''Lesbian Connection'' (''LC'') is an American

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...

network forum publication "for, by and about

lesbians 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 homo ...

". Founded in 1974 by the lesbian-feminist collective Ambitious Amazons "to address the lack of safe, reliable, and targeted information channels for lesbian groups and individuals", it is the longest-running periodical for lesbians in the United States. ''LC'' is run by the Elsie Publishing Institute, a

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

-based

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

corporation. In 2021, its total revenue was $1,412,061. ''Lesbian Connection'' is published bimonthly and although it has a suggested yearly subscription, it is notable for offering it on a

sliding scale Sliding scale fees are variable prices for products, services, or taxes based on a customer's ability to pay. Such fees are thereby reduced for those who have lower incomes, or alternatively, less money to spare after their personal expenses, regar ...

basis. ''LC'' is made available to incarcerated women, and mailed free of charge upon request to those unable to make a financial contribution. A unique aspect of ''LC'' is the fact that its content is largely submitted by its readers. News and announcements of interest to the lesbian community include current affairs, places to live, travel,

women's music Women's music is a type of music based on the ideas of feminist separatism and lesbian separatism, designed to inspire feminist consciousness chiefly in Western popular music, to promote music "by women, for women, and about women." Women's mu ...

festivals A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

womyn's land Womyn's land is an intentional community organised by lesbian separatists to establish counter-cultural, women-centred space, without the presence of men. These lands were the result of a social movement of the same name that developed in th ...

, special events, gatherings, reviews, and

obituaries An obituary (obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Acco ...

. It features special topics, reprints of the

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

Dykes to Watch Out For ''Dykes to Watch Out For'' (sometimes ''DTWOF'') was a weekly comic strip by Alison Bechdel. The strip, which ran from 1983 to 2008, was one of the earliest ongoing representations of lesbians in popular culture and has been called "as importa ...

'', and an annual "Contact Dykes" directory of national and international lesbians who volunteer to provide information about their local areas to lesbian visitors. It does not publish fiction, personal ads, or requests for

pen pal Pen pals (or penfriends, penpals, pen-pals) are people who regularly write to each other, particularly via postal mail. Pen pals are usually strangers whose relationship is based primarily, or even solely, on their exchange of letters. Occasion ...

s. From 1974 until 1995, the publication was folded and stapled in half to protect subscribers from harassment. ''LC'' circulation peaked in 2000 with 28,000 subscribers, and as of June 2024 it has 15,000 subscribers. In 2014, ''LC'' received the "Jeanine Rae Award for the Advancement of Women's Culture" by Women in the Arts Inc., the non-profit organization responsible for the annual National Women's Music Festival. ''Lesbian Connection'' has been instrumental in the building of national spiritual, political and social networks for lesbians. Back issues from 1974 through 1989 have been fully digitized and are available to read online, for free, at JSTOR.

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External links

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''Lesbian Connection''
at

JSTOR JSTOR ( ; short for ''Journal Storage'') is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources founded in 1994. Originally containing digitized back issues of academic journals, it now encompasses books and other primary source ...

{{LGBT in Michigan 1974 establishments in Michigan 1974 in LGBTQ history Magazines established in 1974 Lesbian feminist magazines Lesbian-related magazines published in the United States Lesbian separatism LGBTQ in Michigan Magazines published in Michigan Women in Michigan Feminist magazines published in the United States Bimonthly magazines published in the United States Lesbian history in the United States East Lansing, Michigan LGBTQ-owned businesses in the United States

See also

References

Further reading

External links