits of 'masculine energy' or hire the new president's close friend, the UFC boss Dana White, to his board of directors. He did not, like X owner Elon Musk, go to work in the White House or publicly declare his straight-man 'love' for Trump. Unlike TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, Pichai never pushed a notification to all app users (with an exclamation point!) thanking Trump for his efforts. There was instead a brief visit to Mar-a-Lago, the requisite $1 million Google donation to Trump's inaugural fund, and the stoic appearance as a background prop during the ceremony in the U.S. Capitol rotunda. Even Pichai's statement that day read dutiful and dry: 'We look forward to working with you to usher in a new era of technology + AI innovation that will benefit all Americans.' But the man who runs YouTube may soon get another opportunity to demonstrate his fealty. Trump had sued Zuckerberg, Pichai, and the former CEO of Twitter (which Musk later purchased and renamed X) in 2021 for restricting his accounts after the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The president alleged that the companies and executives had illegally censored him at the urging of U.S. political leaders, violating his First Amendment rights. It was an ironic argument from a politician who likes to settle political grudges with governmental threats. But it was an effective one: During their postelection courtships of Trump, Zuckerberg settled his case with a payment of $25 million, mostly to Trump's presidential-library fund, and Musk followed with $10 million more. Now it may be Pichai's turn. Lawyers for President Trump and Pichai have begun 'productive discussions' about the next steps of the case against YouTube, 'with additional discussions anticipated in the near future,' according to briefs filed in a San Francisco federal court shortly after Memorial Day that appear to have escaped public notice. The parties have asked the judge to give them until September 2 to come to an agreement on a path forward. 'I can't talk about that,' John Cole, a lawyer in the case for Trump, told me when I called to ask about settlement talks. José Castañeda, a spokesperson for Google, also declined to comment. The fact that the talks are happening at all says more about Trump's remarkable use of presidential power than his legal prowess or the merits of his case. In 2022, a federal district court dismissed Trump's case against X after concluding that Trump had failed to 'plausibly allege' that Twitter's decision to ban his account was directed by the government. Trump's case against YouTube was put on hold while Trump appealed the X case to the Ninth Circuit, which appeared likely to rule against Trump again. But Musk's decision to settle his case while he was working alongside Trump in the White House prevented the appeals court from issuing a decision, and effectively reopened the YouTube case this spring. That has left Pichai with a difficult choice: Continue with a legal fight he may win on the merits and risk the wrath of the president of the United States, or agree to give some money to Trump's presidential library and move on. The whole situation is head-spinning: Trump has shown that he can successfully use the powers of his elected office to threaten private companies into settling civil suits even when the cases are based on the allegation that those same companies broke the law by caving to the demands of politicians like him. 'Essentially what this means is that the English language has failed us,' Robert Corn-Revere, the general counsel of the free-speech group Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told me. 'We need a stronger word than hypocrisy to describe these kinds of activities.' The incoherence of Trump's position on the First Amendment has become clear as he has used the power of his office to target the speech of political foes at universities and law firms and uncompliant media outlets such as the Associated Press, while simultaneously condemning the very idea that the government should ever try to restrict the speech of his political allies. When the contradiction is pointed out, he dismisses it. His advisers push back fiercely. For Trump, what matters is winning. 'The idea that President Trump is infringing on the First Amendment is a joke,' White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told me in a statement. 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I was in the room that day, and I asked Trump how he squared that concern with his decision to entertain changing Harvard University's tax status because he did not like its diversity policies and its handling of on-campus protests. He quickly pivoted. 'Because I think Harvard is a disgrace. I think what they did was a disgrace,' he said. Harvard, of course, has asked a court to rule that Trump's various punishments violate the First Amendment. This week's settlement by Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS News, offers further evidence of his mindset. Before the 2024 election, Trump filed a lawsuit against CBS Broadcasting Inc., alleging that the network had violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act by choosing to air two different edits, on two different shows, of Vice President Kamala Harris's answer to a question. Such editing is a routine part of political journalism, which regularly shortens quotes and tapes for brevity. 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Axios
11 minutes ago
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EPA places 139 on leave over letter bashing Trump policies
The EPA said Thursday it has placed 139 employees on leave after they signed a "declaration of dissent" accusing the agency of "unraveling" health and environmental protections for political reasons. Why it matters: The letter and EPA pushback escalates internal and public disputes over the agency's deregulatory moves under President Trump. Driving the news:"The Environmental Protection Agency has a zero-tolerance policy for career bureaucrats unlawfully undermining, sabotaging, and undercutting the administration's agenda as voted for by the great people of this country last November," an EPA spokesperson said. The agency said the employees are on leave pending investigation, noting that they used official titles and EPA positions. EPA also said the letter to Administrator Lee Zeldin contained misleading information. Catch up quick: The communication from current and former EPA employees — organized in conjunction with the nonprofit "Stand Up for Science" — cites a "culture of fear" at the agency. It accuses EPA under Zeldin of "misinformation and overtly partisan rhetoric," citing examples like his criticisms of Biden-era grants as a "green slush fund" and praise of "beautiful, clean coal." It also says EPA is taking many actions that "contradict EPA's own scientific assessments" in areas like mercury and greenhouse gas emissions. Another section criticizes the unwinding of programs on "environmental justice" — efforts to address higher environmental burdens that poor people and communities of color often face. The latest: As of Thursday afternoon, 620 people had signed the letter, per the group's website. Roughly 500 are current EPA employees, including both named and anonymous signers, Stand Up for Science founder and executive director Colette Delawalla told Axios. The group has now taken the names off the public-facing version of the letter, which she said was first sent internally to Zeldin on Monday morning and made public shortly afterward. She criticized the decision to place workers on leave. "In America, employees cannot email their bosses about concerns in their place of employment now. It's astounding," she said. The other side: Zeldin and other Trump officials say Biden administration policies placed undue burdens on domestic energy producers and strayed from EPA's core functions. The administrator has talked up EPA's role in pursuing Trump's "energy dominance" agenda. EPA's proposals to vastly cut spending are part of a "back-to-basics" approach to environmental protection, the agency said in budget documents. What we're watching: The NYT reports that Justin Chen, an official with the American Federation of Government Employees Council 238 that represents many EPA workers, said EPA's move was an "act of retaliation."
