Gaze, the Halifax-based free quarterly for LGBT community, folds

After about a year of publication, the Halifax-based queer quarterly Gaze has ceased production according to a posting by OpenFile's Bethany Horne, The last issue in print was distributed over the weekend. The reason was difficulties in selling advertising. 

The magazine was launched in July 2010 as a free, ad-supported publication that founder John Williams said was intended to be fun and informative without being preachy. He writes a farewell editorial in what is the fifth and final Fall 2011 issue:

Gaze has always been a labour of love. Never intended to be a cash cow or a permanent replacement for regular, paid employment, this undertaking was born solely from a personal desire to provide Atlantic Canada with a queer-themed publication capable of transcending the boundaries of both age and sexuality.

That it has fulfilled that mandate makes this announcement all the more difficult: this issue of Gaze will be its last.While profit was never paramount among my concerns, generating enough ad revenue to cover production costs remained crucial to the magazine’s long-term existence.

Regrettably, that goal remains unmet.The decision to cease publication was not an easy one. In fact, from an economic standpoint, it’s one that probably should have been made before now. But pulling the plug without properly signing off just didn’t seem right.

The final issue can be read in pdf here.