In the 2010s, some large media companies like HuffPost, BuzzFeed News, and NBC News had created media verticals targeted at LGBTQ audiences.
Grindr launched
Into in 2017, and
Them was announced soon after.
Them began when
Phillip Picardi, then the director of
Teen Vogue, proposed to
Anna Wintour, Condé Nast's artistic director, that the company create an online, LGBTQ-focused media platform. It was Condé Nast's first new platform since 2007, and came at a time that the company was revamping many of its digital media offerings. Founding editors included
Meredith Talusan,
Tyler Ford, and James Clarizio, and launch partners included
Burberry, Google,
Lyft, and
GLAAD. Upon the website's launch, there was some controversy over its naming, which some considered to be "
othering". The name is derived from the
singular them pronoun, emphasizing a
gender neutral approach including in its fashion coverage. On the day of
Them's launch,
Seventeen announced their own LGBTQ-focused programming under the
Here brand, hoping to create a similar media brand targeted at a teenage audience. Gender-neutral magazines like
Them were cited in 2019 as challengers to the traditional media's model of gendered magazines, which had become less successful over time.
Them and
Into signaled themselves as younger, more diverse, and cooler than legacy gay media outlets like
The Advocate and
Out. Another queer magazine editor later criticized
Them's lack of other forms of diversity, saying its staff were "all gorgeous and 20" and it predominantly featured conventionally attractive people. Picardi left
Them and
Condé Nast in the fall of 2018 to begin working as editor-in-chief of
Out magazine. By 2019, all of the founding editors had left as well. That year, Condé Nast shared that "from both an audience and a business standpoint, we've seen consistent growth since launch" in
Them. In 2022,
Them updated their logo and website, adding new portals for LGBTQ+ guides and queer thought leaders.
Them helped release the 2018 documentary series
Trans in America, produced by the
ACLU and Little By Little Films.
Trans in America: Texas Strong won an Emmy for Outstanding Short Documentary in 2019. It centers on the story of a transgender girl and her conservative Christian mother who have to navigate their Houston community after the daughter comes out. In February 2026,
Them was acquired by Equalpride, publisher of
Out Magazine and
The Advocate. == Events ==