Feb-22

DIVA

Europe’s best-selling and most authoritative lifestyle magazine for lesbian and bisexual women

DIVA1 min read
Diva
Operations director Fiona Marshall Designer Fernando Safont Sub-editor Ellen Tout Travel editor Joanna Whitehead Big thanks to: Cait Findlay, Sarah Gutierrez, Katie White, Matt Lahbibi, Jason Woodley, Alainna Hadjigeorgiou Published by DIVA MEDIA GRO
DIVA2 min read
Editor’s Letter
People often tell me I was born in the wrong era. This is probably because my vintage fashion style can be summed up as 1950s lesbian pulp fiction pin-up meets granny chic. I have an actual record collection full of lady-loving crooners like Billie H
DIVA2 min readGender Studies
A Letter From Our Publisher
Welcome to DIVA’s LGBT+ History Month issue where we’re thrilled to have the legend that is Dr. Phyll Opoku-Gyimah adorning our cover. I first met Phyll many years ago when I was the publisher of g3 magazine. Since then, we have become firm friends.
DIVA3 min readGender Studies
Trending
1 Gender identity and sexual orientation were added to the UK Census for the first time. 2 The Government announced plans to legislate a ban on conversion therapy. 3 There were more out LGBTQI Olympic athletes in 2021 than ever before. 4 Mj Rodriguez
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Your Shout
JOIN THE BUZZ facebook.com/divamagazine letters@divamag.co.uk @divamagazine @josierones Oh I am so excited about this! I’m on the cover of @DIVAmagazine What a dream come true @don1birmingham I’m genuinely chuffed to bits to see my face in @DIVAmaga
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DIVA Meets: The Log Books
If you’re hoping to learn more about hidden queer histories during LGBT+ History Month, then The Log Books podcast, hosted by Tash Walker, Adam Zmith and Shivani Dave, is the perfect way to begin. After discovering boxes of archives from Switchboard,
DIVA1 min read
Get The Look: Queer Showbiz Legend
The roaring ‘20s were a pivotal cultural movement. They were also a time where it was far from easy to be Black or queer. This didn’t stop trailblazer Gladys Bentley, a Black lesbian pianist and blues singer who performed in male clothing. She used b
DIVA3 min read
Baby, If I Had A Time Machine
NIC CROSARA is DIVA’s staff writer. They are a bookworm and plant parent who fills their gender-fluid soul by playing way too much Sims 4. @niccrosaraW What would you do if you had a time machine? Would you choose to travel to the past or future? A q
DIVA1 min read
#teamdiva Reveals Their Queeroes For Lgbt+ History Month
“Octavia Butler, for sure. She has to be my all-time literary hero. Reading her work truly changed my life and my perspective of the world around me. I think we can all learn so much from her. I’m slowly making my way through her entire works, but sa
DIVA3 min readLGBTQIA+ Studies
Speak Up Against Conversion Practices
“Does it really still happen in the UK?” “Isn’t it banned yet?” “Surely it doesn’t affect that many LGBTQI+ people?” I can guarantee you that when I’m speaking to someone about these horrific practices that we call “conversion therapy”, at least one,
DIVA3 min read
Just A Little Bit Obsessed…
CAIT FINDLAY is a writer whose projects include an LGBTQI culture newsletter called Lavender Letters. @cait_findlayW Why am I so obsessed with being gay? It took me about five years to be comfortable enough about being queer to be able to talk about
DIVA3 min readGender Studies
My Arab queerness
My Arab queerness has clashed, mixed, complemented and disagreed with itself since I was conscious. My queerness has been ingrained into my DNA since birth, forming the foundations of my tomboy childhood. An intricate part of my identity, growing up
DIVA7 min readLGBTQIA+ Studies
Queen Of The Protest
The studio is filled with an exciting buzz as we await the arrival of the one and only Dr. Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, also known as Lady Phyll. The awardwinning activist earned the title of Lady from the community when she turned down an MBE in the NewYear’
DIVA7 min read
And Just Like That
“Oh, you like that, huh?” Sara Ramirez is looking right at me and chuckling knowingly. The queer A-lister is poised and charismatic, with truly excellent hair which they describe as “an undercut/pompadour situation”. We’ve only just met via Zoom and
DIVA4 min read
Disabled–dating–denied
Picture the scene: it’s your first night out since Covid hit. You’ve got your glad rags on, have managed to navigate socially distanced public transport, and have arrived at the hottest gay club in town. The evening’s all to play for. Who knows who y
DIVA5 min read
Non-monogamy And Me
Couples have started comparing years spent together in lockdown to dog years. In which case, my almost five-year relationship is now approaching its 39th anniversary. For the majority of our isolation, my partner and I spent most of our time together
DIVA2 min read
Checking In With The Polyam Community
How did lockdown impact your relationships and sex life? Tyr Lockdown wasn’t bad on the whole dating/sex life front because I wasn’t feeling it at that time anyway. It actually gave me a chance to focus on some of the more harmful behaviours I’d atta
DIVA5 min readGender Studies
What Does It Mean To Be A Non-binary Lesbian?
“I’m stubborn as fuck and I don’t want anyone to tell me what I can and can’t do in the context of my own identity,” says Pheebs. “Because they’re not me.” Pheebs is a non-binary lesbian, who describes the different parts of their identity as “being
DIVA5 min read
Start YOUR ENGINES…
The eternal queen of camp, Michelle Visage is an important figurehead for much of the LGBTQI community. First appearing on the judging panel of seminalTV franchise RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2011, Michelle’s friendship with RuPaul is longstanding. Meeting
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Screen
In French, “mif” is slang for family and this film explores the concept of forced familial dynamics by following multiple girls living in a care home for at-risk teenagers. The director is a former social worker and the cast is made up of non-profess
DIVA3 min read
The Legacy Of Anne Lister
LIV WOODWARD is a queer writer/producer who is currently co-head of factual at York Student Television @liv_woodwrd When we first started this documentary, we had absolutely no idea what lay ahead. So looking back on the journey we’ve had with Anne
DIVA3 min read
Queer Black Joy For Your Ears
There’s a stereotype that goes along with being a Black, lesbian, masculine-presenting woman, but Two Twos – or as some might say, Nana Duncan and Rose Frimpong – quell that narrative quickly with their laughter and smiles. As the esteemed podcasting
DIVA2 min read
Music
MIXTAPE An eclectic mix of electronic music, R&B and trip-hop, FKA twigs has often been mysterious. With just two LPs until now, she’s kept the eyes of the world on her. Luckily, January provided us with the joy that is the CAPRISONGS mixtape, featur
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Books
YOUNG ADULT FICTION The time has come! The long awaited prequel to Akwaeke’s critically acclaimed novel Pet is right around the corner. Readers of Pet fell in love with the protagonist Jam, a young Black trans girl living in the city of Lucille. In B
DIVA4 min read
Her Last Request
With a plethora of books to her name, the multi-award-winning author Mari Hannah has written her way into many readers’ hearts. In 2013 she made herstory as the first woman to be awarded the Polari First Book Prize for her crime debut The Murder Wall
DIVA3 min read
You And Your Partner Need To Talk About Financial Security
In many ways, LGBTQI people are redefining the concept of relationships. The Williams Institute reports that between 2014 and 2016, just 16.2% of all US-based same-sex couples were raising children together. Statista reveals that only 49% of LGBTQI p
DIVA3 min read
Dear Ali…
DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WE CAN HELP WITH? Email dearali@divamag.co.uk Dear Ali, Deep down, I have always known my sexuality, but I was chasing a straight life. In the last two years, I have been building friendships within the lesbian community, but th
DIVA4 min read
Rainbow Family
There was a lot I didn’t know about being a parent before my wife and I had twins: what it felt like to see dawn break because I was feeding babies rather than because I’d not yet been to bed, that days alone with tiny ones are interminable, whilst m
DIVA3 min read
I’m A Lesbian Who Used To Fake Orgasms: I Felt Like A Fraud
It’s a running joke in the lesbian community that we’re better at making women come than men are. And it’s true. Studies have found that women who have sex with women are around 80% likely to have an orgasm, while women who have sex with men are appr
DIVA5 min readGender Studies
What Bisexuality Taught Me About Sex
I came out as bisexual when I was 18. At the time, I didn’t know anyone that identified in this way, and I had limited terminology to describe how I felt. Growing up in a middle-class, predominantly white, suburban area, LGBTQI people hardly seemed t
DIVA1 min readGender Studies
Sexy Bits
TOY Created by gender-inclusive company Cute Little Fuckers, the Starsi is designed to stimulate all surfaces, from genitals to chests. Made with transfemme-identifying people with genital dysphoria in mind, the Starsi covers genitalia with a vulva-l
DIVA2 min read
My Secret Sex Diary
Want to share your secret sex diary? Email eleanor@divamag.co.uk The best sex I ever had was with myself. Even after I came out as queer, I was staunchly conservative, and totally against all sex toys. I was raised Catholic and I didn’t understand wh

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