Looking back on the triumphs and travails of 20 years, we swell with pride.

During two decades, the Gay & Lesbian Times has become a part of our community’s fabric.

While the community has grown and progressed, we’ve grown alongside it. We’ve faced our own set of challenges, and times when venturing outside our office doors meant facing hostile and angry readers.

Though we’ve agreed to disagree on some items, we’ve maintained a stalwart commitment to service. As we celebrate and reflect, we’ve taken time to hear from our readers.

In January, we hosted a series of focus groups. Though we didn’t draw the number of participants we’d hoped, our groups reflected the community’s diverse interests. It was a joy (and often humbling) to have readers share their thoughts. We were truly amazed by our readers’ investment in the publication.

Consequently, we evaluated our content and have made changes and additions to make the magazine more readable, and a better resource for readers.

We’ve made noticeable and not so noticeable changes. We’ve redesigned our sections to allow more white space, we’ve increased the font size and avoided using black backgrounds with white text, so stories and sidebars are more readable.

Among the items you may not see, we’ve become increasingly “green” in production.

Our four-color ink is environmentally-friendly soy ink, and news print for the magazine is 40 percent post-consumer waste recycled paper.

As part of our face lift, we’ve also added content, including new resource guides and new weekly sections.

In our health and wellness section, readers will find a comprehensive resource guide for sports and outdoor activities groups. Our readers are active, and seek ways to stay fit, build community and test their limits. This is a guide to get new readers plugged in to community organizations, and reacquaint longtime readers with their favorite pastimes.

In arts and entertainment, we’ve added film capsules and movie times. Readers can pick up the magazine on Thursdays or log on to www.gaylesbiantimes.com to browse movie listings, and find show times at local theaters.

In dining, readers will find a new column, Dining In. Each week, our columnist Kirk Pfeiffer will share recipes and kitchen tips meant to make cooking at home more enjoyable.

As we continue to celebrate 20 years of publishing, we’ll introduce more new content aimed at making the GLT relevant to more readers.

We’ll also launch our overhauled Web site, which will be more user-friendly, and, in time, will accommodate exclusive content, making the GLT more competitive with other online news sites.

The Gay & Lesbian Times is proud to be the paper of record for San Diego and Southern California’s growing GLBT community.

For more than 20 years, our readers have relied on us to inform and entertain; to hold individuals and organizations accountable (though it may not always be convenient or expedient); to present balanced and accurate news; to print passionate and heartfelt editorials; and to continue a tradition of excellence that you, our readers, have come to expect.

As always, we invite readers to write letters to the editor to tell us what you think about the GLT.

Publisher Michael Portantino and our sales, production and editorial staffs are grateful to our clients, our loyal readers and the community we serve – here’s to 20 more years.