Advocate

Billing itself as "the national gay & lesbian newsmagazine," the Advocate is a bimonthly magazine that has established a reputation as the "magazine of record" for the homosexual community in the United States. The first issue, called the Los Angeles Advocate, appeared in 1967—a full two years before the June 1969, Stonewall riots in New York City that brought gay liberation (see entry under 1960s—The Way We Lived in volume 4) to the nation's attention. It was published as an outgrowth of a local gay newsletter entitled PRIDE (for Personal Rights in Defense and Education). The newsletter had been created by Richard Mitch, Bill Rand, and Sam Winston as a response to Mitch's 1966 arrest in a police raid at a Los Angeles gay bar. The aim of PRIDE was to inform the local community of events that were having an influence on their lives and to help political activists find a voice.

The first issue (five hundred copies) of the Los Angeles Advocate—secretly printed in the basement of ABC Television's studios—appeared on September 12, 1967; it was twelve pages long and sold for twenty-five cents at gay bars and shops. In 1968, Rand and Winston purchased rights to the publication. Joined by gay activist Jim Kepner (c. 1923–1997), they vowed to make it a national publication. They changed its name to the Advocate in April 1970. In 1975, David B. Goodstein (1932–1985) purchased the magazine and managed it until his death. in 1985. During his tenure, the magazine lost its radical political edge and became more of a commercial tabloid. Editor John Preston (1945–1994) and publisher Niles Merton deepened the magazine's political and cultural coverage. In 1984, the Advocate was redesigned in a glossy newsmagazine format. It became even more mainstream in 1992, when publisher Sam Watters spun off the sexually explicit classified advertising into a separate publication.

Although it has been criticized for neglecting coverage of women and people of color and for its slow response to the AIDS (see entry under 1980s—The Way We Lived in volume 5) crisis, the Advocate is recognized as the most influential alternative-sexuality magazine of its era.

—Edward Moran

For More Information

The Advocate.http://www.advocate.com (accessed March 18, 2002).

Bull, Chris. Witness to Revolution: The Advocate Reports on Gay and Lesbian Politics, 1967–1999. Los Angeles: Alyson Books, 1999.

Califia, Pat. The Advocate Adviser: America's Most Popular Gay Columnist Tackles the Questions That the Others Ignore. Boston: Alyson Publications, 1991.

Oliver, Marilyn Tower. Gay and Lesbian Rights: A Struggle. Springfield, NJ: Enslow, 1998.

Silver, Diane. The New Civil War: The Lesbian and Gay Struggle for CivilRights. New York: Franklin Watts, 1997.

Thompson, Mark, ed. Long Road to Freedom: The Advocate History of theGay and Lesbian Movement. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994.

ad·vo·cate • n. / ˈadvəkit/ a person who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause or policy: he was an untiring advocate of economic reform. ∎  a person who pleads on someone else's behalf. ∎  a pleader in a court of law; a lawyer.• v. / -ˌkāt/ [tr.] publicly recommend or support: they advocated adherence to Islam.DERIVATIVES: ad·vo·ca·tion / ˌadvəˈkāshən/ n. ad·vo·ca·tor / -ˌkātər/ n.

advocate (ad-vŏ-kăt) n. (in health care) a practitioner, usually a nurse, who utilizes this role to promote and safeguard the wellbeing and interests of his or her patients or clients by ensuring they are aware of their rights and have access to information to make informed decisions. Advocacy in health care is an integral part of professional practice.
—advocacy (ad-vŏ-kă-si) n. www.dh.gov.uk/en/Policyandguidance/Healthandsocialcaretopics/Socialcare/IMCA/index.htm Explanation of an advocate's role in mental health care from the Department of Health www.alcoholics-anonymous.co.uk The AA website www.bbc.co.uk/health/conditions/allergies Explanation of what allergies are and how they can be treated from a BBC website www.alzheimers.org.uk Website of the Alzheimer's Society www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mentalhealthinformation/mentalhealthproblems/eatingdisorders.aspx Explanation of eating disorders, including downloadable leaflets, from the Royal College of Psychiatrists www.asthma.org.uk Website of the charity Asthma www.chadd.org This US website focuses on people with ADHD

advocate ME a(d)vocat — (O)F. avocat — L. advocātus, sb. use of pp. of advocāre call in as witness or counsellor, f. AD- + vocāre call. The form with ad- is due to latinization.
So advocate vb. XVII.

ADVOCATE

To support or defend by argument; to recommend publicly. An individual who presents or argues another's case; one who gives legal advice and pleads the cause of another before a court or tribunal; a counselor. A person admitted to thepractice of lawwho advises clients of their legal rights and argues their cases in court.