PGN is in the throes of planning for our 40th-anniversary issue (coming your way April 8!).
Putting together an edition that adequately speaks to four decades of work is no easy task, as we’re learning. Our staff is hard at work researching our archives for features on big moments in LGBT history and in PGN’s organizational development. We’re hitting our extensive photo collection for shots of community events, protests and PGN staff functions. We’re pulling together timelines, revamping our look and introducing new features.
In short, it’s going to be a pretty busy two months.
As the community edges its way toward spring, many will likely sympathize with our fatigue. Festivals, fundraisers and galas abound in the spring, so our planning weariness will surely be shared by many in the community.
But even as we barrel full steam ahead, we’re quickly learning the value in appreciating the chaos, instead of being overwhelmed by it.
It’s easy to become immersed in the pages of PGN through the years as we do our research. As we look at the paper in chronological order, we can clearly see the gradual growth and development of the community — organizations opening, legislative wins building upon legislative wins, even our own understanding of and expectations about being LGBT evolving. A quick look through our photo archives tells a similar tale: protests followed by celebrations, followed by even larger protests and celebrations. Compiling lists of former staff members, chronicling the writing awards we’ve won and learning about big moments in PGN’s history has been an equally enlightening experience.
We’ve certainly found ourselves wringing our hands about how to condense and present all of this information to our readers, but that anxiety has been tempered by taking a step back to put the issue in context. In 1976, the first staff members of PGN likely couldn’t have foreseen the day when our employees were surrounded by 40 years of issues, memories and progress in a city, state and country that has made tremendous strides toward fully affirming LGBT equality.
Reframing our busy workload in this spirit has been inspiring. PGN has spent 40 years documenting our community’s evolution, and we’re looking forward to sharing all that we’ve been fortunate to witness with our readers.