While working as the managing editor of the Lincoln City News-Guard, Gail Kimberling learned first-hand how discrimination against the LGBTQ community can affect all Oregonians.  After the paper placed coverage of a Coastal Aids Network event for LGBTQ families on its front page, she received a number of complaints from community members and the newspaper ownership.  Still, this "was just a drop in a bucket compared to what these couples go through in their everyday life," Gail says.

Now the managing editor of the Newport News-Times, Gail helps the fight for LGBTQ equality in both her professional and personal lives. "With my position I am able to educate the public," she says. "I don't want to force my opinions down people's throats but hopefully open their eyes." For Gail, this education includes covering LGBTQ events and writing supportive editorials.

Even in a community which Gail admits is "not one hundred percent open" to LGBTQ people, she says that the majority of her readers appreciate the News-Times coverage of the LGBTQ community and the fight for equality.  "People appreciate our sense of openness and our push for nondiscrimination," she says.  Gail has also remained involved with the Coastal Aids Network, the organization which first piqued her interest in LGBTQ equality. 

While Gail has been heartened by the progress made in the fight for equality since she first became involved years ago, she believes Oregon still has a ways to go.  She believes, for example, the state should recognize same-sex relationships. "As someone who has been married for a long time, I know how having the right partner can really complete your life.  Gay couples need to have that right too."