The Seattle Gay News, one of the oldest queer news publications in the country and a staple of the clutter of newspapers, zines, and flyers that have pleasantly littered Capitol Hill hangouts for decades, has a new owner and a new, more regional mission.

Stratus Group has acquired SGN to add to its expanding LGBTQ+ newsmagazine business. Publications include Coastal Pride of Ocean Shores, Washington and publications in Bellingham and Spokane.

“In stepping into the pilothouse of the SGN, I do so with stewardship in mind and humility. But I also open this new chapter with an innate and tenacious enthusiasm to further our causes of visibility, equality, and dignity,” Stratus publisher Mike Schultz said in a letter published in the latest edition of SGN.

“I am insistent that we deserve nothing less than taking our equal place at the table of humanity.”

As part of the announcement, Schultz said SGN would switch to an “every other Friday” publishing schedule like his other publications and will no longer be a weekly newspaper. The new ownership is also planning to shift “the content mix in the print issues” to “focus more on our local and regional Queer communities,” Schultz said.

CHS reported in 2020 on the death of longtime SGN publisher and citizen of Capitol Hill George Bakan as his daughter Angela Cragin stepped in to keep the paper afloat. Earlier this year, we reported on the effort to digitize hundreds of Seattle Gay News issues at the Washington State Library creating an archive rich with Capitol Hill history.

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