The Advocate celebrates 45 years

ENLARGE
The cover of The Advocate’s 45th anniversary issue.

LOS ANGELES — The Advocate will celebrate its 45-years of sharing news, information, and entertainment with the LGBT community with a special anniversary issue that is rolling out this week.

Since its first issue was published in 1967, The Advocate has been an agent of change, a voice for the marginalized, and a connective thread that brought isolated people together. Through the years, the brand expanded from a 12-page mimeographed newsletter with few resources, to a full multimedia, powerhouse brand including the print, online, digital, and mobile incarnations.

The Advocate’s September 2012 special anniversary issue celebrates the impulses, philosophies, triumphs, and setbacks that propelled the publication’s past and drives the brand’s platforms to the future.

For this commemorative anniversary issue, the brand’s editors and reporters dug through the archives getting a closer look at the past. The staff immersed itself in a time of radical politics and sexual revolution, in a legacy that began well before many of the publication’s current staff members were born, making the brand’s predecessors all the more real to them now and the urgency of their mission all the more tangible. What came together was anniversary issue, dedicated to the past and allowing readers to learn for the future.

The Advocate’s September 2012 anniversary issue features include:

“Trending Topics” – In the 45 years since our first issue, much has changed for LGBT people, including the very words that described us (homophile, anyone?), inspired us, and enraged us.

“The Swinging Closet Door” – Some notable folks have come out in The Advocate, from k.d. lang to Sean Hayes. Read the stories behind the interviews, and what people including Judas Priest’s Rob Halford have to say about the impact of their announcements.

“The Cases That Shaped Us” – Many victories—on issues from parental rights to abortion rights—are due to brave LGBT litigants demanding equality in a court of law. What drove those people to put their reputations on the line, and where are they now?

“Drawn Together” – In the magazine’s early years, gay life was often depicted in comic strip panels. Have things changed since the swinging ’60s? Judge for yourself.

“35 Big Homophobes From Our 45 Years” – From Phyllis Schlafly to Ronald Reagan to Maggie Gallagher, our detractors have ranged from the feckless to the downright evil.

“Our Most Controversial Moments” – We’ve long tracked the controversies that rocked the world of LGBTs—even when we started them.

The Advocate’s full special anniversary issue is available online, at select newstands and bookstores, and via mobile devices. The Advocate is on a Facebook and Twitter at @TheAdvocateMag.