DC Agenda born as gay journos refuse to take it lying down

by Ahmar Mustikhan | January 9, 2010 at 12:35 am

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The capital city of the United States has recently suffered two major blows: the historic gay newspaper Washington Blade shut down abruptly, without the executives even having the courtesy to let the editorial staff know what is in store for them. Another venue, the gay cultural stop and bookshop Lambda Rising, is in the process of shutting down for good.

But in the case of Washington Blade, the journalists have launched a new newspaper, the DCAgenda.

A Jesus freak had called the closure of the newspaper a punishment from God: The Washington Blade continued to serve the issue of gay liberation until its abrupt closure one fine morning when staff were barely allowed sufficient time to pack up their stuffs from the office.

The editorial staff decided, wisely, that there is a need for a powerful gay newpaper and DCAgenda is was born.

A prominent D.C. reverend who campaigns against same-sex marriage sent an e-mail to a former reporter for the Washington Blade, the gay weekly that abruptly closed after its bankrupt owner ceased operations Monday. It was one sentence long, and it was terse:

The shutdown of the Blade is a sign from God.

Upcoming closure of Lambda Rising is another shocker as opinion remains divided if the bookshop has become redundant because of increasing gay visibility in Washington DC. Those opposed to the closures say the gays still have a long way to go.

''Like many people, I am a fan of pornography and there's one magazine that I picked up monthly and I absolutely haven't the faintest idea where I would be able to get it elsewhere in the city. On their tables they have serious books, and a shelves of serious books that came out a long time ago, that are no longer current, but on one occasion I had wanted something that had come out many years ago, and there it was and I knew it was going to be there.