I am excited!
It seems like just a few years ago when Robert Sheets asked me to join the board of Queen City Quordinators (QCQ) as the treasure. When I accepted, that started my journey of work in and for the LGBTQ community. At the time I had no idea it would become my purpose in life. It led me to sitting on other boards and committees like MCC Charlotte and Pride Charlotte.
The people I have worked with have been an inspiration. The memories I have will stay with me forever. The struggles our community has gone through and the triumphs we’ve made have been life-changing.
The most rewarding work I have been a part of is Qnotes. Right after I joined the QCQ board of directors, Robert had the vision to bring back the halted newsletter produced by QCQ a couple of years earlier. Qnotes was printed on copy paper and was a news and information source for the LGBTQ community for about 18 months in 1983 and 84.
Sheets envisioned a real newspaper. With his direction and the hiring of Don King, a local LGBTQ+ activist who worked at the Charlotte Observer, the Qnotes newspaper came to life in June 1986.
Around the same time, QCQ was producing a Drummer contest and the event was the first cover story of the new newspaper.
Now 40 years later, some 900 issues of the paper and over 15,000 articles written, we have seen our community go through a lot of challenges and breakthroughs, like Lawrence v. Texas, which struck down all sodomy laws across the country; and Obergefell v. Hodges, which gave us marriage equality. Now we’re dealing with the current administration in Washington, trying to erase us and our history.
This is why local trusted LGBTQ+ media is so important. That is why Qnotes and QnotesCarolinas have been here all this time. Independent media organizations are vital to our democracy. Like we have printed, at the top of the paper in red, for the last few years – “Our democracy is at risk! If we are complacent it will FALL.”
With that said, it has been a real struggle to do the work we are doing. COVID-19 was devastating to advertising and grants are few and far between. We have a reader revenue system called the Qnotes Press Club. You can join for as little as five dollars ($5) per month. Members get some perks and are able to give us feedback on what they would like to see us cover. Please go to QnotesCarolinas.com and join today. This will help us be of service to you with trusted local LGBTQ news, information, entertainment and views.
Over the 40 years of Qnotes, the paper has experienced a number of changes. In 1996 we started publishing biweekly instead of monthly. In 2006, we bought the Front Page, a Raleigh-based LGBTQ newspaper that was started in 1977. Then in 2021we started distributing papers in grocery stores because so many venues and businesses were closed due to COVID.
Now we’re making the largest change to date. This is one of the reasons I am so excited. Qnotes is evolving with the times and moving to a video, digital and multicast model. This 40 Year Anniversary issue of print will be the last biweekly issue. We will still be doing a few special issues a year in print. The first one will be August and will celebrate Charlotte Pride.
People want their media on their phones, and they want it quicker than ever. They want video. They want their news to be entertaining. They want it with as little effort as possible. They want it to come to them wherever they are. So, we are striving to meet you, our readers, where you are and in the way you want your news.
Therefore, you won’t find us in the clubs, grocery stores and restaurants. Keep an eye out for us on your phones, tablets and desktops. Please remember to like and share our post. Follow us on all the social media platforms and join the Qnotes Press Club.
We’ll see you online.
Jim Yarbrough
Publisher, Qnotes and QnotesCarolinas