''OutServe Magazine'' was a bi-monthly digital and print publication of

OutServe OutServe-SLDN was a network of LGBT military personnel, formed as a result of the merger between OutServe and the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. OutServe-SLDN was one of the largest LGBT employee resource groups in the world. OutServe was ...

, a non-profit, non-government organization for

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

and

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

service members in the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

. It was co-founded by Air Force Staff Sgt. Jonathan Mills and Capt. Eddy Sweeney, and first published in March 2011, while OutServe was still operating clandestinely prior to the repeal of the "

Don't Ask, Don't Tell "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on military service of non-heterosexual people, instituted during the Clinton administration. The policy was issued under Department of Defense Directive 1304.26 on December ...

" policy that banned open gays from service. ''The Magazine'' garnered over a quarter of a million views for its most popular issues. The publication was distributed free of charge on military bases, and was available to the public for downloading and redistribution through its website and mobile apps. It published 13 issues over 2 years, employing more than 30 volunteer staff, and was the first gay rights magazine to be approved for distribution on military bases.

History

In February 2011,

, Inc. launched an initiative for a newsletter that would inform LGBT service members of the fast-growing support network that was available to them, as well as inform readers on the status of DADT and other LGBT-related policies. Jonathan Mills and Eddy Sweeney expanded on this idea and created a bi-monthly magazine that sought to publish relevant information in a pre-DADT repeal environment, inform LGBT service members of various resources available to them, provide a voice for LGBT stakeholders in the military, and begin to normalize open service by introducing the Armed Services to the gay military professional. The first electronic-only issue of the Magazine, distributed in March 2011 to

network members, as well as released to the press, had over 10,000 impressions within the first 48 hours, and was met with an overwhelming show of support from the public, the Department of Defense, and the Obama Administration. News organizations such as ''

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

'', ''CNN'', ''ABC'', ''Der Spiegel'', '' Stars and Stripes'', and ''

Military Times Sightline Media Group, formerly Gannett Government Media and Army Times Publishing Company, is a United States company that publishes newspapers, magazines, websites, and other publications about the U.S. and other militaries. The company's '' ...

'' reached out to cover the launch. Writers and staff were originally attributed by pseudonyms in order to operate within the confines of DADT. In the months after, the bi-monthly publication shifted its focus from a pre-repeal environment to a post-repeal one, and the September 2011 Repeal Edition had a quarter of a million views. This issue featured, for the first time in any publication, the faces of 101 actively serving LGBT military professionals. The Magazine featured LGBT multimedia essays by artists such as JoAnn Santangelo and Jeff Sheng, published the first public interview with Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm.

Michael Mullen Michael Glenn Mullen (born October 4, 1946) is a retired United States Navy Admiral (United States), admiral, who served as the 17th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 1, 2007, to September 30, 2011. Mullen previously served as ...

after his retirement (the most senior military leader charged with implementation of DADT repeal), was cited regularly by major news outlets, and partnered with more than 15 advertisers, including

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

Barefoot Wine Barefoot is the state of not wearing any footwear. There are health benefits and some risks associated with going barefoot. Shoes, while they offer protection, can limit the flexibility, strength, and mobility of the foot and can lead to ...

, Rhino Africa,

MetLife MetLife, Inc. is the holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC), better known as MetLife, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, annuities, and employee benefit programs, wi ...

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

Absolut Absolut Vodka is a brand of vodka, produced near Åhus, in southern Sweden. Absolut is a part of the French group Pernod Ricard. Pernod Ricard bought Absolut for €5.63 billion in 2008 from the Swedish state. Absolut is one of the largest brands ...

Miller Lite Miller Lite is a 4.2% ABV light American lager beer sold by Molson Coors (previously MillerCoors) of Chicago, Illinois. The company also produces Miller Genuine Draft and Miller High Life. Miller Lite competes mainly with Anheuser-Busch's Bu ...

, VisitPhilly,

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...

, Human Right Campaign, and

Orbitz Orbitz.com is a travel fare aggregator website and travel metasearch engine. The website is owned by Orbitz Worldwide, Inc., a subsidiary of Expedia Group. It is headquartered in the Citigroup Center, Chicago, Illinois. Background Origina ...

. From its launch in 2011 to its one-year anniversary in March 2012, ''OutServe Magazine'' expanded its staff from 3 to more than 30 volunteers, added a new OutServe Blog, released Android, Windows Phone, and Apple mobile apps, and expanded print and web distribution from 10,000 readers in the first month to over a quarter of a million views in 2013. ''OutServe Magazine'' published its final issue in June 2013, under the direction of its final Editor-in-Chief Angelina Leger, one month before OutServe-SLDN's reorganization and the accompanying resignation of several of its leaders. Archived issues can accessed a
MagCloud

Repeal Edition

In September 2011, its third edition, the "Repeal Edition", revealed the identity of OutServe Co-director JD Smithas a U.S. Air Force active-duty lieutenant. The "Repeal Edition" featured 101 service members

coming out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

to the public for the first time. It was also the first edition approved for distribution in print to military installations.

References

External links

OutServe
{{Queer people and military service in the United States Bimonthly magazines published in the United States LGBT-related magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 2011 Magazines disestablished in 2013 Magazines published in Washington, D.C. Military magazines published in the United States LGBT and military-related mass media Defunct magazines published in the United States