by Gisselle Palomera
(Gisselle Palomera is the local news editor of the Los Angeles Blade. The following Editor’s Letter was published in the January 10, 2025, issue of the newspaper, and it appears here with permission.)

It should go without saying that 2024 proved to be a challenging year in many ways, but we made it through, so I’m here to congratulate and thank you for sticking by us amid the challenges, tragic passings, and other developments.

On December 11, Troy Masters, a deeply respected, widely known and incredibly accomplished member of the Los Angeles LGBTQ+ community, passed away at age 63. I received the news the following morning and found myself at a complete loss for words. Masters hired me only 3 months prior to that moment, launching my career as an editor in the city and at the forefront of the communities I have existed in all of my life.

Masters was the founding publisher of the Los Angeles Blade, which launched in 2017 as the the sister publication of the Washington Blade, the nation’s oldest LGBTQ newspaper. Masters, as the name suggests, was a master of public service and a champion of LGBTQ+ rights. Throughout his career, he spearheaded many projects that focused on immigration, marriage equality, and other issues important to our community.

Though I only worked with him for a short amount of time, it was exceedingly clear to me from the very beginning that one of his greatest passions was to actively work toward including more voices and perspectives into our coverage. He gave me the freedom to report on issues and write stories that bring BIPOC people and issues to the forefront of my coverage and truly represent the people of the city of Los Angeles, a powerful amalgam of cultures and identities.

In short, not only am I eternally grateful to Masters for giving me the opportunity to spread my wings and become a leader, but I’m also thankful for his humble attitude that respected my perspective as a Latin American, nonbinary journalist.

Though Masters will be deeply missed in Los Angeles and beyond, we will continue to honor him by keeping his legacy alive and continuing to cover LGBTQ+ issues across all other demographics. The Los Angeles Blade will continue under a new publisher and with my help.

My goal as the Los Angeles Blade’s local news editor is to continue to give our community a voice by covering issues that affect us, especially considering the record-breaking amount of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation we are facing and for the legislation that is likely sitting on a desk now, waiting to be filed. This year, we see the beginning of yet another Trump administration, the dawn of many new laws, and a decision in the U.S. v Skrmetti case that will determine not only rights for trans youth, but also set the precedent for future decisions regarding freedoms, rights, and protections for trans adults.

As we step into the next four years, we will continue to experience the onslaught of hateful rhetoric against LGBTQ+ people and we will continue to be used as pawns in the political chess game that has pushed us into the margins. We will have to double-down on our efforts to not only exist, but to thrive. In that effort, my hope is that we continue to build community and support each other as we navigate this challenging landscape.

Nonprofits, activists, students, professors, political leaders and community leaders alike, should see this as an opportunity to set a better precedent and fight for our rights, freedoms and protections on a level that we may not have yet seen, experienced, or been a part of yet.

This may seem exhausting, but for some of us, it’s the only way, and there will always be more power in numbers.

Though we will face many obstacles along the way, I look forward to this year because I plan to extend our coverage on social media channels with interviews, videos, and other multimedia content that bring more energy, speed and personality into our reporting. The editorial board is aware of the overly saturated media landscape in which we exist and realize that we need to not only include new voices, but we also need to embrace new mediums for providing information and news to our audiences.

We hope that you stay with us this year as we continue to provide accurate, relevant, impactful, and newsworthy information, while focusing on our LGBTQ+ community.

GUEST COMMENTARY
Volume 27
Issue 1