Launched in 1992[1] as a quarterly, Genre originally billed itself as a magazine with a focus on gay men with primary coverage on entertainment, travel and an occasional acknowledgement of political issues.

As the magazine evolved, increasing to bi-monthly in 1992, and monthly in 1993, under the editorial leadership of a woman editor and songwriter, Judy Wieder, it focused more on LGBT entertainment and less on male politics.

Facing increasing competition from Out, Details and The Advocate for advertiser dollars in 2000, publisher Richard Settles changed editorial and art direction to become more of an urban magazine with a focus on New York's" post gay movement fostered by an aging Generation X and former club kids, as well as those who outgrew the popular circuit party lifestyle of the 1990s.

As such the publication began winning over mainstream companies such as Ford Motors, thereby proving that the LGBT demographic was a viable consumer market of society, dispelling notions of risk by association.

This redesign resulted in significant circulation and advertising growth, prompting the first successful sale of a national gay publication in the United States.