A sad day for the LGBT online community. Pam Spaulding, a veteran activist, prolific blogger, and friend of Towleroad is closing her long-running site Pam's House Blend, she writes in a post today:

All good things must come to an end, even after numerous awards and accolades, it's time to acknowledge that I cannot continue to run on fumes alone. The Blend could continue limping along, but my health and well-being come first; over the last few years burning the candle at both ends with a full-time offline job and PHB. It has taken a severe toll — most readers have learned that I am dealing with chronic pain conditions — fibromylagia, and in the last couple of years, aggressive rheumatoid arthritis.

My decision to close the blog is just as reality-based as its content has been. If I cannot produce material at the frequency or with the same level of quality, enthusiasm and effectiveness, it's really time to close the doors to this coffeehouse — and work to ensure it continues to have a life as an archive, a snapshot in our digital political history. Pamshouseblend.com will redirect to archives…

…By the way, I'm not disappearing into complete obscurity (though that would be OK as well), I'll continue to be active on social media and make time to mentor folks as I can. It's just time for someone else to pick up the ball and run with the daily activist grind, and forge new ground in an ever-shifting new media.

Pam's unique perspective ("I brought the perspective of a black lesbian living in the South to the dialogue" – and much more, I might add) will be missed, deeply, by myself and many, many others. Everyone at Towleroad sends our best wishes.