Out Front (newspaper)

History

After the Stonewall riots on June 28, 1969, the homosexual community began resisting against the government-sponsored system that persecuted sexual minorities. Out Front was founded seven years later, in 1976, by Phil Price, a student at the University of Colorado in Boulder, operating from his parents' basement.

The first issue of the magazine was published on April 2, 1976.

Out Front provided coverage of the early spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Price himself died from AIDS in 1993 at the age of 39. He left Out Front to Greg Montoya, Jay Klein, and Jack Kelley. Kelley later died of natural causes.

Montoya and Klein owned and managed Out Front until early 2012, when Colorado resident Jerry Cunningham bought the publication. On October 30, 2020, Jerry Cunningham stepped back to focus on the non-profit activities of the Out Front Foundation, as Maggie Phillips and Addison Herron-Wheeler became majority owners and co-publishers of the magazine.

The paper changed its name from Out Front to Out Front Colorado in 1995, at the suggestion of former advertising director David Beach and former editor Madeline Ingraham. The name change provided a niche for local LGBT news. During Jerry Cunningham's ownership, the title of the publication was changed back to the original Out Front.

The publication has had a web presence since at least 2006.

Reception and controversy

The magazine is one of the oldest LGBTQ publications still in operation. It is sometimes referred to as "Denver's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender magazine", or "a directory and guide to the local gay scene".

In 2002, the magazine refused to published an advert submitted by the National Lawyer Guild's LGBT committee, prompting accusations that the magazine had "sold out".

In 2014, the magazine's publisher Q Publishing Group sued billboard advertising company Outfront Media, which had changed its name from CBS Outdoor to Outfront Media in 2014. The two parties settled out of court in 2016.

In 2021, the magazine was added to the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection.

Price and distribution

Out Front is maintained through advertisement sales and is a free publication, distributed throughout the Denver Metro area as well as other parts of Colorado. It has a main circulation of 10,000 copies distributed at more than 250 locations in the Denver metropolitan area. In 2015, The Denver Post reported that the magazine had a reach of 76,000 people.

References

References

1. (2015-12-08). "Denver’s Out Front in “David vs Goliath” fight with billboard company".
2. Pizzuti, Matthew. (2014-04-02). "From the Editor: 38 years of Out Front".
3. (2012-01-18). "Out Front Colorado magazine gets new owners".
4. Fernandez, Esteban. (2021-01-13). "Out Front Magazine looks to the future under new female ownership".
5. "Outfront v. Outfront Trademark Complaint {{!}} PDF {{!}} Trademark {{!}} Advertising".
6. "8 More LGBTQIA+ Outlets from Regional Archives in Atlanta, Birmingham, Houston, and Beyond".
7. "Op-ed: Remembering Pioneering Trans Writer, Activist, Matt Kailey".
8. (2006-03-25). "He said, she denied: Woes persist at cursed Cherry Creek eatery".
9. Healy, Rita. (3 November 2006). "A Mega-Scandal for a Mega-Church". Time.
10. Roberts, Michael. (2002-06-27). "A Brewing Disagreement".
11. Avery, Greg. (4 November 2015). "EXCLUSIVE: Denver magazine battles ex-CBS billboard spinoff to clear Out Front name". Biz Journal.
12. Inc, OUTFRONT Media. "CBS Outdoor Rebrands To OUTFRONT Media".
13. billboardinsider. (2018-07-10). "Trademarking Your Out of Home Name".
14. (2016-05-13). "How to make a trade name for yourself — and keep it".
15. Jeremias, Leigh. (2021-02-01). "LGBTQ History Now Included in CHNC".