GM DIVERSITY NEWSLETTER

GM helps Between the Lines celebrate 15th Anniversary

DETROIT – The year 1993 was a turning point for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

It was a year characterized by the euphoria of witnessing Grammy Award-winning artist Melissa Etheridge come out of the closet at the inaugural ball for the then-newly elected President Bill Clinton. That joyous moment would be overshadowed later that year by the gruesome murder of a transgender person, Brandon Teena, whose tragic story was retold in an Oscar-winning performance by Hilary Swank in the 1999 film Boys Don’t Cry.

Fifteen years ago, General Motors’ gay employees also banded together for the first time and formed an LGBT employee affinity group. It began as an informal networking group with no immediate focus or agenda. But within a year, the group’s first officers were elected and the organization named itself GM PLUS – "People Like US" and, today, is more than 220 members strong.

In the midst of it all emerged a new publication for the LGBT community – Between the Lines. Based in metro Detroit, the paper covers national and local LGBT news, entertainment and is the go-to source for all community information. It is still Michigan’s largest LGBT newspaper with 20,000 copies circulated at more than 600 sites throughout the state.

To honor the newspaper’s ongoing contribution to the community, GM is proud to be a sponsor of the Between the Lines 15th Anniversary celebrations taking place throughout the year. Anniversary events include Motor City Pride and the unveiling of an exhibit chronicling Michigan’s LGBT history at the Affirmations community center.

The official kick-off anniversary reception was held in February during the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force’s annual “Creating Change” conference held this year in Detroit.

The conference brought together community leaders from across the country to discuss the state of LGBT equality. NAACP chairman Julian Bond discussing gay civil rights gave the opening keynote address.

The conference was a perfect setting to celebrate the anniversary of a publication that has covered the LGBT movement over the years, including the progress of the local automotive companies.

Over the past decade and a half, the paper’s headlines show GM’s evolution of inclusion and outreach to the gay community.

In 1994 and 1995, Saab and the infant Saturn brand ran their first-ever automotive advertisements in a national LGBT magazine. In today’s world, the LGBT community now has television outlets, such as the new 24/7 Viacom-owned LOGO channel (offered in more than 11 million homes). And Saturn and Saab are already prominent advertisers.

Between the Lines is a fixture not only in the community, but at GM events. As the company strives to include LGBT media at all of the major automotive shows and other events, the local Between the Lines reporter was right alongside the national LGBT publications, such as The Advocate, Genre, Curve Magazine and GayWheels.com at this year’s GM Style and during the North American International Auto Show.

Fifteen years after the first editions rolled off the presses, Between the Lines continues to be a pillar for the community, covering not just the events but the people who make up the diverse LGBT community.

Click here to download the print friendly PDF version of this story