Frank Rich Leaves

Frank Rich, veteran columnist for New York Times, where he has written many pro-gay op-eds, is moving to New York magazine, reports The Wrap.

Rich has been with the venerable newspaper since 1980 and has been its primary op-ed columnist since 1994. Rich has often written about LGBT issues, including a recent op-ed condemning the National Portrait Gallery's decision to censor a controversial David Wojnarowicz video. Rich will join New York magazine as essayist and editor at large, writing monthly about politics and culture, in June.

Rich released the following statement about his decision:

"There is no greater newspaper than the Times. I leave the paper with deep affection for both the institution and my many brilliant colleagues, and with much gratitude for the opportunity the paper gave me to serve in two dream jobs in journalism. After seventeen years in my second career there, as a columnist, I feel much as I did after nearly fourteen years in my first, as chief drama critic -- both the satisfaction that I've given a great job all I had and a serious hunger to move on to fresh and expanded writing challenges after having done the same assignment for so long. I've spent much of the past year talking to friends inside and outside the Times about what might be most exciting for me next. It was impossible to top the idea of reuniting with my friend Adam Moss, who has played a crucial role in my writing life since the late 1980s and who, as editor of the Times magazine, was instrumental in my transition from arts criticism to broader essay writing. The role Adam has created for me at his revitalized New York magazine will allow me to write with more reflection, variety, and space than is possible within the confines of a weekly newspaper column -- and, for that matter, will allow me to stretch the definition of a magazine column."