by Mark Segal
(Mark Segal is founder and publisher of Philadelphia Gay News and has won numerous awards for his column “Mark My Words,” including best column by The National Newspaper Association, Society of Professional Journalists, GLAAD, and The National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. The following piece is reprinted here with permission.)

When you stand at the beginning of a new year, it’s only natural to take stock of the one you’ve just lived through. And getting through 2025 was, to say the least, a bit out of the ordinary.

For me, though, I’m not spending much time looking backward. I’m looking ahead. That doesn’t mean putting your head in the sand, we all need to stay aware of what’s happening around us, but life isn’t only about politics. It’s also about community, purpose, and personal milestones.

This coming year happens to bring together all three for me. And despite my annual promise to my husband that I’ll slow down, we’ve both agreed not to even pretend this year.

There are three major milestones ahead.

First is the 50th anniversary of the newspaper you’re reading right now. The journey of Philadelphia Gay News still amazes me. For years we were ignored — even shunned — by mainstream media and institutions. Today, PGN stands as one of the most journalistic-award-winning newspapers of any kind in Pennsylvania, and the most awarded LGBTQ newspaper in the nation.

That didn’t happen by accident. It happened because we refused to be silent — no matter how powerful the opposition. Our recent reporting on the homophobia embedded in Ken Burns’ documentary work is exactly the kind of journalism that makes me proud of this paper and the people behind it.

The second milestone is personal. This year I turn 75. In my head, I’m still that young activist disrupting TV networks, confronting power, storming state troopers, and occasionally handcuffing myself to whatever object made the most sense at the time. Over the years, the powers that be decided conversation could move the needle too — and I’m proud to say I haven’t been arrested in more than 20 years.

At 75, I take pride in those arrests, in this newspaper, and in the institutions and progress that grew out of that long journey.

The third milestone involves two projects that, if all goes well, will come to fruition this year. One is the opening of the Philadelphia Pride Visitor Center — a place where we can welcome LGBTQ visitors from around the world as our city prepares for the nation’s 250th birthday. The other is a potential building project that, if it takes flight, will ensure that “slowing down” remains firmly on hold for a while longer.

And then there’s November.

The midterm elections may offer Democrats a chance to reclaim the U.S. House of Representatives and finally provide a meaningful check on the Trump administration after a turbulent stretch.

Which brings me back to where I started. Don’t put your head in the sand. Stay alert. We win when we stay vigilant. Politics, as the saying goes, is a dime and a day — and it can change overnight. What looks promising today can shift tomorrow.

So we can’t assume that how the nation feels now is how it will feel eleven months from now. We have to speak out, and we have to show up.

History has taught us that progress is never permanent — it has to be defended. And that, more than anything else, is the work of the year ahead.

GUEST COMMENTARY
Volume 27
Issue 12