Before we begin, let's look back!

"Inspect what you expect," warned a mentor of mine. So here's an overview of stories I've covered in 2022, to give you a sense of what to expect from me in 2023.

Jan 1, 2023

Hello, world!

Yes, it’s me, Dawn, and yes I’m now on the bandwagon… kicking off the new year with my very own Substack.

This first edition for January 1, 2023, is to provide a look back at my body of work for 2022. The year that just ended was perhaps my busiest yet: 250 stories, dozens of videos and one exclusive interview that netted me the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Online Journalism.

As you may know, I started blogging on WordPress more than 12 years ago, dabbled in Medium over the years and I’ve written for dozens of outlets in the nine and a half years I’ve been an online journalist. In that near-decade, mainstream news outlets have shed thousands of jobs, and more and more journalists are launching their own vehicles to reach readers. Just as I am doing now. So, it seems the timing is right.

Now, don’t worry: I will still be writing at four or five news outlets as well as continuing to teach at the University of Hartford and to produce podcasts and of course I’ll still make YouTube videos.

And, when I can find time, I’ll get back in the studio to record new episodes of my talk show, RiseUP with Dawn Ennis, which shares a name with this daily newsletter.

So, what will you find here? Like my talk show, I hope to inspire you to do SOMETHING other than just feel powerless about the world and what is happening around us.

More specifically: I’ll be providing subscribers a daily brief on what’s making news in the LGBTQ+ community, who’s doing what and where and why and who’s spilling the tea. There will be an emphasis on news about the transgender population, as I feel that is an underserved audience, and I promise to keep folx who are allies in the loop, too. I hope each and every newsletter challenges you to take on the world, to find a reason to hope, to smile, to not surrender to the darkness.

I will cover a wide range of topics, including politics, business, sports, arts and entertainment, space and climate issues in addition to the rainbow fare, especially as those topics intersect with LGBTQ+ issues.

As a white woman who’s aware of her privilege, I’ll do my best to hand-off the mic to our Black, brown and AAPI communities whenever possible and shine the spotlight their way. This is not a vanity project, but it is also not an activist site. Reluctantly, I’m learning that these days, just being trans forces us to be activists for our very existence, but, by and large, you’ll see I am an advocate as opposed to an activist, especially when it comes to LGBTQ+ youth.

The difference between an activist and an advocate may be slim, but I’m not budging on this one. Not yet, anyway.

Posts will be short, for the most part, a few minutes or less to consume. If you become a paid subscriber, I will provide you with exclusive content that will not be made available to everyone until and unless it makes news elsewhere, and even then it will remain exclusive to YOU for 24 hours. So, yes: It pays to subscribe! Look, I’m not fooling myself into thinking I’ll earn a fortune doing this… but hey, when you’re counting coins to buy a half-gallon of milk and a loaf of bread, every dollar helps.

So, enough prologue. As promised, here’s a list of the BIG stories I brought you in 2022. I hope you find a few worth perusing, re-reading, even sharing. I’ve broken them down not by date but by outlet.

I wish you and yours a happier, kinder New Year!

THE DAILY BEAST:

FORBES:

Before we begin, let's look back!

"Inspect what you expect," warned a mentor of mine. So here's an overview of stories I've covered in 2022, to give you a sense of what to expect from me in 2023.

WASHINGTON BLADE:

STARTREK.COM:

HUFFINGTON POST:

OPENLY:

GLAAD:

CONNECTICUT VOICE MAGAZINE:

CT VOICE OUTLOUD on WTNH-TV

SENIOR EXECUTIVE: