About me
Cynthia Laird has been with the award-winning Bay Area Reporter, the country's oldest continuously publishing LGBTQ newspaper, for 30 years. She started at the paper in May 1996 as an assistant editor and became news editor in July 1999. Over that time, she has seen major changes in the LGBTQ media landscape, all while the B.A.R. continues to cover the queer community. The paper is now in its 55th year.
Ms. Laird oversees the news section of the San Francisco-based paper, supervising staff and freelance reporters who cover everything from breaking news to HIV/AIDS developments to politics to feature stories of those in the queer community making a difference. She serves as part of the editorial board of the paper, where she co-writes the weekly editorials urging change or other actions on behalf of the LGBTQ community.
Ms. Laird earned her bachelor's degree in government-journalism from California State University, Sacramento. She lives with her wife, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Victoria Kolakowski, in Oakland, CA, with their cats, Stanley and Pepper.
