OutSmart magazine’s Editor and Publisher Greg Jeu (Photos by Frank Xavier)
This year’s Out for Good Gala, a benefit for the Montrose Center and Houston’s premier fundraiser for the LGBTQ community, has special meaning for Outsmart magazine and its editor and publisher, Greg Jeu.
“I enjoy asking people about their life, but I don’t really like talking about mine,” says Jeu, who is scheduled to be honored on October 5 at the 11th Annual Out for Good Gala as recipient of the 2024 LGBTQ Community Vision Award.
Despite his reluctance to step into the spotlight to receive this honor, Jeu appreciates the significance of the moment. “It’s hard to turn down an opportunity to be in front of people and give a big thank-you to everyone who has made this happen,” he says. “But it’s not me. My job is to create a space for it to happen, and all the other people come in and do their work—our journalists, proofreaders, editors, designers, the people who deliver our magazines, and the businesses that allow us to put the magazines in their establishments.”
This crucial media outlet, which has served and uplifted Houston’s LGBTQ community for over 30 years, was birthed out of a pair of hardships experienced by Jeu. In the 1980s, he was publishing a local health and spirituality magazine, and on the back cover of one issue, Jeu and about 14 of his friends—including former mayor Annise Parker—appeared in an ad that promoted LGBTQ visibility. It asked if viewers could identify who was gay or lesbian just by looking at the photo.
“Immediately, we got pulled from the library system,” recalls Jeu. “They said it was just a new policy, and that they weren’t going to have any more magazines.”
Despite the convenient excuse offered, Jeu thinks the ad was seen as being too controversial. “We had to go to each library within the system individually and reestablish ourselves,” he says of getting the magazine back into the libraries. “And it wasn’t a gay publication. It was just covering health, yoga, and all that.” This experience planted a seed within Jeu that would blossom in the aftermath of another hardship.
On September 9, 1992, Joey D. Cundiff, Jeu’s partner of a decade, died of complications caused by AIDS. Without a will or any other form of legal protections, Jeu lost access to the home he was sharing with his partner.
“I was really devastated by all of that,” Jeu admits. “There’s that quote that says you make braver decisions when you think you’ve lost it all, and it really is true. You will do things that you never thought you would do, especially if you felt like you might have been wronged.”
With a group of friends, Jeu went to the 1993 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation. “We just came back inspired to do something different,” says Jeu. And that was the inspiration for OutSmart magazine.
“Creating a magazine that showed what our community was really made of was a chance to portray the diverse faces of LGBTQIA+ Houston.” — Greg Jeu
“Most of the LGBTQ magazines that were around during that time were more sexually oriented. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. It just didn’t really portray everybody who was in the community,” Jeu emphasizes. “We decided to create a magazine that didn’t have all those same elements, just to show what the community was really made of. There’s all kinds of different people out there.”
Conceived, curated, written, and edited by members and supporters of the LGBTQ community, OutSmart has been guided by its mission of educating and inspiring the community, advancing our voices and interests, and connecting readers to valuable services and resources.
“People told us what they wanted. They wanted things about politics. They wanted things about health, including mental-health conditions,” Jeu explains. “We had a lot of columnists in the early days, and they offered advice for people on how to keep relationships going and how to overcome the internalized homophobia that we all had. Society had caused us to be a certain way. So if you could get people to be healthier, the whole community becomes healthier. Then we wouldn’t turn on each other like we see happening sometimes in different groups.”
Jeu’s tireless efforts have created a resource that is focused on enriching the overall well-being of Houston’s LGBTQ community, which is why the Montrose Center has selected him for this distinctive honor.
“The Community Vision Award is a longstanding award that we’ve given out throughout the history of this event to someone in our community whose vision, work, and service has truly impacted our community,” states Meleah Jones, the Montrose Center’s development director. “We could think of no one better than Greg. Through all his work with OutSmart magazine—capturing our stories and celebrating our community, even when that wasn’t accepted—Greg has been truly remarkable.”
Co-chairs (l-r) Corey S. Scranton, Kathy Anderson, and Harper Watters, with this year’s honorees Greg Jeu and Ian L. Haddock
Additionally, the Center will introduce a new award this year to recognize someone who has made a huge impact on the well-being of Houston’s LGBTQ community. The inaugural recipient will be Ian L. Haddock of The Normal Anomaly Initiative, who is also an OutSmart contributing writer.
“Both Greg and Ian have substantially increased the visibility of our community and have used their respective platforms to champion issues that are critically important to LGBTQIA+ Houston,” said Avery Belyeu, chief executive officer of the Montrose Center. “We are proud and excited to bring the community together in celebration of their accomplishments.”
The Out for Good Gala began in 2014, and for the first time in its 11-year history will be changing downtown venues from the Ballroom at Bayou Place to the Marriott Marquis Houston. Over the years, the honor Jeu will receive has been bestowed on such luminaries as Ann J. Robison, who grew the Montrose Center from a small, scrappy organization to a community cornerstone; Latina activist Linda Morales; legendary local drag queen Dina Jacobs; community photographer and archivist Dalton DeHart; Judge Phyllis Frye, the first openly transgender appointed judge in the nation; and former mayor Annise Parker, among others.
As a major outlet for stories that are often overlooked by the mainstream media, many pages within OutSmart have been dedicated to these former Out for Good honorees. Jeu is also excited about the opportunity to shine a light on the OutSmart Foundation for LGBTQ News and Media, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit arm of OutSmart that funds local journalism and drives progress. His efforts to solidify the magazine’s sustainability run in tandem with his support of the foundation’s mission.
“We’ve just had some brainstorming sessions on developing memberships and creating opportunities for businesses to support our mission,” says Jeu, expressing confidence in the Montrose Center’s understanding and support of the OutSmart Foundation. “I believe they grasp how crucial it is to be funded through a nonprofit. I remember Ann Robison talking about those early days at the Montrose Center when they set up as a nonprofit to serve the community but struggled to meet payroll. They were even retrieving cash from the Coke machine to pay bills! Many publications have faced challenges similar to OutSmart’s. Donations from individuals and businesses will significantly help us secure consistent, reliable funding.
“A 5 or 10 dollar donation each month from a cadre of supporting contributors would go a long way to creating a predictable and sustainable amount of revenue to make this work. We wouldn’t need to rely on miracles to happen so often,” he says. “Once people understand, they will fuel the outlet’s mission-driven work of ensuring visibility for our community and supporting the storytelling that has and continues to change people’s lives, change the way people see us, and have a profound impact on politics.”
To celebrate with Jeu, Haddock, and OutSmart magazine, you can purchase tickets to the Out For Good Gala at montrosecenter.org/event/out-for-good-2024. Additionally, the Montrose Center will need many volunteers to pull off this year’s event. If you can’t afford to purchase a ticket, there are numerous volunteer opportunities that will allow you to attend.
What: Out For Good GalaWhen: October 5, 2024 Where: Marriott Marquis HoustonInfo: montrosecenter.org/event/out-for-good-2024/
