Why have we launched a Crowdfunder?
The generosity of those who kindly responded to our initial Crowdfunder enabled us to get Lesbian and Gay News off the ground, and it is now successfully established as a quality community publication with tens of thousands of readers. We are now seeking to raise a further £25,000 to enable us to continue to provide this important service to our community.
The money you donate will be used to pay our news reporter, articles and features by our regular writers and columnists, stock photography to illustrate editorial posts, programming, technical and server costs and for website production and editing.
What is Lesbian and Gay News?
Founded in February 2021, Lesbian and Gay News is an online publication that provides an alternative source of current affairs, analysis and opinion for lesbians and gay men. Lesbian and Gay News picks up from a long historic tradition of British lesbian and gay publications such as Gay News, which ran from 1972-1983, and The Pink Paper, which ran for 25 years from 1987.
We’re here to reflect the lives, politics and culture of same-sex attraction and to report today's major debates around sex and gender. Most importantly, we're determined to do so in a temperate, informed and respectful way.
Over the course of the past six months, we have published articles by an impressive range of lesbian and gay writers and journalists, and new members continue to join ‘The Conversation’: a special area for our readers to debate, discuss and meet each other in a safe and secure online space. The Lesbian and Gay News team have many years’ experience in lesbian and gay journalism and publishing.
The Lesbian and Gay News team
Our team of regular Lesbian and Gay News journalists and columnists includes news reporter Jo Bartosch, legal commentator Dennis Kavanagh, Julie Bindel, Gary Powell, Claire Heuchan, Professional Judy, Mr Menno, Gareth Roberts, Lauren Black, Kat Howard, Kay Knight, James Dreyfus and Arty Morty plus many other occasional writers.
Our founder, David Bridle, launched and has run the gay scene, lifestyle and HIV magazine Boyz since 1991, and before that he co-edited the lesbian and gay newspaper The Pink Paper from 1989 to 1991 with the late Alison Dilly. David is a former BBC staff employee and worked at Broadcasting House from 1984 to 1989.
Since Lesbian and Gay News launched in February we have published articles covering crucial issues on LGB rights, gender dysphoria, the legal cases of Maya Forstater, Julie Bindel and Keira Bell, women's rights, conversion therapy, Stonewall’s influence on public bodies, the BBC, political parties and local elections, schools and PSRE education and we've interviewed many important lesbian and gay figures such as Kathleen Stock, Fred Sargeant and Simon Edge. One interview with Labour MP Rosie Duffield by our reporter Jo Bartosch was even shared by JK Rowling with her 14 million Twitter followers – and has now been viewed over 45,000 times. We are having an impact, and we clearly have some very distinguished readers!
The Lesbian and Gay News editorial approach
We believe that an increasing number of lesbians and gay men want to read quality journalism that more closely reflects their lived experience and their personal beliefs. They want a safe and secure online space to read about issues that matter to them, and where they can connect, debate and make new friends.
As has always been the case, lesbian and gay people living far from major cities often find it more difficult to connect with members of their own community. Lesbian and Gay News, with its online forum, 'The Conversation', continues to provide a service where such members of our community can connect with one another online and know that their interests as same-sex attracted people will be centred and validated. We aim to provide a welcoming social and friendship network for lesbian and gay people.
We unequivocally assert the right of people who are same-sex oriented to meet, organise and campaign exclusively on the basis of their same-sex attraction. This includes the right to dedicated lesbian and gay publications. Our commitment to the long-fought-for right of the lesbian and gay community to be treated as a distinct group and to organise based on its sole shared characteristic of ‘same-sex orientation’ falls into the category of the paradigm widely known as “gender critical”, which is a belief protected by the Equality Act 2010.
Lesbian and Gay News is virtually the only publication dedicated to the rights of same-sex oriented people
Our right to our own lesbian and gay publication is something that our community should have been able to take for granted following five decades of struggle for our basic civil rights. Surely none of the early lesbian and gay rights campaigners would have imagined that the day would come when our right to organise, campaign and even meet according to our same sex attraction would end up under attack.
Most UK and US lesbian and gay news outlets now embrace an all-encompassing umbrella belief in the "LGBTQIA+" ideology as the only perspective through which they are prepared to report the world. The seriousness of this development is reflected in the fact that Lesbian and Gay News is now virtually the only national publication in the UK – and possibly one of the few in the world – that is exclusively dedicated to the rights and interests of same-sex oriented people.
We therefore regard Lesbian and Gay News as crucially important, and we want to be able to continue publishing it. With the help of those contributing to our new Crowdfunder, Lesbian and Gay News will continue to represent the values of the historical lesbian and gay rights movement and ensure the voices of lesbian and gay people continue to be heard.
Please donate to our Crowdfunder and support our journalism. We are grateful for every contribution, however large or small.
Please visit Lesbian and Gay News and see our latest articles, interviews and reports at www.lesbianandgaynews.com
