DIVA

Title: DIVA	Dates: 1994-present
Periodicity: monthly	Price: £2.00 (1994) £3.99 (2024)
Circulation: First run 8,000 copies. Today: 56,000	Place of Publication: London, UK

Description

DIVA was launched in 1994 as a lesbian lifestyle magazine which aimed to ‘show lesbians in all their splendid diversity’. Still in print 30 years later, DIVA is a longer-running magazine than even Spare Rib, and spans the pre-internet and post-internet age. In contrast to many of its feminist and queer predecessors, and despite running on a shoestring budget in its early years, DIVA has always been an unashamedly ‘glossy’ magazine. Over the decades, DIVA’s covers have featured stars such as Gina Gershon, Jeanette Winterson, Cate Blanchett, Michelle Visage, Ruby Tandoh and Janelle Monae. Its contents include news articles (on subjects relevant to the LGBTQI community), features (on topics such as sex, fashion, beauty, relationships, health, travel, queer history etc), interviews, reviews, horoscopes, and listings pages (now an online ‘Events Directory’) compiling queer dating services, therapy networks, lesbian travel, queer nightlife, and a lonely hearts column: ‘Dial-A-DIVA’.

But DIVA is ‘not content with just waving the pink poms poms of positive appreciation of all things lesbian’ (DIVA April 1995): the magazine has always also been political, from its roots in sex-positive lesbian feminism to modern-day DIVA’s trans-inclusive queer politics. As (the now-online) DIVA’s About page reads: ‘we tackle the tough topics, like racism in the LGBTQI community, mental health and the challenges facing queer youth, and also profile inspirational women who are making a difference to the lives of lesbian, bi and trans women.’ Originally print-only, since 2007 DIVA has published both print issues and digital content, as well as running a podcast, podDiva.

^{DIVA April 1994; DIVA November 2007; DIVA December 2015. Reproduced with kind permission}

DIVA‘s Mission Statement

‘In 1993 a lot happened to push lesbians into new preserves, propelling them into the mainstream with gusto […] k d lang strode onto the world stage with style and substance […] lesbians took charge at the helm of many a lesbian and gay organisation […] Camille Paglia mouthed off, Sandra Bernhard “gave it till it hurt” and Madonna snogged in her book Sex with shaven haired dykes. All in all, 1993 marked an unprecedented sapphic extravaganza.

The first issue of DIVA will cover the mores of lesbians who have made it into the mainstream as well as the opinions of regular dykes about town. Big girls, bad girls, good girls, women in business, in comedy, in academia, on the telly, on the razzle, out at work and on the football pitch, this issue hopes to show lesbians in some of their splendid diversity.

DIVA will put lesbians centre-stage. The spotlight will be reserved for them alone. Anyone who is sitting in the audience is free to applaud.’
DIVA issue 1, 1994

Key Campaigns

Campaigns against homophobia (including Clause 28) and transphobia
Lesbian parenting/custody rights/queer families
Employment rights
Safe sex
Gay marriage
Anti-racism
Body positivity

^{DIVA May 2010. Reproduced with kind permission}

Magazine Aesthetic

DIVA has always been characterised by its high production values, although in its early years around sixty per cent of its pages were printed in black and white to cut down on printing costs (Turner, 86). It is colourful, glossy, and full of images. Unlike many feminist magazines which went out of their way to avoid images that sexualised women, DIVA’s covers are a celebration of feminized sexuality and the erotic female gaze. Questions of how aesthetics mediate queer identity are a frequent topic of discussion – issue 1, for example, devotes a two-page spread to ‘Lesbian Chic’. For Turner, ‘the taste for lesbian iconography in mainstream media meant that [DIVA‘s] launch issue attracted the attention of publications with far bigger and broader audiences’ (85). DIVA’s historic investment in the styles and aesthetics of its community, from ‘lesbian chic’ to ‘Renaissance lesbians’ to ‘ironic feminists’ and ‘lipstick lesbians’ is memorialised in Rosie Mussen’s recent ‘The Lipstick Life’ feature. Contemporary DIVA remains committed to a glossy, mainstream magazine aesthetic, with Vogue-esque covers featuring glamorous celebrity photoshoots.

^{DIVA issue 1, April 1994 (Photography: Louisa Parry); DIVA, February 2022
Cover star: Lady Phyll // Photography: Kofi Paintsil // Photographer’s assistant: Gemma Poneinte // Hair: SirWeaveAlot/Neil // Make-up: Louise Watts). Reproduced with kind permission}

Historical Contexts

DIVA was founded in the 1990s, when many of the feminist magazines of the 1970-80s were folding (or had already folded) – from Outwrite to Spare Rib to Shocking Pink. It forms part of a long genealogy of UK-based lesbian feminist publications, from Arena Three (1963-1972) to Sappho (1971-1982). However, the landscape of queer periodical publishing flourished during this decade. Gay Times (1984-present), a monthly aimed at gay and bisexual men and DIVA‘s stablemate, had been publishing since 1984; other queer British magazines of the 1990s included Shebang, Quim: for dykes of all sexual persuasions (1989-1994), Lesbian London (1992-1994), and Rouge, ‘a quarterly magazine of lesbian, gay and bisexual culture, sexuality, politics and gender’. This was also the era of Riot Grrl zine activism, which spread to the UK from the US. As the first issue of DIVA notes, in 1993 ‘a lot happened to push lesbians into new preserves, propelling them into the mainstream with gusto’ – thanks to prominent figures such as k d lang, who appeared on the front cover of Vanity Fair with Cindy Crawford and the media mainstreaming of lesbian characters, as in the British soaps Emmerdale and Brookside. By the 2010s, the publishing landscape had changed dramatically, with ever-increasing consumerism and the rapid spread of the internet, as well as the rise of the so-called ‘pink pound’.

DIVA. keyboard symbols. June 94 p.31 — ^{DIVA, June 1994 p. 31. Reproduced with kind permission.}

DIVA, Cyberdyke issue, June 94 p.28 — ^{DIVA, June 1994 p. 28. Reproduced with kind permission.}

When DIVA was first published, the UK’s repressive Clause 28 (which prohibited the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality by Local Authorities including schools) had been in force for 6 years, and was not repealed until 2003. Stonewall UK was founded in response to Clause 28, and other barriers to equality, in 1989. The first national lesbian and gay TV series ‘Out on Tuesday’ first aired on Channel 4 in 1989. In the UK, the death rate from HIV/AIDs peaked in 1995 with around 1,800 people dying from AIDS-related illnesses. In 1996, Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) became the standard treatment for HIV, significantly reducing the development of AIDS and thus reducing the death toll from the disease. In 2004, the Gender Recognition Act was passed, which gave transgender people legal recognition; in 2010, the Equality Act protected the LGBT community from discrimination at work; and in 2013, gay marriage was legalised.

DIVA, Clause 28 article heading, May 1998 p.16 — ^{DIVA, May 1998 p. 16. Reproduced with kind permission.}

Editors

Frances Williams (1994-7)
Gillian Rodgerson (1997-2004)
Chance Czyzseslska (2004-17)
Carrie Lyell (2017-2021)
Roxy Bourdillon (2021-present)

^{Interview with Ruby Tandoh,} ^{DIVA, August 2016 p. 19. Reproduced with kind permission.}

Printers, typesetters, publishers and distributors

Initially published by Millivres Prowler; bought by Twin Media Group in 2016.

Business model

Initially, DIVA was backed by Millevres, and ran on a shoestring budget. Gay Times offered DIVA support in her early days, sharing deals with mainstream advertisers, such as Absolut Vodka. In 2016, Linda Riley bought the magazine, making it a lesbian-owned title for the first time. Contemporary DIVA‘s participation in Pride events, literary festivals, and annual awards ceremonies have created new revenue streams. DIVA launched a digital edition via Zinio in 2007, with tablet and mobile versions following. From 2013, DIVA‘s print sales have been in decline, but the digital edition grew by about 20% year on year. In 2019, Twin Media estimated DIVA‘s monthly online audience at over 130,000. Currently, DIVA has 84.6k followers on X and 81.6k on Instagram. DIVA still publishes a print edition. In 2024, Nancy Kelley (formerly CEO of Stonewall) took over from Linda Riley as Executive Director of DIVA. [details derived from Turner, 2020]

^{DIVA, April 1994; DIVA April-May 2024}

Connections to other feminist magazines

DIVA‘s contributors in the 1990s included many with long-standing links to the feminist publishing scene – from Bea Campbell to Sue O’Sullivan (see DIVA’s Feb/March 1995 issue). Founding editor Frances Williams was connected to the Shocking Pink collective and Rouge magazine. DIVA runs ads for these and other titles (c.f. October 1995 p. 37).