For two years, every other week, Lavender Magazine has run “Families Like Mine,” reaching approximately 25,000 readers in the GLBT community in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Within the first few months of writing my column, people started to ask me, “Aren’t you running out of things to write about?”

No! I’m not running out of things to write about. I’m just getting warmed up!

Sadly, Lavender is not going to a place where I will be able to share my stories, opinions and rants with GLBT people and the people who love them.

Rumors have been flying about Lavender and allegations that the workplace is hostile for women and pro-union employees. Press coverage of the story has been sparse. As a freelancer, I did not work in the office so I do not have first-hand knowledge about the allegations.

Why has there been so little dialogue about this situation? Because there is only one publication in the Twin Cities that serves GLBT communities specifically…and that publication is Lavender. The publisher allegedly imposed a gag order, which is why there have been no letters to the editor, no news briefs, updates, etc. about the union organizing. And without competing GLBT publications, there have been limited outlets for getting the facts out to the public.

As a freelance contributor, the gag order was also imposed on me, preventing me from even mentioning the union, let alone presenting any views that might differ from that of the publisher on this issue. If I were to continue appearing in the pages of Lavender, I am concerned my silence would be interpreted by readers as consent to the current alleged sexist and anti-union business practices occurring in my proverbial backyard.

On a brighter note, former editor Rudy Renaud was great to work with for the past two years. She gave me a chance to develop a track record when editors at other queer publications told me that it wouldn’t be right for them to run my column because I’m “not a member of the community.” (That’s code for “Go Away, Straight Girl.”) A big thank you to Rudy for taking a risk with a concept that had not been done before and for her willingness to see a bigger picture beyond my sexual orientation.

It is my hope that Lavender can resolve their conflicts with the union and with the employees. Until or unless that happens, I will not be counting myself among the contributors.

Regardless of what happens at the publication, I will continue to write my column for the other publications and for my website.

===

Related articles:

Lavender Employees Caught in Union Struggle
Matt Noble-Olson, Pulse, July 18, 2001

Fed Up: Female Staff Resign from Lavender Magazine
Jennifer Thaney, Minnesota Women’s Press, July 18, 2001

Lavender, a progressive magazine with unhappy employees
Doug Grow, Star Tribune, July 4, 2001

Gay Magazine Unionizes
Advocate.com, April 4, 2001

Trackback URI | Comments RSS