Why aren’t more out lesbians invested in our visibility? Visiting Curve Archivist Tina Brewster investigates and finds out that the problem has always been with us Curve Magazine, Volume, Issue, October 2013 Why are lesbians afraid to grab the lesbian flag and wave it during Lesbian Visibility Week? This question arose after several attempts to recruit lesbians across the country to commit to help promote Lesbian Visibility Week in April as part of The Curve Foundation’s initiative. The LGBTQ+ community has made great strides since October 2013 when Curve published the article “Brea ..read more

From the desk of Curve’s Publisher, Franco Stevens Statement of inclusivity: This Lesbian Visibility Week, let’s embrace our theme: “Unified, Not Uniform” We’re a diverse bunch, but together, we’re unstoppable. At The Curve Foundation, inclusivity isn’t just a buzzword. It’s at the heart of everything we do. Throughout LVW, let’s celebrate our differences and uplift everyone, especially people of color, trans, non-binary, and marginalized community members. This week, let’s ensure everyone feels seen, heard, valued, and energized! Photo by Barak Shrama As Lesbian Visibility Week arrive ..read more

Curve Archive and Outreach Manager Julia Rosenzweig taps into the butch origins of the magazine’s founder and publisher, Franco Stevens. Deneuve Volume 1, Issue 1, May/June 1991 From Stonewall activist Stormé DeLarverie to renowned author Leslie Feinberg, butch women have been influencing American lesbian culture since before the genesis of the contemporary Western identity that emerged in the 1940s-1950s. It became a formal identity within the underground lesbian bars of the time, where butch/femme dynamics simultaneously reflected and subverted mainstream gender norms. Curve maga ..read more

At the dawn of the world’s best-known lesbian publication, the one commodity that was in short supply was images. Images of us! Luckily, aspiring lesbian photographers such as Chloe Atkins were in the Bay Area taking iconic photos of lesbians in ascent. Fairy Butch, photo by Chloe Atkins Chloe Atkins first connected with Deneuve and Curve and Franco Stevens when she was a Bay Area shutterbug. “In the 1990s I was trying to make a living as a freelance photographer in San Francisco, so I was taking my portfolio around and showing art directors of all the magazines, ad agencies, and an ..read more

The first thing to know about Phranc is that she’s low-key funny all the time, introducing herself as “Phranc—with a PH and a hard C.” She’s what the French call droll. Phranc has a dry, clever, not-ostentatious wit that just pulls you along through much of what she says and it is, to be honest, delightful. Phranc is delightful. She’s smart and savvy and talented in ways you won’t expect and is exceedingly inquisitive about everything. She’s totally immersed in her current work and excited to talk about it and the journey it took to get to it. She embraces a multiplicity of communities from p ..read more

Deneuve incorporated butch style early on and as the issues rolled on, so did Curve, presenting masc and genderqueer style in spreads on a regular basis. By the time I came on board as editor in 2010, our community was experiencing a golden age of queer women’s style, much of it centered around communities in Brooklyn, New York. If you were a queer woman at that time, you undoubtedly heard of or knew about or were part of a growing culture of dyke designers, queer couturiers, masc models, and the image makers who were putting them on the map. And this new thing called social media! Early Ins ..read more

First came “butch” and “femme.” Remember when we even said “futch?” Then some women started using “top” and “bottom” (and the accompanying “vers” or “switch”). But today on TikTok the word “butch” is seldom found because all of the young masc girls are identifying as “studs.” But I’m here to tell you, white women: You. Are. Not. Studs. TikTok is a wildly popular mobile app—the most downloaded app on the Apple App Store, in fact. The majority of its 500 million active users are ages 16-24, so it provides a little window into Gen Z culture. And Gen Z queers have apparently forgotten their ..read more

From the desk of Curve’s Publisher, Franco Stevens If it seems to you like there’s a butch revival, you are not alone. This issue of Curve celebrates butch women in all their glory. I remember the first time I donned a suit, slicked back my hair, and polished my new black dress shoes. It was one of the most liberating days of my life because I could finally be me. It felt comfortable. It felt right. I’ve always considered myself butch even if I sometimes try to grow my hair or wear more androgynous clothing. Though I may not be as butch as some of my counterparts, it’s always been my identi ..read more

From the desk of Curve’s Publisher, Franco Stevens I’m humbled by the incredible stories Curve has had the privilege to share with you over the years. Part of what I love about these quarterly issues is that they allow me to explore the breadth of coverage we’ve presented and how much Curve has impacted the community. Curve‘s mission has always been to provide a platform for the voices and stories of the lesbian community—work we have always done with the support and involvement of our community. Will you support our mission now with a donation of $10/month? DONATE NOW Seeing Curve’s c ..read more

Hey baby! image from the inaugural column With America’s best-known newsstand magazine for lesbians being started by 23-year-old Frances Stevens, it made sense that the publication, among its regular departments, would have a column focused on lesbian youth. Reflecting back on the Hey Baby! column, which ran from 1993 to 2004, Stevens says, “One of the big points behind creating the column was that, before social media, the place where most lesbians and queer people met up was at the bars. If you were under 21, that left you alone on an island.” While lesbians in their prime flocked to ga ..read more