The Advocate (magazine)

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The Advocate
The Advocate May 2011
Editor in ChiefMatthew Breen
CategoriesNewsmagazine
FrequencyMonthly
Circulation175,000
PublisherJonathon Aubry
First issue1967
CompanyHere Media
Country United States
LanguageTransclusion error: {{En}} is only for use in File namespace. Use {{lang-en}} or {{in lang|en}} instead.
Websitewww.Advocate.com
ISSN0001-8996

The Advocate is an American LGBT-interest magazine. Established in 1967, it is the oldest continuing LGBT publication in the United States.

History

Masthead from The Advocate, volume 1, issue 1

The Advocate was first published as a local newsletter by the activist group PRIDE (Personal Rights in Defense and Education) in Los Angeles, California. The newsletter was inspired by a police raid on Los Angeles gay bar the Black Cat Tavern.[1] Richard Mitch (using the pseudonym "Dick Michaels") and Bill Rau (under the name "Bill Rand") joined PRIDE and, along with artist Sam Winston, transformed the newsletter into a newspaper, which they titled The Los Angeles Advocate.[2] The first issue bore a cover date of September 1967. By early 1968, PRIDE was struggling to stay viable and Mitch and Rau paid the group one dollar for ownership of the paper in February of that year.[3] In 1969 the newspaper was renamed The Advocate and distributed nationally. By 1974, Mitch and Rau were printing 40,000 copies for each issue.

It attracted the attention of David Goodstein, an investment banker from San Francisco who bought the publication in 1974. Under Goodstein's direction, The Advocate transformed into a national news magazine covering events important to the GLBT community, including the gay rights movement, art and culture. Goodstein also worked toward reducing sex-oriented advertisements in favor of more mainstream sponsors.

Goodstein and Dr. Rob Eichberg created "The Advocate Experience". Loosely based on the then-popular EST (Erhardt Seminars Training), it was a two-weekend, all-day series of extensive self-realization workshops to bring self-acceptance, awareness and tolerance within the LGBT community. Goodstein and Eichberg facilitated the workshops for much of their duration. Goodstein's later editorials remained strongly opposed to state intervention during the early years of the AIDS epidemic. He argued even though "our lifestyle can become an elaborate suicidal ritual, ...our safety and survival depends on each of us and our individual behaviour," as opposed to government public health regulations.[4]

Soon after Goodstein's death in 1985, the magazine was transformed from a tabloid-size newspaper format in two sections (with the second section carrying sexually explicit advertisements), to a standard magazine format, beginning with the October 1, 1985 issue.[5] The magazine stopped carrying sexually explicit advertisements in 1992, with the launch of a newly created sister publication, Advocate Classifieds. The magazine changed hands through a series of mergers and acquisitions, and is published by Here Media.

Starting in 2010, Here Media consolidated the distribution for The Advocate and Out magazines. The Advocate print version will continue to be published and will be available enclosed with Out as a combination package via subscription.

Advocate subscribers continue to receive all issues of The Advocate due them, along with an issue of Out at no extra charge.

In 2010 there were press reports of freelance writers not being paid for their work.[6]

Contributors

Notable writers, present and past

Notes

  1. ^ Camprehoboth article
  2. ^ Hogan and Hudson, p. 13
  3. ^ Tobin and Wicker, p. 80
  4. ^ David Goodstein (18 March 1982). "Editorial". The Advocate. p. 6. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  5. ^ Cover of The Advocate, October 1, 1985.
  6. ^ Fleischer, Matthew (13 July 2010). "'The Advocate' Does Not Pay Its Freelancers". FishbowlLA. Retrieved 28 November 2010.

References

  • Hogan, Steve and Lee Hudson (1998) Completely Queer: The Gay and Lesbian Encyclopedia. New York, Henry Holt. ISBN 0805036296
  • Tobin, Kay and Randy Wicker (1972). The Gay Crusaders. New York, Paperback Library. LOC 79-187694.

Further reading

  • Streitmatter, Rodger (1995). Unspeakable: The Rise of the Gay and Lesbian Press in America. Boston: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0571198732. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • Thompson, Mark, ed. (1994). Long Road to Freedom: The Advocate History of the Gay and Lesbian Movement. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0312131143. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

External links

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