LGBT Community Mainstay, Southern Voice Closes Suddenly

By Odette Yousef

Atlanta, GA – Atlanta's largest gay and lesbian affairs newspaper has shut down. Employees of Southern Voice showed up to work this morning to find the locks changed and a sign on the door, informing them of the closure.

WABE's Odette Yousef reports.

Southern Voice's publisher, Window Media LLC, has been in trouble since its majority owner was put under federal receivership last year. The publisher's demise also means the end of other major gay and lesbian papers in Washington DC and South Florida, including the "Washington Blade."

Laura Douglas Brown, editor of Southern Voice, says the paper meant more than a way to keep abreast of community affairs:

BROWN: I know for me personally, the first time I saw a copy of Southern Voice, I was 16 years old. I was out to nobody in the world. I lived in Columbus, Georgia. My grandparents lived here in Atlanta. That's how I saw it. And just having this newspaper - I kept that dog-eared, old issue of Southern Voice for so long, because it was proof to me that I wasn't alone, and this whole universe existed 100 miles up the road, and there was a community waiting for me.

A sign on the office door told employees to come back Wednesday to pack their things, and to meet with publishing executives.

Southern Voice was first published in 1988.

Odette Yousef, WABE News.