Q MEDIA CONSORTIUM

The activist behind ShowMeNoHate.com learned very valuable lessons while he (along with some 45 volunteers) organized one of the most successful LGBT Civil Rights protests. On Saturday November 15th, 2008 over 1000+ protesters crowded the Historic Old Court House, blocks away from the St. Louis Arch. Even though the national press was reporting on the events leading up to the passing of California's Proposition banning same-sex marriages, the St. Louis news was not covering the stories. The organizers learned that without media support, the fight for Equality goes unheard and mostly unwritten.

This local civil rights activist is joining forces with many others from the around the country and our region to educate the media about local and national LGBTQ issues. The activist is Emmy award winning actor/comedian Ed Reggi and he is forming the St. Louis Q Media Consortium. Q Media St. Louis will consist of St. Louis newspaper publishers, print media, advertisers, bloggers, ad agencies, radio & television stations and film & theatrical production companies. The consortium's main purpose is to meet annually to organize, identify and celebrate local representation of the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgendered and Queer community.

St. Louis media professionals will be accountable to a LGBTQ inclusive community standard; moreover, they will develop relationships creating brand new partnerships with existing LGBTQ organizations. LGBTQ efforts to gain publicity and media attention will become easier through these formed channels.

Reggi recognizes that successful LGBTQ programming within the St. Louis media market must begin with the following four criteria in mind: (the following is borrowed and adapted from the GLAAD Media Awards selection criteria.)

1. Fair, Accurate and Inclusive Representations – Rather than portraying the LGBTQ community in broad stereotypes, the media portrayal deals with the characters or themes in a fair, accurate, and multi-dimensional manner. Inclusive means that the diversity of the LGBTQ community is represented. This includes economic, geographic, and political diversity, as well as people of color, seniors, differently abled people, etc.
2. Boldness and Originality – breaks new ground by exploring LGBTQ subject matter in non-traditional ways and handles the LGBTQ content in a fresh and original manner. Is this project cutting-edge? Does this blog spin LGBTQ issues in a different way?
3. Impact – LGBTQ media programming impacts the St. Louis community in a significant way. Does this media project dramatically increase the cultural dialogue about LGBTQ issues? Or, does this project reach an audience that is not regularly exposed to LGBTQ images and issues? Is this a new project for this radio station?
4. Overall Quality – A media presentation of extremely high quality adds impact and significance to the images and issues portrayed. Fair, accurate and inclusive images can sometimes be weakened when they are part of a poor-quality project.

If you wish to be a part of this exciting new consortium please email Ed Reggi at ShowMeNoHate [at] Gmail [dot] com.