2025 was certainly a banger of a year for our scrappy queer newsroom’s coverage of all things LGBTQ+ Ohio.
We just crunched the numbers and it turns out, we produced 33% more stories than we did in the previous year. And you read and shared that content in astronomical numbers.
Our goal was to increase our page views and unique visitors by 5% over the previous year. Maybe 7% if things went extraordinarily well.
We will finish 2025 with an increase of 19% compared to 2024.
That’s a lot. And we are appreciative.
Here’s are the top 10 stories you consumed in 2025:
A board of education located between Toledo and Cleveland in rural Huron County threatened not to renew an award-winning choir director’s contract because he is engaged to a transgender man. This incredible reporting by Ben Jodway, our rural LGBTQ+ beat reporter via Report for America, was the perfect example of our commitment to shining a light on rural stories that otherwise simply would not have received coverage in other media. And we are thrilled to report that the choir director still has his job. Read the full story here.
Upon receiving a tip from HIV care providers that funding from the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program would no longer be available to cover services after Jan. 31, 2025, we turned to award-winning journalist Juan Michael Porter II to piece together the facts. The resulting article was a vital explainer about the uncertainty of the funding program’s future. Read the full story here.
You might not know where St. Mary’s is on an Ohio map, but the small town near the Indiana border made history when the Auglaize County Democratic Party Central Committee appointed Arienne Childrey to fill a seat on the City Council. With that vote, Childrey became what is thought to be the first out trans councilperson in the state, proving yet again that representation really does matter. Read the full story here.
This commentary about one family’s decision to leave to Ohio due to the effects of anti-trans legislation took off quickly. These powerful words about “a larger exodus that has significant human and economic costs” clearly resonated with readers. Read the full commentary here.
Barely hours into taking office in January, President Trump signed executive orders to effectively legislate trans Americans out of existence. Leave it to H.L. Comeriato, our senior staff writer, to break down the far-reaching implications of these orders on transgender Americans’ access to health care, basic legal protections, federal identification documents and more. Read the full story here.
When Stephanie Taylor drove by a billboard with a starkly homophobic message in her Northeast Ohio community, she immediately leapt into action, buying up three new billboards filled with messages of love to counter the words of hate. Taylor’s story of allyship quickly went viral, resulting in an avalanche of donations to help her purchase an additional four billboards. Read the full story here.
House Bill 262 is less than 30 words, but the bill packs a wallop of a punch in its purpose in designating a month honoring only Ohio families helmed by a cisgender heterosexual couple in a lifelong, monogamous relationship. The Buckeye Flame was the first to report on this bill and its implications, even as Republican lawmakers continue to move the bill forward in the legislature. Read the full story here.
Our reporting on Amy Heutmaker winning a seat on the Russell Township Board of Trustees was only published a few weeks ago, but took off like wildfire here at the end of the year. Heutmaker’s victory in the face of anti-trans harassment struck a chord with readers needing a tale of perseverance to close out 2025. Read the full story here.
Our annual guide to Pride celebrations across the state continues to be a hallmark of our newsroom. With hundreds of listings from one end of Ohio to the other, we could not be more proud that you turn to this page to help you locate and attend a Pride experience near you. Check out our 2025 Pride Guide here.
Our years of coverage on this bill – which would force teachers and school staff to out LGBTQ+ youth to their parents and limit the mention of LGBTQ+ identity in school curricula – culminated in the first week of 2025, when Gov. Mike DeWine signed the bill into law. Spurred by the widespread sharing of our work documenting the implications of “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” this legislative coverage was by far the most-read piece of the year. Read the full story here. 🔥
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