RE: recent posts about Lavender and the need for a better,
livelier, local GLBT press.
DeAnna Miller, a young friend of mine, used to rant and rave
about this very topic. Kept saying she wanted a local GLBT
publication that wasn't just about the bar scene, New Glitzy Stuff
You Must Buy To Be Fabulous and where/how to get those washboard abs
and high-definition pectorals, etc. She was sick of the sex ads. She
wanted a GLBT magazine that gay parents could actually put on the
kitchen table and not have to quickly whisk away when their kids and
their friends came over.
She wanted it to cover politics, the arts, religion and a
bunch of other stuff that reflected what a grounded, interesting,
diverse GLBT community looks like. She wanted it to be funny, easy
to read.
I didn't pay much attention to this; partly because I'm a
middle-aged straight chick; partly because if you want to beat up on
Lavender, there's always this tremendously long line and the GLBT
folks hog all the turns.
Anyhow, it turns out DeAnna wasn't just talking. Four months
ago, she up and started her own monthly GLBT newspaper, the queue
press. The fifth issue will come out June 26. The magazine has a
circulation of 24,000 and is distributed in over 450 locations
throughout the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area. Currently, there's
nothing on-line, but DeAnna hopes to have a queue press website up
and running in the near future.
I don't know how she's doing it. We're talking about a very
funny Gen X girl from South Dakota with no trust fund who works other
jobs to keep her cash flow up. She's currently running this
publication out of her house in the Corcoran neighborhood. Outside of
being insane enough to start a new publication in a time when
advertising is down for everyone, DeAnna is really smart, friendly,
open and well-organized. So if anyone can pull it off, it's probably
her which is why I'm shamelessly flaking for her.
So for interested folks on this list, if you want a better,
local GLBT press, DeAnna Miller (612-721-9699, [EMAIL PROTECTED])
is on the front lines trying to produce one. She could use writers,
advertisers, readers and more. As of last week, however, she does not
need another comic. Spencer Bayless already does a comic for queue
and about eight days ago, DeAnna snagged Alison Bechdel's popular,
nationally-syndicated comic "Dykes to Watch Out For" away from
Lavender. It will be a regular feature beginning in the June 26 issue.
So far, so good. I'm rooting for this new paper and its editor.
Lynnell Mickelsen
Ward 13, Linden Hills
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