Gay Politics Report also ceases publication
by Chuck Colbert
For more than a decade the Victory Fund has distributed its Gay Politics Report, a clipping service of news stories and opinion on all things LGBT.
Gay Politics Report, a free twice-weekly summary of important LGBT news and opinion, was a must-read for LGBT leaders. In addition to its quick-read summaries of published articles, it offered job listings throughout the LGBT movement.
More than 20,000 LGBT leaders in media, government, politics, and advocacy looked to Gay Politics Report to keep them informed and knowledgeable.
But on June 30, the organization, which has a mission of electing openly LGBT officials at all levels of government, said it would no longer distribute the report.
Victory Fund cited a changed political landscape as a reason for discontinuing the Gay Politics Report.
“LGBT politics have changed significantly since we published the first issue back in 2004, a year when 11 votes in 11 states passed amendments banning marriage equality, and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was still the law of the land,” wrote Aisha C. Moodie-Mills, president and CEO of the Victory Fund and Institute, in an email to readers. “Today, marriage equality is on the march across the globe, and more openly LGBT people are serving in government than ever before. As the political landscape has evolved, Victory has developed new, cutting-edge tools to train and elect LGBT leaders.”
Just how influential was the Gay Politics Report? Lucas Grindley, editorial director for Here Media, offered anecdotal evidence.
“My mother-in-law founded the PFLAG chapter in her Panama City, Fla., area. Then she quickly became a voracious reader about what’s happening in the movement. The truth is everyone consumes news in his or her own way, and if you’re an email person, the Gay Politics Report was a must,” he said in an email. “And I can only tell you that she considered it a big day for me if a story I wrote got shared in the Gay Politics Report. I’d get a text message immediately with congratulations and emoticons. The email is her primary source for keeping tabs on the movement. It’s a one-stop place. It kept so many people informed. And I’m sure all of those people will be sad to see it go, even if replaced.”
Bob Witeck — president and founder of Washington, D.C.-based Witeck Communications, a firm that specializes in strategic public relations and marketing communications for corporate and non-profit clients — offered his perspective on the importance of the Gay Politics Report.
“For the busiest of us — and that includes almost everyone I know — it’s hard to keep a handle on the changing political and policy barometers that help gauge LGBT progress (and setbacks),” he said in an email. “The Gay Politics Report was that barometer for us, and I always appreciated knowing it arrived like clockwork. I know it served us well and prepared us for a 360-degree view of the world that is invaluable.”
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