It's a big day for veteran reporter Randy Lovely. The openly homo-journo has accepted the top slot at Gannett's Arizona Republic, which he joined back in 2002. Lovely can now call himself the top gay editor in all the land - well, in the United States, at least. From Editor & Publisher:

Lovely, 43, is a 16-year Gannett employee and is a Native American.

He said he first learned of the promotion on Thursday. "The great thing is continuity," he said of his appointment from within the Republic. "I have been here for six years. I won’t start overnight trying to fix things."

The move makes Lovely the only openly gay top editor of a major U.S. newspaper. He has been a member of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association since 1999.

Lovely says he has never hidden his sexual preference, but is not among the most outspoken gay rights activists. "There are many others who are much more involved. I support them, but I am not on the leadership," he says of his NLGJA membership. "I have not had to be anything other than what I am. I can't be the one to tell anyone they have to be out. But it is not something I am afraid of."

Lovely ain't the first openly gay editor. The late Roy Aarons, who once edited The Oakland Tribune, came out in 1990.