Patrick Saunders: Documenting History

Sydney Saxon
Aug 31, 2018 · 4 min read

As an openly gay woman, when I think of “community,” my first thought is of the LGBTQ Community. So, when I was assigned an interview with someone in the journalism industry with a focus on community, I decided to find someone who wrote queer media in Atlanta.

With a quick Google search I found Patrick Saunders, the Editor of Project Q Atlanta, the most visited site in Atlanta for queer news. Project Q’s name comes from reclaiming the word queer that was once used as a slur, but now provides inspiration to many in the LGBTQ community.

Patrick Saunders took on the position of Editor of Project Q in April of 2018, after working for various other queer publications in the Atlanta area. We sat down for a phone interview where he told me, “I was editor of the Georgia Voice before this, and there I was spending more time in a managerial role and editing freelancer’s work.”

“I knew going into this that I would be shifting back into more writing, even though it is an editor position,” said Saunders. “It’s been great getting back into that, I didn’t realize that I had missed it. Instead of being the guy that tells people to do things, I get to be the one that does it.”

Saunders is a Georgia native who has been a part of the LGBTQ journalism community for over 10 years and has seen a great deal of change within the gay scene of Atlanta.

He told me that the number of queer publications that exist in Atlanta is incredible when compared to similar cities. They range from newspapers and glossy magazines to blogs, but all have a specific niche in the community.

Are there any challenges you’ve faced as an openly gay journalist within the journalism community or beyond?

“As far as being a gay journalist and running in circles with other journalists, there seems to be this idea that I’m writing from a place of bias. Obviously, I’m a big proponent of gay rights, but that doesn’t mean I’ll write from a biased point.”


Saunders told me about the term ‘advocacy journalism’ that often gets associated with queer publications. To this he said, “We’re not telling any falsehoods or bending stories to fit any sort of narrative…The only thing we’re really advocating for is the truth.”

An example he gave for this was if a nonprofit is mismanaging funds or their actions did not align with their mission, he would report on it the same way he would any other organization.

The latest edition of Q Weekly magazine.

Saunders always knew he knack for writing, but he said, “I didn’t realize that I was actually really good at it until high school. People would always ask me to look over their papers…and I thought that’s what everyone did. Then I realized, no they’re going to you because you’re a good writer.”

He found this unique niche of LGBTQ news after losing his job in real estate and finding his way back to journalism, 10 years after he graduated from college. Saunders started freelancing for Creative Loafing, and “it just took off from there.”

What is the best thing about your job?

“I get paid to do what I love, and there definitely is a personal stake in it, too. Whatever part I can have to affect change is really cool. I love putting a spotlight on an individual or group that hasn’t gotten the interest they deserve. We really are documenting history.”


Finally, I asked Saunders what advice he would give to a young, queer person considering going into journalism (aka me). He told me “Number one, queer or not, it’s been proven in the past two years how important journalism is. Journalism is just a really honorable profession. I hope people are not swayed by hearing other opinions on it.”

“I would also say, don’t plan on making a lot of money, that’s just how it is,” said Saunders. “You’ll make a living and you’ll get to do what you love to do.”

“As far as queer journalists don’t let any sort of bias get into the work at all, that’s big either way. Getting into queer media has been a really great experience for me. I would highly recommend doing it.”

Saunders told me that after the gay marriage decision in 2015, he was worried that readership would go down because people would think “we got the big one, see you later,” but instead the opposite happened.

“The next issues people latched onto were trans rights. People in and outside the community needed to know and wanted to learn about the gender binary and what is important. We felt more necessary than we were before.”

Saunders said to me, until there are no longer anti-gay politicians or anti-gay legislature, his work will not be over.

“I’d love at the end of the day to not have anything bad to write about, but until that happens, I’ll keep doing my job.”

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