Spencer Macnaughton | Uncloseted Media Weekly Newsletter - Happy Holidays & Our Plan for 2025
As 2024 comes to a close, we reflect on an incredible year filled with progress, challenges, and, above all, your unwavering support. We’re humbled by the reception we've received from all of our readers. Since our September launch, we have published 75 stories, including dozens of originally reported rigorous pieces of journalism. We’ve covered stories through the human lens of the folks impacted by systems of oppression and injustice:
Why weren’t Dorian and Natalie able to access HIV-prevention medication before they contracted the virus? And why do LGBTQ people of color in the Bible Belt still struggle to access PrEP?
Why was it legal for Charles to be spanked and whipped with tree branches just because he wanted to dress up in his grandma’s clothes? And what happens to the millions of other queer kids being homeschooled by conservative Christian parents who believe homosexuality is a sin?
Why does Elliot, a 17-year-old trans teen from South Carolina, feel that lawmakers see him as someone that “shouldn’t exist”?
We’ve also acted as a check on power through accountability journalism:
Why do at least six anti-LGBTQ hate groups have Special Consultative Status inside the United Nations?
Why is Kristen Waggoner, the woman who helped overturn Roe v. Wade, coming for LGBTQ rights?
Why did Trump spend five times more on anti-trans ads than on ads focused on the economy?
If you are enjoying our work and would like to continue supporting us as we enter a new year and a new administration, consider upgrading to become a paid or founding sponsor.
Or if you’re in need of a last-minute holiday gift idea, why not send your loved ones a subscription to Uncloseted? :)
In addition to our journalism, we’ve solidified a partnership with Gay Times, one of the biggest LGBTQ media brands on earth. We’ve partnered with non-LGBTQ publications like The Nation, Fierce Healthcare and Votebeat. And we’ve appeared on MSNBC, in Axios, and in The Globe and Mail.
In 2025, expect rigorous coverage of the Trump administration’s positions, policies, and rhetoric surrounding LGBTQ issues. Expect partnerships with local/ state publications where we investigate what’s happening with LGBTQ rights in state legislatures or undercovered regions (particularly in red/ rural states). And expect deep dives into how religion is being weaponized to undermine queer rights.
We’re ready to continue to act as a check on institutions, people, and other forms of power in the U.S. and beyond. Trust and believe—we’re just getting started!
From all of us at Uncloseted Media, thank you for making 2024 truly remarkable. Your engagement fuels our mission and drives us to dream even bigger for the year ahead.
Wishing you and your loved ones a joyful holiday season and a hopeful start to 2025.
What’s Next?
This weekend, be on the lookout for our year-end review. Think Spotify Wrapped, but make it key LGBTQ moments from 2024.
Coming up in 2025…
We’re kicking off the new year with our most fabulous deep dive yet! On January 3, we take an in-depth look at the cultural phenomenon of RuPaul’s Drag Race. From redefining mainstream perceptions of the community to sparking global conversations about identity and acceptance, RPDR has left an indelible mark on culture that has affected the mental health of many queer kids in America (one source—a trans man who grew up in rural Texas—told us the show literally saved his life). Featured in the article are interviews with drag superstars Alaska Thunderfuck 5000 and Shea Couleé!
We’ll also publish a look at the future of PrEP access and HIV prevention under Trump 2.0 and a GOP-led Congress. Don’t miss this vital story from journalist Tim Murphy.
Thanks for reading! And feel free to email me with questions, complaints, tips or story ideas!
Spencer Macnaughton, Editor-In-Chief
spencer@unclosetedmedia.com
If objective, nonpartisan, rigorous, LGBTQ-focused journalism is important to you, please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor, Resource Impact, by clicking this button:
Our democracy has 25 days to live.
The official progrom initiating the genocide of transgender Americans and the erasure of LGBTQ Americans begins soon. I don't see any allies, as Democrats disavow and dismiss us more every day, as GOPMAGA hatred has intensified and INCREASED since the election, not decreased.
There's no coming back from what's about to happen and no one seems to care
All I ask is this; after all Trans, gender diverse, nonbinary, and Intersex Americans have been mass murdered, by fascists and the politically ambitious, will someone walking by the patch of ground holding the remains of our corpses please drop a white rose upon our graves from time to time?
That would be asking a lot, I know, but it would be a nice gesture and mean so much to we the dead.
I appreciate the work you are doing, but am concerned that you won't have a publication if Christian Nationalism takes hold in this country.