Gay community mourns loss of Southern Voice

By Christian Boone

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

When Southern Voice began publishing 21 years ago, the notorious "Handcuff Man" cruised the city's gay bars with virtual immunity, as he had for decades.

More than 100 men, mostly gay hustlers, were believed to have been assaulted by the sadistic Woody Allen look-a-like, and Atlanta Police later acknowledged their investigation into the attacks was lacking.

SoVo held them accountable, and that mission defined the weekly publication over its next two decades. Now that it's gone -- shuttered without notice Monday by its Washington, D.C.-based publisher -- Atlanta's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community is wondering what will fill the void.

"It's very sad," said J. Sheffield, events manager of the Atlanta Pride Committee, which sponsors the annual gay pride festivities. "Southern Voice is an institution in this community and it will be missed."

Though it struggled to turn a profit, SoVo remained relevant to the end, doggedly reporting on the controversial September raid of the Atlanta Eagle leather bar.

"I worry whether we'll get that kind of in-depth reporting again on stories of interest to our community," said Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality. "Hopefully Project Q Atlanta will step up to fill the void."

The nascent online magazine, founded in Sept. 2008 by former SoVo editor Matt Hennie, now has the Atlanta gay media market cornered.

"We have some big shoes to fill," said Hennie, who plans to try. "We intend to ramp up our coverage to better serve the community."

But it'll take some time for Project Q or any other source to match the standard set by SoVo.

"They had professional reporters who dug deep," said former SoVo columnist Cindy Abel, a board member with the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, which promotes gay and lesbian candidates for political office. "Frankly, it all came down to economics, and what happened to Southern Voice has happened to a lot of other minority publications. Now you wonder who's going to cover these stories."

Thursdays, the day SoVo arrived at newsstands, won't be the same, said Philip Rafshoon, founder and owner of Midtown's Outwrite Books, which caters to a gay clientele.

"It's just so sudden," he said. "They've been the lifeblood of the community for so long. We were blessed to have it."

Sheffield said he's not ready to consider a future without SoVo.

"I kind of feel like now is the time to give Southern Voice the reverence they deserve," Sheffield said. "There will never be another Southern Voice."