October is LGBTQ history month, which is very important to PGN. Each year, we work with LGBTQ-centered media outlets across the nation to provide diverse articles pertaining to our community’s history.
Throughout this month, our cover will highlight the stories in our pages that relate to the perseverance and resilience of LGBTQ folks. Our readers will find previously unknown and little-known pasts, as well as portraits of those individuals and groups important to our history. It is vital to know our past, so that we may have a reference point moving forward.
This year, we’ve seen legislation passed in four states requiring that schools add LGBTQ-inclusive history to curriculum, which should certainly make for better-informed youth. Well, that and the internet. But LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum is new and before, children weren’t taught about contributions from our community in schools. Sometimes students were even taught derogatory lessons. It took a desire to learn, as well as knowledge of and access to LGBTQ resources to gain an understanding of our community’s history. Plenty of literature exists at this point, but many of our figures were erased when erasure was an even more common part of the gay experience. At PGN, we have always felt compelled to make sure we provide the service of educating folks on the LGBTQ community’s little-known history.
In tandem with history month this year, we have unveiled a new design that has a more traditional aesthetic, which you’ll see in this issue. We wanted to imagine a layout that centered hard news. Having been around since 1976 as one of the first gay publications in the nation, we also wanted our design to reflect our history — authentic, elegant and refined. Finally, we wanted a layout that echoed the three words we value most: honesty, integrity and professionalism.
We hope you enjoy the new design and the historical features found within this first issue of our ongoing series for LGBTQ history month.