(The below interview is provided by our own Brent Hartinger)
Patrick Farabaugh is a man with a mission. Well, two missions, actually. First, he brought gay hockey to Wisconsin, founding the Madison Gay Hockey Association. And now he's started a new gay publication, Our Lives, in the state capitol of Madison, with the first issue hot off the presses.
Originally from Indiana, he worked at Entertainment Weekly at age 18, and Out Magazine at 19. After a stint at Conde Naste, and with detours to Seattle, Alaska, and even Russia (where he followed a boyfriend), he ended up in Wisconsin, where the strapping journo is definitely making a name for himself.
Why Madison? According to Patrick, "I enjoy the old barns, corn silos and cheese curds in Wisconsin perhaps more than anyone should." (BJ: Having grown up in Iowa and having gotten my first tattoo in Madison at age 16, I can attest to its awesomeness ... and the good cheese curds.)
AfterElton: Hey, Patrick! You've started new regional gay print publication in Wisconsin. Are you outright bonkers or just merely insane? Seriously, why now? Why there?
Patrick: Didn't Seneca say, "There is no great genius without some touch of madness." Well, I'm hoping he was onto something. They call Madison "ten square miles surrounded by reality" and I think that's about right. I've been told that per-capita Madison's gay population can rival any of the world capitals, but the community here is incredibly integrated throughout our entire city. We don't have a gay ghetto like New York's Chelsea or like West Holywood out in LA or… like…well, all of San Francisco. And until Our Lives, we didn't have any local gay press either to help establish a visual identity. Although there is something to be said for how accepted LGBT people are here, you potentially lose something in your personal growth when you're unable find and see others like you. I'm hoping Our Lives can provide that constructive meeting place.
AE: I'm told that you chosen not to allow sex and alcohol-themed advertisers, and the word is that other advertisers more than made up the difference. What's the thinking here? Why do you think it worked?
PF: In my first editor letter I said, "…Long before any facet of our identity has a chance to divide us, what matters above all is that all of us are people first." How can we be expected to continue to grow when we are consistently being boxed into minority advertising? It's a civil rights issue that I refuse to allow to become an issue. Treat me as a person, before you treat me as a gay person and then advocate opportunities for me to grow into being a respectable contributor to my own health and in step, the health of our society. That's good for me, and that's good for you. Why do straight folks not want those kinds of ads in their magazines? Why, then, should we accept them? As integrated as our acceptance is here in Madison, should an exception be made in our gay press? And one minor correction. Alcohol advertisers are not banned, but they do face a surcharge that subsidizes ad costs for LGBT youth programs.
AE: We all hear the stories about how the gay news media are struggling. What have the gay media done wrong over the years? What are you doing different? What can other outlets learn from you? What have you learned from them?
PF: Years ago, I worked for Out Magazine back when Sarah Petit was the editor. I admired the direction she took the magazine, and now after it changing owners I barely recognize it. To me, a lot of the national gay press seems to exploit our community for a profit. I don't know if I value money the way they seem to. Quoting Einstein, "Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value." I'm trying to do just that, and the best way to find and offer value that I have learned to just look at children. You know, something beautiful about children is they don't see anything wrong with being who they are. I think the freedom of a child's mind is life in its essence and I learn a lot from watching minds that haven't been shaped yet by how they are supposed to see themselves. I hope Our Lives reflects that.
AE: Print or online. What is the future of both? How does ourlivesmadison.com approach each medium? Can't you have your cake and eat it too?
PF: Print AND online. Both the printed magazine and the website are designed to compliment each other and help initiate thinking constructively about how to keep our community growing. I think there will always be some utility for magazines. Reading the magazine give you time to yourself, and contributing to the forums online give you a voice in the community. The beautiful part about the web though is it's instantly available to everyone. Build a user account and you can download full PDFs of our back issues and you can help constructively contribute to the community forums
AE: What's this I hear about gay hockey?
PF: I don't know, exactly what do you hear? ;)
