by Joe Siegel

LGBTQ media outlets are experiencing an increase in website visitors compared to the same period in 2024. The Trump administration’s attacks on LGBTQ rights, particularly against trans Americans, has led to an increase in readership as well as widespread coverage in mainstream media.

The Dallas Voice reported 195,700 views and 137,600 visitors from January 21 through February 17, 2025. From January 1 to February 17, 2024, the Voice reported 125,519 views and 92,000 visitors.

The most viewed story was about Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filing suit against a doctor for “illegally providing ‘gender transition’ drugs to more than a dozen children.”

“This is the third action Attorney General Paxton has taken to enforce Senate Bill 14, which prohibits doctors from illegally prescribing dangerous ‘gender transition’ drugs to children. Attorney General Paxton recently sued a Dallas-area doctor in the first ever SB 14 enforcement action and another doctor in El Paso who provided prohibited interventions to children as young as 12,” the Voice reported

Managing Editor Tammye Nash said the second-most visited post was from 2010 about a lesbian named Lisa Stone who “disappeared,” and who most folks think was murdered by her partner.

“Ms. Stone has never been found, the case remains open, her family and friends remain convinced the partner did it, and every so often, one of the true crime shows reruns their episode featuring the case and folks flock to this post from 2010, even though there have been no new developments or information,” Nash said.

Regarding post-election coverage, “We have, in the last couple of months since the election, published op-ed columns by a couple of local Log Cabin Republicans, and I included comments from the Log Cabin Dallas president,” said Nash. “That has made a lot of people mad and has drawn a lot of views and comments.”

“We’ve seen a spike on our social media as it relates to pro and anti-trans legislation,” said Hannah Saunders, editor of SGN (Seattle Gay News). “This includes court cases, protests [and] legislative hearings.”

“Page views are up over the last month compared to last year,” added Jeremy Williams, editor in chief of Watermark Out News, based in Orlando, Fla. “This past month we had 136,500 visitors compared to 95,600 this time last year.”

But not all publications have seen an increase. 

“We have not seen a spike since the inauguration, and our weekly page views remain about the same, give or take a few thousand in either direction,” said John Ferrannini, assistant news editor for San Francisco’s Bay Area Reporter (BAR). Ferrannini handles the web analytics and social media for the publication.

“That being said, Trump-related stories that did well include ‘San Francisco officials respond to Trump’s attack on LGBTQ school policies,’ our top story last week,” Ferrannini noted.

“San Francisco school leaders are moving ahead with plans to celebrate LGBTQ Pride in April and are standing by the policies they have in place to provide a safe learning environment for their LGBTQ students,” assistant editor Matthew Bjako reported. “Meanwhile, a local state lawmaker is looking at how to further expand California as a sanctuary state for LGBTQ youth and their families.”

The BAR’s January 15 editorial, “MAGA got played by Trump,” also was popular with readers. “In fact, the war on trans people will get ugly and only intensify,” wrote the newspaper’s editorial board. “Trump knows it’s a talking point that riles up his supporters, especially the issues of gender-affirming health care and trans girls playing on girls’ sports teams. Bathroom battles are back on the front page after Congressmember Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) didn’t want her trans colleague, Congressmember Sarah McBride (D-Del.), using women’s restrooms on Capitol Hill. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) dutifully went along and implemented the rule change.”