LGBTQ Nation’s October 2026 Monthly Issue, The Evolution of Queer Media, examines how our community tells stories about itself.
By Molly Sprayregen
My colleagues and I have been talking a lot these days about the dangers of eating our own, especially at such a pivotal political moment.
In the past few weeks, we’ve noticed a lot of intercommunity fighting among LGBTQ+ journalists, much of it public, from The Needle printing a 20,000-word takedown of independent trans journalist Erin Reed, to them defending the difference between reporting and platforming after apparently being criticized by readers, to Advocate slamming the print publication Washington Blade for continuing to report from the White House during a TV boycott, to Pride Source slamming Advocate for slamming the Washington Blade.
And while it is, of course, critical to hold each other accountable, everyone seems particularly ripe for offense at a time when unity could not be more critical to our rights and our future.
It’s probably not a coincidence. The community is on edge. Midterm elections are weeks away and have the potential to change everything for us, which also means they have the potential not to. It’s scary, and it’s easier to lash out at one another than at the people who want us gone.
LGBTQ Nation commentator Warren Blumenfeld wrote in detail about the psychology of this concept, which he deemed a result of internalized oppression, just last week, as did LGBTQ Nation Editor-In-Chief Alex Bollinger, who spoke about “lateral violence,” which he defined as a phenomenon “where members of a marginalized community attack other members of their community rather than their oppressors because others in their community will tolerate it in a way that the real oppressors won’t, and oppressed people’s frustration and powerlessness need an outlet, even an illegitimate one.”
Both of them picked up on it last week because it is so clearly happening, which is why it feels like exactly the right time to bring us all back to our roots, to remind the community why queer media exists at all and how it has managed to endure.
LGBTQ Nation’s October 2026 Monthly Issue, The Evolution of Queer Media, examines the way storytelling about our community has evolved over the past several decades. In the issue, we look back at the magazines, newspapers, zines, and pamphlets that folks continued to publish against all odds, when doing so meant risking their lives, freedom, and reputations – sometimes for no pay – all to help LGBTQ+ people feel less alone.
Through deep dives into archives and conversations with queer journalists who have been on the front lines since before some of us were born, we explore how we used to talk about ourselves and one another and how others used to talk about us. We explore how and why that’s changed, and which of those shifts are for better or for worse.
In the Pride Source article attacking Advocate, writer Sarah Bricker Hunt said so much time “spent in a defensive crouch can change how we see ourselves.”
“When a queer outlet starts sounding like its critics,” she continued, “it’s worth asking whether our opponents’ framing has started to seep into our own pages.”
She added, “None of us, Pride Source included, is immune to losing sight of what we’re here for as we struggle against the tide of propaganda and dehumanizing orders and posturing from the highest office in the nation. But surely, we can meet the needs of LGBTQ+ readers without attacking one of our own.”
The October 2026 Monthly Issue is all about remembering what we’re here for. It is also about reminding ourselves how lucky we are that, despite today’s immense challenges, the earliest versions of queer publications walked so we could run.
These writers and editors and distributors risked everything so we could publish articles on the internet for thousands of people to read; so we could become nationally respected sources of news, information, and accountability that help keep mainstream media in line; and perhaps most importantly, so we could build an entire world of queer stories right out in the open where anyone who needs them can find them.
This month, we salute them.
Source: https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/10/its-time-to-stop-fighting-each-other-remember-why-queer-media-exists-at-all/
