Welp, this isn’t a task I wanted to take on this week but here we are. Back in 2016, I sat on an RTD bus staring out the window, realizing that I needed to make a big change. I was working for a conservative company as an admin assistant because I needed the money, but after seeing the direction things were going in the country, I knew I couldn’t keep working for and with folks who were actively harming our community.
A few months later, I started working for OFM as digital content manager and fully committed myself to working for and in the queer community. As most of our readers probably know, from there, I became editor, and then in 2020, Maggie Phillips and myself took over as co-owners.
I’m not going to sugarcoat it at all. These past four years have been some of the most challenging of my entire life. Fighting for and alongside our community, breaking all the hard news but also trying to spread some queer joy, running a magazine, online media company, and events company while also still needing to juggle side gigs and some sort of a life, and all the while navigating a rough economy and not always being sure where our paychecks are going to come from, has more than taken a toll. It’s been a massive challenge, and there are days, especially days where we mess up or perceived to have messed up and get community criticism, that I am insanely tempted to throw in the towel. To pull out all the excuses (which are valid)—We don’t have inherited wealth or investors; we don’t have a staff; we don’t have the means and resources we had when we were white, cis-male owned.
This election has been a giant wakeup call that, while the work is hard and only going to get harder, we cannot call in quits. No matter how scary things get under Trump, OFM is committed to being a resource for you. Whether that looks like keeping the magazine, website, and events going and remaining a safe space for our community, or protesting alongside our community and volunteering for positive change, we’re here, we’re queer, and we’re not going anywhere.
Of course, we commit to you that we will tell the hard stories, give you updates, practice ethical journalism, and try to make a difference with our work. But we also commit right here and now to queer joy. Only seconds ago, I got off the phone with someone who is starting a trans halfway house for incarcerated or unhoused people. One of my to-do items is to cover the passing of marriage equality. OFM has events this weekend, at which we will rally, raise a glass, support local artists and performers, and revel in our community. Though there are surely dark times ahead, we will keep finding the joy.
So, although the election results were devastating on a national level, Maggie and I brought OFM through the first Trump term, the pandemic, and most recently, the recession (and with a team of two no less—just the two of us). We are here to do the hard work, and our inboxes and hearts are open if you have feedback, concerns, or news to share. We’re here for you. Let’s keep fighting the good fight together.
–Addison Herron-Wheeler
Photo by Ivy Owens
