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{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox magazine
| title = Lesbian Connection
| logo =
| logo_size =
| image_file = Lesbian Connection (magazine cover).jpg
| image_size =
| image_alt =
| image_caption =
| editor = Margy Lesher
| editor_title = Executive Director
| previous_editor =
| staff_writer =
| photographer =
| category = [[Lesbian]]
| frequency = Bimonthly
| circulation = 15,000 (in 2024)
| publisher = Elsie Publishing Institute
| founder = Ambitious Amazons
| founded = {{start date and age|1974}}
| firstdate = 
| company =
| country = United States
| based = [[East Lansing, Michigan]]
| language =
| website = {{URL|http://lconline.org/}}
| issn = 1081-3217
| oclc = 10734023
}}

'''''Lesbian Connection''''' ('''''LC'''''{{hairsp}}) is an American [[grassroots]] network forum publication "for, by and about [[lesbians]]".<ref name=Schlesinger /> Founded in 1974<ref name=Schlesinger>{{cite web|title=Magazines at Schlesinger Library: Lesbian Connection |url=https://guides.library.harvard.edu/schlesinger_womens_magazines| website=[[Schlesinger Library|Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America]] |publisher=[[Harvard Radcliffe Institute]] |accessdate=October 19, 2015}}</ref><ref name=fmf>{{cite web|title=Feminist Magazines: Lesbian Connection |url=https://www.feminist.org/research/zines.html |work=[[Feminist Majority Foundation]] |accessdate=October 27, 2015}}</ref> by the [[Lesbian feminism|lesbian-feminist]] collective Ambitious Amazons<ref name=Whitt2008>{{cite book|last=Whitt |first=Jan |title=Women in American Journalism: A New History| year=2008 |edition=1st |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=uTwVxoEyL3MC&q=%22Lesbian+Connection%22&pg=PA163 163–165] |publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]] |location=Urbana, Illinois |isbn=978-0252033544}}</ref> "to address the lack of safe, reliable, and targeted information channels for lesbian groups and individuals",<ref name=Zimmerman-LC /> it is the longest-running periodical for lesbians in the United States. ''LC'' is run by the [[Elsie Publishing Institute]], a [[Michigan]]-based [[501(c)(3) organization|501(c)(3)]] [[Nonprofit organization|nonprofit]] corporation. In 2021, its total revenue was $1,412,061.<ref name=ProPublica>{{cite web|title=Elsie Publishing Institute |url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/382310325 | website=Nonprofit Explorer |publisher=[[ProPublica]] |date=2023 |accessdate=27 October 2023}}</ref>

''Lesbian Connection'' is published bimonthly<ref name=fmf/> and although it has a suggested yearly subscription, it is notable for offering it on a [[Pay what you can|sliding scale]] basis. ''LC''{{hairsp}} is made available to incarcerated women, and mailed free of charge upon request to those unable to make a financial contribution.

A unique aspect of ''LC''{{hairsp}} is the fact that its content is largely submitted by its readers. News and announcements of interest to the lesbian community include current affairs, places to live, travel, [[women's music]] [[Music festival|festivals]], [[womyn's land]], special events, gatherings, reviews, and [[obituaries]]. It features special topics, reprints of the [[comic strip]] ''[[Dykes to Watch Out For]]'', and an annual "Contact Dykes" directory<ref name=Zimmerman-LC>{{cite book|editor-last=Zimmerman |editor-first=Bonnie |title=Lesbian Histories and Cultures: An Encyclopedia |year=2000 |edition=1st |chapter=Lesbian Connection (by Laurie J. Baker) |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofle00bzim/page/455/mode/2up 455] |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofle00bzim/page/n5/mode/2up |url-access=registration |publisher=[[Garland Publishing]] |location=New York |isbn=0-8153-1920-7}}</ref> of national and international lesbians who volunteer to provide information about their local areas to lesbian visitors. It does not publish fiction, personal ads, or requests for [[pen pal]]s.

From 1974 until 1995, the publication was folded and stapled in half to protect subscribers from harassment. ''LC'' circulation peaked in 2000 with 28,000 subscribers, and as of June 2024 it has 15,000 subscribers.<ref>{{cite web|last=Wilson |first=Lena |title=Celebrating 50 Years of 'Lesbian Connection' |url=https://pridesource.com/article/celebrating-50-years-of-lesbian-connection |website=[[Pride Source]] |date=4 June 2024 |access-date=13 June 2024}}</ref>

In 2014, ''LC'' received the "Jeanine Rae Award for the Advancement of Women's Culture" by Women in the Arts Inc., the non-profit organization responsible for the annual [[National Women's Music Festival]].<ref>{{cite web|title=National Women's Music Festival |url=http://www.nwmf.info/2014/wp-content/uploads/NWMF-2014-Program-Web.pdf |publisher=Women In The Arts, Inc |date=2014 |access-date=28 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728223806/https://nwmf.info/2014/wp-content/uploads/NWMF-2014-Program-Web.pdf |archive-date=July 28, 2023 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

''Lesbian Connection'' has been instrumental in the building of national spiritual, political and social networks for lesbians.

Back issues from 1974 through 1989 have been fully digitized and are available to read online, for free, at JSTOR.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Halley |first=Catherine |date=12 July 2019 |title=I Could Spend All Day Looking at the Covers of These LGBTQ Publications |url=https://daily.jstor.org/reveal-digital-lgbtq-publications/ |access-date=13 June 2024 |website=[[JSTOR]]}}</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|LGBTQ|Feminism}}
* [[LGBTQ-owned business]]
* [[List of lesbian periodicals]]
* [[List of lesbian periodicals in the United States]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite news|last1=Charles |first1=Raenu |title=6 LGBTQ-owned businesses to try out this Pride Month |url=https://statenews.com/article/2022/06/6-lgbtq-owned-businesses-to-try-out-this-pride-month?ct=content_open&cv=cbox_featured |work=[[The State News]] |date=June 22, 2022 |access-date=28 July 2023}}
* {{cite web|last1=Kucharski |first1=Eve| title=Print Thrives in the Lesbian Community |url=http://www.pridesource.com/article.html?article=81823| website=Pride Source |publisher=[[Between the Lines (newspaper)|Between The Lines]] |date=June 15, 2017 |accessdate=June 15, 2017}}
* {{cite journal|last1=McVannel Erwin |first1=Terry |title=A qualitative analysis of the ''Lesbian Connection'''s discussion forum |date=Winter 2006 |issue=1 |volume=84 |pages=95–107 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/j.1556-6678.2006.tb00383.x |journal=[[Journal of Counseling and Development]] |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons, Inc.]] |doi=10.1002/j.1556-6678.2006.tb00383.x |issn=0748-9633|url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite book|last1=Morris |first1=Bonnie J. |title=The Disappearing L: Erasure of Lesbian Spaces and Culture |date=2016 |edition=1st |publisher=[[SUNY Press]] |isbn=978-1-4384-6177-9 |url=https://www.sunypress.edu/p-6263-the-disappearing-l.aspx}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|http://www.lconline.org}}
* [https://www.jstor.org/site/reveal-digital/independent-voices/lesbianconnection-27953615/ ''Lesbian Connection''] at [[JSTOR]]

{{Lesbian feminism}}
{{LGBT in Michigan}}

[[Category:1974 establishments in Michigan]]
[[Category:1974 in LGBTQ history]]
[[Category:Magazines established in 1974]]
[[Category:Lesbian feminist magazines]]
[[Category:Lesbian-related magazines published in the United States]]
[[Category:Lesbian separatism]]
[[Category:LGBTQ in Michigan]]
[[Category:Magazines published in Michigan]]
[[Category:Women in Michigan]]
[[Category:Feminist magazines published in the United States]]
[[Category:Bimonthly magazines published in the United States]]
[[Category:Lesbian history in the United States]]
[[Category:East Lansing, Michigan]]
[[Category:LGBTQ-owned businesses in the United States]]

Lesbian Connection - Revision history

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