[2][3] The Blade is often referred to as America's gay newspaper of record because it chronicled LGBT news locally, nationally, and internationally.

In 2001, the Blade was purchased by Window Media LLC,[2] a group of gay-oriented newspapers circulated throughout the United States[8] with a staff composed of professional journalists, becoming a leading source of news for the readers both in Washington and around the nation.

[11] In November 2009, the Blade and several related publications, including the Southern Voice, were shut down after Window Media announced it was closing business.

The ownership group of the Agenda consisted of many former staff members of the Blade, who purchased the trademark and paper archives out of bankruptcy court.

Starting in October 1980, the name of the publication changed to The Washington Blade and the corporation re-incorporated as a for-profit, employee-owned business.

[20] The Blade started publishing weekly in January 1983 and coverage shifted to the AIDS crisis and news about this newly emerging disease.

[11] Some authors implemented the use of humor in addressing potentially sensitive subjects, such as N. Leigh Dunlap in her long-running comic strip Morgan Calabrese.

[21] On May 25, 2001, the print edition announced the sale of the Washington Blade to Window Media, LLC, a group of gay publications.

The Guild and the staff of the Blade brought a complaint to the National Labor Relations Board and deliberated for a few weeks over this issue resulting in a ten to eight vote against unionization on July 20, 2001.

This service collected news stories of interest to the LGBT community from a variety of local, state, regional, national, and selected international media sources.

[23][24] On November 16, 2009, the paper was abruptly shut down because of the financial status of its parent company, Window Media, and its majority shareholder, Avalon Equity Partners.

[25][26] Employees at the Blade were aware of Window Media's financial troubles, but the timing and total closure of the publication came as a shock to the entire staff.

"[13] Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton said the Blade had been a "weekly must-read", and pledged support for a new publication to serve Washington's LGBT community.

Called DC Agenda, no relation to the non-profit organization of the same name, the new venture released the same week as the closing of the Blade.

We will launch a new publication that will bring you what we have always worked to deliver - gay news and information that is critical to our Metro DC LGBTQ Community.

[32] Reporter Christopher Kane sat down with President Joe Biden in the Oval Office and discussed a wide range of topics.

[36] In 2007, the paper won four Dateline Awards for Excellence in Local Journalism from the Society of Professional Journalists Washington, D.C., Pro Chapter.

This led to the creation of the short-lived publication Blacklight, the city's first African-American gay monthly periodical in August 1979, which attempted to compete with the Blade.

This policy of 'outing' individuals surfaced in 1996 during the debate over the Defense of Marriage Act, when the Blade and The Advocate were going to out Congressmen Jim Kolbe and Mark Foley.

"[41] When asked why identifying and outing of individuals by publications like the Blade, staff writer Greg Marzullo wrote "Why do [we] insist on mentioning someone's sexual orientation at all?

"[42] As reported in the Washington Post, former editor Chris Crain summarized the Blade's editorial reasoning for the 'outings' by stating that "It is 2004, not 1954, and sexual orientation in and of itself is no longer a 'private fact' beyond the pale of inquiry."

The Blade, he wrote, "would investigate and report about whether influential Hill aides are gay if facts about their sexual orientation raise highly newsworthy questions of hypocrisy in the stands taken by anti-gay members of Congress for whom they work.