OutWeek

OutWeek

Categories	Gay news periodical
Frequency	Weekly
First issue	June 26, 1989
Final issue	June 1991
Country	United States
Language	English

OutWeek was a

Founding

OutWeek was originally conceived by musician and producer Gabriel Rotello. As a member of the activist group ACT UP, Rotello felt that New York needed a publication that would represent ACT UP's new, more radical approach to activism.^{[citation needed]}

At the same time, businessman and ACT UP member Kendall Morrison was planning to start a New York magazine that would provide a venue for advertising his popular gay phone sex businesses.^{[citation needed]} Although neither Rotello nor Morrison had any experience in journalism, the two decided to team up, with Morrison acting as publisher and Rotello as editor-in-chief.

From its first issue on June 26, 1989, OutWeek attracted considerable attention and the magazine repeatedly broke major stories both in New York and nationally.

Major articles

In the January 21, 1990, issue, Outweek covered the Covenant House sex scandal and had an exclusive interview with Father Bruce Ritter's main accuser, Kevin Kite.^[1] Ritter was accused of sexual abuse and financial misconduct during his time as the head of Covenant House, a "faith based social service organization".^[2]

Also in that issue, OutWeek took part in a major local controversy by revealing that the newly appointed health commissioner of New York City, Woodrow A. Myers, advocated the "mandatory name reporting, contact tracing and quarantining" of people with AIDS.^[3] As New York's Mayor David Dinkins appointed Meyers, the subsequent controversy impacted him and pitted his gay supporters against his black supporters, leading The New York Times to call the dispute "by far the most bitter" of the Dinkins administration.^[4]

By repeatedly breaking major stories, and through its intense coverage of the AIDS crisis, OutWeek became a significant journalistic presence in New York.

Outing controversy

OutWeek is probably best remembered for sparking the "outing" controversy. This began in Michelangelo Signorile's "GossipWatch" columns, in which the fiery writer railed against then-closeted public figures like David Geffen and Liz Smith for what he considered their complicity in a culture of silence around AIDS and gay rights.

Outing in this context refers to the practice of revealing the sexual orientation of another person without permission.^[5] The new use of this term was popularized in 1990 by Time magazine^[5] in an article titled "Forcing Gays Out of the Closet" which defined outing as "the intentional exposure of secret gays by other gays".^[6] Activists employed the use of outing in response to the silence or lack of support of public figures in regards to the AIDS epidemic with the goal of making the people they outed more supportive of the movement.^[7]

On the death of

Besides full-fledged exposés, OutWeek practiced outing through Michelangelo Signorile's "Peek-A-Boo" boxes which simply contained names of individuals and left the rest up to the reader's interpretation.[17] The "Peek-A-Boo" box in the August 1, 1989, issue had sixty-six names including Michael Jackson, Robert Downey Jr., Olivia Newton-John, and John Travolta.^[18]

Ironically, OutWeek outed only a handful of public figures during its existence, mostly in Signorile's column. However, its vigorous defense of the idea that the media should treat the homosexuality of public figures the way it treats any other aspect of their private lives galvanized supporters, outraged opponents and forever stamped the magazine as the place where outing began.

Closing

In June 1991 it published its last edition, almost two years after it first appeared. It published 105 issues in all, and The New York Times reported OutWeek's circulation at between 30,000 and 40,000 copies.^[19] Despite its journalistic awards and avid readership, OutWeek struggled to make a profit. According to The New York Times, the closing was the result of financial problems and fighting within the leadership.^[19]

In its article on the demise of Outweek, The New York Times noted that "Outweek established itself from the start as the most progressive of the gay publications. Its controversial practice of 'outing'—exposing public figures who are gay and lesbian—and its support of ACT UP and Queer Nation, two activist gay organizations, brought it national notoriety."^[19]"

Impact

Despite its brief existence, OutWeek left a significant legacy in many areas.

The magazine's constant presence in the general media, and its sparking of repeated controversies, helped bring gay and AIDS issues into the mainstream.

Within the gay press, OutWeek caused a major shakeup.

Outing has become relatively mainstream, and the journalistic rules regarding the disclosure of the sexual orientation of public figures is now largely in keeping with OutWeek's original goals. For example, when publishing mogul Jann Wenner left his wife in the late 1990s, The Wall Street Journal reported on its front page - and without Wenner's permission - that he had begun a relationship with a younger man.^[20]

OutWeek also stirred significant controversy by its use of the term "queer" as an inclusive and radical way to describe gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people.

OutWeek also made inroads in the recognition of the LGBTQ community as a powerful consumer base when advertising executive Colleen Mangan convinced

In regards to its impact, Time magazine wrote: "The magazine had earned recognition for its reporting on AIDS, homophobic assaults and gay politics, but its greatest success was in shaking up its competitors by challenging their brand of gay activism with a more militant stance."^[23] The New York Times had a similar stance, stating that "OutWeek gave voice to a new generation of AIDS activists who had not previously had a public voice and provided a rallying point for the more militant members of the gay community."^[19]

Staff

During OutWeek's existence, Rotello assembled a staff of young writers and editors. For many it was their first job in journalism, yet a large number went on to significant careers.

Arts editor Sarah Pettit became the executive editor of Out magazine, then editor-in-chief, and then the arts editor of Newsweek, before her death from cancer in 2003.^[24]

Copy editor Walter Armstrong became the editor-in-chief of POZ magazine.

Staffers

Columnist Michael Goff founded Out magazine and was its first editor and president. He later became general manager of Microsoft's MSN, and Dan Gillmor's partner in early citizen journalism effort, Bayosphere.

Staffer Victoria Starr became an author and the biographer of k.d. lang.

Production Manager Diana Osterfeld worked in desktop publishing (both creating magazines and training others at IMAGE Inc.) for many years before returning for a master's degree in architecture at University of Texas at Austin. She is now in the process of becoming a licensed architect.

Reporter David Kirby became a New York Times reporter and author of a best-selling exposé on the alleged relationship between mercury and autism, Evidence of Harm.

Columnist

Columnist Maria Maggenti is a highly regarded independent film director (The Incredibly True Adventures of 2 Girls in Love; Puccini for Beginners).

Rotello himself became the first openly gay columnist for a major newspaper (New York Newsday), later authored the best selling book Sexual Ecology, and is now a TV documentary producer/director for HBO, Bravo and other networks.

References