Chapter 7 Impacts Gay and Lesbian Publications in the Southeast

Chapter 7 bankruptcy is drowning out major voices across the Southeast.

Several prominent gay and lesbian magazines recently closed their doors following Chapter 7 bankruptcy filings by their parent companies.

According to a report by CNN, Window Media, the largest publisher of gay and lesbian newspapers in the country, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. As a result, employees of Window Media holdings found a note on the door when they arrived at work on Monday morning, informing them of the liquidation and asking them to prepare to empty their offices.

One of these operations was Southern Voice, one of the South’s most prominent publications..

Based in Atlanta, the newspaper has been catering to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities for 20 years with a circulation that topped 100,000.

The bankruptcy and dissolution of the Georgia publication caught employees, including 12-year-veteran Laura Douglas-Brown, by surprise. “Certainly we knew finances were tight,” she told CNN, “but none of us were expecting this today.”

She spent that day at the office so that her fellow former employees wouldn’t have to find the note by themselves.

Several other gay and lesbian publications have recently decided to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

At the Washington Blade, the oldest gay and lesbian newspaper in the country and the second-most largest, two corporate officers greeted employees, including Blade editor Kevin Nass, to tell them that the newspaper would be shut down immediately.

“The bottom line was they filed for Chapter 7, which means liquidation,” Nass told CNN. “I think a lot of us expected a Chapter 11 reorganization … but they didn’t go that route and I guess the creditors wanted out.”

The South Florida Blade, which was under the Window Media ownership umbrella, was also closed.

According to employees, they were unaware that a shut down of such prominent publications was in the near future. Douglas-Brown described the information that she received from the company, including speculation that a major investor in Window Media would attempt to sell off the paper’s assets. But she was not expecting the very dramatic shut-down of the paper.

“We had been told the impact on us would be minimal and that the company would be sold,” said Douglas-Brown.

On the contrary, the impact was felt quickly and deeply across the South and East.
Nass stressed the need for gay and lesbian publications and the purpose that they serve. Citing issues such the gay marriage debate to the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policies, he said “There’s never been more news, more need of this niche.”