About the Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide
Mission
The Mission of The Gay & Lesbian Review / Worldwide is to provide a forum for enlightened discussion of issues and ideas of importance to lesbians and gay men; to advance gay and lesbian culture by providing a quality vehicle for its best writers and thinkers; and to educate a broader public on gay and lesbian topics.
Origins
With the publication of the first issue in the winter of 1994, The Harvard Gay & Lesbian Review rushed into a huge vacuum in gay and lesbian literary culture -- a void that stretched all the way from The Atlantic and The New Republic to The New York Review of Books. Nowhere in Gaydom was there a journal for the literate non-specialist, offering the best writing and thinking our culture had to offer, covering a wide range of topics, handsomely produced, and always a pleasure to read.
This was the kind of publication The Review set out to become -- all based on the hunch that there was a critical mass of curious, intelligent lesbians and gay men out there capable of supporting such a journal. The fact that we're now in our seventeenth year and still going strong attests to the existence of such a readership, one that wants to be challenged by the play of ideas and to explore our issues insightfully and in depth. Of course, to appeal to this community, this journal would have to be keenly edited and smartly produced.
Having assembled this readership, The G&LR has become something of a lingua franca for the thinking GLBT community nationwide. "It's our intellectual journal," remarked Larry Kramer in The New York Times. The Review has become the place where the big debates about gay and lesbian culture and politics are often played out.
The Magazine
Each issue of The G&LR is organized around a theme, such as "The Science of Homosexuality," "Human Rights around the World," and "Virtual Communities." The goal is always to cover a topic from a range of perspectives by featuring a number of the leading contributors in the field. Each issue includes about a half-dozen essays and a larger number of book reviews, plus a movie review or two. A few poems also appear in each issue, along with letters to the editor, artists' profiles, and an international forum.
Each issue is produced in full color on coated paper and features a number of photos and other graphic illustrations.The magazine is mailed in a plain envelope to some 9,000 subscribers, of which 97% are in the U.S.
The importance of The G&LR as a national forum was recognized by Library Journal after our first year of publication, which dubbed us "the journal of record" for the discussion of gay and lesbian topics. The New York Times ran a major feature article on the magazine, highlighting its role as a major force in current gay and lesbian intellectual life.
Structure
The G&LR (published as The Harvard Gay & Lesbian Review, 1994-1999) is organized as a 501(c)(3) educational corporation, and most of its staff members are volunteers. Over 10,000 copies are distributed nationally and internationally on a bimonthly basis.
This web site archives the Table of Contents for recent printed copies of the Gay & Lesbian Review Magazine and has samplings of interesting articles from past and recent issues. You can subscribe online to receive the G&LR magazine bimonthly in the mail and view premium articles online. Each issue includes about a dozen essays and a larger number of book and other reviews, plus a smattering of poetry.
