''Lavender'' is an American biweekly print and online

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

, part of Lavender Media, Inc., published in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, for the LGBTQ+ community. It is distributed free of charge in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul and in some other cities throughout

and western

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

History

Founded in 1995 by George Holdgrafer and Stephen Rocheford, ''Lavenders mission is "to appeal to the greatest number of Minnesota LGBTQ+ readers, and direct them to

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

advertisers." ''Lavender'' published its 500th issue in June 2014. In 2017, Stephen Rocheford, CEO of ''Lavender'', publicly voiced criticism of the exclusion of police officers from the 2017 Twin Cities Pride festival parade.

Controversies

In 2016, after the

Pulse nightclub shooting On , 2016, 29-year-old Omar Mateen shot and killed 49 people and wounded 53 more in a mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, United States before Orlando Police officers fatally shot him after a three-hour standoff. In ...

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

, ''Lavender'' editors wrote an article accused of

anti-Muslim Islamophobia is the irrational fear of, hostility towards, or hatred against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general. Islamophobia is primarily a form of religious or cultural bigotry; and people who harbour such sentiments often stereot ...

bias. The opposition to the articles organized a

Change.org Change.org is a website which allows users to create and sign petitions in an attempt to advance various social causes by raising awareness and influencing decision-makers. The site is a US-based for-profit company and claims to have 551 million ...

petition aimed at Stephen Rocheford for singling out

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

as a source of

violence Violence is characterized as the use of physical force by humans to cause harm to other living beings, or property, such as pain, injury, disablement, death, damage and destruction. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines violence a ...

Awards

In 2016, ''Lavender'' was named Magazine of the Year by the Minnesota Magazine & Publishing Association (MMPA). It has also received more than 100 MMPA awards in the categories of overall excellence, best digital media, best internet site, best director, best single cover, best feature article, best regular column, best single topic, best how-to article, best use of visuals, best redesign, best media kit, and best editor's or publisher's editorial.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.lavendermagazine.com/ Biweekly magazines published in the United States Free magazines LGBTQ culture in Minneapolis–Saint Paul LGBTQ-related magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1995 Magazines published in Minnesota Mass media in Minneapolis–Saint Paul 1995 establishments in Minnesota