After nearly two decades of serving up news and entertainment to the Utah LGBTQ+ community, QSaltLake magazine presses on.
“We are out there everywhere,” says Michael Aaron, editor and publisher of the magazine.
Since Michael founded the publication in 2004, QSaltLake has been distributed to hundreds of locations throughout the state, including restaurants, libraries, bars, and more.
“If you go to a coffee shop, you will see us there. And if you happen to be part of our community, you'll recognize the little rainbow banner at the very top of it. There's also a lot of social media that happens to get the word out, and we've been growing an email list so that we’re seen out there even if someone misses the magazine.”
QSaltLake is one of over 230 member businesses in the Utah LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce. In partnership with the chamber, Cyprus Credit Union is honored this year to present 12 member businesses with grants of $1,000 each as we recognize their contributions to the community. QSaltLake was selected as a grant recipient.
As a student at the University of Utah in the 1980s, Michael studied engineering but ultimately pursued a career in his real passion: graphic design and marketing. During his time as a student, Michael began his activism for gay rights. In the 80s and 90s, he participated in three marches in Washington, D.C., founded Utah's Anti-violence Project, and started Triangle Magazine, a publication for the queer community.
The Ogden native moved twice to the San Francisco Bay area between 1989 and 1998 but felt the need to return home each time. His decision to finally stay in Utah was heavily influenced by the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old student at the University of Wyoming. Today, the brutal incident is viewed by many as one of the most depraved anti-gay hate crimes in America. But Michael was troubled by the response he saw in San Francisco in the immediate aftermath.
“The response in San Francisco about Matthew Shepard was almost nonexistent,” he recalls. “And I thought, ‘What in the world am I doing here?’ I was just striving and yearning to find a response locally that I could be part of, and it just didn't happen.”
Feeling that he was more needed at home, Michael returned to Utah and continued his activism to make Salt Lake safer for the LGBTQ+ community.
Several years later, Utahns prepared to vote on Amendment 3 to the state constitution. The proposed amendment would restrict the definition of marriage exclusively to unions between one man and one woman. Although Michael knew the press would play an important role in the lead-up to the vote, he felt that the content published by sources opposing the amendment left much to be desired.
“I decided that when the 2004 [Utah] constitutional amendment was going to happen, we needed something. I thought we had to have a more heady, informational magazine that was giving out information that people needed.”
It was then that Michael started Salt Lake Metro magazine, later to become QSaltLake. Its first issue went into circulation on April 29, 2004 under the title “Black & Blue: Utah’s Fight for Gay Marriage.”
“I could’ve stayed [in marketing] and made really good money. But no, I wanted to go and throw myself into a gay publication instead,” Michael jokes. “I thought that was more rewarding. It’s a very rewarding job, especially in the difficult times. Because if you're doing the difficult things, who knows if anybody else would’ve done them?”
Now in its twentieth year, the magazine continues to deliver news and entertainment to consumers throughout Utah.
“This is by, for, and about our community. And that's important. I think that's important for anybody who considers themselves to be a part of a niche. There's always going to be a need for those publications.”
Need or not, the spread of COVID-19 pummeled print media across the U.S. in 2020, with twelve queer publications halting operations by year two of the pandemic. QSaltLake survived.
“Some went to online only, and we had a number that basically stopped publishing. There are a lot of larger communities in cities larger than Salt Lake City who no longer have a gay publication.”
So, what makes Salt Lake City different enough to have its own LGBTQ+ magazine?
“Well, there’s a lot to be said for somebody who has the tenacity to just keep going,” says Michael. “It's a struggle, but you do what you can do. You don't have to stress about it. If you have to go online only, you have to go online only. But if you can continue to provide the service people want, excellent.”
It’s old news that the internet has continually influenced how publishers interact with their readers, but Michael says that the printed word is still valued by many.
“We were wondering, ‘Oh my gosh, are we going to have to go online only?’ But people were like, ‘No, I have to be able to touch my magazine. I have to be able to walk into my favorite restaurant around the corner and pick it up.’”
Though its online presence has increased over the years, QSaltLake currently produces between 4,000 and 8,000 printed magazines per month. Both its digital and printed content are free to readers thanks to the companies paying to fill the magazine’s advertising spots. So long as support continues, QSaltLake can continue delivering its core message.
“We come at our publication with what we call ‘certain truths’ that our community considers valuable. That who we are is innate. That we contribute very, very positive things to the community at large. I mean, if you think about theater, and music, and how many people in our community are so passionate about them that they make it happen.”
Meanwhile, Michael doesn’t consider his days of activism over, but sees his magazine as a continuation of them.
“I am an activist publisher. I'm proud of that.”
Michael is a 2014 recipient of the Service to Journalism award from the University of Utah’s Department of Communication.
QSaltLake’s online content and magazine pickup locations are available online at QSaltLake.com. The magazine can also be found on Instagram (@qsaltlake), Facebook, and X (@QSaltLake).
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