HomoQuotable – Karen Magee

“This is deeply disappointing and concerning to me and the rest of the management team.” – PlanetOut CEO Karen Magee, announcing that the company, owner of Out, Advocate, and Gay.com, will be out of money by the end of the year without an infusion of cash.

PlanetOut reported a first quarter loss of nearly $7M on Friday, sending its stock tumbling to an all-time low of $1.64. Shares in PlanetOut trade under the ticker name “LGBT.” The company has to come up with $15M to meet the terms of an existing loan or face the foreclosure of its assets. Magee blames RSVP, the company’s travel agency, for many of the company’s woes. RSVP Cruises has faced decreasing occupancy, forcing penalties paid to cruise lines.

Like many of you, my personal gay activism was shaped in a large part by the Advocate, the nation’s longest running gay publication. I was reading it when it still on newsprint. The loss of PlanetOut would be a real blow to the community, let’s hope they can pull it out of this tailspin.