Just returning from a family reunion in Georgia, I am
pleased to hear that the protests at Lavender garnered
such great support! I certainly would have liked to
have been there myself as I am sure members of
Lavender Greens, the Green Party, and also the
non-partisan Queers United for Radical Action would
have made a showing if they had been aware of the
events. As one of the links in the communication
chain for these organizations-I'm sorry I missed
communicating this event to these organizations.
Kudos to all who participated. As Lavender has gained
national attention for being the first glbt
publication to unionize(leading to calls for
unionization at other publications such as the
Washington Blade) which is worth celebrating in
itself, the union organizing efforts arose out of
dissatisfaction with relations between workers and
management. The union will hopefully continue to
assist in remedying the situation at Lavender for
those who continue to work there.
Having raised the issue of the lack of quality news
coverage by Lavender(something that has more to do
with the publications marketing plan and mission than
with the desires of it's staff), I hope that the
employees who have left Lavender find the means and
support to provide our community with a quality glbt
news publication. Lavender has always billed itself
as a lifestyle/nightlife publication as opposed to a
news oriented publication. I believe the twin cities
glbt community can support both.
Right now is a difficult time for the glbt newspaper
industry just as it is for mainstream daily
newspapers. The industry has undergone massive
consolidation with New York, Washington,DC, Atlanta,
New Orleans, Dallas, and Houston glbt newspapers all
being bought by the same company. Between the Lines
out of Ann Arbor,MI serving the statewide glbt
population of MI is a very classy act. If something
comparable could emerge here I would be very pleased.
I also want to add that I find the assumption by Doug
Grow that Lavender would be a progressive publication
because it serves the glbt population to be
interesting. Certainly many glbt people are
progressive and many progressives support the concerns
of the glbt community. The glbt press has become
increasingly conservative over the years(some say it
has been coopted) as it has sought corporate
advertising dollars. Lavender seeks to not endorse or
support any particular political slant or appear
partisan. This may be a laudable journalistic goal
but it seems silly to me to have a gay publication not
willing to report on attacks on gay rights at the
State capitol because they don't want to offend
Republicans or others who are conservative and
advertise in their publication.
Anyway, Good luck to the union and it's employees-I
hope we can get some better news coverage out of a new
publication, David Strand-Loring Park-Ward 7
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