SAN DIEGO: Publisher Of Defunct LGBT Newspaper Dead Of Apparent Suicide

The body of Michael Portantino, the publisher of San Diego's recently defunct Gay & Lesbian Times, has been found outside a local gay hotel. The San Diego County coroner is calling it an apparent suicide.

The decedent was a 52 year old single White male who resided in a home in San Diego. On 12/08/10, he apparently jumped from a building and landed on the cement walkway before his body was discovered by passersby. 9-1-1 was called and medics arrived and confirmed the death without intervention due to the obvious signs of trauma. The examination is being conducted today 12/09/10.

The hotel has only six floors. Prior to his paper's closure, Portantino's competitors had publicly accused the title of inflating its circulation numbers to advertisers.

UPDATE: San Diego's "ex-gay" loon and multiple felon James Hartline is celebrating Portantino's death on Twitter and has posted the below 2008 clip of a group of Hartline-led Christianists protesting a proposed declaration of Gay & Lesbian Times Day by the San Diego city council.


(Via - Rex Wockner)