KaleidoScot is one year old

It doesn’t seem long ago at all since KaleidoScot was launched during the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

And what a year it’s been. From considering the pro-diversity messages of the Games and covering the historic Independence Referendum to taking a look at the complexities behind the recent “ban” on Drag artists proposed by Free Pride , KaleidoScot has been on hand to provide an authentically Scottish – and hopefully fair-minded – view of the news.

It’s been a challenging first year, but it has been one in which we have become established as a leading voice for Scotland’s LGBTI communities. Rather than simply reporting the news, our approach has been to empower people – individuals, organisations and communities – to make their own voices heard. Particular highlights of an incredible first year include developing positive relationships with charities such as HIV Scotland, developing a partnership with Highlands and Islands LGBTI magazine Undividing Lines, working closely with the many advocates for inclusion among Scotland’s faith communities, and interviewing a number of government ministers and parliamentarians on a range of LGBTI issues – Marco Biagi’s personal story being particularly striking in its honesty.

KaleidoScot is, of course, a work in progress. We’ve achieved a great deal in our first year – averaging 81,000 readers per month is in itself an accomplishment – but there’s more we hope to do, especially in making the website more interactive and realize our vision of becoming a real digital “home” for Scotland’s LGBTI people. There are plenty of challenges ahead, but we can look back at a year in which we have established ourselves and developed our particular brand of reporting.

None of this would have been possible without the incredible efforts of our contributors and editor. We have a talented and deeply committed team, dedicated to KaleidoScot’s ethos of inclusivity and empowerment – and determined that we become Scotland’s leading LGBTI online publication. We’re an amazingly diverse team, including gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, non-binary people from all walks of life, from various faiths and nationalities.

It’s always good to be recognised, and we were proud to recently be nominated for the Media Outlet of the Year Award in the Equality Network’s inaugural LGBTI awards. It is of course both gratifying and humbling to have been nominated, but our primary concern is always to provide up-to-date, focused and responsible reporting in a sensitive and understanding fashion. It has been equally, if not more, satisfying to receive comments from readers congratulating us on our thoughtful contributions to complex issues, our lack of political bias or our willingness to bring historical personalities to life with new insights. Thank you, readers!

The engagement of our audience has been vital to our success and we count ourselves fortunate to have so many readers who have provided constructive feedback, expressed their ideas, given encouragement and sometimes even contributed an article or two. I’ve referred to a few highlights of our first year, but the ultimate one has to be so many people reading KaleidoScot who understand what we’re aiming to do and, in one way or another, opting to come on board and help take us forward.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our first year as much as we have – and hope you’ll stay with us on our journey.