The Advocate

Infobox Magazine
title = The Advocate


image_size = 200px
image_caption = "The Advocate" #994, 9 October 2007
editor = Anne Stockwell
editor_title = Editor in Chief
frequency = Bi-weekly
circulation = 175,000 Fact|date=April 2008
category = Newsmagazine
company = LPI Media
publisher = Michael Phelps
firstdate = 1967
country = USA
language = English
website = [http://www.advocate.com/ www.advocate.com]
issn = 0001-8996

"The Advocate" (ISSN|0001-8996) is a US-based LGBT-related biweekly newsmagazine. Established in 1967, it is the oldest continuing gay publication in the United States.

The website for the magazine contains approximately thirty percent of the print issue online and is updated daily. Archives of the magazine can be found in various subscription databases including EBSCO and InfoTrac.

History

"The Advocate" was first published by Dick Michaels and Bill Rand, of the Los Angeles activist group PRIDE in Los Angeles in 1967 as a local newsletter titled "The Los Angeles Advocate". In 1969 it was renamed "The Advocate" and distributed nationally. By 1974, Michaels and Rand 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.

Goodstein's influence

Goodstein instituted several changes to the publication once he acquired it, including switching from newspaper to magazine format. Under his watch, "The Advocate" fully transformed into a national news magazine covering events important to the homosexual community, including the gay rights movement, art and culture. Goodstein also worked toward reducing sex-oriented advertisements in favor of more socially acceptable ones.

Goodstein also created, with Dr. Rob Eichberg, "The Advocate Experience". Loosely based on the then-popular EST (Erhardt Seminars Training), the Advocate Experience 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 reflected his years as a participant in the LGBT community's fight for civil liberties. For example, during the AIDS epidemic, he remained strongly opposed to state intervention. He argued even through "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 (Advocate, March 18, 1982, page 6). Some of his criticsWho|date=July 2008 have argued that earlier state intervention would have saved lives, and that his writings on civil liberties at this time were extreme and failed members of the gay community who contracted HIV.

Soon after Goodstein's death 1985, the magazine changed hands through a series of mergers and acquisitions, and is published by LPI Media, a division of the American premium television network "here!"

Contributors

Notable writers, present and past

*Chastity Bono
*Kate Clinton
*David Ehrenstein
*Steve Gunderson, politician
*Allan Gurganus
*Janis Ian
*Tony Kushner
*Lance Loud
*Ryan Murphy
*Robert Opel
*Christopher Rice
*B. Ruby Rich
*Gabriel Rotello
*HeathCliff Rothman
*Vito Russo
*Tully Satre, youth journalist
*Michelangelo Signorile
*Donald Spoto
*Andrew Sullivan
*Urvashi Vaid
*Bruce Vilanch
*Kenji Yoshino

Editors

*Editorial Director: Aaron Hicklin
*Editor in Chief: John Barrett
*Managing Editor: John Jameson
*Deputy Editor: Rachel Dowd
*Editor at Large: Anne Stockwell
*Arts & Entertainment Editor: Corey Scholibo
*News & Features Editor: Sean Kennedy
*News Editor: Kerry Eleveld
*Associate Editor: Neal Broverman
*Art Director: Craig Edwards
*Art Assistant: Eliza Thornberry
*Photo Editor: Albert Smith
*Associate Photo Editor: Meghan Quinn
*Editorial Assistant: Michelle Garcia

Executive officers

*CEO: Karen Magee
*Vice Presidents: Lisa Barker, John Knoebel, Brett Mattingly [ [http://www.advocate.com/staff.asp "The Advocate" staff - Advocate.com] ]

References

*cite book |last=Hogan |first=Steve |coauthors=Hudson, Lee |year=1998 |title=Completely Queer: The Gay and Lesbian Encyclopedia|location=New York |publisher=Henry Holt |isbn=0805036296
*cite book |last=Streitmatter |first=Rodger |coauthors= |year=1995 |title=Unspeakable: The Rise of the Gay and Lesbian Press in America |location=Boston |publisher=Faber and Faber |isbn=0571198732
*cite book |last=Thompson |first=Mark, ed.|year=1994|title=Long Road to Freedom: The Advocate History of the Gay and Lesbian Movement |location=New York |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=0312131143

External links

* [http://www.advocate.com/ Official website]
* [http://www.planetout.com/pno/news/history/archive/advocate.html "The Advocate" history - PlanetOut.com]