Abstract

LesbiaNews, later known as LNews, was an alternative media monthly, written and produced in Victoria, British Columbia by a dedicated group of women who devoted themselves to raising the public profile of the lesbian community through its pages. It was an outstanding example of a counter-public sphere publication, produced by and for a female minority group. Using critical feminist analysis of its contents and oral history interviews with its key editors, this article explores how LesbiaNews/LNews’ shifting editorial mandate reflected the conflicts among its contributors and readers over lesbian feminism and sexual identity politics. The editors, who all held their own strong beliefs, found that promoting both solidarity and diversity was difficult in a lesbian community that was increasingly apolitical, fragmented and elusive, and losing its few social supports.

Keywords: lesbian, feminism, community, alternative media

How to Cite:

Freeman, B., (2017) “‘‘A Public sense of ourselves’’: communication and community-building in Canada’s LesbiaNews/LNews, 1989–98”, Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture 8(3), 143-167. doi: https://doi.org/10.16997/wpcc.138