06/04/2026
After nearly nine years, it felt like time for a refresh.
You may remember that earlier this year, I placed OutCoast on a temporary pause. After spending eight years building the platform, securing corporate partnerships, and growing into a national LGBTQ+ travel publication, we lost most of the funding that helped sustain our work. Like many independent media outlets, we relied heavily on corporate support. Moving forward, OutCoast will depend more on the community that has followed, shared, supported, and believed in this mission from the beginning.
As we enter Pride Month, it felt like the right time not only to bring OutCoast back into focus, but also to introduce a refreshed logo.
One of the most significant changes is the orientation of the triangle.
The downward-facing triangle carries a painful history. During the Holocaust, N**i concentration camps used the inverted triangle to identify, dehumanize, and target gay men for harsher treatment. For some, it remains an important memorial symbol honoring those who suffered and died.
The upward-facing triangle tells a different story.
During the HIV/AIDS crisis, activists with ACT UP and the creators of the Silence = Death campaign intentionally inverted the triangle, transforming a symbol of persecution into one of action, visibility, resistance, and collective power. Rather than representing victimization, it became a call to stand up, speak out, and fight back.
Today, the upward triangle is widely recognized as a symbol of LGBTQ+ pride, resilience, and progress.
The logo change also reflects where OutCoast is headed. While our roots are firmly planted in LGBTQ+ travel, our work has expanded over the years to explore wellness, accessibility, neurodiversity, size inclusion, aging, and the many ways people experience travel differently. We believe everyone deserves to feel seen when they travel, especially those who have often felt overlooked.
At the same time, let's be clear: expanding the conversation does not mean abandoning our foundation.
OutCoast was founded as an LGBTQ+ travel platform. We are proud of that history, and we will not shy away from who we are. LGBTQ+ travelers remain at the heart of our story and our mission. The difference is that we now recognize that inclusion is bigger than any one identity and that many travelers navigate the world through multiple lenses at once.
For nine years, OutCoast has worked to tell our stories, support destinations and businesses that embrace diversity, and remind people that they belong.
The new triangle points upward because we are still here. Still traveling. Still telling stories. Still creating visibility. Still moving forward.
And as we begin this next chapter, we hope you'll continue the journey with us.
🏳️🌈
Rachel Covello
Founder, OutCoast
