28/05/2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Out Post ceases publication after 34 years of covering Southeastern Michigan's LGBT community
ANN ARBOR, MI, May 28, 2024 — Out Post Publisher Steve Culver announced today that he is ceasing the publication of Out Post, the magazine he founded in 1990. The last issue is the June, 2024 Pride Issue that carries the headline, “This first draft of history is finally put on the shelf.” The cover of the last issue features a selection of covers and front pages from the publication’s 625 issues.
Out Post began as Ten Percent, a monthly publication covering Ann Arbor's LGBT community. It quickly expanded to include all of Southeast Michigan and for many years was published bi-weekly.
“It’s time to close this chapter,” said Culver, explaining his decision to stop the presses on his publishing career. In his last column, Culver thanked the “small army” of freelance journalists and others who helped produce Out Post. “My biggest thanks I leave for you, the readers,” he wrote.
In the thirty plus years of covering the local LGBT community, Out Post was known for tackling sensitive topics in the community and holding leaders to account. Four weeks after a 2018 Out Post exposé detailed turmoil and allegations at Michigan’s largest LGBT community center, the organization’s executive director resigned.
Out Post was also known for its lighter fare, including a gossip column in its early years, as well as the popular Party Pics section, which featured photos of people socializing in bars and nightclubs.
In the ’90s, Culver was a frequent commentator on LGBT issues in the mainstream press, including Detroit’s daily newspapers, Newsweek and once in a memorable exchange with Howard Stern on his radio show.
Culver said he plans to donate to local historical libraries Out Post’s archives, including back issues of his and other publications, as well as photos, newsletters, fliers and other memorabilia of his publishing career.
The final issue of Out Post can be found at its usual distribution locations.
About Out Post
Out Post began publishing monthly in January 1990 as Ten Percent, continued as Michigan Tribune for ten issues in 1992 and went on hiatus from 1993-95. It resumed publishing as a bi-weekly from January 1996-December 2013, and as a monthly from January 2014 until June 2024. It evolved from a newsprint publication to a glossy tabloid to a magazine format of various sizes. There were 625 issues in total. Digital versions of issues since January 2010 can be found at facebook.com/opmag.
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