A “Labor from the Heart”

Abstract

SUMMARY While it is true that publications targeted to gay males historically were glossier, had more consistent advertising income, and claimed higher circulations than lesbian periodicals, the number of lesbian newsletters, newspapers, and magazines grew significantly during the nearly 50 years covered in this study. This study chronicles that origin, growth and disappearance of four significant lesbian publications-Vice Versa, The Ladder, Focus: A Journal for Lesbians, and Sinister Wisdom-from 1947 to 1994. These magazines illustrate varied genre in lesbian publishing history and represent three distinctly different geographical areas. They also span almost five decades during the inauspicious beginning and rapid growth of the lesbian press. This study argues that lesbian publications, although often tied to politically active organizations, existed primarily to help individual lesbians come to terms with a homophobic world and to provide social connections and essential support systems. Less financially secure than their counterparts in the gay male magazine industry, lesbian publications were labors of love and rarely survived.