Free print London arts, nightlife, news and events listings magazine

Feature Image: Lesley #1 cover ft. BBZ Alternative Grad Show Artists

Kat founded Lesley magazine and launched it’s first issue with a group exhibition at The Horse Hospital, Bloomsbury in August 2019, supported by Arts Council England.

The free print magazine employed LGBT+ women, transgender and non-binary people to write, promote and create art about their work. It acted as a physical place for community to find each other and be more visible at a time when it was especially difficult to find FLINTA+ events in London.

Jump to: 2019 Lesley Community Instagram Index for full lists of contributors and stockists

“Lesley magazine is an incredibly important space for LGBTQ + communities past, present and future to learn and understand about each other in such an easily digestible format. It bridges the gaps between spaces that wouldn’t otherwise be connected while organically encouraging collaboration and unity. It’s DIY approach makes it accessible to the masses while feeling very specific and special to our community. WE LOVE YOU!”

Tia Simon Campbell, BBZ

Kat wrote about the origins of Lesley in this piece for Polyester, June 2021: Shoving From All Sides – Putting Dykes Front and Centre

See also:
Pink News – When the internet can’t decide whether ‘queer’ is offensive, womxn take refuge offline
The Face – Where are all the women?

We’re here to find each other, lift each other up and push each other forward! We’re here to shout about how great our friends’ are! Buy each other’s art! Read each other’s writing! Listen to, inspire and motivate each other!

Lesley

Creating Lelsey

Inspired by the in-house archives at Boyz (free London gay scene weekly print magazine, funded by advertising revenue) whilst working at the magazine in Soho as a designer in 2017 – Kat founded Lesley as a lesbian-centred alternative, to get her peers paid to promote their work and events and, crucially, to create a central, accessible, promotional platform free from the limitations of social media. Lu, Kasra and Emily soon came on board too and the ground work took off.

Fundraising took place, Kat secured public funding from Arts Council England for the collective and sold advertising space in the magazine to make the launch exhibition, editorial commissions, printing and distribution financially viable.

Archival research at Gay’s The Word Bookshop and Bishopsgate Institute also significantly influenced Lesley magazine. As referenced in the introduction to issue one –

‘We’ve come from so much awesome stuff! From Quim, On Our Backs, Shebang, Shocking Pink, those lesbian magazines that came out against cries of perversion in the 70s/80s, from Riot Grrrl! From Rebel Dykes! From the trans people and dykes who fought side by side in the Stonewall riots! From activists, fighters, campaigners, singers, writers, artists!’

Lesley Issue #1

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a shift in priorities for the team, which ultimately resulted in the magazine taking a back seat. Kat continued to actively work with the Lesley collective on The Rebel Dykes Art & Archive Show in 2021, but continued publication of the magazine was postponed indefinitely. However, Kat and the team still engage with the community collective and share events on social media @lesleymagazine and their personal pages.

“Our communities are saturated with cis, white, gay men’s stories and perspectives, and as crucial as these are, they aren’t the only voices in our communities that need to be heard. Lesley magazine hands a loudspeaker to the brown and black queer community in the UK, the AFABs and AMABs, the femmes, the butches, the androgynous, the trans men and women, the non-binary and gender-non-conforming babes, the drag artists of all genders in our communities. It’s a welcome breath of fresh air for the most marginalised in our communities who have long needed a platform that encourages us to bloom.”

Anshika Kullar

For more on Lesley, the launch exhibition, printed material and events, visit the Lesley magazine website, which acts as an archive of the print magazine and the original online presence of Lesley: lesleymagazine.co.uk

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2019 Lesley Community Instagram Index

Please note that effort has been made to update names and tags/links for artists and writers listed below where possible. Please contact @lesleymagazine if you see information that needs updating or correcting.