Instinct Magazine is one of the longest-running LGBTQ+ media brands in the United States, serving readers since 1997. Originally launched as a print publication, Instinct built its reputation by covering culture, entertainment, health, travel, relationships, and community stories through a gay-forward editorial lens. The print magazine ran through 2015, while Instinct began its digital publishing evolution in 2013, expanding its reach online and continuing to grow as a trusted voice for LGBTQ+ readers.
Today, Instinct Magazine continues that legacy as a digital publication focused on timely news, cultural commentary, entertainment, travel, wellness, and lifestyle coverage for gay men and the broader LGBTQ+ community. Its editorial positioning as a trusted queer news and culture brand is consistent with the internal brand overview, which describes Instinct as a long-running LGBTQIA+ publication focused primarily on gay men while serving the wider queer audience.
Our Editorial Mission
Instinct exists to inform, empower, and celebrate LGBTQ+ lives through journalism and storytelling that is inclusive, relevant, and culturally aware. We cover the stories, personalities, trends, and issues shaping our community, while keeping our editorial voice accessible, thoughtful, and rooted in lived experience.
Our coverage spans:
- LGBTQ+ news and community issues
- Entertainment and celebrity culture
- Travel and destination coverage
- Health, wellness, and relationships
- Lifestyle, identity, and opinion
We aim to create content that reflects queer life in all its complexity, while maintaining a professional, welcoming, and community-centered editorial standard.
A Long-Standing LGBTQ+ Brand
For nearly three decades, Instinct has remained part of the LGBTQ+ media conversation. That longevity matters. In an online environment where trust and authority are increasingly important, Instinct’s history as a 28-year-old brand helps signal editorial credibility, continuity, and a genuine connection to the community it serves.
From its early print years to its current digital presence, Instinct has adapted with the media landscape while staying focused on the same core goal: publishing relevant, engaging, and affirming content for LGBTQ+ readers.
Ownership
Instinct Magazine is a long-running LGBTQ+ media brand serving gay men and the broader LGBTQ+ community through digital editorial coverage. The publication is committed to editorial integrity and to evolving its coverage, audience offerings, and commercial initiatives in ways that align with its mission and readers.
Meet Apollo
As part of its expansion, Instinct Magazine launched Apollo, a sub-brand dedicated to LGBTQ+-friendly product reviews, recommendations, and service journalism.
Apollo was created to bring the same trust, inclusivity, and editorial care associated with Instinct into product-focused coverage. Through Apollo, readers can explore expert-informed recommendations across categories such as travel, grooming, wellness, dating, streaming, sexual wellness, and more. The goal is to help readers make confident decisions using content that is practical, inclusive, and relevant to LGBTQ+ audiences.
Rather than sitting apart from the Instinct brand, Apollo extends Instinct’s mission into a new area of service: thoughtful guidance on the products, platforms, and experiences that shape everyday life.
Our Team
Instinct Magazine works with editors, writers, contributors, and subject-matter experts who understand LGBTQ+ culture and the communities we serve. Our team is committed to producing content that is timely, accurate, inclusive, and genuinely useful.
As Instinct and Apollo continue to grow, we aim to expand our contributor network and bring in more expert voices across editorial, reviews, travel, wellness, and community reporting.
What We Stand For
At Instinct, we believe LGBTQ+ media should do more than publish headlines. It should reflect community, build trust, and help readers navigate the world with better information and greater confidence.
That means:
- covering stories that matter to LGBTQ+ readers
- maintaining a clear and inclusive editorial voice
- creating trustworthy content across both journalism and recommendations
- continuing to evolve while staying true to the brand’s roots
Instinct Magazine remains committed to serving the LGBTQ+ community with content that informs, celebrates, and connects.