The first issues of the Georgia Voice will hit the streets on Friday, March 19, 2010.  The print edition will be published every other Friday.

Georgia Voice co-founder Chris Cash

The Georgia Voice website is continuously evolving and will grow throughout the next week. Look for coverage of the scheduled criminal trial for the men arrested at the Atlanta Eagle, and blogs and video from our staff as we lead up to our full launch.

The Georgia Voice is published by The Georgia Voice, LLC, which was co-founded and will be led by Laura Douglas-Brown and Christina Cash, who together have almost 25 years experience in managing the editorial and business departments of an Atlanta-based LGBT publication.

Cash is the original founder of Southern Voice, which she launched in 1988 and sold to Window Media in 1997. Douglas-Brown joined the staff of SoVo in 1997 as a reporter and became the paper’s editor in 2006.

When Southern Voice closed on Nov. 16, 2009, and Window Media filed for bankruptcy, it left Atlanta's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities without a voice for the first time in almost 22 years.

Georgia Voice Editor Laura-Douglas Brown

“Within hours of SoVo’s closure, Chris and I began talking about how we could work together to create a new media outlet to keep telling the vital stories of Georgia’s LGBT communities,” Douglas-Brown said. “We are so grateful for the community supporters, staff and advertisers who are helping make this possible.”

Six of the Georgia Voice’s seven staff members worked for Southern Voice during its 20-year history, including four who were key editorial/design employees at SoVo at the time of its closure. All seven Georgia Voice employees have experience in LGBT publications in Atlanta.

“This is the most talented and experienced team I have ever worked with, and I am confident we will be here for the Georgia community for many years to come,” Cash said.