TNG Needs You!

Yes, YOU.

Other than being a gay resource for diverse music and events that take place outside of a few prominent gay bars, TNG is an online forum for members of our community to express ideas, opinions, short fiction, and personal stories. That's where you come in. TNG has plenty of readers waiting to hear from you, so read our submission guidelines below the fold and send your writing to submit@thenewgay.net.

Commentary:
We are accepting short (no more than 1-2 pages, please) essays/stories/commentaries from members of our community. We are not editors or philosophers and we realize most of you are not professional writers, but we do have some standards. Please do not send us your first draft. We don't mind making small edits, but please submit posts that are grammatically correct, cogent, and well written. We love you all, but for the sake of the readership we must practice quality control.

• The TNG staff doesn't agree with each other on everything, and we don't need to agree with you in order for you to post here. Also, controversial topics are fine as long as you have a thick skin. Those who choose to comment on TNG tend to be less mean and more thoughtful than commenters on many other blogs I've seen, but sometimes comments can be sharp, so take criticism with an open mind and a grain of salt. This is a good forum for us to learn from one another.
• Don't send us stuff that should be posted in the Blade's "Bitch Session." Most readers will assume a snarky or bitchy tone anyway, even when none is intended, so write carefully. If you have a critical opinion, back it up with supporting arguments and/or well-written prose. Humor works well also.
  
• We also ask that you don't defend yourselves via comments. You should reread your submission and make sure that it stands on its own, as we will frown on you trying to save face in the comments section after you stir up a shitstorm.
• Send us entertaining tales of hook-ups and heartbreaks, analysis of trends and ideas, poetry and haiku, saucy fiction, postulations on queer identity, criticisms and celebrations of culture, photographs, or anything else you can think of. The topic doesn't need to be specifically gay, just well written and interesting to a "new gay" audience, which is curious, intelligent, reflective, and opinionated.
  
• We don't want to read about celebrity culture and gossip. Frankly, we find you much more interesting. There are a ton of gay blogs that do the gossip thing better than we can. Also, we don't want to hear about the latest gay-centric news of the moment. You can read about this stuff on Queerty or Towleroad. They do a good job of it. However, we DO encourage you to submit commentary on individual news items, should you feel compelled.
• Follow up! We can't tell you how many people express an interest in writing for us and then disappear. Don't second guess yourself: if you have something to say, say it. We'll publish for you, but only if you send it to us.
  
• Finally, the most important thing to remember is that this blog is written for other people. Whereas many blogs are concerned with what their author had for breakfast or why they're really tired today, everything written for TNG is for an audience. Always think "so what" when writing a post. You can attempt to answer a question, tell a story or lodge a complaint, but only if you're not just doing it for yourself.
  

Maybe there is a particular local beat you want to cover that TNG doesn't currently provide? Let us know.

We are particularly interested in hearing minority (African-American, Hispanic, Asian, etc.) and transgender voices, as we miss a lot being a group of mostly white people.