When you stand at the beginning of a new year, it\u2019s only natural to take stock of the one you\u2019ve just lived through. And getting through 2025 was, to say the least, a bit out of the ordinary.<\/p>\n
For me, though, I\u2019m not spending much time looking backward. I\u2019m looking ahead. That doesn\u2019t mean putting your head in the sand; we all need to stay aware of what\u2019s happening around us, but life isn\u2019t only about politics. It\u2019s also about community, purpose and personal milestones.<\/p>\n
This coming year happens to bring together all three for me. And despite my annual promise to my husband that I\u2019ll slow down, we\u2019ve both agreed not to even pretend this year.<\/p>\n
There are three major milestones ahead.<\/p>\n
First is the 50th anniversary of the publication you\u2019re reading right now. The journey of Philadelphia Gay News still amazes me. For years, we were ignored \u2014 even shunned \u2014 by mainstream media and institutions. Today, PGN stands as one of the most journalistic-award-winning newspapers of any kind in the Commonwealth, and the most awarded LGBTQ+ newspaper in the nation.<\/p>\n
That didn\u2019t happen by accident. It happened because we refused to be silent, no matter how powerful the opposition. My recent reporting on the homophobia<\/a> embedded in Ken Burns\u2019 documentary work is exactly the kind of journalism that makes me proud of this paper and the people behind it.<\/p>\n The second milestone is personal. This year, I turn 75. In my head, I\u2019m still that young activist disrupting TV networks, confronting power, storming state troopers, and occasionally handcuffing himself to whatever object made the most sense at the time. Over the years, the powers that be decided conversation could move the needle too \u2014 and I\u2019m proud to say I haven\u2019t been arrested in more than 20 years.<\/p>\n At 75, I take pride in those arrests, in this newspaper, and in the institutions and progress that grew out of that long journey.<\/p>\n