{"id":932994,"date":"2025-04-02T15:22:10","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T19:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glaad.org\/?p=932994"},"modified":"2025-04-02T18:26:43","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T22:26:43","slug":"q-digitals-scott-gatz-talks-being-honored-with-barbara-gittings-award-for-excellence-in-lgbtq-media-and-importance-of-lgbtq-voices-in-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glaad.org\/qdigitals-scott-gatz-talks-being-honored-with-barbara-gittings-award-for-excellence-in-lgbtq-media-and-importance-of-lgbtq-voices-in-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Q.Digital’s Scott Gatz Talks Being Honored With Barbara Gittings Award for Excellence in LGBTQ Media and Importance of LGBTQ Voices in News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scott Gatz<\/strong> founded Q.Digital<\/strong><\/a> in 2008 with\u00a0GayCities<\/em><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0 and soon after, it became the home for Queerty<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, LGBTQ Nation<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, INTO<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, and Outsports. <\/strong><\/em><\/a>\u00a0The media banner became a leading voice in LGBTQ+ media and journalism, providing news that amplifies the diversity within the LGBTQ community.<\/p>\n

For the 36th Annual GLAAD Media Awards<\/a>, Q.Digital was honored with GLAAD’s Barbara Gittings Award for Excellence in LGBTQ Media. The award recognizes a pioneering individual, group, or community media outlet that has made a significant contribution to the development of LGBTQ media. The award is named after Barbara Gittings in recognition of her groundbreaking work as editor of The Ladder, and for her appearances as an out lesbian on national news media throughout the 1970s and 1980s.<\/p>\n

We had the opportunity to talk to Gatz about receiving the honor, the future of Q.Digital, and the importance of LGBTQ journalists in newsrooms and media.<\/p>\n

How does receiving GLAAD\u2019s Barbara Gittings Award for Excellence in LGBTQ Media speak to the evolution of\u00a0Q.Digital\u00a0and its mission?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just a year after Barbara Gitting\u2019s passing,\u00a0Q.Digital launched with a simple mission: to entertain and enlighten LGBTQ+ people, amplify their voices and inspire action. In those early days, it would have been an honor to just meet the people worthy of winning a GLAAD award. We could never have imagined that one day our journalism would receive multiple nominations and wins, and that we\u2019d be honored with the Barbara Gittings award. Through these tough times, we want to grow our reach and our impact through our sites GayCities, Queerty, LGBTQ Nation, INTO and Outsports. The more LGBTQ+ people — and allies — we can reach, the more we can help make a world where every LGBTQ+ person is free to be themselves and live their lives to the fullest.<\/p>\n

Since 2008 when Q.Digital launched, what are some of the most memorable accomplishments Q.Digital\u00a0has done in LGBTQ media?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m proud that\u00a0Q.Digital\u00a0has grown into the most trusted, most visited LGBTQ-owned media company in the country\u2014and we\u2019ve earned that position by telling queer stories with scale, integrity, and impact. GayCities<\/em> was the first LGBTQ+ app in the iOS app store when the iPhone launched. Outsports<\/em> turned \u201cTeam LGBTQ\u201d into a global headline by covering every out athlete at the summer & winter games. LGBTQ Nation<\/em> covered essential elections and politicians, ran op-eds from the sitting President and Vice President, and pulled together LGBTQ+ leaders to give their take on the state of the movement. We gave INTO<\/em> a new life and new purpose. And the Queerties became a LGBTQ+ cultural staple. We\u2019ve convinced Fortune 100 companies that you can advertise to our community in an authentic way and that it isn\u2019t only about doing the right thing, it is very good business. It\u2019s a joy to get to do this work each day and it makes us all proud when someone recognizes all the work that we do.<\/p>\n

As the LGBTQ community continues to fight the good fight for equality, how does\u00a0Q.Digital\u00a0navigate the struggling media landscape to get their stories front and center?<\/strong><\/p>\n

For as long as we\u2019ve been around, platforms and algorithms have shifted regularly either amplifying our content to new audiences or surpassing our content. Being nimble, experimental, and willing to change is in our blood and so we\u2019re constantly shifting our tactics to find our readers.\u00a0 With certain social networks creating policies openly unwelcome to LGBTQ+ folks, we\u2019re relying more on our readers bookmarking our sites, typing in our urls, or subscribing to our newsletters.\u00a0 We\u2019d encourage everyone to take a moment and subscribe to queer newsletters and we\u2019d be honored\u00a0 if you subscribe to Queerty, GayCities, INTO, LGBTQ Nation,<\/em> and Outsports<\/em> while you are at it.<\/p>\n

How important are LGBTQ journalists in mainstream media?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

LGBTQ+ journalists at mainstream media are essential for keeping our voices heard in newsrooms across the country.\u00a0 While we\u2019ve seen great strides in gay and lesbian representation, there are not nearly enough trans journalists inside mainstream outlets. With trans equality being one of the top stories of 2025, we need actual trans folks writing the stories and contributing context to their newsroom peers.\u00a0 There are plenty of very talented trans writers, mainstream media just needs to hire more of them.<\/p>\n

In a time when LGBTQ rights are being threatened and the rollback of DEI, how does Q. Digital maintain hope for itself and give hope to its audiences?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our community has a deep history of advocating for and attaining change, and we have demonstrated fortitude and resilience in the face of attacks.\u00a0 Even as some politicians use us, particularly the trans community, as a wedge issue to divide voters, LGBTQ+ people are more accepted than during any other time in history.<\/p>\n

All of us at\u00a0Q.Digital\u00a0are passionate about this work and feel that it is more needed than ever before. No matter who is in the Oval Office or what party controls Congress, this is our work, and we are committed to doing it.<\/p>\n

What kind of projects can we expect from\u00a0Q.Digital\u00a0in the near future?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We recognize that people need to hear stories of queer joy and be entertained. You\u2019ll see more good news from us alongside the critically important coverage of the threats we face.\u00a0 You\u2019ll see us celebrate Pride in June while reminding folks that Pride itself is a form of resistance.\u00a0 You\u2019ll see us create more video content, more fun games like Queerty<\/em> Crosswords, and more big events like Pride 50 and The Queerties awards.\u00a0 And later this year, we\u2019ll start Team LGBTQ coverage for the 2026 winter games, widely expected to have the most out LGBTQ+ athletes in history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scott Gatz founded Q.Digital in 2008 with\u00a0GayCities\u00a0 and soon after, it became the home for Queerty, LGBTQ Nation, INTO, and Outsports. \u00a0The media banner became a leading voice in LGBTQ+ media and journalism, providing news that amplifies the diversity within the LGBTQ community. For the 36th Annual GLAAD Media Awards, Q.Digital was honored with GLAAD’s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":456,"featured_media":932999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"middle","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[138420,138422,138401,138732,142681,138405],"tags":[141125,142041,142709,120580,139444,142711,136698,136697,142710,140992,142648,122308,142708],"ppma_author":[139068],"class_list":{"0":"post-932994","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-awards-season","8":"category-digital","9":"category-entertainment","10":"category-featured","11":"category-glaad-media-awards","12":"category-news","13":"tag-36th-glaad-media-awards","14":"tag-barbara-gittings-award-for-excellence-in-lgbtq-media","15":"tag-gaycities","16":"tag-glaad-media-awards","17":"tag-interviews","18":"tag-into","19":"tag-lgbtq-journalism","20":"tag-lgbtq-media","21":"tag-lgbtq-nation","22":"tag-outsports","23":"tag-q-digital","24":"tag-queerty","25":"tag-scott-gatz"},"aioseo_notices":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t