00:00:01.150 --> 00:00:03.900
(dramatic music)

00:00:09.437 --> 00:00:12.020
(wolf howling)

00:00:14.191 --> 00:00:16.774
(upbeat music)

00:00:22.050 --> 00:00:24.210
- Please welcome our panel of Power Dykes,

00:00:24.210 --> 00:00:27.780
Frances Stevens, Publisher and
Editor in Chief of "Deneuve,"

00:00:27.780 --> 00:00:29.350
the hottest lesbian magazine.

00:00:29.350 --> 00:00:32.370
(upbeat music)

00:00:32.370 --> 00:00:34.170
- [Reporter] "Deneuve," the
leading lesbian magazine.

00:00:34.170 --> 00:00:37.830
- But there wasn't a glossy
magazine for lesbians anywhere.

00:00:37.830 --> 00:00:40.320
- She decided, I'm gonna make one.

00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:41.961
That's total rock and roll.

00:00:41.961 --> 00:00:44.544
(upbeat music)

00:00:45.480 --> 00:00:47.070
- I love my job.

00:00:47.070 --> 00:00:49.260
I love my job, I love my job.

00:00:49.260 --> 00:00:52.027
- There hadn't been a lesbian
lifestyle magazine before.

00:00:52.027 --> 00:00:55.110
- "Deneuve" gave the community
the gift of connection

00:00:55.110 --> 00:00:57.935
in a time when it wasn't
okay to be a lesbian.

00:00:57.935 --> 00:01:00.570
(upbeat music)

00:01:00.570 --> 00:01:01.403
- We were excited

00:01:01.403 --> 00:01:03.780
because it was like all
the other magazines,

00:01:03.780 --> 00:01:06.240
which in 1990 that did not happen.

00:01:06.240 --> 00:01:09.690
- This magazine was really
gonna change things.

00:01:09.690 --> 00:01:11.370
- I know lesbians, including myself,

00:01:11.370 --> 00:01:12.598
who collected every issue.

00:01:12.598 --> 00:01:14.970
(upbeat music)

00:01:14.970 --> 00:01:19.800
- One of the principles of
social change for lesbians

00:01:19.800 --> 00:01:21.480
has been visibility.

00:01:21.480 --> 00:01:24.130
- Lesbian visibility
is absolutely essential

00:01:24.130 --> 00:01:27.480
if we want anyone coming of age now

00:01:27.480 --> 00:01:29.579
to think that there's a
culture worth joining.

00:01:29.579 --> 00:01:31.860
(upbeat music)

00:01:31.860 --> 00:01:33.420
- I definitely would go to the bookstore

00:01:33.420 --> 00:01:35.280
and read "Curve" magazine.

00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:36.990
- Whoever was in "Curve",
like, that was it.

00:01:36.990 --> 00:01:38.399
That's how you knew what was going on.

00:01:38.399 --> 00:01:40.527
- Like the latest musicians,
the latest artists.

00:01:40.527 --> 00:01:41.360
- Yep.

00:01:41.360 --> 00:01:43.560
(upbeat music)

00:01:43.560 --> 00:01:47.640
- Franco just explodes
on the scene with pride

00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:50.130
and with elegance and honesty.

00:01:50.130 --> 00:01:53.250
(upbeat music)

00:01:53.250 --> 00:01:56.940
- Just to bring a
magazine to the newsstands

00:01:56.940 --> 00:01:59.160
so that lesbians could see
a little bit of themselves

00:01:59.160 --> 00:02:02.130
reflected on the pages
required a lot of courage

00:02:02.130 --> 00:02:07.130
and tremendous grit, and no
doubt, significant sacrifice.

00:02:07.821 --> 00:02:10.404
(lively music)

00:02:21.510 --> 00:02:23.400
- In the last 24 hours, you know,

00:02:23.400 --> 00:02:25.080
I heard this thing I never wanted to hear

00:02:25.080 --> 00:02:28.740
that the magazine could
becoming to an end.

00:02:28.740 --> 00:02:30.810
Should it come to an end

00:02:30.810 --> 00:02:33.003
or should it change into something else.

00:02:34.050 --> 00:02:34.883
- Right.

00:02:34.883 --> 00:02:35.763
- So what does it become?

00:02:36.810 --> 00:02:39.243
I don't know, I really don't.

00:02:41.470 --> 00:02:43.530
- So then I guess the big question is,

00:02:43.530 --> 00:02:47.028
do you wanna be part of
figuring out what it is.

00:02:47.028 --> 00:02:49.710
(gentle music)

00:02:49.710 --> 00:02:50.820
- Hi everybody and welcome to a show

00:02:50.820 --> 00:02:52.700
that's all about Power Dykes.

00:02:52.700 --> 00:02:53.610
(audience applauding)

00:02:53.610 --> 00:02:55.860
They are here and they are queer.

00:02:55.860 --> 00:02:58.200
Francis Stevens at 26 years old.

00:02:58.200 --> 00:03:00.960
How long have you been a
self-described lesbian?

00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:03.300
- A self-described lesbian.

00:03:03.300 --> 00:03:05.640
I was actually married for
three and a half years.

00:03:05.640 --> 00:03:06.567
- Oh, I didn't know.

00:03:06.567 --> 00:03:09.150
(gentle music)

00:03:14.610 --> 00:03:16.799
- And may the great spirit watch over you.

00:03:16.799 --> 00:03:17.699
Amen.

00:03:17.699 --> 00:03:19.920
(gentle music)

00:03:19.920 --> 00:03:24.348
- It was a really expensive,
elaborate, beautiful,

00:03:24.348 --> 00:03:25.803
amazing day.

00:03:27.090 --> 00:03:28.533
I was living the fairytale.

00:03:30.420 --> 00:03:32.670
You know, here was this great guy,

00:03:32.670 --> 00:03:34.983
everything was great with my family,

00:03:36.280 --> 00:03:39.063
and I had no idea that I was gay.

00:03:41.630 --> 00:03:44.213
(upbeat music)

00:03:45.180 --> 00:03:48.540
I didn't know any out gay
people when I was growing up.

00:03:48.540 --> 00:03:53.160
There was one character on a
TV show, there was a gay guy.

00:03:53.160 --> 00:03:56.160
I went to school at San
Francisco State University.

00:03:56.160 --> 00:03:57.480
There was one prerequisite

00:03:57.480 --> 00:03:59.550
called Variations in Human Sexuality.

00:03:59.550 --> 00:04:01.770
It's like as if somebody
hit me over the head

00:04:01.770 --> 00:04:03.360
with a baseball bat.

00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:05.910
Like they explained what
being a lesbian was.

00:04:05.910 --> 00:04:07.740
I just knew all of a
sudden that that was me.

00:04:07.740 --> 00:04:09.880
It was like somebody just said, wake up!

00:04:09.880 --> 00:04:13.800
♪ Why can't I find a woman like that ♪

00:04:13.800 --> 00:04:14.790
- Wait a second,

00:04:14.790 --> 00:04:16.860
the fairy tale has just been blown up.

00:04:16.860 --> 00:04:18.134
What do I do?

00:04:18.134 --> 00:04:20.730
(somber music)

00:04:20.730 --> 00:04:24.360
- I think we should do
away with gays if possible.

00:04:24.360 --> 00:04:25.890
- You can't hold hands in public.

00:04:25.890 --> 00:04:27.240
You can't be affectionate in public.

00:04:27.240 --> 00:04:28.200
It's a hard road.

00:04:28.200 --> 00:04:30.041
We have got nothing behind us legally.

00:04:30.041 --> 00:04:31.350
(somber music)

00:04:31.350 --> 00:04:36.350
- I was shell-shocked
to work the phone lines

00:04:36.360 --> 00:04:38.490
at the National Center for Lesbian Rights

00:04:38.490 --> 00:04:43.490
and to take call after call
from lesbians, and also gay men,

00:04:43.740 --> 00:04:46.622
who had been kicked out of their families,

00:04:46.622 --> 00:04:50.880
lost custody of their kids,
been fired from their jobs,

00:04:50.880 --> 00:04:54.600
been stripped of a sense
of hope and future.

00:04:54.600 --> 00:04:58.470
I could not believe how devoid

00:04:58.470 --> 00:05:02.952
of just the most basic sense
of belonging and dignity

00:05:02.952 --> 00:05:06.810
existed for LGBT people in this country.

00:05:06.810 --> 00:05:08.730
You had Don't Ask/Don't Tell.

00:05:08.730 --> 00:05:10.260
- [Reporter] Gays could
reveal their status

00:05:10.260 --> 00:05:11.910
only at their own risk.

00:05:11.910 --> 00:05:15.600
Being homosexual is still
grounds for dismissal.

00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:19.650
- We need to protect our
social and moral foundations.

00:05:19.650 --> 00:05:20.639
- [Kate] You had Bill Clinton signing

00:05:20.639 --> 00:05:22.590
The Defense of Marriage Act.

00:05:22.590 --> 00:05:24.990
- [Reporter] States are
not obliged to recognize

00:05:24.990 --> 00:05:27.300
the legal gay marriage of another state.

00:05:27.300 --> 00:05:31.470
- You did not have openly
gay, queer elected officials.

00:05:31.470 --> 00:05:35.940
You did not have celebrities
who were out and proud.

00:05:35.940 --> 00:05:38.880
We did not see ourselves represented

00:05:38.880 --> 00:05:42.360
in any positive mainstream way.

00:05:42.360 --> 00:05:43.443
- I love you!

00:05:44.280 --> 00:05:45.210
- Come on.

00:05:45.210 --> 00:05:48.027
- Cindy, what's wrong with you?

00:05:48.027 --> 00:05:49.800
- What do you mean?

00:05:49.800 --> 00:05:54.090
- All this touching and hugging
girls and, "I love you."

00:05:54.090 --> 00:05:56.490
Boy, are you strange.

00:05:56.490 --> 00:05:58.530
- Well, I didn't mean anything.

00:05:58.530 --> 00:06:00.330
- I'll just bet.

00:06:00.330 --> 00:06:02.821
You better think about what you mean.

00:06:02.821 --> 00:06:05.587
(scoffs)

00:06:05.587 --> 00:06:08.170
(upbeat music)

00:06:09.917 --> 00:06:13.200
(crowd cheering)

00:06:13.200 --> 00:06:14.858
- Is anybody gonna come to our panel?

00:06:14.858 --> 00:06:16.560
(laughs)

00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:17.818
Maybe no one will come.

00:06:17.818 --> 00:06:20.401
(upbeat music)

00:06:24.009 --> 00:06:25.110
- Hey, we thought we would start

00:06:25.110 --> 00:06:26.370
just with a quick introduction.

00:06:26.370 --> 00:06:27.203
Franco Stevens,

00:06:27.203 --> 00:06:29.520
who's the woman who
started "Curve" Magazine,

00:06:29.520 --> 00:06:31.530
which is the longest-running,

00:06:31.530 --> 00:06:33.687
best-selling lesbian
magazine in the world.

00:06:33.687 --> 00:06:36.604
(audience applaud)

00:06:37.890 --> 00:06:39.270
- When I started the magazine,

00:06:39.270 --> 00:06:40.950
it was like a big controversy,

00:06:40.950 --> 00:06:44.040
do I put the word lesbian on the cover?

00:06:44.040 --> 00:06:46.200
And women were like, "You can't do that.

00:06:46.200 --> 00:06:47.550
No bookstores will carry it.

00:06:47.550 --> 00:06:50.319
I can't be seen buying this thing."

00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:52.727
I mean, I can't even verbalize today

00:06:52.727 --> 00:06:56.220
how much I was ridiculed and bashed,

00:06:56.220 --> 00:06:57.960
even from within our own community,

00:06:57.960 --> 00:07:00.900
by putting the word lesbian on the cover.

00:07:00.900 --> 00:07:04.350
And, you know, I just wanna
know by a show of hands

00:07:04.350 --> 00:07:09.180
like how many of you are
still embracing of that

00:07:09.180 --> 00:07:12.090
or okay if people identify as lesbian?

00:07:12.090 --> 00:07:13.890
Can you raise your hand?

00:07:13.890 --> 00:07:16.680
That's way more than I thought.

00:07:16.680 --> 00:07:18.789
How many of you think it's outdated

00:07:18.789 --> 00:07:21.480
and doesn't represent our community?

00:07:21.480 --> 00:07:24.780
A couple of people. Thank
you for being honest.

00:07:24.780 --> 00:07:27.917
- Coming from a Latin
community, the word lesbian,

00:07:27.917 --> 00:07:30.510
I feel like it's still important.

00:07:30.510 --> 00:07:32.520
It's made a difference.
It's made an impact.

00:07:32.520 --> 00:07:35.430
Why do we wanna erase it from our history?

00:07:35.430 --> 00:07:37.710
- I, personally, would never
use it to describe myself

00:07:37.710 --> 00:07:40.770
because I feel like it's
been co-opted by straight men

00:07:40.770 --> 00:07:43.530
as this like overly sexualized term.

00:07:43.530 --> 00:07:46.797
- [Franco] We've heard from
multiple women of a certain age

00:07:46.797 --> 00:07:49.560
who are feeling like
they're becoming invisible,

00:07:49.560 --> 00:07:52.263
like they're being cast aside.

00:07:53.280 --> 00:07:56.250
- I use either lesbian
or queer interchangeably.

00:07:56.250 --> 00:07:57.810
But a lot of folks in Gen Z

00:07:57.810 --> 00:08:01.530
are actually more likely to
identify as queer or pan or bi.

00:08:01.530 --> 00:08:03.300
And there's nothing wrong
with that, but again,

00:08:03.300 --> 00:08:06.690
it's this idea, is the word exclusionary?

00:08:06.690 --> 00:08:07.523
- [Audience] Yes.

00:08:07.523 --> 00:08:08.430
- [Franco] Yeah.

00:08:08.430 --> 00:08:10.530
- [Audient] Some lesbians
spaces can be super inclusive,

00:08:10.530 --> 00:08:12.300
but there is also a history of, you know,

00:08:12.300 --> 00:08:13.860
lesbians not being so inclusive.

00:08:13.860 --> 00:08:14.693
- Yeah.

00:08:14.693 --> 00:08:16.680
- I identify as a trans woman.

00:08:16.680 --> 00:08:18.708
And I'm not super comfortable
with the word lesbian,

00:08:18.708 --> 00:08:22.230
but I do feel safe using queer

00:08:22.230 --> 00:08:24.810
because I feel like it is a broader term.

00:08:24.810 --> 00:08:28.507
It is sort of a, I know that
queer spaces are safe spaces.

00:08:28.507 --> 00:08:30.630
- [Franco] I can totally understand that.

00:08:30.630 --> 00:08:32.790
You know, a lot of old-school lesbians

00:08:32.790 --> 00:08:35.580
are trans exclusionary radical feminists.

00:08:35.580 --> 00:08:37.140
We call them TERFS.

00:08:37.140 --> 00:08:38.910
- I think lesbian is an important word

00:08:38.910 --> 00:08:41.280
'cause it describes exactly who you are.

00:08:41.280 --> 00:08:43.440
But inside the group,

00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:46.440
there's a really hot and
heavy discussion about it.

00:08:46.440 --> 00:08:48.120
- The only word that anybody

00:08:48.120 --> 00:08:49.920
seems to globally have an issue with

00:08:49.920 --> 00:08:52.470
is the one word that women
can own for themselves

00:08:52.470 --> 00:08:54.300
- [Speaker] Exactly.
- That is about women.

00:08:54.300 --> 00:08:56.550
You know, I totally understand
that the word lesbian

00:08:56.550 --> 00:09:00.420
can feel exclusionary to, you
know, a woman who loves women

00:09:00.420 --> 00:09:02.280
who doesn't identify as a lesbian.

00:09:02.280 --> 00:09:05.610
But that's the one word that
we have that is only ours

00:09:05.610 --> 00:09:07.381
and nobody else's.

00:09:07.381 --> 00:09:10.380
- So, I actually just came
out to my abuela in December.

00:09:10.380 --> 00:09:11.253
And I was like.

00:09:11.253 --> 00:09:13.557
(Andrea speaks in foreign)

00:09:13.557 --> 00:09:15.640
And she's just like.

00:09:15.640 --> 00:09:17.080
(Andrea speaks in foreign)

00:09:17.080 --> 00:09:18.379
(all laugh)

00:09:18.379 --> 00:09:19.212
And that was like it...

00:09:19.212 --> 00:09:20.820
Like she's just like, "Really!"

00:09:20.820 --> 00:09:21.653
I was like, "Oh, you know.

00:09:21.653 --> 00:09:24.270
like I knew that there was no
guy ever good enough for you,

00:09:24.270 --> 00:09:25.427
but now it all makes sense."

00:09:25.427 --> 00:09:26.407
(all laugh)

00:09:26.407 --> 00:09:28.440
(all cheering)

00:09:28.440 --> 00:09:31.890
And like, I was like so shocked.

00:09:31.890 --> 00:09:34.027
And like the worst
comment she said was like,

00:09:34.027 --> 00:09:35.610
"But vaginas are so much work."

00:09:35.610 --> 00:09:36.491
And I was just like-

00:09:36.491 --> 00:09:38.320
(all laughing)

00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:41.653
I was like, "I somehow ended
up here in this conversation."

00:09:41.653 --> 00:09:43.460
(all laughing)

00:09:43.460 --> 00:09:46.080
By being visibly queer
and being visibly Latinx,

00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:47.880
like I can hopefully make it easier

00:09:47.880 --> 00:09:49.320
for younger folks in my family

00:09:49.320 --> 00:09:50.760
and other folks in my community.

00:09:50.760 --> 00:09:52.590
Regardless of whatever word you choose

00:09:52.590 --> 00:09:54.960
or what label you want
to attribute to yourself,

00:09:54.960 --> 00:09:57.000
like literally being visible

00:09:57.000 --> 00:09:58.258
is the most important thing you can be.

00:09:58.258 --> 00:10:00.650
(all applaud)

00:10:00.650 --> 00:10:02.317
(somber music)

00:10:02.317 --> 00:10:03.969
(TV static)

00:10:03.969 --> 00:10:06.300
- Hilton head, South Carolina.

00:10:06.300 --> 00:10:08.500
Step this way, please.

00:10:09.627 --> 00:10:11.539
(somber music)

00:10:11.539 --> 00:10:12.459
(TV static)

00:10:12.459 --> 00:10:13.292
- You know what?

00:10:13.292 --> 00:10:15.480
(speaks indistinctly)

00:10:15.480 --> 00:10:18.508
- We drove to beach
week. We rented a house.

00:10:18.508 --> 00:10:20.368
(indistinct)

00:10:20.368 --> 00:10:21.840
(baby cooing)

00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:24.453
Blaine came storming into the living room.

00:10:26.100 --> 00:10:28.447
He was screaming...

00:10:28.447 --> 00:10:30.900
"My wife is a dyke."

00:10:30.900 --> 00:10:33.789
Like it stung his tongue to even say it.

00:10:33.789 --> 00:10:36.372
(somber music)

00:10:38.280 --> 00:10:40.623
- When my husband outed me to my family,

00:10:41.460 --> 00:10:45.690
I felt like it was my story to tell.

00:10:45.690 --> 00:10:50.690
That was my decision to tell
my family when I was ready.

00:10:52.860 --> 00:10:53.693
Ugh.

00:10:54.690 --> 00:10:58.770
He had just kind of blown up my world,

00:10:58.770 --> 00:11:02.250
which meant that I never had to do it.

00:11:02.250 --> 00:11:05.823
But it was kind of something
that was taken away from me.

00:11:07.777 --> 00:11:10.444
(pensive music)

00:11:12.570 --> 00:11:14.850
- The victim of what many
people say was a hate crime

00:11:14.850 --> 00:11:17.070
in Wyoming this morning has died.

00:11:17.070 --> 00:11:19.918
- [Reporter] Shepard, a gay
man, was allegedly beaten,

00:11:19.918 --> 00:11:21.630
left to die.

00:11:21.630 --> 00:11:25.740
- It was very hard to be out
and open in the late '80s.

00:11:25.740 --> 00:11:27.843
There was a history of gay bashing.

00:11:29.220 --> 00:11:31.139
- It was nothing to walk down the street

00:11:31.139 --> 00:11:34.320
and have somebody smack you or hit you.

00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:37.050
Once, I had a guy spit in my face.

00:11:37.050 --> 00:11:39.420
- We are ostracized by society.

00:11:39.420 --> 00:11:41.100
They call you "dyke." They spit on you.

00:11:41.100 --> 00:11:45.360
They think that you're fat, and
they think that you're ugly.

00:11:45.360 --> 00:11:46.920
And that's because that's the image

00:11:46.920 --> 00:11:48.753
that's been projected about us.

00:11:49.860 --> 00:11:51.790
- These two women hiking
The Appalachian Trail,

00:11:51.790 --> 00:11:55.650
a man identified them as a lesbian couple.

00:11:55.650 --> 00:11:58.380
He ended up murdering one of the women

00:11:58.380 --> 00:12:00.453
while they slept in their tent.

00:12:02.880 --> 00:12:05.970
It's a stone's throw, in terms of history,

00:12:05.970 --> 00:12:07.620
away from where we sit right now.

00:12:09.712 --> 00:12:10.545
(birds chirping)

00:12:10.545 --> 00:12:12.878
(dog barks)

00:12:19.079 --> 00:12:20.400
- You know, I think what I need to do is

00:12:20.400 --> 00:12:23.700
find some young activists,
find young people,

00:12:23.700 --> 00:12:27.720
people who are like what I was
like, you know, at 25 and 30.

00:12:27.720 --> 00:12:30.150
Who are they? What are their goals?

00:12:30.150 --> 00:12:32.310
What are they bringing to the community?

00:12:32.310 --> 00:12:35.160
What do they need? What
does the community need?

00:12:35.160 --> 00:12:37.454
And then maybe, if we
talk to some of them,

00:12:37.454 --> 00:12:41.550
we can get an idea of what
the mission of the magazine,

00:12:41.550 --> 00:12:43.650
or the mission of this project, should be.

00:12:48.120 --> 00:12:51.390
This is a poem called
"Dear Straight People"

00:12:51.390 --> 00:12:53.040
by Denice Frohman.

00:12:53.040 --> 00:12:55.886
Apparently, it won the World Poetry Slam.

00:12:55.886 --> 00:12:57.853
- Dear straight people.

00:12:57.853 --> 00:12:59.970
(audience chuckle)

00:12:59.970 --> 00:13:01.563
Who do you think you are?

00:13:02.460 --> 00:13:03.900
Do you have to make it so obvious

00:13:03.900 --> 00:13:05.070
that I make you uncomfortable?

00:13:05.070 --> 00:13:06.420
Why do I make you uncomfortable?

00:13:06.420 --> 00:13:07.740
Do you know that makes me uncomfortable?

00:13:07.740 --> 00:13:09.061
Now we both uncomfortable.

00:13:09.061 --> 00:13:10.410
(audience laugh)

00:13:10.410 --> 00:13:14.040
Dear straight people,
sexuality and gender?

00:13:14.040 --> 00:13:18.480
Two different things combined
in many different ways.

00:13:18.480 --> 00:13:21.210
If you mismatch your
socks, you understand.

00:13:21.210 --> 00:13:23.900
Dear straight people, kissing
my girlfriend in public

00:13:23.900 --> 00:13:25.870
without looking to see who's around

00:13:25.870 --> 00:13:28.650
is a luxury I do not fully have yet.

00:13:28.650 --> 00:13:30.990
But tonight, I am drunk in my freedom,

00:13:30.990 --> 00:13:33.327
grab her hand on the busiest
street corner in Philadelphia,

00:13:33.327 --> 00:13:36.360
zip my fingers into hers
and press our lips firmly,

00:13:36.360 --> 00:13:39.270
until we melt their stares
into a standing ovation,

00:13:39.270 --> 00:13:42.990
imagine that we are in
a sea of smiling faces,

00:13:42.990 --> 00:13:46.260
even when we're not and when
we're not, we start shoveling,

00:13:46.260 --> 00:13:48.360
digging deep into each
other's eyes we say,

00:13:48.360 --> 00:13:50.670
hey Baby, can't nothing stop this tonight

00:13:50.670 --> 00:13:52.890
'cause tonight, this world is broken

00:13:52.890 --> 00:13:55.812
and we're the only thing
that's gonna keep it together.

00:13:55.812 --> 00:13:58.189
(audience applauding)

00:13:58.189 --> 00:13:59.022
- Damn.

00:13:59.022 --> 00:14:00.090
- Yeah, pretty powerful, huh?

00:14:00.090 --> 00:14:02.501
(audience applauding)

00:14:02.501 --> 00:14:04.893
(indistinct chatters)

00:14:04.893 --> 00:14:08.040
- Just the significance of
the magazine for so many years

00:14:08.040 --> 00:14:11.340
has meant a lot to a lot of queer folks,

00:14:11.340 --> 00:14:13.230
a lot of LGBT folks.

00:14:13.230 --> 00:14:14.100
It meant a lot to me.

00:14:14.100 --> 00:14:17.250
It was the first magazine
that I saw as a young kid

00:14:17.250 --> 00:14:19.290
walking around New York City,
and I was like, "What's that?"

00:14:19.290 --> 00:14:20.580
And seeing women on the cover.

00:14:20.580 --> 00:14:21.611
And I'm like...

00:14:21.611 --> 00:14:26.010
Became a lot more curious
about sorta just the community.

00:14:26.010 --> 00:14:27.900
It was a way for us to
connect to each other.

00:14:27.900 --> 00:14:29.640
And so, it's important for young people

00:14:29.640 --> 00:14:32.460
to know that this magazine's
a part of their lineage too.

00:14:32.460 --> 00:14:35.070
One of the reasons I'm drawn
to work with young people

00:14:35.070 --> 00:14:38.490
is because I believe in their wisdom.

00:14:38.490 --> 00:14:41.400
Poetry is a way to fall in love

00:14:41.400 --> 00:14:43.083
with the power of your voice.

00:14:44.250 --> 00:14:47.400
- Why do my parents despise me so much?

00:14:47.400 --> 00:14:51.521
Why couldn't I be the
daughter they wanted.

00:14:51.521 --> 00:14:53.400
Why can't you be like your cousin?

00:14:53.400 --> 00:14:56.760
Why can't you be like most normal girls?

00:14:56.760 --> 00:14:58.950
I'm sorry I like girls.

00:14:58.950 --> 00:15:01.980
They saw it as a sickness
that was able to be cured.

00:15:01.980 --> 00:15:03.810
The guilt is unbearable.

00:15:03.810 --> 00:15:07.560
- My mom broke down so
bad like someone died.

00:15:07.560 --> 00:15:09.660
Everything that a homophobe would say

00:15:09.660 --> 00:15:12.180
just came out of my mom's
mouth in that moment.

00:15:12.180 --> 00:15:14.077
We were fighting, and then she was like,

00:15:14.077 --> 00:15:16.764
"If I knew you were gay I
would have aborted you."

00:15:16.764 --> 00:15:18.537
(speaker sobbing)

00:15:18.537 --> 00:15:22.406
And I don't even know what to
say because it's just so much.

00:15:22.406 --> 00:15:24.840
(audience snapping fingers)

00:15:24.840 --> 00:15:27.450
- There are students on this campus

00:15:27.450 --> 00:15:31.440
who may not even know that
they're queer or questioning yet,

00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:34.470
but maybe five, 10 years
from now will look back

00:15:34.470 --> 00:15:37.800
and see how courageous and
visible you're living your truth

00:15:37.800 --> 00:15:39.990
and will be inspired to do the same.

00:15:39.990 --> 00:15:41.400
What I'm saying is that your impact

00:15:41.400 --> 00:15:42.723
extends beyond this room.

00:15:44.545 --> 00:15:47.520
- What does queer love look like to you?

00:15:47.520 --> 00:15:52.035
- Unapologetic. Radical. Liberated.

00:15:52.035 --> 00:15:53.910
(audience snapping fingers)

00:15:53.910 --> 00:15:57.630
It looks like a harbor.
It looks like a heaven.

00:15:57.630 --> 00:15:59.010
I love the word queer because I feel like

00:15:59.010 --> 00:16:00.510
it encompasses both my sexuality

00:16:00.510 --> 00:16:02.250
and my gender presentation, right?

00:16:02.250 --> 00:16:06.780
Like my queerness is what my
womanhood looks like on me

00:16:06.780 --> 00:16:09.786
as much as it is who I'm with.

00:16:09.786 --> 00:16:13.860
And it's really the ultimate
risk but also the ultimate

00:16:13.860 --> 00:16:17.520
and greatest joy and the most
radical love I've ever known.

00:16:17.520 --> 00:16:18.676
That's what queer love is to me.

00:16:18.676 --> 00:16:23.094
(audience snapping fingers)

00:16:23.094 --> 00:16:25.195
(lively music)

00:16:25.195 --> 00:16:28.620
- [Franco] When I left my
marriage, it was scary.

00:16:28.620 --> 00:16:31.023
But at least I was free.

00:16:32.580 --> 00:16:33.840
Where I really wanted to work

00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:34.950
was A Different Light Bookstore.

00:16:34.950 --> 00:16:39.950
This was the gay bookstore in
the gayest street in America.

00:16:40.050 --> 00:16:42.210
I went in, and I had a conversation

00:16:42.210 --> 00:16:45.780
with the one female employee
there named Rachel Pepper.

00:16:45.780 --> 00:16:47.820
- I just liked Franco right away.

00:16:47.820 --> 00:16:50.340
I felt I need to help
this person get hired.

00:16:50.340 --> 00:16:52.110
I wanna be this person's friend.

00:16:52.110 --> 00:16:55.140
- Everyone that worked there
was an artist or a writer

00:16:55.140 --> 00:16:58.350
and the most creative
people that I'd ever met.

00:16:58.350 --> 00:17:00.397
One of my friends from
school, he asked me,

00:17:00.397 --> 00:17:01.770
"So, where you living?"

00:17:01.770 --> 00:17:05.280
And when I admitted that I
didn't have a place to live,

00:17:05.280 --> 00:17:07.110
they said, "Come live with us.

00:17:07.110 --> 00:17:08.700
We won't charge you any rent."

00:17:08.700 --> 00:17:11.010
And they gave me this tiny little bedroom.

00:17:11.010 --> 00:17:13.187
But I was so happy to have this place

00:17:13.187 --> 00:17:15.480
that I could be myself in.

00:17:15.480 --> 00:17:16.890
One night, I went out to a club,

00:17:16.890 --> 00:17:19.473
and I met my first
official girlfriend, Vicki.

00:17:20.700 --> 00:17:22.110
- When I met Franco,

00:17:22.110 --> 00:17:25.110
I thought she looked
a lot like Demi Moore.

00:17:25.110 --> 00:17:30.030
She had makeup and nails and the hair.

00:17:30.030 --> 00:17:32.820
And I was just like, wow, you know? Yeah.

00:17:32.820 --> 00:17:35.490
So, we started going to Rolo
and all these little stores

00:17:35.490 --> 00:17:36.420
and shopping together.

00:17:36.420 --> 00:17:40.743
And then gradually, I noticed
she was like kinda changing.

00:17:41.700 --> 00:17:45.450
I just noticed her
discovering who she was.

00:17:45.450 --> 00:17:49.080
She said to me, "If
you wanna stay with me,

00:17:49.080 --> 00:17:50.700
you have to wear the dress."

00:17:50.700 --> 00:17:52.620
- I was like, "Can you please
put on a dress for me?"

00:17:52.620 --> 00:17:54.816
And she's like "Ugh. No!"

00:17:54.816 --> 00:17:57.747
I was like, "Oh no, I
think I like femme girls."

00:17:58.710 --> 00:17:59.940
And then I got kind of upset

00:17:59.940 --> 00:18:02.790
that they weren't treated
like real lesbians

00:18:02.790 --> 00:18:04.230
in the lesbian community.

00:18:04.230 --> 00:18:05.670
You had to look the part.

00:18:05.670 --> 00:18:07.680
You needed Doc Martins on your feet,

00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:11.280
and you needed short
haircut and no makeup.

00:18:11.280 --> 00:18:14.310
You had to be able to
identify each other by that.

00:18:14.310 --> 00:18:16.050
I think that's just wrong.

00:18:16.050 --> 00:18:17.670
- So, what is an average lesbian?

00:18:17.670 --> 00:18:19.290
- There is no average lesbian.

00:18:19.290 --> 00:18:21.000
We've always been in every segment.

00:18:21.000 --> 00:18:24.330
We're doctors, lawyers,
you know, engineers,

00:18:24.330 --> 00:18:26.340
sanitation engineers too.

00:18:26.340 --> 00:18:29.040
If you look around, how
many of you could decipher

00:18:29.040 --> 00:18:30.660
who was lesbian and who was not?

00:18:30.660 --> 00:18:33.690
If you looked at this panel
walking out on the street,

00:18:33.690 --> 00:18:35.556
what would you think? Average lesbian?

00:18:35.556 --> 00:18:36.389
(all laughing)

00:18:36.389 --> 00:18:38.460
Average lesbian? Average lesbian?

00:18:38.460 --> 00:18:40.470
Our whole life does not revolve around sex

00:18:40.470 --> 00:18:41.317
and who we sleep with.

00:18:41.317 --> 00:18:44.234
(audience applaud)

00:18:46.188 --> 00:18:49.163
- We wanted to see
representation of our diversity

00:18:49.163 --> 00:18:50.850
in the pages of a magazine.

00:18:50.850 --> 00:18:52.920
We wanted fashion. We wanted lifestyle.

00:18:52.920 --> 00:18:55.920
We wanted to talk about books and music

00:18:55.920 --> 00:18:59.790
that were not on the mainstream
lesbian grid at the moment.

00:18:59.790 --> 00:19:01.125
- There were gay magazines.

00:19:01.125 --> 00:19:03.390
There just weren't the right ones.

00:19:03.390 --> 00:19:06.930
- One day, it hit me,
if you want something

00:19:06.930 --> 00:19:09.900
you need to take action and do something.

00:19:09.900 --> 00:19:12.650
I was the one that was supposed
to start this magazine.

00:19:14.220 --> 00:19:15.420
- So, she got the idea.

00:19:15.420 --> 00:19:17.700
And then she's just like, "Ooh, my god.

00:19:17.700 --> 00:19:19.140
I need money."

00:19:19.140 --> 00:19:21.150
- So, I dressed up in my little suit,

00:19:21.150 --> 00:19:23.730
and I went to the bank
with my business plan

00:19:23.730 --> 00:19:26.430
and my little pleather briefcase.

00:19:26.430 --> 00:19:28.860
I don't think they wanted
anything to do with me.

00:19:28.860 --> 00:19:30.637
- We were shot down so hard.

00:19:30.637 --> 00:19:32.880
"What are you thinking? You
know you're gonna fail."

00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:35.490
- First of all, the economy's tanking.

00:19:35.490 --> 00:19:38.010
Second of all, the magazine
industry's in the toilet.

00:19:38.010 --> 00:19:39.659
Magazines are flailing left and right,

00:19:39.659 --> 00:19:42.660
and you wanna put the word
lesbian on the front cover.

00:19:42.660 --> 00:19:44.460
Good luck to ya.

00:19:44.460 --> 00:19:46.020
- I wasn't out in the '90s.

00:19:46.020 --> 00:19:49.170
Why was it a big deal to put
the word lesbian on the cover?

00:19:49.170 --> 00:19:50.400
- It was essentially coming out

00:19:50.400 --> 00:19:53.010
every time you wanted
to look at the magazine.

00:19:53.010 --> 00:19:54.420
It was a big deal back then.

00:19:54.420 --> 00:19:57.330
You're reading this, you're
guilty by association.

00:19:57.330 --> 00:19:58.710
- Well, that was everybody's perception

00:19:58.710 --> 00:19:59.850
that nobody would buy it.

00:19:59.850 --> 00:20:02.040
So, I just applied for
a bunch of credit cards

00:20:02.040 --> 00:20:04.080
all in the same day.

00:20:04.080 --> 00:20:05.716
I just cashed them all in.

00:20:05.716 --> 00:20:06.549
(gates thud)

00:20:06.549 --> 00:20:07.382
- [Announcer] Here they come-

00:20:07.382 --> 00:20:11.310
- I had been homeless, I'd
lived in my car, I'd been broke.

00:20:11.310 --> 00:20:13.800
So what if I didn't have
any credit after this?

00:20:13.800 --> 00:20:17.130
So what if I, you know,
declared bankruptcy?

00:20:17.130 --> 00:20:19.052
Everyone said along the
way that I couldn't do it.

00:20:19.052 --> 00:20:20.760
Well, the more you told me no,

00:20:20.760 --> 00:20:23.100
the more I wanted it to happen.

00:20:23.100 --> 00:20:26.310
I picked the first race, clear favorite.

00:20:26.310 --> 00:20:27.890
I went down to the paddock,

00:20:27.890 --> 00:20:31.380
and I noticed when the jockey
is getting on the horse,

00:20:31.380 --> 00:20:33.270
he keeps looking back, looking back.

00:20:33.270 --> 00:20:35.640
There's something wrong with this horse.

00:20:35.640 --> 00:20:38.130
So, it was like oh, that
horse is out. All right.

00:20:38.130 --> 00:20:41.880
I'm gonna bet an exacta
with two longshots,

00:20:41.880 --> 00:20:43.543
and my horses came in first and second.

00:20:43.543 --> 00:20:45.540
(hooves thundering)

00:20:45.540 --> 00:20:49.440
I took all the money,
and I did the same thing,

00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:52.530
just taking that money and
parlaying it into the next race.

00:20:52.530 --> 00:20:54.342
I knew I had to risk everything.

00:20:54.342 --> 00:20:56.580
And I just remember thinking, "Okay,

00:20:56.580 --> 00:21:00.360
if this is supposed to happen, it will."

00:21:00.360 --> 00:21:01.230
And I'll tell ya,

00:21:01.230 --> 00:21:03.540
it was like I was standing
at the finish line

00:21:03.540 --> 00:21:07.380
in every race, as if
somebody had just told me

00:21:07.380 --> 00:21:10.380
these are gonna be the
winners of these races.

00:21:10.380 --> 00:21:12.090
At the end of the day,

00:21:12.090 --> 00:21:15.030
I had enough money to start the magazine

00:21:15.030 --> 00:21:17.523
and print three editions worth.

00:21:18.600 --> 00:21:21.011
Oh, the name of the magazine.

00:21:21.011 --> 00:21:21.844
(clears throat)

00:21:21.844 --> 00:21:23.220
- I've been told never to talk about that.

00:21:23.220 --> 00:21:26.250
- The name Deneuve was Franco's first cat.

00:21:26.250 --> 00:21:29.250
- Franco had a girlfriend
whose cat was named Deneuve.

00:21:29.250 --> 00:21:33.390
- Long-haired American
fluffy cat, tabby. Deneuve.

00:21:33.390 --> 00:21:34.223
- What?

00:21:34.223 --> 00:21:35.056
(Franco laughs)

00:21:35.056 --> 00:21:37.597
- She once told me that
it sounded like it meant,

00:21:37.597 --> 00:21:38.700
"The new thing."

00:21:38.700 --> 00:21:39.840
- I think we all felt

00:21:39.840 --> 00:21:43.200
it had a little bit of a je ne sais quoi.

00:21:43.200 --> 00:21:46.800
- I knew immediately that it was homage

00:21:46.800 --> 00:21:48.997
to Catherine Deneuve.

00:21:48.997 --> 00:21:50.850
- "The Hunger" was one
of my favorite movies.

00:21:50.850 --> 00:21:55.850
- Franco named the magazine
after her camp counselor.

00:21:56.550 --> 00:21:57.990
- She told me, "There was a girl

00:21:57.990 --> 00:21:59.340
that I met at summer camp

00:21:59.340 --> 00:22:01.080
that I fell madly in love with."

00:22:01.080 --> 00:22:05.130
- Franco's first girlfriend,
her name was Deneuve.

00:22:05.130 --> 00:22:06.990
How sweet is that?

00:22:06.990 --> 00:22:10.854
- For the record, my first
girlfriend was not a cat.

00:22:10.854 --> 00:22:13.854
(machines whirring)

00:22:14.854 --> 00:22:17.700
(calm pop music)

00:22:17.700 --> 00:22:20.040
From the get-go, I knew exactly

00:22:20.040 --> 00:22:22.290
what I wanted the magazine to be like.

00:22:22.290 --> 00:22:24.660
I wanted it to be color and glossy.

00:22:24.660 --> 00:22:29.660
I wanted it to be a resource
for women in the community,

00:22:29.940 --> 00:22:32.130
and I wanted it to be a place

00:22:32.130 --> 00:22:35.280
where we could feel proud
to represent all of us.

00:22:35.280 --> 00:22:37.530
This is our life. This is our style.

00:22:37.530 --> 00:22:39.856
Yes, this is our news and our politics,

00:22:39.856 --> 00:22:42.360
but this is where we are,

00:22:42.360 --> 00:22:45.120
and this is how we're gonna
push ourselves forward.

00:22:45.120 --> 00:22:46.980
- What I was really interested in

00:22:46.980 --> 00:22:50.070
was making sure everybody looked gorgeous.

00:22:50.070 --> 00:22:50.970
'Cause I think at that time,

00:22:50.970 --> 00:22:53.190
a lot of people didn't really
feel good about themselves.

00:22:53.190 --> 00:22:56.430
Put down by society. Really
rough time with families.

00:22:56.430 --> 00:22:59.310
It was really a place where,
you know, we looked positive,

00:22:59.310 --> 00:23:00.714
we looked great, we looked sexy.

00:23:00.714 --> 00:23:03.464
(calm pop music)

00:23:04.885 --> 00:23:07.204
♪ Still, there's many who
turned out their porch lights ♪

00:23:07.204 --> 00:23:09.985
♪ Just so I would think
they were not home ♪

00:23:09.985 --> 00:23:12.475
♪ And hid in the dark of the windows ♪

00:23:12.475 --> 00:23:13.740
♪ Till I passed ♪

00:23:13.740 --> 00:23:16.980
- It says on the very
first issue, "Lesbian,

00:23:16.980 --> 00:23:18.223
A Lesbian Magazine."

00:23:18.223 --> 00:23:21.810
You know, just being in this magazine

00:23:21.810 --> 00:23:23.160
was like taking a big chance.

00:23:23.160 --> 00:23:26.400
I mean, there's nothing
more out loud and proud

00:23:26.400 --> 00:23:29.592
than being in a magazine
with the L word on the cover.

00:23:29.592 --> 00:23:32.010
(calm music)

00:23:32.010 --> 00:23:37.010
I knew the owner of the
largest lesbian romance novel

00:23:37.050 --> 00:23:39.341
publishing company, Naiad Press.

00:23:39.341 --> 00:23:42.840
Barbara Grier, the publisher,
said to me, "Oh my god.

00:23:42.840 --> 00:23:44.882
You're the cutest little
baby dyke I've ever seen."

00:23:44.882 --> 00:23:45.817
(Jen laughs)

00:23:45.817 --> 00:23:46.860
"Print this flyer.

00:23:46.860 --> 00:23:50.430
It will cost you $600,
and I will send it out

00:23:50.430 --> 00:23:53.610
to all my people on my
entire mailing list.

00:23:53.610 --> 00:23:55.620
And I'll even put a quote from me in there

00:23:55.620 --> 00:23:58.321
saying that this is the
greatest thing to happen

00:23:58.321 --> 00:24:00.480
to lesbian culture.

00:24:00.480 --> 00:24:02.670
I support it. You need
to buy a subscription."

00:24:02.670 --> 00:24:06.552
So, I was like, "$600? We
didn't have 600 cents."

00:24:06.552 --> 00:24:08.370
(calm music)

00:24:08.370 --> 00:24:09.840
- We were putting our heads together

00:24:09.840 --> 00:24:11.340
'cause this was so important to us.

00:24:11.340 --> 00:24:14.170
So, there used to be
motorcycle parking down there

00:24:15.008 --> 00:24:17.880
at the corner of 18th and Castro Street,

00:24:17.880 --> 00:24:19.740
and there'd be tons of people that'd come

00:24:19.740 --> 00:24:21.960
and would park their motorcycles there.

00:24:21.960 --> 00:24:25.440
We can go down there and
start detailing motorcycles.

00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:26.780
- I do not wanna wash motorcycles.

00:24:26.780 --> 00:24:29.099
And she was like "Come on."

00:24:29.099 --> 00:24:31.440
- I would be like, "Hey, nice bike.

00:24:31.440 --> 00:24:35.310
But really, your bike is pretty dirty.

00:24:35.310 --> 00:24:37.710
Look at mine! It's immaculate.

00:24:37.710 --> 00:24:40.410
You go into that bar, give me 20 bucks.

00:24:40.410 --> 00:24:41.370
By the time you get out,

00:24:41.370 --> 00:24:42.900
your bike will look as good as mine."

00:24:42.900 --> 00:24:44.500
- We had like little toothbrushes.

00:24:44.500 --> 00:24:47.729
By the end of the day,
we were so exhausted.

00:24:47.729 --> 00:24:49.620
- I was surprised she
didn't break up with me

00:24:49.620 --> 00:24:50.642
just right then and there.

00:24:50.642 --> 00:24:54.150
After a weekend, we
were high on those fumes

00:24:54.150 --> 00:24:57.063
from like de-greaser, but
we had gotten the money.

00:24:58.830 --> 00:25:01.260
So, Naiad Press sent out the mailer.

00:25:01.260 --> 00:25:05.613
And after about two weeks,
I opened up the mailbox,

00:25:06.480 --> 00:25:08.940
and there were like two subscriptions.

00:25:08.940 --> 00:25:12.480
I was like, "Two subscriptions, yes!"

00:25:12.480 --> 00:25:15.960
The next day there was
like 12 subscriptions.

00:25:15.960 --> 00:25:19.353
I was like wow, this is awesome.

00:25:20.251 --> 00:25:23.100
And I come in the next day.

00:25:23.100 --> 00:25:25.593
I open that little box,
and I look in, empty.

00:25:27.300 --> 00:25:29.400
And I'm like, "I guess that's it

00:25:29.400 --> 00:25:30.930
'cause this is the third issue."

00:25:30.930 --> 00:25:35.040
So, as I'm walking out the
door with my head kind of slung

00:25:35.040 --> 00:25:37.020
like let's see, how old will I be

00:25:37.020 --> 00:25:39.750
after my bankruptcy's
cleared from my record,

00:25:39.750 --> 00:25:41.340
the guy behind the desk said, "Oh, wait.

00:25:41.340 --> 00:25:44.204
Frank, Franco, wait a second!"

00:25:44.204 --> 00:25:45.270
And I said, "Yeah?"

00:25:45.270 --> 00:25:48.840
He goes, "Oh, your mail would
not fit in the P.O. box.

00:25:48.840 --> 00:25:51.210
There was too much of it."

00:25:51.210 --> 00:25:56.210
So, he plunked down this
sack of subscriptions.

00:25:56.595 --> 00:26:01.595
It was like Santa's gift
bag. I couldn't believe it.

00:26:02.040 --> 00:26:05.310
For the next few weeks,
it continued at that rate.

00:26:05.310 --> 00:26:07.500
Like either there was a
tub, one of those mail tubs,

00:26:07.500 --> 00:26:12.001
or a sack of thousands of subscriptions.

00:26:12.001 --> 00:26:15.269
It was like God was a lesbian.

00:26:15.269 --> 00:26:17.362
(Franco laughs)

00:26:17.362 --> 00:26:19.945
(upbeat music)

00:26:21.480 --> 00:26:24.510
- So many women were
interested in the magazine.

00:26:24.510 --> 00:26:26.490
And I mean, it was just flooding in.

00:26:26.490 --> 00:26:28.170
We were in the apartment,

00:26:28.170 --> 00:26:30.542
typing in, you know, the addresses,

00:26:30.542 --> 00:26:35.542
stuffing these magazines
into manila envelopes.

00:26:35.670 --> 00:26:37.320
And I'm like, I'm thinking to myself,

00:26:37.320 --> 00:26:39.150
"What day and age are we living in?

00:26:39.150 --> 00:26:42.030
Why does this have to
be in a manila envelope

00:26:42.030 --> 00:26:42.863
and mailed out?"

00:26:42.863 --> 00:26:44.940
And it's like well, you know,
it's going to the Midwest

00:26:44.940 --> 00:26:46.880
to people that probably aren't out.

00:26:46.880 --> 00:26:49.590
(calm music)

00:26:49.590 --> 00:26:52.650
- [Rachel] How are you going
to publicize this magazine

00:26:52.650 --> 00:26:57.240
at a time when women
really didn't have access

00:26:57.240 --> 00:26:59.520
to a lot of media to
get their voices heard?

00:26:59.520 --> 00:27:01.830
And there was no internet to publicize it.

00:27:01.830 --> 00:27:04.920
Franco was great about hitting the road

00:27:04.920 --> 00:27:06.630
at every opportunity possible.

00:27:06.630 --> 00:27:11.100
She would go to every Pride
event all around the country

00:27:11.100 --> 00:27:14.163
to set up a booth and sell subscriptions.

00:27:15.090 --> 00:27:16.200
- It's the night before the tour,

00:27:16.200 --> 00:27:17.430
and I'm just getting ready.

00:27:17.430 --> 00:27:19.350
And our first stop is Winnemucca, Nevada,

00:27:19.350 --> 00:27:22.020
until we can make it to
Salt Lake City the next day.

00:27:22.020 --> 00:27:23.880
We're doing Chicago on Friday,

00:27:23.880 --> 00:27:26.130
the Michigan Womyn's
Music Festival on Sunday.

00:27:26.130 --> 00:27:31.053
Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland,
Columbus, Indiannapolis,

00:27:31.890 --> 00:27:36.480
St. Louis, Kansas City,
Denver, and then back home.

00:27:36.480 --> 00:27:38.970
I just don't know where
we're gonna fit 47 boxes

00:27:38.970 --> 00:27:41.310
that we're gonna get
in Chicago in the car.

00:27:41.310 --> 00:27:43.170
Magazines, magazines.

00:27:43.170 --> 00:27:44.190
- We're going to Michigan.

00:27:44.190 --> 00:27:47.479
We're gonna see us some
naked ladies. Buh-bye!

00:27:47.479 --> 00:27:49.680
- [Franco] And that was our whole idea

00:27:49.680 --> 00:27:53.250
of going on these tours,
is like drive 600 miles.

00:27:53.250 --> 00:27:54.163
- Have you had okra?

00:27:54.163 --> 00:27:56.370
I didn't know what okra was until tonight.

00:27:56.370 --> 00:27:57.540
- [Franco] Show up at the bookstore

00:27:57.540 --> 00:27:59.460
for cocktails and snacks.

00:27:59.460 --> 00:28:02.520
- They have "Deneuve" magazine
beautifully displayed.

00:28:02.520 --> 00:28:04.890
- Followed by five minutes for dinner

00:28:04.890 --> 00:28:09.363
and going to a dance club until
3:00 or 4:00 in the morning.

00:28:10.560 --> 00:28:12.808
We're on our way to Atlanta.

00:28:12.808 --> 00:28:16.200
Every place we go, they ask
who the three triplets are,

00:28:16.200 --> 00:28:18.900
since we're obviously the only
lesbians they've ever seen.

00:28:18.900 --> 00:28:20.250
Or so they think.

00:28:20.250 --> 00:28:22.308
And we all have exactly the same haircut.

00:28:22.308 --> 00:28:23.880
(calm music)

00:28:23.880 --> 00:28:27.033
And we'd just cover as
much ground as we could.

00:28:28.500 --> 00:28:29.340
- [Rachel] When we rolled up,

00:28:29.340 --> 00:28:31.923
people would just be ecstatic to see us,

00:28:33.180 --> 00:28:35.880
and particularly to see Franco.

00:28:35.880 --> 00:28:36.960
- Actually, one beautiful woman

00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:37.978
standing right in front of me.

00:28:37.978 --> 00:28:39.103
(laughing)

00:28:39.103 --> 00:28:41.767
Can I turn this off now, Franco, please?

00:28:41.767 --> 00:28:43.486
- I love my job.

00:28:43.486 --> 00:28:45.750
I love my job. I love my job.

00:28:45.750 --> 00:28:48.060
More babes in the community tent.

00:28:48.060 --> 00:28:51.584
- The big boss is oh working so hard!

00:28:51.584 --> 00:28:52.417
(chuckles)

00:28:52.417 --> 00:28:56.250
Oh yeah, just peeling the
babes off her carcass.

00:28:56.250 --> 00:28:59.697
- The women of the South
really have loved the magazine.

00:28:59.697 --> 00:29:02.074
- And we just wanna say, hey, "Deneuve."

00:29:02.074 --> 00:29:04.584
- Wanna say hi to all you "Deneuve" fans.

00:29:04.584 --> 00:29:07.334
(crowd cheering)

00:29:08.212 --> 00:29:09.784
Woo woo!

00:29:09.784 --> 00:29:12.367
(bright music)

00:29:20.610 --> 00:29:22.770
- I started reading the magazine

00:29:22.770 --> 00:29:24.480
when I first started coming out.

00:29:24.480 --> 00:29:27.603
It kinda helped me remember
that I wasn't all alone.

00:29:28.778 --> 00:29:31.361
(bright music)

00:29:33.728 --> 00:29:35.563
(motorcycle engine revving)

00:29:35.563 --> 00:29:38.146
(upbeat music)

00:29:42.624 --> 00:29:46.530
- The early '90s in San
Francisco was the heyday.

00:29:46.530 --> 00:29:50.490
San Francisco was so on fire and so alive.

00:29:50.490 --> 00:29:53.310
We owned Valencia Street in the Mission.

00:29:53.310 --> 00:29:58.310
You'd just walk from
Artemis Cafe to Amelia's Bar

00:29:59.370 --> 00:30:03.510
to Osento Bathhouse because
we'd never been able to do that.

00:30:03.510 --> 00:30:05.490
So, we went to this extreme of like,

00:30:05.490 --> 00:30:07.593
we're gonna make our own culture.

00:30:08.430 --> 00:30:10.200
- I grew up in Ohio.

00:30:10.200 --> 00:30:12.210
If I were to have been out,

00:30:12.210 --> 00:30:14.910
I would've immediately been gay bashed.

00:30:14.910 --> 00:30:19.830
I escaped on the Greyhound out here,

00:30:19.830 --> 00:30:21.903
and I found my tribe.

00:30:23.190 --> 00:30:27.810
- Growing up in a small town,
I had to silence myself a lot.

00:30:27.810 --> 00:30:30.780
So, when I arrived in San Francisco,

00:30:30.780 --> 00:30:32.730
I was not silent at all.

00:30:32.730 --> 00:30:35.013
I took up as much space
as I possibly could.

00:30:35.013 --> 00:30:36.810
To be in a place

00:30:36.810 --> 00:30:38.460
where you're just literally
running down the street

00:30:38.460 --> 00:30:42.150
with your shirt off, which
I did in many circumstances.

00:30:42.150 --> 00:30:44.103
(cheering)

00:30:44.103 --> 00:30:46.080
(upbeat rock music)

00:30:46.080 --> 00:30:48.510
- [Franco] It was really
an exciting, amazing,

00:30:48.510 --> 00:30:51.120
sexually-freeing time.

00:30:51.120 --> 00:30:54.630
- [Rachel] Queer sexuality was
really coming into its own,

00:30:54.630 --> 00:30:57.731
and the founding of this
magazine was really part of that.

00:30:57.731 --> 00:31:00.314
(upbeat music)

00:31:07.811 --> 00:31:10.110
(calm music)

00:31:10.110 --> 00:31:12.060
- [Franco] My plan for the magazine

00:31:12.060 --> 00:31:15.360
was to show the inclusiveness
of the lesbian community.

00:31:15.360 --> 00:31:18.120
We put African-American
women on the cover,

00:31:18.120 --> 00:31:20.910
we put older women on the cover,

00:31:20.910 --> 00:31:23.910
we put all shapes and sizes.

00:31:23.910 --> 00:31:25.110
- [Anita] Upcoming lesbians

00:31:25.110 --> 00:31:28.803
could identify with
someone in those pages.

00:31:29.850 --> 00:31:34.020
- For the magazine to have photographs

00:31:34.020 --> 00:31:38.430
of all different kinds of
lesbians, that was a huge deal.

00:31:38.430 --> 00:31:41.790
- It wasn't a glamour magazine.
It was a community magazine.

00:31:41.790 --> 00:31:45.510
And everybody in the community
saw themselves in "Curve."

00:31:45.510 --> 00:31:50.250
- The media pours, you know,
this avalanche of identity,

00:31:50.250 --> 00:31:54.540
and well, it's missing 75%
of the people in the world.

00:31:54.540 --> 00:31:58.410
Frank's magazine brought all
the women forward and said,

00:31:58.410 --> 00:32:00.360
look how beautiful we are.

00:32:00.360 --> 00:32:03.780
- This magazine was about arts and theater

00:32:03.780 --> 00:32:07.710
and sports and culture and politics.

00:32:07.710 --> 00:32:09.630
Talking about marriage equality.

00:32:09.630 --> 00:32:11.880
No one was talking about that in the '90s.

00:32:11.880 --> 00:32:15.060
Today, there are 700
LGBTQ elected officials

00:32:15.060 --> 00:32:16.230
in the United States.

00:32:16.230 --> 00:32:18.990
Back then, maybe 20,25 and growing.

00:32:18.990 --> 00:32:21.660
But she would highlight them
every single month in there,

00:32:21.660 --> 00:32:23.370
to ensure that people were talking about

00:32:23.370 --> 00:32:26.463
how important it is to
have LGBTQ representation.

00:32:28.050 --> 00:32:29.850
- [Rachel] When I was
trying to get pregnant,

00:32:29.850 --> 00:32:33.540
I wrote a piece on that
journey for the magazine.

00:32:33.540 --> 00:32:37.080
That was a really
groundbreaking topic to cover.

00:32:37.080 --> 00:32:41.160
- It showcased feminine
lesbians for the first time.

00:32:41.160 --> 00:32:43.440
I mean, that was huge for me.

00:32:43.440 --> 00:32:44.940
- It's like if you wanna be really butch,

00:32:44.940 --> 00:32:46.350
that is completely cool.

00:32:46.350 --> 00:32:47.730
But if you don't, if you wanna be femme,

00:32:47.730 --> 00:32:50.040
if you wanna wear lipstick,
if you wanna wear dresses,

00:32:50.040 --> 00:32:51.810
if you wanna cut your hair short or not,

00:32:51.810 --> 00:32:54.690
that's your business and it's all okay.

00:32:54.690 --> 00:32:57.390
- [Lea] When the magazine
put me on the cover,

00:32:57.390 --> 00:33:01.740
it allowed women in our own
community to see a well-spoken,

00:33:01.740 --> 00:33:05.130
funny, intelligent,
charming, gentlemanly butch,

00:33:05.130 --> 00:33:06.720
which is basically who I am

00:33:06.720 --> 00:33:08.370
unless you cross my fuckin' path.

00:33:09.332 --> 00:33:12.090
- [Judea] They had a article,
"Lipstick and Dipstick,"

00:33:12.090 --> 00:33:13.680
which I thought was so brilliant

00:33:13.680 --> 00:33:14.844
that they would have the feminine

00:33:14.844 --> 00:33:18.415
and the masculine side
of lesbianism together.

00:33:18.415 --> 00:33:21.060
- [Anita] The first
time I saw the magazine,

00:33:21.060 --> 00:33:24.060
I remember there was this
brown woman on the cover,

00:33:24.060 --> 00:33:25.377
Linda Villarosa.

00:33:25.377 --> 00:33:29.568
Just the power of seeing me.

00:33:29.568 --> 00:33:31.159
(sniffs back tears)

00:33:31.159 --> 00:33:33.576
(calm music)

00:33:37.020 --> 00:33:40.350
- There's so much about the word lesbian

00:33:40.350 --> 00:33:43.710
that is freighted with shame and stigma.

00:33:43.710 --> 00:33:47.850
That word has been sullied,
it has been cheapened,

00:33:47.850 --> 00:33:49.680
it's been mocked.

00:33:49.680 --> 00:33:53.670
The dominant culture has
tried to strip it of honor

00:33:53.670 --> 00:33:57.210
and dignity and pride
and nuance and beauty

00:33:57.210 --> 00:33:59.850
and sacredness and all of that.

00:33:59.850 --> 00:34:04.850
The magazine said, here
we are, and it's lesbian!

00:34:05.090 --> 00:34:06.120
And all of the sudden,

00:34:06.120 --> 00:34:08.970
you felt like maybe you were
rebuilt a little bit inside.

00:34:10.795 --> 00:34:12.480
(calm music)

00:34:12.480 --> 00:34:14.940
- After I saw the first
issue, I knew right then

00:34:14.940 --> 00:34:17.850
that being the editor of
a magazine like "Deneuve"

00:34:17.850 --> 00:34:20.150
was gonna be what I
wanted to do with my life.

00:34:21.030 --> 00:34:24.240
I'd been married 16 years as a lesbian.

00:34:24.240 --> 00:34:25.470
And she'd always been butch.

00:34:25.470 --> 00:34:28.297
And by the time she came to me and said,

00:34:28.297 --> 00:34:32.437
"I think I'm trans," I was
like, "Yeah, you know. I know."

00:34:32.437 --> 00:34:36.337
We went to Franco first and just said,

00:34:36.337 --> 00:34:38.130
"Jake is coming out as trans.

00:34:38.130 --> 00:34:39.930
Do you want us to keep this secret?

00:34:39.930 --> 00:34:43.824
Or will I lose my job, or, you
know, what's gonna happen?"

00:34:43.824 --> 00:34:48.000
Franco said, "No, absolutely not.

00:34:48.000 --> 00:34:51.360
You are the best person to
be running this magazine.

00:34:51.360 --> 00:34:55.260
We love Jake and accept him,
and he's part of the family."

00:34:55.260 --> 00:34:57.783
And it meant everything.

00:34:58.770 --> 00:35:01.380
The magazine was never just a job.

00:35:01.380 --> 00:35:03.298
It was a lifestyle.

00:35:03.298 --> 00:35:05.296
To know that I wasn't gonna lose that

00:35:05.296 --> 00:35:08.640
because my partner had
found himself, you know,

00:35:08.640 --> 00:35:12.690
after 16 years, you
know, I was happy for him

00:35:12.690 --> 00:35:13.704
and then thrilled for me.

00:35:13.704 --> 00:35:15.360
(chuckles)

00:35:15.360 --> 00:35:18.780
You can actually see the
imprint of the impact we had

00:35:18.780 --> 00:35:20.460
by welcoming trans men.

00:35:20.460 --> 00:35:24.510
And the same thing for
bringing in transgender women

00:35:24.510 --> 00:35:26.310
who identify as lesbian.

00:35:26.310 --> 00:35:29.250
We covered some trans lesbians very early

00:35:29.250 --> 00:35:31.064
compared to some other publications.

00:35:31.064 --> 00:35:33.481
(calm music)

00:35:35.415 --> 00:35:39.090
- There were not a lot of ways
that you could see yourself.

00:35:39.090 --> 00:35:40.947
Way before "The L Word" there was "Curve,"

00:35:40.947 --> 00:35:43.470
and I could see myself represented there.

00:35:43.470 --> 00:35:45.147
- There's something to be
said around that moment

00:35:45.147 --> 00:35:49.140
that a young person
watches a video, you know,

00:35:49.140 --> 00:35:50.880
where they feel affirmed
in their sexuality

00:35:50.880 --> 00:35:52.996
or their gender presentation or identity.

00:35:52.996 --> 00:35:56.820
And walking into a bookstore
and looking at "Curve,"

00:35:56.820 --> 00:35:58.380
right? On a table.

00:35:58.380 --> 00:36:01.830
I see that same moment,
that coming of age moment

00:36:01.830 --> 00:36:04.170
where something in you
unlocks and says, it's okay.

00:36:04.170 --> 00:36:05.003
- It's okay.

00:36:05.003 --> 00:36:06.832
And there's other people
that are like me. Yeah.

00:36:06.832 --> 00:36:08.820
- You know, one of the
things about social media,

00:36:08.820 --> 00:36:12.270
like folks who've been most
marginalized really having,

00:36:12.270 --> 00:36:13.920
you know, taking the microphone, right?

00:36:13.920 --> 00:36:15.663
Being able to create their own content

00:36:15.663 --> 00:36:18.600
and tell their own
stories in their own words

00:36:18.600 --> 00:36:20.820
and then be connected to a wide audience.

00:36:20.820 --> 00:36:23.070
We want representation,
but we also want ownership.

00:36:23.070 --> 00:36:25.830
We also want to be able
to make decisions, right?

00:36:25.830 --> 00:36:27.270
- 'Cause folks were saying
over and over again,

00:36:27.270 --> 00:36:29.070
they just didn't feel like they
had that seat at the table.

00:36:29.070 --> 00:36:30.540
They didn't feel like they had a voice.

00:36:30.540 --> 00:36:32.040
They weren't reflected in the leadership

00:36:32.040 --> 00:36:34.245
of our organizations,
our LGBT organizations.

00:36:34.245 --> 00:36:36.240
Policy wasn't really impacting them.

00:36:36.240 --> 00:36:37.743
So, the symbolic change

00:36:37.743 --> 00:36:40.650
was to add these black and
brown stripes to the flag.

00:36:40.650 --> 00:36:41.640
So, we raised the flag

00:36:41.640 --> 00:36:44.910
literally right here at these
flag poles on a Thursday,

00:36:44.910 --> 00:36:47.760
and by Friday morning, it
had gone completely viral.

00:36:47.760 --> 00:36:51.300
CNN had picked it up,
"HuffPost" picked it up,

00:36:51.300 --> 00:36:52.464
Breitbart picked it up.

00:36:52.464 --> 00:36:53.370
(Laughs)

00:36:53.370 --> 00:36:54.420
It was a scary time.

00:36:54.420 --> 00:36:57.330
I joke about it now, but the
hate mail was out of control.

00:36:57.330 --> 00:36:59.070
The death threats were out of control.

00:36:59.070 --> 00:37:01.320
The mayor got death threats on my behalf.

00:37:01.320 --> 00:37:02.193
Even people were so angry,

00:37:02.193 --> 00:37:04.560
it's like at least you're
finally talking about it.

00:37:04.560 --> 00:37:05.393
- Right.

00:37:05.393 --> 00:37:07.470
- Because like I feel like white
folks in the LGBT community

00:37:07.470 --> 00:37:08.303
have...

00:37:08.303 --> 00:37:09.660
I mean, that's how privilege works.

00:37:09.660 --> 00:37:10.663
You were able to ignore
it for so long, right?

00:37:10.663 --> 00:37:11.496
- Right. Exactly.

00:37:11.496 --> 00:37:12.602
- And so, now, it's like fine.

00:37:12.602 --> 00:37:14.580
Yell at me and tell me
racism doesn't exist.

00:37:14.580 --> 00:37:15.862
But at least you're talking about it.

00:37:15.862 --> 00:37:17.010
(Amber laughs)

00:37:17.010 --> 00:37:19.020
- I think something that Amber and I

00:37:19.020 --> 00:37:20.370
often have to remind folks of,

00:37:20.370 --> 00:37:24.030
and just in conversation
within the LGBTQ community

00:37:24.030 --> 00:37:24.870
or certain parts of it,

00:37:24.870 --> 00:37:27.210
is that LGBTQ rights is
immigrant rights, right?

00:37:27.210 --> 00:37:28.230
- [Amber] That's right. That's right.

00:37:28.230 --> 00:37:29.374
- [Denice] Is black and brown rights.

00:37:29.374 --> 00:37:30.330
- [Amber] That's right,
it's disability rights.

00:37:30.330 --> 00:37:31.620
- It's disability rights.

00:37:31.620 --> 00:37:33.870
And that these issues are connected,

00:37:33.870 --> 00:37:36.840
and systems of oppression are
layered and connected as well.

00:37:36.840 --> 00:37:39.690
And so, we can't have
these siloed conversations.

00:37:39.690 --> 00:37:41.220
- I know for me and the work that I do,

00:37:41.220 --> 00:37:45.407
I am reminded very literally
every day about my predecessors

00:37:45.407 --> 00:37:48.330
and the giants that really paved the way

00:37:48.330 --> 00:37:50.010
for any of the work that we're able to do.

00:37:50.010 --> 00:37:52.020
- [Denice] I would not be here
if it wasn't for the work of

00:37:52.020 --> 00:37:54.690
Gloria Anzaldua, Cherrie
Moraga in particular,

00:37:54.690 --> 00:37:56.790
Tatiana De La Tierra who
really were the first-

00:37:56.790 --> 00:37:58.999
- [Franco] All women we've
covered in the magazine too.

00:37:58.999 --> 00:38:00.438
(all laugh)

00:38:00.438 --> 00:38:02.597
- And this is why "Curve," you know

00:38:02.597 --> 00:38:03.546
- [Both] It's amazing.

00:38:03.546 --> 00:38:04.880
(upbeat music)

00:38:04.880 --> 00:38:06.360
- If you don't have a good cover,

00:38:06.360 --> 00:38:08.220
you're not gonna attract
somebody to buy it

00:38:08.220 --> 00:38:09.210
on the newsstand.

00:38:09.210 --> 00:38:11.798
To start off with, we put
women in the community,

00:38:11.798 --> 00:38:15.090
either that we thought were hot and sexy,

00:38:15.090 --> 00:38:17.310
or somebody on staff was
possibly sleeping with,

00:38:17.310 --> 00:38:18.143
I don't know.

00:38:19.020 --> 00:38:22.980
But we'd always hoped to have a celebrity.

00:38:22.980 --> 00:38:27.510
The only out lesbian that I
could think of at the time

00:38:27.510 --> 00:38:29.489
was Martina Navratilova.

00:38:29.489 --> 00:38:33.480
And I'm pretty sure I thought
Lily Tomlin was a lesbian,

00:38:33.480 --> 00:38:34.770
although she was not out.

00:38:34.770 --> 00:38:35.887
- Johnny, it's a pleasure.

00:38:35.887 --> 00:38:40.530
- So, I tried writing to
Martina Navratilova's people,

00:38:40.530 --> 00:38:42.180
didn't get a response.

00:38:42.180 --> 00:38:46.230
I tried writing to Lily Tomlin's person.

00:38:46.230 --> 00:38:49.170
One day, an intern said to
me, "Oh, somebody called

00:38:49.170 --> 00:38:50.130
while you were in the bathroom.

00:38:50.130 --> 00:38:52.804
She said her name was Lily
Tomlin or something like that."

00:38:52.804 --> 00:38:56.400
And I'm like, "Wait. Lily Tomlin

00:38:56.400 --> 00:38:58.740
called this office, and
I was in the bathroom?"

00:38:58.740 --> 00:39:00.705
And I said, "Tell me what she said."

00:39:00.705 --> 00:39:05.705
"She said she would
love to be on the cover,

00:39:05.954 --> 00:39:09.840
but she just doesn't
think the timing is right.

00:39:09.840 --> 00:39:12.473
She can't, and she's sure
you will understand."

00:39:12.473 --> 00:39:13.306
(lively music)

00:39:13.306 --> 00:39:16.923
Our first big celebrity
was Melissa Etheridge.

00:39:17.940 --> 00:39:21.510
I was so blown away that she said yes.

00:39:21.510 --> 00:39:24.780
It was justifying that hey, we've arrived.

00:39:24.780 --> 00:39:27.843
We actually landed our
first celebrity, celesbian.

00:39:28.914 --> 00:39:32.010
- I got very involved in
the election of Clinton.

00:39:32.010 --> 00:39:32.843
- [Reporter] For the first time

00:39:32.843 --> 00:39:33.840
in a race for the White House,

00:39:33.840 --> 00:39:35.040
gay and lesbian issues

00:39:35.040 --> 00:39:37.110
were an important part of the campaign.

00:39:37.110 --> 00:39:40.650
- I was invited to the
first ever triangle ball

00:39:40.650 --> 00:39:42.840
at the inaugural celebration.

00:39:42.840 --> 00:39:45.939
This was the first time that gays

00:39:45.939 --> 00:39:47.580
put anything like this together.

00:39:47.580 --> 00:39:48.690
The gays were acknowledged

00:39:48.690 --> 00:39:51.988
in helping Bill Clinton get elected.

00:39:51.988 --> 00:39:54.208
We were having a blast! Everyone was-

00:39:54.208 --> 00:39:57.424
KD Lang, she had just recently come out,

00:39:57.424 --> 00:39:59.978
and she calls me up.

00:39:59.978 --> 00:40:01.458
- And I'm proud to say right now,

00:40:01.458 --> 00:40:04.210
I'm very proud to have
been a lesbian all my life.

00:40:04.210 --> 00:40:05.560
(crowd cheering)

00:40:05.560 --> 00:40:07.020
- Wow! The place went crazy.

00:40:07.020 --> 00:40:08.708
And I was ah, I think I just came out.

00:40:08.708 --> 00:40:10.747
Someone called and said,

00:40:10.747 --> 00:40:14.586
"Hey, there's this new
magazine for lesbians."

00:40:14.586 --> 00:40:16.708
And I was like, "Well, this is amazing!

00:40:16.708 --> 00:40:17.760
This is great."

00:40:17.760 --> 00:40:22.470
I was so happy to be able
to help the magazine,

00:40:22.470 --> 00:40:23.490
and for them to help me.

00:40:23.490 --> 00:40:26.370
I think it worked both ways.

00:40:26.370 --> 00:40:27.600
- We thought it would be a no-brainer

00:40:27.600 --> 00:40:31.260
to get ads like tampons and razors.

00:40:31.260 --> 00:40:32.880
But the misconceived notion

00:40:32.880 --> 00:40:34.800
that lesbians don't shave their legs,

00:40:34.800 --> 00:40:37.683
and that we don't use tampons.

00:40:39.240 --> 00:40:41.580
- Advertisers really, you know, struggled

00:40:41.580 --> 00:40:42.540
with like figuring out

00:40:42.540 --> 00:40:44.940
how are they going to advertise in there.

00:40:44.940 --> 00:40:46.530
- Is there a risk for a company

00:40:46.530 --> 00:40:48.142
when it advertises in gay magazines

00:40:48.142 --> 00:40:52.560
that a right wing group
might then indeed boycott?

00:40:52.560 --> 00:40:53.474
- Absolutely.

00:40:53.474 --> 00:40:55.860
The right is very organized,

00:40:55.860 --> 00:40:58.260
and they've used gays and lesbians

00:40:58.260 --> 00:40:59.857
as demon figures for years now.

00:40:59.857 --> 00:41:01.800
- [Reporter] "Deneuve,"
now in its third year,

00:41:01.800 --> 00:41:05.100
has only two mainstream
ads in its latest issue.

00:41:05.100 --> 00:41:07.050
- It's hard selling a gay product,

00:41:07.050 --> 00:41:09.493
and it's very hard
selling a lesbian product.

00:41:09.493 --> 00:41:12.270
So, I do think that there's kind of

00:41:12.270 --> 00:41:14.282
this double negative going on.

00:41:14.282 --> 00:41:19.282
- The day we got Bud Light
to advertise was huge.

00:41:20.430 --> 00:41:22.470
We felt like we'd suddenly arrived.

00:41:22.470 --> 00:41:24.600
- [Franco] Bud Light was
our feather in the cap

00:41:24.600 --> 00:41:26.490
with our first national ad.

00:41:26.490 --> 00:41:29.610
Subaru was known as the
lesbian car of choice,

00:41:29.610 --> 00:41:34.050
and they reinforced that by
making lesbian-specific ads.

00:41:34.050 --> 00:41:37.410
And it just sort of opened
up different avenues for us

00:41:37.410 --> 00:41:40.050
to break into different
advertising markets.

00:41:40.050 --> 00:41:41.130
- Something shifted,

00:41:41.130 --> 00:41:44.580
where lesbians started
to enter popular culture.

00:41:44.580 --> 00:41:47.760
It began with KD Lang, Melissa Etheridge,

00:41:47.760 --> 00:41:50.610
and very soon after that, Ellen and Rosie.

00:41:50.610 --> 00:41:53.162
- Susan, I'm gay.

00:41:53.162 --> 00:41:56.162
(audience laughing)

00:41:58.680 --> 00:42:00.655
We do find out that the
character is Lebanese.

00:42:00.655 --> 00:42:01.488
And-

00:42:01.488 --> 00:42:02.741
(audience laugh)

00:42:02.741 --> 00:42:03.574
- Lebanese?

00:42:03.574 --> 00:42:04.407
- Yeah, yeah.

00:42:04.407 --> 00:42:05.340
And-

00:42:05.340 --> 00:42:06.510
- Just outta the blue? She just-

00:42:06.510 --> 00:42:07.366
- No, there've been clues.

00:42:07.366 --> 00:42:08.199
- Oh, really?

00:42:08.199 --> 00:42:09.720
- I mean, you've seen
her eating baba ghanoush,

00:42:09.720 --> 00:42:10.695
if you've watched the show at all.

00:42:10.695 --> 00:42:12.180
(audience Laugh)
- Baba ghanoush.

00:42:12.180 --> 00:42:15.072
- And hummus and big,
big fan of Casey Casem

00:42:15.072 --> 00:42:16.543
and Kathy and Jimmy's.

00:42:16.543 --> 00:42:17.640
(audience laugh)

00:42:17.640 --> 00:42:18.810
Yeah, and-

00:42:18.810 --> 00:42:19.643
- Hey! Wait a minute!

00:42:19.643 --> 00:42:21.930
I'm a big fan of Casey Casem. Listen.

00:42:21.930 --> 00:42:23.225
- [Casey] You go, girl!

00:42:23.225 --> 00:42:25.530
(audience laugh)

00:42:25.530 --> 00:42:26.835
- Maybe I'm Lebanese.

00:42:26.835 --> 00:42:27.764
- You could be Lebanese.

00:42:27.764 --> 00:42:29.411
- I could be Lebanese
myself. I didn't know that.

00:42:29.411 --> 00:42:30.263
(audience laugh)

00:42:30.263 --> 00:42:32.096
- You know, sometimes...

00:42:32.096 --> 00:42:33.900
That's odd 'cause I pick up sometimes

00:42:33.900 --> 00:42:34.873
that you might be Lebanese.

00:42:34.873 --> 00:42:35.730
- Yeah!

00:42:35.730 --> 00:42:36.720
- [Ellen] Yeah.

00:42:36.720 --> 00:42:38.637
- There was Sandra
Bernhard. There was Madonna.

00:42:38.637 --> 00:42:41.310
They were glamorous, they were successful,

00:42:41.310 --> 00:42:42.837
they were at the top of their fields,

00:42:42.837 --> 00:42:44.940
and this was newsworthy.

00:42:44.940 --> 00:42:47.040
And on top of that, it became fashionable.

00:42:47.040 --> 00:42:50.670
Cindy Crawford did that
famous "Vanity Fair" cover

00:42:50.670 --> 00:42:52.140
with KD Lang.

00:42:52.140 --> 00:42:53.370
So, it was in the air.

00:42:53.370 --> 00:42:55.050
And it really entered the zeitgeist,

00:42:55.050 --> 00:42:57.360
and it became attractive.

00:42:57.360 --> 00:43:00.090
- [Rachel] We got someone
we wanted for the cover.

00:43:00.090 --> 00:43:04.110
We got all these great
writers to contribute pieces.

00:43:04.110 --> 00:43:07.590
We got columnists who
would write regularly.

00:43:07.590 --> 00:43:11.880
We got a great reception
everywhere we went.

00:43:11.880 --> 00:43:13.560
- And what she's done is so courageous.

00:43:13.560 --> 00:43:17.880
She's risked her friends, her
family, her job, her house

00:43:17.880 --> 00:43:20.310
to come and tell you who she is.

00:43:20.310 --> 00:43:22.080
And for that, I think every woman

00:43:22.080 --> 00:43:24.510
and every person in this
audience should give her a hand.

00:43:24.510 --> 00:43:26.400
- [Rachel] Franco becoming a celebrity

00:43:26.400 --> 00:43:29.460
and representative of
a new wave of lesbians

00:43:29.460 --> 00:43:32.370
in the community,
everything was a triumph,

00:43:32.370 --> 00:43:33.960
and everything felt good.

00:43:33.960 --> 00:43:37.140
- [Sandi] Now, It had become
a name that was recognizable.

00:43:37.140 --> 00:43:39.300
- [Franco] Our subscription
numbers were rising.

00:43:39.300 --> 00:43:41.700
Our newsstand sales were great.

00:43:41.700 --> 00:43:43.830
We're starting to get national ads.

00:43:43.830 --> 00:43:45.840
Things are really good.

00:43:45.840 --> 00:43:50.193
And then one day this
letter arrived at the door,

00:43:51.270 --> 00:43:52.233
a lawsuit.

00:43:53.670 --> 00:43:56.430
The air just went out of
everything like phhhooooo.

00:43:56.430 --> 00:43:59.013
(somber music)

00:44:02.070 --> 00:44:05.490
We were sued by a French
actress named Catherine Deneuve

00:44:05.490 --> 00:44:06.990
over the name of the magazine.

00:44:08.520 --> 00:44:11.920
She didn't want her name
associated with a lesbian magazine.

00:44:11.920 --> 00:44:14.853
She didn't want anybody to
think she might be a lesbian.

00:44:16.350 --> 00:44:19.200
Really, you can sue
anybody for any reason.

00:44:19.200 --> 00:44:20.900
Those with the deeper pockets win.

00:44:21.842 --> 00:44:25.110
(somber music)

00:44:25.110 --> 00:44:28.440
- The lawsuit came as a complete surprise.

00:44:28.440 --> 00:44:32.640
We couldn't believe that
such a prestigious film star

00:44:32.640 --> 00:44:35.040
would really be bothering about us.

00:44:35.040 --> 00:44:37.860
And if anything, why wasn't she delighted

00:44:37.860 --> 00:44:40.590
that this wonderful lesbian magazine

00:44:40.590 --> 00:44:43.440
potentially bore her name?

00:44:43.440 --> 00:44:45.210
After all, she had been in "The Hunger,"

00:44:45.210 --> 00:44:48.780
which is, you know, a lesbian cult film.

00:44:48.780 --> 00:44:52.920
- We were sued in two different countries,

00:44:52.920 --> 00:44:56.520
two separate lawsuits, two
sets of different counsel,

00:44:56.520 --> 00:45:00.270
two sets of bills, two
sets of filing fees.

00:45:00.270 --> 00:45:03.210
We had to come up with lawyers,

00:45:03.210 --> 00:45:04.980
we had to come up with money,

00:45:04.980 --> 00:45:07.410
and we had to go down and do a deposition.

00:45:07.410 --> 00:45:09.510
Their focus was really on
the name of the magazine.

00:45:09.510 --> 00:45:11.520
Where did the name of
the magazine come from?

00:45:11.520 --> 00:45:14.310
It was her name, and
we had no right to it.

00:45:14.310 --> 00:45:16.653
And we were using it to sell our magazine.

00:45:17.670 --> 00:45:20.495
All I kept thinking was "Wow,

00:45:20.495 --> 00:45:23.400
they're gonna put us out of business."

00:45:23.400 --> 00:45:27.180
- Was this magazine gonna fold?
Were we gonna lose our jobs?

00:45:27.180 --> 00:45:30.630
We were terrified. And
Franco was terrified.

00:45:30.630 --> 00:45:34.290
She lost weight, got real pale.

00:45:34.290 --> 00:45:38.280
You could tell the stress
was really affecting her.

00:45:38.280 --> 00:45:42.360
- There was a light that
was gone for a little while.

00:45:42.360 --> 00:45:44.970
And at one point, she
said, "Do I keep fighting,

00:45:44.970 --> 00:45:48.570
or do I just take this as
a sign and close it up?"

00:45:48.570 --> 00:45:51.933
- The lawsuit was the most
stressful time in my whole life.

00:45:53.340 --> 00:45:54.963
My hair started to fall out.

00:45:56.490 --> 00:45:59.370
And I didn't let on to the true extent

00:45:59.370 --> 00:46:02.733
of the financial difficulties
that we were having.

00:46:04.290 --> 00:46:05.610
- Franco came to the office,

00:46:05.610 --> 00:46:07.200
and she was really stressed out.

00:46:07.200 --> 00:46:09.000
Her face was red. She was sweating.

00:46:09.000 --> 00:46:11.084
She slapped this thing
down on the table and.

00:46:11.084 --> 00:46:11.977
(sighs)

00:46:11.977 --> 00:46:13.620
"We got the money for the next issue."

00:46:13.620 --> 00:46:17.010
And in this roll of paper
that she had set on the table

00:46:17.010 --> 00:46:19.860
was, you know, a giant like
stack of money, you know,

00:46:19.860 --> 00:46:21.355
like from a movie.

00:46:21.355 --> 00:46:24.150
- When I walked in to take
money from a loan shark,

00:46:24.150 --> 00:46:26.820
I thought, I have hit rock bottom.

00:46:26.820 --> 00:46:30.363
And if this fails, I might be
really physically in danger.

00:46:31.770 --> 00:46:35.760
- Everybody was just up in
arms like, are you kidding?

00:46:35.760 --> 00:46:38.250
You can't take this away from us.

00:46:38.250 --> 00:46:41.250
We're gonna have to fight
this together as a community.

00:46:41.250 --> 00:46:44.130
- We really had this urgency

00:46:44.130 --> 00:46:45.959
that we were not gonna be defeated.

00:46:45.959 --> 00:46:48.656
- You know, you come so far,
you're not gonna go backward.

00:46:48.656 --> 00:46:51.000
That's how people felt.

00:46:51.000 --> 00:46:54.000
- There was no way that
we could let it happen.

00:46:54.000 --> 00:46:56.520
She had this lesbian army behind her

00:46:56.520 --> 00:46:59.373
willing to go into battle with her.

00:47:00.780 --> 00:47:04.263
The magazine was definitely
worth fighting for.

00:47:05.190 --> 00:47:08.671
- There's nothing I wouldn't
do to save the magazine.

00:47:08.671 --> 00:47:11.310
(dramatic music)

00:47:11.310 --> 00:47:13.560
- [Cal] One morning, she comes in,

00:47:13.560 --> 00:47:16.080
in her full combat fatigues,

00:47:16.080 --> 00:47:18.900
and she said, "Girls, we are
not gonna let this beat us."

00:47:18.900 --> 00:47:20.519
It turned the page.

00:47:20.519 --> 00:47:25.050
- Somebody had an idea that we
could throw a big fundraiser

00:47:25.050 --> 00:47:26.397
to save the magazine.

00:47:26.397 --> 00:47:27.570
- I'd like to say good
morning to everybody.

00:47:27.570 --> 00:47:29.040
We didn't sleep at all last night.

00:47:29.040 --> 00:47:29.873
- [Speaker] Not at all?

00:47:29.873 --> 00:47:30.706
- No ma'am.

00:47:30.706 --> 00:47:32.220
Well, I actually snuck
in a couple of hours.

00:47:32.220 --> 00:47:34.370
Franco, 45 minutes.

00:47:34.370 --> 00:47:35.203
- Mwah!

00:47:35.203 --> 00:47:37.200
- [Speaker] Good morning, sunshine.

00:47:37.200 --> 00:47:41.340
- The idea was to gather all
of the artists that we knew

00:47:41.340 --> 00:47:45.210
and throw this massive
party to raise resources

00:47:45.210 --> 00:47:46.650
to help Frank fight.

00:47:46.650 --> 00:47:49.020
It was our community really,
really banding together

00:47:49.020 --> 00:47:50.310
to support Frank.

00:47:50.310 --> 00:47:51.434
- [Speaker] Tell us how
you're feeling today.

00:47:51.434 --> 00:47:52.900
- I'm really hoping-

00:47:52.900 --> 00:47:55.298
- That everybody comes today.
- Comes.

00:47:55.298 --> 00:47:56.910
(speaker laughs)

00:47:56.910 --> 00:48:00.240
- [Speaker] There's lots of
love here. I'm seeing love.

00:48:00.240 --> 00:48:03.060
- People we had interviewed
through the magazine found out,

00:48:03.060 --> 00:48:05.580
and they wanted to come and fly themselves

00:48:05.580 --> 00:48:08.520
to San Francisco and
be part of this event.

00:48:08.520 --> 00:48:11.070
People wanted to donate
stuff for a silent auction

00:48:11.070 --> 00:48:13.440
and a live auction,
and lesbian celebrities

00:48:13.440 --> 00:48:15.660
even auctioned off dates with themselves.

00:48:15.660 --> 00:48:17.400
Like I remember Lea DeLaria.

00:48:17.400 --> 00:48:20.910
- What was happening to the
magazine was fucking bullshit.

00:48:20.910 --> 00:48:22.672
And I wanted to help.

00:48:22.672 --> 00:48:25.990
We got $800 over here.
We're looking for $850.

00:48:25.990 --> 00:48:28.201
We're looking for $850.
We got $850 on the line!

00:48:28.201 --> 00:48:29.970
(crowd cheering)

00:48:29.970 --> 00:48:31.350
I wish I could say it's the first time

00:48:31.350 --> 00:48:32.552
I've auctioned myself off for a date.

00:48:32.552 --> 00:48:33.780
(laughs)

00:48:33.780 --> 00:48:35.627
- [Katie] So many people
came out to support us.

00:48:35.627 --> 00:48:38.760
- [Speaker] It was like a
who's Who of lesbian comedians,

00:48:38.760 --> 00:48:41.609
lesbian music, lesbian authors.

00:48:41.609 --> 00:48:43.259
- She'll read to you in a limo, okay?

00:48:43.259 --> 00:48:45.676
(calm music)

00:48:47.040 --> 00:48:49.329
- [Page] It was packed, completely packed.

00:48:49.329 --> 00:48:52.170
There was so much power in the room.

00:48:52.170 --> 00:48:53.290
It was mecca.

00:48:53.290 --> 00:48:56.623
(energetic dance music)

00:49:03.060 --> 00:49:05.603
- I had never seen the lesbian
community come together

00:49:05.603 --> 00:49:07.170
as a whole

00:49:07.170 --> 00:49:10.723
for something that wasn't
strictly a political movement.

00:49:10.723 --> 00:49:13.306
(upbeat music)

00:49:14.400 --> 00:49:17.310
I mean, maybe coming
together to save the magazine

00:49:17.310 --> 00:49:19.623
was a political action.

00:49:20.610 --> 00:49:22.320
- [Deb] And it was just by
the love of the community

00:49:22.320 --> 00:49:24.210
and the contributions of
the people that performed

00:49:24.210 --> 00:49:26.370
that allowed us to keep going.

00:49:26.370 --> 00:49:28.479
- And now I'm overwhelmed by
the support you're giving me

00:49:28.479 --> 00:49:30.690
and the support you're
giving the magazine.

00:49:30.690 --> 00:49:33.383
And thank you so, so much.

00:49:33.383 --> 00:49:35.966
(crowd cheers)

00:49:39.180 --> 00:49:42.510
We got to a point where we
were either like, all right,

00:49:42.510 --> 00:49:47.250
change the name and live
to publish another day.

00:49:47.250 --> 00:49:49.560
Or be stubborn, keep the name,

00:49:49.560 --> 00:49:52.800
and go under from just
the legal fees alone.

00:49:52.800 --> 00:49:54.337
- And we were able to settle,

00:49:54.337 --> 00:49:59.337
and the settlement required
us to change our name.

00:49:59.820 --> 00:50:02.120
One day, Franco came and
she says, "I got it."

00:50:03.000 --> 00:50:05.040
And she had been sitting
on a bench somewhere

00:50:05.040 --> 00:50:06.876
looking out at a view.

00:50:06.876 --> 00:50:11.160
And she noticed that the
hills were curvaceous,

00:50:11.160 --> 00:50:12.957
and she thought "Curve."

00:50:13.987 --> 00:50:14.820
- "Curve."

00:50:14.820 --> 00:50:17.070
- We were like what? We loved it.

00:50:17.070 --> 00:50:18.750
- That's a great name.

00:50:18.750 --> 00:50:20.040
- We've changed the name

00:50:20.040 --> 00:50:24.870
starting with the January '96
Martina Navratilova cover.

00:50:24.870 --> 00:50:28.597
The same magazine, the same
product with just a new name.

00:50:28.597 --> 00:50:30.150
"Curve" isn't straight.

00:50:30.150 --> 00:50:33.390
It's bent, it's gay, it's...

00:50:33.390 --> 00:50:36.180
You know, the curves of a
woman's body, it's beautiful.

00:50:36.180 --> 00:50:37.260
It's a much better name.

00:50:37.260 --> 00:50:38.850
People can pronounce it.

00:50:38.850 --> 00:50:39.777
- Thanks, "Curve."

00:50:39.777 --> 00:50:42.444
(pensive music)

00:50:54.660 --> 00:50:56.040
- We're trying to figure out

00:50:56.040 --> 00:50:58.890
is a lesbian magazine still needed today?

00:50:58.890 --> 00:51:03.120
I mean the mission was really
to foster lesbian visibility

00:51:03.120 --> 00:51:05.370
within our community and also externally

00:51:05.370 --> 00:51:06.930
from the outside in.

00:51:06.930 --> 00:51:08.640
And is the mission still relevant?

00:51:08.640 --> 00:51:11.340
- It's still really relevant
and very important. Yeah.

00:51:11.340 --> 00:51:13.080
- We still need a reminder

00:51:13.080 --> 00:51:14.340
of like the history of our movement

00:51:14.340 --> 00:51:17.250
and also like a beat on what's happening.

00:51:17.250 --> 00:51:19.669
- But does it need to be
a physical print magazine?

00:51:19.669 --> 00:51:20.502
- No, I don't think so.

00:51:20.502 --> 00:51:21.338
- Do you read magazines?

00:51:21.338 --> 00:51:22.171
- No, I don't.

00:51:22.171 --> 00:51:23.130
- Do you read magazines?
- [Speaker] No.

00:51:23.130 --> 00:51:25.560
- Magazines? Magazines?

00:51:25.560 --> 00:51:27.090
- I think there's different
ways to tell stories

00:51:27.090 --> 00:51:29.070
than just, you know,
actually writing them out.

00:51:29.070 --> 00:51:30.044
- There's this huge misconception

00:51:30.044 --> 00:51:31.950
that because we have marriage equality,

00:51:31.950 --> 00:51:33.480
we must have employment protections.

00:51:33.480 --> 00:51:34.890
We must have housing protections.

00:51:34.890 --> 00:51:36.870
We must have public accommodation

00:51:36.870 --> 00:51:37.920
discrimination protections,

00:51:37.920 --> 00:51:39.913
and we don't on a national level.

00:51:39.913 --> 00:51:42.000
So, we get calls every day from people

00:51:42.000 --> 00:51:44.280
whose children are being taken
away from them by the courts

00:51:44.280 --> 00:51:46.846
because the judge is
homophobic or transphobic.

00:51:46.846 --> 00:51:48.210
We get calls every day

00:51:48.210 --> 00:51:50.250
by people who are denied
basic medical care

00:51:50.250 --> 00:51:52.050
because of their identity.

00:51:52.050 --> 00:51:53.160
- People are really scared.

00:51:53.160 --> 00:51:55.620
People are really scared
of what's coming next.

00:51:55.620 --> 00:51:59.120
And it's not safe to be queer right now.

00:51:59.120 --> 00:52:00.123
It just isn't.

00:52:01.418 --> 00:52:02.251
- [Speaker] What do we want?

00:52:02.251 --> 00:52:03.084
- [All] Gay rights.

00:52:03.084 --> 00:52:03.917
- [Speaker] When do we want them?

00:52:03.917 --> 00:52:04.750
- [All] Now

00:52:04.750 --> 00:52:07.983
- We've been fighting for equality.

00:52:09.000 --> 00:52:12.420
We've been fighting to not get beat up

00:52:12.420 --> 00:52:15.720
or to have our job taken
away because of who we love,

00:52:15.720 --> 00:52:17.673
very, very sort of basic.

00:52:19.386 --> 00:52:23.280
And in that fight, we became more visible.

00:52:23.280 --> 00:52:27.720
As we became more visible,
we also became a target.

00:52:27.720 --> 00:52:30.330
- I looked forward to the
day that a magazine like ours

00:52:30.330 --> 00:52:31.290
wouldn't be necessary

00:52:31.290 --> 00:52:33.990
because we wouldn't be
discriminated against.

00:52:33.990 --> 00:52:35.446
We wouldn't be isolated.

00:52:35.446 --> 00:52:39.246
We would see ourselves
reflected everywhere.

00:52:39.246 --> 00:52:43.140
And to some extent,
we've made huge strides.

00:52:43.140 --> 00:52:45.870
I feel like in the last couple of years,

00:52:45.870 --> 00:52:47.580
we've started to go backwards,

00:52:47.580 --> 00:52:49.650
and things that we took for granted

00:52:49.650 --> 00:52:52.290
are now in question again.

00:52:52.290 --> 00:52:54.240
- What's at risk right
now for the gay community

00:52:54.240 --> 00:52:59.130
is a throwback to discrimination
and being seen as other.

00:52:59.130 --> 00:53:01.050
And I think it's really important

00:53:01.050 --> 00:53:04.350
to not let up for a minute.

00:53:04.350 --> 00:53:06.720
The old line, people who
don't know their history

00:53:06.720 --> 00:53:10.560
are doomed to repeat it, what
everybody fought so hard for

00:53:10.560 --> 00:53:11.580
could be lost.

00:53:11.580 --> 00:53:16.230
- There's a sense that
because gay marriage

00:53:16.230 --> 00:53:18.840
is no longer an impossibility,

00:53:18.840 --> 00:53:21.921
people have an illusion of safety.

00:53:21.921 --> 00:53:26.828
How safe any of us are? I don't know.

00:53:26.828 --> 00:53:30.270
(suspenseful music)

00:53:30.270 --> 00:53:33.540
There is growing concern
in this country, and fear,

00:53:33.540 --> 00:53:36.840
about deadly attacks against
transgender Americans,

00:53:36.840 --> 00:53:39.510
particularly trans women of color.

00:53:39.510 --> 00:53:42.300
- More than 100 anti-LGBT bills

00:53:42.300 --> 00:53:44.640
have been introduced in 29 states.

00:53:44.640 --> 00:53:47.970
- The US Supreme Court sided
today with a Colorado baker

00:53:47.970 --> 00:53:50.010
who refused, on religious grounds,

00:53:50.010 --> 00:53:52.590
to make a wedding cake
for a same-sex couple.

00:53:52.590 --> 00:53:54.510
- [Reporter] Georgia
became the first US state

00:53:54.510 --> 00:53:56.820
to pass a so-called
religious freedom bill,

00:53:56.820 --> 00:53:59.940
allowing businesses and
organizations to withhold services

00:53:59.940 --> 00:54:01.320
from gays and lesbians.

00:54:01.320 --> 00:54:03.180
Mississippi passed its own version.

00:54:03.180 --> 00:54:05.280
Critics say it's the harshest yet.

00:54:05.280 --> 00:54:06.330
- When it comes to marriage,

00:54:06.330 --> 00:54:09.420
obviously the Supreme Court
handed us a huge victory in 2015

00:54:09.420 --> 00:54:12.360
recognizing the freedom to
marry for same-sex couples.

00:54:12.360 --> 00:54:15.270
But in another sense, we're
subject to a patchwork

00:54:15.270 --> 00:54:16.183
of state protections.

00:54:16.183 --> 00:54:19.980
Only 28 states expressly
protecting people who are LGBTQ

00:54:19.980 --> 00:54:22.650
from being turned away from
housing or public places

00:54:22.650 --> 00:54:24.200
simply because of who they are.

00:54:25.665 --> 00:54:28.830
- I thought that once we
achieved marriage equality,

00:54:28.830 --> 00:54:31.170
that we would have equal
rights across the board.

00:54:31.170 --> 00:54:32.310
Instead of, you know,

00:54:32.310 --> 00:54:34.890
now we're doing this slide down the hill,

00:54:34.890 --> 00:54:37.320
of, you know, yes, we got that right,

00:54:37.320 --> 00:54:39.570
but we're really under attack now.

00:54:39.570 --> 00:54:42.270
- Conservative forces are
trying to dehumanize us

00:54:42.270 --> 00:54:43.740
every single day.

00:54:43.740 --> 00:54:45.210
When I think of "Curve," I think again,

00:54:45.210 --> 00:54:48.447
it's this power of a
space that's ours, right?

00:54:48.447 --> 00:54:50.760
And the space doesn't have
to be just publication.

00:54:50.760 --> 00:54:51.930
I mean, it's creating that space,

00:54:51.930 --> 00:54:53.130
it's fighting for that space,

00:54:53.130 --> 00:54:55.290
and also like letting younger folks know

00:54:55.290 --> 00:54:58.200
that there is that space,
like when they're ready.

00:54:58.200 --> 00:55:00.089
And that we're ready to support them.

00:55:00.089 --> 00:55:01.680
- I didn't start the movement.

00:55:01.680 --> 00:55:02.513
That's (indistinct)

00:55:02.513 --> 00:55:04.110
- Right. Right. No, of course not.

00:55:04.110 --> 00:55:07.260
But you created a foundation
to fight for equality.

00:55:07.260 --> 00:55:09.294
You created a foundation for dialogue

00:55:09.294 --> 00:55:11.520
and creating conversations and content

00:55:11.520 --> 00:55:13.200
that nobody was creating.

00:55:13.200 --> 00:55:14.910
- I think it's really interesting

00:55:14.910 --> 00:55:16.980
that you keep using this word foundation

00:55:16.980 --> 00:55:21.980
because maybe "Curve" could
be a foundation going forward,

00:55:22.920 --> 00:55:27.420
A foundation to foster women's voices

00:55:27.420 --> 00:55:30.495
and give money to projects
that women are doing.

00:55:30.495 --> 00:55:34.830
You know, from going
around North America really

00:55:34.830 --> 00:55:37.545
and speaking to younger activists,

00:55:37.545 --> 00:55:39.480
they all said the same thing

00:55:39.480 --> 00:55:43.143
that our voices need to be heard.

00:55:44.340 --> 00:55:47.565
Meeting them was very powerful.

00:55:47.565 --> 00:55:52.565
They really are true
advocates for our community.

00:55:53.670 --> 00:55:56.430
You know, maybe a print
magazine isn't needed anymore.

00:55:56.430 --> 00:55:57.960
Maybe I've fulfilled that mission.

00:55:57.960 --> 00:55:58.793
- Yeah.

00:55:58.793 --> 00:56:03.361
- But giving a voice
to the LGBT community,

00:56:03.361 --> 00:56:06.870
that vision is not accomplished.

00:56:06.870 --> 00:56:09.684
Having equal rights is not accomplished.

00:56:09.684 --> 00:56:14.684
Running a magazine, you learn
that the impossible things

00:56:17.434 --> 00:56:19.353
can become possible.

00:56:21.151 --> 00:56:23.310
(calm music)

00:56:23.310 --> 00:56:24.600
- [Denice] It's so incredibly important

00:56:24.600 --> 00:56:26.580
for us to be connected to our lineage,

00:56:26.580 --> 00:56:28.233
to those who came before us.

00:56:29.280 --> 00:56:31.590
I often think about those
who walk through a door

00:56:31.590 --> 00:56:32.820
and cracked it open wider,

00:56:32.820 --> 00:56:35.583
so that, you know, we could
walk through it after them.

00:56:37.020 --> 00:56:38.491
There's still a lot of
work to do, you know,

00:56:38.491 --> 00:56:40.503
to fight homophobia,

00:56:40.503 --> 00:56:44.250
to fight transphobia, to
fight gender violence.

00:56:44.250 --> 00:56:47.910
So, when I hear young people
say, "I feel less alone

00:56:47.910 --> 00:56:50.820
because I listen to
your poems every night,"

00:56:50.820 --> 00:56:54.630
or, "I wrote my own poem
because of your poem,"

00:56:54.630 --> 00:56:56.190
I feel like

00:56:56.190 --> 00:56:58.463
maybe I'm doing a little
bit of good in the world.

00:57:00.600 --> 00:57:01.521
- [Speaker] Now is the time

00:57:01.521 --> 00:57:04.290
to go to that 8:00 AM march on a Saturday,

00:57:04.290 --> 00:57:06.270
to vote in every single election,

00:57:06.270 --> 00:57:09.240
to run for office if you feel
like you can, to speak up,

00:57:09.240 --> 00:57:11.130
to share your story.

00:57:11.130 --> 00:57:13.330
This is what makes our
visibility so powerful.

00:57:13.330 --> 00:57:14.870
(upbeat music)

00:57:14.870 --> 00:57:17.742
(crowd cheering)

00:57:17.742 --> 00:57:21.399
♪ Ow ♪

00:57:21.399 --> 00:57:23.149
♪ Ow ♪

00:57:34.353 --> 00:57:38.161
♪ Celebrate ♪

00:57:38.161 --> 00:57:41.160
♪ Celebrate ♪

00:57:41.160 --> 00:57:42.360
- [Franco] I feel lucky.

00:57:43.320 --> 00:57:45.270
Most people can spend a lifetime

00:57:45.270 --> 00:57:47.920
and still never know why
they were put here on earth.

00:57:49.080 --> 00:57:51.321
I was here to create the magazine.

00:57:51.321 --> 00:57:52.680
(cheerful music)

00:57:52.680 --> 00:57:54.330
Every time we put out a magazine,

00:57:54.330 --> 00:57:58.467
it felt groundbreaking, like
the work was so important.

00:57:58.467 --> 00:58:01.578
And the work is not done.

00:58:01.578 --> 00:58:03.960
(upbeat music)

00:58:03.960 --> 00:58:04.923
I feel hopeful.

00:58:06.030 --> 00:58:06.990
I'm really excited

00:58:06.990 --> 00:58:08.910
to see what the next
generation of activists do

00:58:08.910 --> 00:58:12.300
and how they use make the
changes that need to happen.

00:58:12.300 --> 00:58:15.873
Maybe I helped lay the foundation
for what will come next.

00:58:17.280 --> 00:58:19.759
Now, that would be my legacy.

00:58:19.759 --> 00:58:24.759
♪ Ooh-ooh, ooh ooh ooh-ooh ♪

00:58:24.963 --> 00:58:28.713
♪ Ow ♪

00:58:28.713 --> 00:58:32.402
♪ Ow ♪

00:58:32.402 --> 00:58:36.060
♪ Ooh-ooh, ooh ooh ooh-ooh ♪

00:58:36.060 --> 00:58:40.352
♪ Ooh-ooh, ooh ooh-ooh ♪

00:58:40.352 --> 00:58:44.542
♪ Ooh-Ooh, ooh ooh-ooh ♪

00:58:44.542 --> 00:58:48.002
♪ Everybody, everybody.
Everybody, everybody ♪

00:58:48.002 --> 00:58:52.547
♪ Oh, everybody. Everybody, everybody ♪

00:58:52.547 --> 00:58:55.747
♪ Everybody, everybody.
Everybody, everybody ♪

00:58:55.747 --> 00:58:58.607
♪ Oh, everybody Everybody, everybody ♪

00:58:58.607 --> 00:59:02.584
♪ Everybody, everybody ♪

00:59:02.584 --> 00:59:05.251
(upbeat music)