We're back!

News release

Gay humanist mag rises from the ashes of controversy

We’ll have a no-holds-barred policy, say editors

Gay & Lesbian Humanist, the magazine that suspended publication amid controversy in 2005, is back. And its editors have promised a no-holds-barred policy concerning political correctness.

G&LH’s return has been warmly welcomed by Barry Duke, editor of Britain’s oldest freethought magazine, the Freethinker, who says it plays “an important part in getting the message across”.

The new online publication takes over from the print version, which had been publishing quarterly since 1981.

The magazine has, throughout its life, carried a lively mixture of in-depth feature articles, regular items, events news and general news on matters concerning humanists, lesbians and gays worldwide.

In a statement today, the magazine’s editors say:

Many people will remember G&LH. Some may remember why it suspended publication following a protracted dispute about content.

After a period of change and restructuring within the PTT, the trustees decided to resume publication. In order to optimise the trust’s work and cost-effectiveness, and to reach a wider audience, it was decided to make G&LH an online publication.

On the magazine’s policy, the statement adds:

Much is often said about the right-wing threat to our liberties, but far less attention is made of threats from the left wing and elsewhere. However, we will expose threats wherever we find them, without fear of or favour to any established dogma, and with chromatic indifference to the whole political spectrum.

If it stands for anything, G&LH stands for reason, free speech and open debate. There are no sacred cows or no-go areas. Full stop.

The editors’ statement says everyone has the right to free speech within the confines of the law. “The only way to strengthen something is to question it, test it,” they say.

Truth is not protected by never being challenged, but by always being challenged. Where there is no truth, there is no education. The educative process knows no bounds.

We hope that, by providing feature articles examining all aspects of humanism, sexuality, dogma, threats to free speech, we fill a gap not addressed by other publications.

Barry Duke, editor of the 127-year-old Freethinker, said today:

As one who helped launch the Gay & Lesbian Humanist, then witnessed with enormous pride its development over the years, I am delighted that the magazine has resurfaced in electronic format.

I always believed that the magazine could play an important part in getting the message across that, not only was it good to be gay, it was even better to be a gay person free from the dreadfully debilitating and hugely harmful influences of religious belief.

I like to think that the magazine – with its top-notch reportage and in-depth coverage of important and often controversial issues – provided its readers with a vital and unique stepping-stone from the tyranny of religious dogma to the freedom of a guilt-free, rational lifestyle.

Welcome back!

And a former editor of G&LH, George Broadhead – who is also secretary of the PTT – had this to say: “I was very sad that the previous print version of G&LH ceased publication. I am enormously pleased we will now be able to continue where we left off.”

On arriving at the magazine’s website readers are greeted by a montage of covers from the print edition going back to the late nineties, when it began printing in colour. On clicking the “Enter here” button they are taken to a mixed content of serious articles, some more light-hearted material, a roundup of news from Britain and around the world, and an invitation to visit the magazine’s sister publication, the blog Pink Triangle.