At Out100, Eugene Daniels asked the people making history to support the people covering it

Eugene Daniels had a room full of LGBTQ+ luminaries in front of him and a straightforward suggestion for anyone with money to spare.

“So some of y’all got some money, open your pockets,” he said.

The out MS NOW host came to Thursday night’s Out100 gala in Los Angeles with more than congratulations for his fellow honorees. He brought an appeal for The Advocate Journalism Project, a new nonprofit fundraising initiative intended to help the publication keep reporting queer history as it happens and safeguard nearly 60 years of it already in print.

At an evening devoted to celebrating LGBTQ+ achievement, Daniels was asking the crowd to help support the people who write it down.

The Out100 presented by Lexus, at Sunset Room & Laya, brought together honorees, entertainers and allies for a celebration that included actors Andrew Scott and Lisa Kudrow, and tributes to Dolly Parton.

The initiative seeks donations from individuals, foundations and companies to expand its journalism, train future reporters and preserve the magazine and its archive. The publication turns 60 next year.

Related: The Advocate has told LGBTQ+ stories since 1967. Help us keep telling them

From admiring a journalist to sharing his desk

Daniels knows the work on both sides of the transition from byline to television screen. Before becoming MS NOW’s senior Washington reporter and one of two out gay co-anchors of The Weekend, he worked in print and digital journalism at Politico, serving as its chief Playbook correspondent and a White House correspondent.

As president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, he also defended press independence amid battles over access to the president. He was recognized for that work in being named among this year’s Out100 storytellers.

He also co-hosts Clock It with Symone Sanders Townsend, a podcast that explores the collisions between politics and popular culture with the familiarity of a lively group chat.

That mix of reporting, television and podcasting was once something Daniels admired in another journalist. Now they share a desk.

Related: Jonathan Capehart on being seen, coming out, and ‘chosen family’ with Michelle Obama

His The Weekend co-host Jonathan Capehart was also among the Out100 honorees celebrated Thursday, marking Capehart’s third appearance on the list. Capehart spent 18 years as a Washington Post opinion writer and shared a Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing at the New York Daily News.

When their fellow co-host Jackie Alemany congratulated them on air after the list was announced, Daniels explained what sharing the recognition with Capehart meant to him. When a former boss asked what he wanted to do with his career, he recalled pointing to Capehart as someone who wrote, hosted a podcast, and appeared on television.

“I’ve always looked up to you,” Daniels told him. “So just getting to be around you and learn from you all the time is just so great.”

Capehart’s response brought the conversation back to how much had changed in the profession.

“When I was coming up in this business 30 years ago, there was never ever a thought that there would be you,” he said.

For Capehart, hosting the show together, as their full selves, was part of what the recognition celebrated.

“And the Out 100 just highlights that,” he said.

Related: MS NOW viewers keep asking Eugene Daniels, ‘Are we going to be okay?’ He’s taking that seriously & listening

The next chapter needs reporters

At the gala, Daniels turned that celebration of queer journalists into an appeal to support queer journalism.

Mark Berryhill, CEO of equalpride, Out andThe Advocate’s parent company, has described the project as an investment in information that helps people navigate their lives.

“Queer-focused print and digital journalism serves as a vital tool for community safety,” Berryhill said in the announcement. He pointed to the newsroom’s work connecting marginalized voices, challenging harmful narratives, and reporting stories that might otherwise go untold.

“We hold the powerful accountable,” he said.

The project’s priorities put that mission into practical terms. Support will fund journalists and investigations, expand on-the-ground coverage from Washington, D.C., produce documentaries and other multimedia work, and create fellowships and internships. Keeping online reporting free of a paywall and protecting the print archive are also part of the plan. The project is fiscally sponsored by the nonprofit Independent Arts & Media.

Daniels also defended the printed page.

“Yes, print is still important,” he said.

Related: HRC honors Jonathan Capehart, Ina Fried, and Nico Lang for LGBTQ+ journalism that breaks through the noise

He recalled readers slipping into bookstores to find queer magazines before the internet made those connections easier. A magazine could deliver the news. It could also introduce someone to a world they had not yet found the courage to enter.

The Advocate emerged from organizing after the police raid on Los Angeles’ Black Cat Tavern during New Year’s celebrations in 1967. That September, the gay rights organization Personal Rights in Defense and Education, known as PRIDE, published the newsletter that became the magazine. Its pages went on to document the AIDS crisis, marriage equality and generations of LGBTQ+ cultural and political life.

During the gala, Scott reminded everyone how much emotion a newsstand could hold. Accepting Out’s Icon of the Year Award, the actor remembered being afraid even to glance at a magazine cover while growing up in Dublin, Ireland. On Thursday, he was the cover star being celebrated, with Kudrow there to introduce him.

Related: MSNBC fires back at disinformation — and makes history — with fearless new show

A little Dolly optimism

The evening’s tributes to Dolly Parton brought the feeling of being welcomed exactly as you are.

Lily Tomlin, Parton’s longtime friend and 9 to 5 costar, recalled an ally who saw no conflict between her upbringing and her embrace of LGBTQ+ people.

“You can be a Christian girl from Tennessee who loves transgender people,” Tomlin said.

Stella Parton accepted The Advocate’s 2026 Advocate of the Year award on behalf of her late sister. She spoke about missing their frequent conversations and the optimism Dolly brought to them, then gave the audience something to do with that memory.

“If you want to think about her, always stay optimistic and hopeful because that was one of her greatest gifts,” Stella Parton said.

Daniels had offered his own assignment for the evening, asking attendees to help make sure the stories keep coming. The approaching anniversary, he said, was an opportunity to ensure The Advocate would be here “for at least another 60 years.”

Readers can learn more or contribute at advocate.com/donate.