In Russia, the first issue of a new glossy magazine for lesbians has gone on sale this month, in a launch that its publishers hope will reach out to the country’s embattled queer citizens.
RIA Novosti reports that the magazine Agens, which takes its title from a Latin word meaning “driving force”, has gone on its first print run of 999 copies. It is currently only available in four locations as well as online.
According to the UK's PinkNews, Editor-in-Chief Milena Chernyavskaya said she hoped the magazine would combat the lack of information that gay men and women in Russia have to deal with on a day-to-day basis.
“The LGBT community has to deal with an information blackout,” she said. “Russian gay men and lesbians don’t know each other and think that they cannot be happy, because everyone around abuses them,”
She added that she did not want the magazine to be seen as an attempt to provoke Russia’s conservative lawmakers, who are currently considering a law banning “homosexual propaganda”.
“We are aiming at a dialogue both with the readers and the authorities,” Ms Chernyavskaya said. “If the deputies are unhappy with the magazine, I would like to talk to each of them face to face.”
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