Want to know some tidbits about PGN? We thought so…
Reaching our readers
-First issue was published Jan. 3, 1976
-Went biweekly March 1978
-Became a weekly Nov. 26, 1982
-Installed vendor boxes in 1977
-First website launched in 1996
-Became free in 2005
On the move
-First editions of PGN were put together at 2220 Spruce St., an employee’s apartment
-Gay News franchise moved headquarters from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia in October 1976
-PGN has had four offices:
• 233 S. 13th St., a former Laundromat and later fortuneteller’s space (1976-1983)
• 1108 Spruce St. (1983)
• 254 S. 11th St. (1983-1995)
• 505 S. Fourth St. (1995-present)
By the numbers
-PGN’s largest paper was Pride 2007, at 136 pages
-To date, PGN has won a total of 243 awards
-To date, PGN has employed 274 people
-Including this issue, PGN has published 1,876 editions
Turning the pages
-First-of-its-kind series on lesbian nuns in May 1980
-PGN expanded to 11-by-17-inch paper size in August 1981
-First mention of AIDS was in a cover story on the “gay cancer” it called AID in the July 9-22, 1982, issue
-The March 18, 1983, issue was the first featuring a new text focus instead of large photos
-Women’s section Lesbian Voice debuted May 17, 1984
-Updated look Nov. 1, 1991 included a section called FOCUS for features and lifestyles stories and an expanded arts and entertainment listings section
-A clock tracking Mayor Rendell’s pledge to instate domestic-partner benefits ran on the PGN front page from Jan. 19, 1996 to June 7, 1996
-Street Talk debuted Jan. 3, 1997
-PGN returned to its 11-by-12.5-inch size Dec. 17, 2004
-PGN’s April 4, 2008, cover, depicting a blank space where presidential hopeful Barack Obama declined an interview, makes national headlines