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Publisher's
Letter
By
Greg Jeu
In late April, hundreds of thousands of gays and lesbians
convened on the nation's capital for the Millennium
March on Washington. Over 200 of those attending were
gay and lesbian press professionals: journalists, photographers,
publishers, and editors all meeting for both the cause
and for the first National Gay and Lesbian Press Summit,
sponsored by Q Syndicate and Gay.com Network. It was
indeed a remarkable weekend.
I
love Washington, D.C. I am incredibly moved by simply
walking down the streets there. Not merely because the
city is the emotional and patriotic epicenter of American
history, or because I am touched by the simple pride
one feels in being there, but also because it was here
during the 1993 March on Washington that the idea of
starting this publication began to germinate. One of
the highlights of the press summit was the Vice Versa
awards ceremony honoring the best of the gay and lesbian
press. We are extremely honored and very proud to report
that for the second year in a row OutSmartmagazine was
voted Best Local Magazine in the nation. OutSmart received
several other honors including an award for second place
(tie) for most total awards received. But the honor
of best publication is one of which we are most proud.
 One
of the judges cited OutSmartfor its "good layout
and design; excellent covers; good balance of local
and national coverage, inclusiveness of reporting on
sports and religious groups, which is rare in queer
publications; good information and resources for the
community." We owe our gratitude to the community
and our advertisers who have embraced our magazine from
its inception in 1994. It makes us truly proud to represent
Houston among the other publications in the nation.
In
this special Gay Pride issue, OutSmart would like to
acknowledge the often unrecognized heroes of Houston's
Pride Committee. The amount of work that goes into creating
Houston's Pride Week is unbelievable, yet they do it
successfully every year. Congratulations to these folks
who also put Houston on the map as the first city in
the nation to create a nighttime parade.
On
a more personal note, we at OutSmartwould like to dedicate
this issue to the memory of our dear friend, Richard
Wiederholt, whose love for life and the community was
and will continue to be an inspiration for us all. We
will all miss Richard dearly, but we will remember his
legacy. Of all the things he taught us, I am reminded
of the integrity Richard brought to the gay community.
To me, Richard expressed the true nature of pride‹that
pride is best supported, not by vanity or selfishness,
but with selfless service, compassion, courage, and
understanding.
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