With the ink barely dry on Governor DeWine’s stunning veto of HB 68, we already must turn our attention to 2024 and the road ahead for LGBTQ+ Ohio.
But first, a quick look back on 2023, which was a jam-packed year for The Buckeye Flame. Some highlights:
- We published 266(!) articles, a ridiculous amount for a scrappy little queer nonprofit newsroom.
- Traffic on the site was up 122% in 2023 over 2022, a jaw-dropping increase.
- The subscription list to our free, weekly newsletter grew by more than 50% and is nearing 10,000 subscribers.
- Our work was regularly republished – as we encourage outlets to “steal our stories” – in media from national public radio affiliates to city-wide alt-weeklies to college student newspapers. Heck, we even got a shout-out in The New York Times last week!
- The impact of our stories – the real reason we do this – was felt far and wide, from huge upticks in donations for LGBTQ+ nonprofits we profiled, to increased attendance at Prides, to countless paths to action to help get the attention of your local and state legislators.
As we flip the page on the calendar, here are four resolutions that will help guide The Buckeye Flame‘s work in 2024.
1. Increase our rural LGBTQ+ Ohio content.
It’s so easy to fall into the trap of disproportionately highlighting the gay happenings in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton, Akron and Toledo. But to do so leaves out a huge swath of Ohio.
In 2023, we created a spreadsheet to track how many of Ohio’s 88 counties we have hit in the 900+ articles we published since our 2020 launch.
We’ve hit 50. Which actually isn’t terrible. But it still leaves <checks math> 38 counties that unquestionably house LGBTQ+ Ohioans doing cool things and using their voices to make a difference.
We were overjoyed to recently announce that we will be adding a full-time reporter in 2024 (applications currently open!) primarily focused on amplifying rural LGBTQ+ Ohio. We can’t wait to do better in this focus area and need you to continue to tell us the LGBTQ+ rural stories in your corner of Ohio.
2. Embrace creativity when covering Ohio’s LGBTQ+ legislation.
The wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation will continue in 2024. While we wait to see if Ohio Republicans will override Governor DeWine’s veto, there’s a lot more to come.
Still on deck we have: a bill that would force teachers and school staff to out LGBTQ+ youth to their parents, a bill that would segregate youth and adults into bathrooms according to their birth certificate issued at birth, and a bill that would ban public drag performances, including at Ohio Pride festivals.
Increasing our community’s legislative literacy has long been an important value to our newsroom, but we also know that news recaps aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. In 2023, we tried some new formats, including podcasts, short explainer guides and even a BINGO card that an Ohio mom told us made one “abysmal hearing a bit more enjoyable” for her and her trans child.
We resolve to keep innovating in 2024: covering these critical hearings in new and creative ways in the hopes that you get the information you need in the ways that you want (and are always open to your creative ideas!).
3. Don’t shy away from controversy.
No other story of ours in 2023 seemed to have riled people up – at least in one of Ohio’s 1,197 zip codes – than our reporting on Studio West 117, a multi (MULTI) million-dollar LGBTQ+ entertainment complex that some LGBTQ+ Ohioans alleged was causing more conflict than community.
One respected Ohio LGBTQ+ leader repeatedly put forth the argument of: “The LGBTQ+ community is already under attack in Ohio, so the last thing we need is to be critical of each other.” I hear those words, appreciate them and take them seriously.
But I also take seriously our mission of publishing “content that chronicles our triumphs, struggles, and lived experiences.” When LGBTQ+ Ohioans reach out to us to bravely share their stories, we cannot toss them out because the blowback would be too great.
That’s not journalism. That’s not accountability. And that’s not The Buckeye Flame.
Here’s to a 2024 where we do what we can to support those voices…even when the distress call is coming from within the house.
4. Amplify more queer Ohio joy.
Sitting in hearing after hearing where lawmakers, pastors and out-of-state witnesses say horrible things about our community is rough. Writing up their words is rough. And reading their words – as you have told us – is rough.
You know what isn’t rough?
- Telling you about a Jewish couple who criss-cross the state offering hugs to LGBTQ+ Ohioans who have faced religious trauma.
- Interviewing an Ohio Queen who became an instant legend with her historic national pageant win.
- Encouraging you to register for a Pride 5K at an Ohio military base of all places!
- Highlighting the work of an inspiring Ohio queer art collective at the intersection of Black and LGBTQ+ life.
It can be so easy to get lost in the anti-LGBTQ+ vitriol that we lose sight of the smile-inducing stories happening all across the state.
So here’s to more stories of queer joy in 2024. 🔥
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