BLACKlines 1996-2004, En la Vida 1996-2004, Identity 2004-2006

BLACKlines newspaper started in February 1996, and remained a monthly newspaper produced by Outlines for many years. It started after Robert Ford of Thing ‘zine died. A Black gay man, Ford had created a wonderful queer ‘zine for Chicago and the U.S., and his death left a void for the local Black LGBTQ community. So Outlines asked the community if it wanted us to run a Black newspaper, and in a unanimous vote at the Generator nightclub, the plan was agreed to. It would be run by and for Black LGBTQs. A few months later, the Latinx community asked for the same, and En La Vida was born in July 1996. In the early 2000s, the papers were merged into a glossy monthly, Identity, but eventually it too had to fold. There was not a sustainable advertising model to keep them going.