''DIVA'' is a European magazine targeted towards

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

and

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

women. The magazine contains features on lifestyle issues affecting young lesbian and bisexual women and allies as well as political developments in the lesbian scene. It also contains articles on travel, music and the latest cinema releases in the sector. The current publisher is

Linda Riley Linda Riley is a British journalist, publisher and LGBTIQ+ rights advocate. She owns the Jack the Ripper Museum and is the publisher of ''Diva'' magazine and founder of the Lesbian Visibility Week. Career Riley was joint publisher of the magazi ...

History

The monthly magazine was first launched in March 1994 by Millivres Ltd, under the editorship of Frances Williams.

became publisher of the magazine in 2016. In September 2021 ''DIVA'' announced a new editor, Roxy Bourdillon, who has been with the magazine since 2015. Bourdillon has recruited a dynamic and diverse team to help DIVA truly represent the community it reflects. DIVA features articles by and for lesbians and bisexual women on a range of subjects, from celebrity interviews and in-depth news features, travel pieces and arts reviews. Celebrities including

Ellen DeGeneres Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American former comedian, actress, television host, writer, and producer. She began her career in stand-up comedy in the early 1980s, gaining national attention with a 1986 appearance on '' ...

Keira Knightley Keira Christina Knightley ( ; born 26 March 1985) is an English actress. Known for her work in independent films and Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters, particularly Historical drama, period dramas, she has received List of awards and no ...

Samira Wiley Samira Wiley is an American actress. She is best known for her starring role as Poussey Washington in the Netflix comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2019) and as Moira in the Hulu dystopian drama series ''The Handmaid's Tal ...

and

Sarah Paulson Sarah Catharine Paulson (born December 17, 1974) is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award. In 2017, ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 1 ...

have appeared on the cover. In November 2008, ''DIVA'' commemorated its 150th issue with "The Souvenir Issue" which included the cover pages of every issue that had been published in the magazine's history. As well as a monthly print magazine (also available to subscribe in digital format) the ''DIVA'' brand now includes PodDIVA, DIVA Community on Facebook, DIVA Community on Clubhouse, the DIVA Awards and the Visible Lesbian 100 published in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. DIVA has also previously sponsored the

Pride in London Pride in London is an annual LGBT pride festival and pride parade held each summer in London, England. The event, which was formerly run by Pride London, is sometimes referred to as London Pride. Pride in London celebrates the diversity of the ...

Women's Stage in

Leicester Square Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised town square, square in the West End of London, England, and is the centre of London's entertainment district. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leice ...

. In 2020, ''DIVA'' launched the first ever ''DIVA''

Pride Pride is a human Emotion, secondary emotion characterized by a sense of satisfaction with one's Identity (philosophy), identity, performance, or accomplishments. It is often considered the opposite of shame or of humility and, depending on conte ...

, an online event in light of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The magazine suspended publishing for several months during lockdown, returning to print in November 2020. ''DIVA'' is no longer stocked in shops and currently only available via mail order or subscription.

The DIVA Awards

The annual DIVA Awards acknowledge and recognise individuals, charities and brands that support LGBTQI women. The awards celebrate the achievements of LGBTQI women and non-binary people – and their allies – across business, the media, politics and sport. Previous winners include

Lauren Jauregui Lauren Michelle Jauregui Morgado (; born June 27, 1996) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence as a member of the girl group Fifth Harmony, which became one of the List of best-selling girl groups, best-selling girl groups ...

Sandi Toksvig Sandra Birgitte Toksvig (; ; born 3 May 1958) is a Danish-British broadcaster, comedian, presenter and writer on British radio, stage and television. She is also a political activist, having co-founded the Women's Equality Party in 2015. She ha ...

and

Michelle Hardwick Michelle Hardwick (also known as Michelle Brooks, born 26 February 1976) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as hospital receptionist Lizzie Hopkirk in the ITV drama series ''The Royal'' and Vanessa Woodfield in the ITV soap oper ...

, as well as brands such as

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

and

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

Lesbian Visibility Week

In 2020 DIVA introduced the inaugural

Lesbian Visibility Week Lesbian Visibility Week (related to Lesbian Visibility Day) is an annual observance in the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries dedicated to increasing the awareness of lesbian women and their issues. It was originally celebrate ...

to celebrate and support lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer women across the UK and beyond to be their true selves, at home and socially. Research showed that lesbians are almost twice as unlikely to be out in the workplace as gay male colleagues and found that LGBTQI women feel that they are misunderstood and under supported.

Rainbow Honours

Rainbow Honours were launched to "shine a light on those unsung heroes and sheroes: those who strive to make the workplace a better place for LGBTQ employees and those who give up their spare time to volunteer" The first ceremony took place at

Madame Tussauds Madame Tussauds (, ) is a wax museum founded in London in 1835 by the French wax sculptor Marie Tussaud. One of the early main attractions was the Chamber of Horrors, which appeared in advertising in 1843. In 1883, the restricted space of ...

, and was hosted by drag queen

Courtney Act Shane Gilberto Jenek (born 18 February 1982), better known under the stage name Courtney Act, is an Australian drag queen, singer and television personality. Courtney first came to prominence competing on the first season of ''Australian Idol' ...

and

Duncan James Duncan Matthew James Inglis (born 7 April 1978) is an English singer, actor and television presenter. He became widely known in 2001 as a member of the boy band Blue and later for playing Ryan Knight in the British soap opera ''Hollyoaks''. E ...

. Winners at the ceremony included: presenter

Sue Perkins Susan Elizabeth Perkins (born 22 September 1969) is an English actress, broadcaster, comedian, presenter and writer. Originally coming to prominence through her comedy partnership with Mel Giedroyc in ''Mel and Sue'', she progressed into radio a ...

; Mayor of London

Sadiq Khan Sir Sadiq Aman Khan (, ; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting (UK Parliament constituency), Tooting ...

; and activist

Sue Sanders Sue Louise Sanders is Emeritus Professor Harvey Milk Institute 2015 (born in 1947 in London). She is an "out and proud" lesbian, a British LGBT rights activist who has specialized in challenging oppression in the public and voluntary sectors ...

, who was presented with the Lifetime Achievement.

DIVA Box Office

On 26 April 2019 DIVA magazine together with ''Lesbian Box Office'' launched Europe's first lesbian TV channel. Shows on the channel include: * ''Heather Peace at the Bedford'' (hosted by

Heather Peace Heather Mary Peace (born 16 June 1975) is an English actress, singer and LGBT rights activist. She is known for her roles as Eve Unwin in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' and Nikki Boston in the BBC school-based drama series '' Waterloo Road' ...

) * ''DIVA Box Office Exclusive with...'' (initial interviewee

Suranne Jones Sarah Ann Akers (née Jones; born 27 August 1978), known professionally as Suranne Jones, is an English actress and producer. Known for her numerous collaborations with screenwriter Sally Wainwright, she rose to prominence playing Karen McDonal ...

) * ''Power Lesbians'' (presented by

Rebecca Loos Rebecca Loos (born 19 June 1977) is a Dutch former glamour model and media personality. She first came to public attention following her claims that she had conducted an affair with the married footballer David Beckham, while she was employed as ...

) * ''Different for Girls''

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
1994 establishments in the United Kingdom Lesbian culture in England Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Lesbian-related magazines Magazines published in London Magazines established in 1994 LGBTQ-related magazines published in the United Kingdom