''Q-Notes'' is a

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

and

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

(

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

) newspaper serving

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

and

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. It is based in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

. Published every other week, it has a circulation of 11,000 print copies and is the largest print publication serving the

community in the American Southeast. The paper traces its origins to the monthly newsletter of the Queen City Quordinators, a Charlotte LGBT organization, which they began publishing in 1983. In 1986, Qnotes changed to a monthly tabloid. In 2006, it merged with the Raleigh, N.C. LGBT newspaper ''The Front Page''.

General information

''Q-Notes'' is published every other week on Saturdays, with a print circulation of approximately 11,000. It is distributed in all major cities in

and in Columbia,

and by subscription. The paper covers news, politics, opinion, entertainment, art, lifestyle and other topics. It is the largest

news publication in the Carolinas, with reach to parts of Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia. It is the largest LGBT print news publication in the Southeast.

Origins

''Q-Notes'' was originally started in 1983 as a monthly newsletter, named Queen City Notes, printed on 8.5x11 paper and distributed by the now defunct Queen City Quordinators, a local non-profit LGBT community organization. The newsletter was published for two years and grew to 12 pages an issue with paid advertising. It ceased publication due to lack of volunteer manpower. In 1986 ''Q-Notes'' was reborn as a monthly print newspaper published by Queen City Quordinators and later under the auspices of C.A.N. (Charlotte Advocacy Network) Inc., a for-profit corporation. The first issue of the revised newspaper was distributed in June 1986. Don King was hired part-time as the paper's first editor. QCQ President Jim Yarbrough, Dean Gaskey, Joel Smith and Robert Sheets kept the publication operating until it was bought by Yarbrough in December 1989. In 1991, Yarbrough left another job to take over operation of the publication full-time. Jim Yarbrough, the owner of Pride Publishing and Typesetting, Inc., bought the publication from C.A.N. Inc. in December 1989. In 1996, ''Q-Notes'' began distributing every other week.

Distribution

The paper is distributed in several cities and towns across the Carolinas. Besides its hometown of Charlotte, it is distributed in

Asheville Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populous city in Western North Carolina a ...

, Chapel Hill; Columbia;

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

;

Greensboro Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina, af ...

; Greenville;

Raleigh Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

; Wilmington,

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the fifth-most populous city in North Carolina and the 91st-most populous city in the Uni ...

and more. The paper also has distribution points and subscribers in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

and

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

. The newspaper is also published online, with daily news updates, event calendars and community resource listings.

History

Merger with ''The Front Page''

On May 12, 2006, ''Q-Notes'' merged with the Raleigh, N.C., based ''The Front Page'', a Raleigh, N.C. LGBT newspaper founded in 1979.

Online presence

On April 17, 2008, ''Q-Notes'' debuted its new website. The new incarnation of the almost decade-old website featured daily news updates and staff blogs and allowed reader comments to be posted to any story. The site is using a modified version of the WordPress blogging platform as a content management system The older version of the paper's website had been a simple and static

HTML Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser. It defines the content and structure of web content. It is often assisted by technologies such as Cascading Style Sheets ( ...

design, requiring hours of behind-the-scenes construction for each bi-weekly issue. In January 2010, the newspaper unveiled a newly redesigned website. In September 2021, the newspaper launched QnotesCarolinas.com, as a new online hub of local LGBTQ news, voices and community information.

2008 Democratic presidential primary

On April 30, 2008, seven days prior to the May 6, 2008, North Carolina primary, ''Q-Notes'' published online three interviews. Two were with Democratic candidates

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

and

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

. The third was with Clinton aide Mark Walsh. Obama's interview also included comments from aide Eric Stern.

Chris Crain Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, and Christine. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name *Chris Abani (born 1966), Nigerian author ...

, former editor of

The Washington Blade The ''Washington Blade'' is an LGBTQ newspaper in the Washington metropolitan area. The ''Blade'' is the oldest LGBTQ newspaper in the United States and third largest by circulation, behind the '' Philadelphia Gay News'' and the '' Gay City New ...

criticized ''Q-Notes'' coverage as it did not include information that the interviews had been conducted via email. ''Q-Notes'' later edited their Q&As including notations that the interviews were conducted via email.

Physical changes

For the July 26, 2008, issue the ''Q-Notes'' staff changed the traditional quarter fold of the newspaper to a flat layout, reflecting the layout more typical of an average, weekly tabloid newspaper or news-magazine. The traditional two sections of the newspaper, the front, more news-oriented section and the back, arts and entertainment section, were rolled into a single stitched section. In late 2008, the paper began using full, front page images on the front cover rather than have story text in a traditional newspaper layout.

Distribution changes, growth

In October 2009, ''Q-Notes'' announced it would stop distribution of its print edition to most regions in South Carolina. In a letter from publisher Jim Yarbrough, the newspaper said it would concentrate most South Carolina print copies in the state capital of Columbia. The paper continues to distribute to some community organizations and businesses in Greenville and Myrtle Beach. Despite changes in the newspaper's circulation strategies, the closure of

Window Media Window Media LLC was a gay press publishing holding company that acquired and operated gay and lesbian newspapers and magazines in the 2000s. In 2009 it ceased operations following bankruptcy. Former publications Newspapers * '' South Flori ...

's '' Southern Voice'' and ''

South Florida Blade The ''South Florida Blade'', formerly ''The Express Gay News'', was a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) newspaper in the southern Florida area. The ''Express'' was a member of the National Gay Newspaper Guild. The ''Express'' was fou ...

'' on November 16, 2009, made the Carolinas newspaper the largest LGBT print news publication in the Southeast.

New editorial direction

In January 2009, ''Q-Notes'' began rebranding its print edition and online presence. A new layout for the print edition accompanied an online redesign and new editorial strategy. Former editor Matt Comer wrote, "With our change in aesthetics comes a change in our editorial direction. Our bi-weekly print issues will be more future-oriented and contain less reporting of events past, while GoQnotes.com takes up a more robust daily presence with online only reporting of Carolinas, national and international events and news...In an effort to maintain our new, robust website and editorial direction, qnotes will be implementing a sort of "web first" model. Stories slated to appear in our print editions will be published as they are completed, or as a set of stories in the day or two after we dispatch our content to our printer. No more waiting the painfully slow and long five days between press time and street date."

Staff

*Publisher: Jim Yarbrough - Oversees daily operation of all aspects of the newspaper, from financial matters to employment and occasional editorial decisions. The paper has several regularly contributing freelance writers and columnists. .

External links

''Q-Notes'' official website

Back issues of ''Q-Notes'' from 1983-2016

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Q-Notes 1986 establishments in North Carolina LGBTQ-related newspapers published in the United States LGBTQ culture in North Carolina LGBTQ in North Carolina LGBTQ in South Carolina Mass media in Charlotte, North Carolina Newspapers established in 1986 Newspapers published in North Carolina