SEATTLE — The new owner and publisher of Seattle Gay News (SGN), one of the longest-standing LGBTQIA publications in the country, has an ambitious goal: archive every single issue of the publication for the public to view online.
Mike Schultz, who bought SGN on Oct. 1, said the project is a "labor of love" to honor SGN's nearly 50 years in operation.
Over the last four decades, SGN has printed a free weekly newspaper with stories impacting the LGBTQIA community, with subscribers all over the country.
"Our history helps us understand our past and brings context to our present," Schultz said. "Our history helps shape our identity, both collectively and individually. A lot of us lived through the history printed on these pages of SGN. Our history honors those who are with us and those who came before us. We have a long way to go for equality but even so, we stand on the shoulders of a lot of others who sacrificed for many of the gains and freedoms we have to me. To me, observing our history honors their journey."
Schultz said SGN's new website lets you see archives of the publication dating back to the 1970s. He said SGN has uploaded 825 issues to the website, but there are still as many as 2,000 more publications that need to be digitized and posted to the site.
Schultz hopes to have the project done by 2024.
"It's a labor of love and a way for me to honor a lot of people that I never got to meet who helped us along in our journey," Schultz said.