The group Lesbians Who Tech held a summit in Berlin to give a voice to lesbians in the tech industry as well as to expand their community worldwide.

Struggling for recognition, lesbians celebrated who they were in the cabarets of Europe and the United States before the start of the Second World War.

From Seattle to San Fran, LN's Entertainment Editor and SelfHelp columinist, Dian Katz, let's you know where to go to find the Lesbian bars when you hit town. Dian says, "

        Gloria Bigelow, Dana Goldberg, Suzanne Westenhoefer and Dinah Leffert are slated to headline "The Dinah Comedy Night" on Thursday, April 2, 2015 at 8:00pm at The Palm Springs Convention Center in Palm Springs, CA. This high-energy, uniquely creative, hysterical quartet will deliver a diverse range of topics, styles, and flavors, giving something for everyone of all ages, genders, and cultural backgrounds to enjoy. This year again The Dinah brings together four of the most acclaimed female stand up comedians who will showcase their comedic dexterity in this one of a kind, ridiculously hilarious comedy show. Guaranteeing a laugh-fest, Bigelow, Leffert, Goldberg and Westenhoefer offer the perfect explosive mix of comedy! Celebrating its milestone 25th Anniversary, Club Skirts Dinah Shore Weekend, the largest & biggest lesbian event in the world, is, once again, upping the volume on your laughter, bringing together the perfect mix of the hottest lesbian comics on the circuit for an exceptional comedy night that is MUST SEE COMEDY!   To purchase tickets or for more

MARCH 13th “GOLDEN TICKET” SHOW BENEFITING LA COUNTY FOSTER YOUTH & FAMILIES FEATURING VEGAS LEGEND FRANK MARINO LOS ANGELES (Feb. 25, 2015) - Emmy Award® winning FOX 11 LA News anchor Christine Devine will host Cops 4 Causes “Golden Ticket” Show featuring “Frank Marino’s Divas Las Vegas” on March 13, 2015 at 6 PM.   Show benefits LA County foster youth and their families.   “Christine Devine is a tireless advocate for foster youth.  Her work with “Wednesday’s Child” which highlights children in need of loving foster homes is truly commendable.  Christine also is a huge supporter of the art’s and theater here in Los Angeles. We cannot think of a better choice to host our Inaugural Benefit for our Golden Ticket Program and Cops 4 Causes is honored to be joined by this remarkable woman, leader and humanitarian ” stated Cops 4 Causes President, Deputy Christopher Landavazo.   For this special evening, Vegas’ “Longest Running Headliner” Frank Marino brings his star-studded “Frank Marino’s Divas Las Vegas” show to Avalon Hollywood marking the first time the iconic female impersonator has

Great News! We've added a new section to our already jam-packed magazine, Lesbian News! We are glad to highlight those Lesbian-owned and Lesbian-friendly businesses that bring quality products to our readers. In this month's February issue, we show you clothes that every Lesbian dreams of, art work that is superb, jewelry that is divine, wine that is to-die-for, cake are that will blow your mind and, or course, those delightful toys that every woman needs when shes feeling frisky (alone or with the woman she loves!). Get this section of Lesbian News, absolutely FREE! Download it here and enjoy!

Walk into any clothing store, on one side you see clothes for men - neutral tones, classic style, comfortable fit. On the other side, women’s wear – an explosion of color, ruffles, frills, skinny jeans and dresses. But who is covering the in-between? You know. The tomboys. The white space between clothes for men and those frilly women's clothes. Count us in - that’s what TomboyX aims to fill. Classic, cool clothing that is menswear inspired but made for women. Designed by tomboys, for tomboys. Started by Fran Dunaway and Naomi Gonzalez, TomboyX has a mission to provide clothing that fits a woman's body while not fitting the norm of women's clothing. Whether you are a tomboy, all day, every day or just when the mood strikes you, you will find TomboyX clothes just what you need, when you need it! If Amelia Earhart or Katherine Hepburn were alive today, TomboyX is exactly what they would be looking for and we, here at LesbianNews,

On Wednesday, cartoonist [and former LN cover] Alison Bechdel was named one of 21 new MacArthur Fellows. [caption id="attachment_1037" align="alignright" width="341"] Alison Bechdel via Lesbian News, September 2003[/caption] Bechdel’s name may be familiar to you from her graphic memoirs Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic and Are You My Mother?, or you may recognize her as the deviser of the Bechdel test, a metric she described in a 1985 comic strip that assesses whether movies have meaningful interactions between female characters. For decades, she’s been assembling a groundbreaking body of work that plays with what the cartoon form can do, through her graphic memoirs as well as through her comic strip "Dykes to Watch Out For." Bechdel’s choice as a MacArthur Fellow made a splash, however, as it marks only the second time a cartoonist has been selected for the honor. The first, Ben Katchor, was awarded the fellowship in 2000. Graphic novels and cartoons have been catching more and more of the spotlight in

[caption id="attachment_2157" align="aligncenter" width="620"] (Photo credit: Thomas Geyer)[/caption] Vivian Boyack, age 91, and Alice “Nonie” Dubes, age 90, have been together for 72 years, and this weekend they tied the knot. As the reverend who performed the ceremony in Davenport, Iowa said, “This is a celebration of something that should have happened a very long time ago.” What does it take to sustain a relationship since circa the middle of World War II? A lot of love and work, according to Boyack. “We’ve had a good time,” Dubes says. (Courtesy Feministing.com)  

Facebook made a $10,000 donation in May to the reelection campaign of Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, who has received national attention for fighting a court ruling that would make gay marriage legal in the state. The donation, first reported by QSaltLake, is listed in a filing for Reyes' 2014 primary campaign on the State of Utah Financial Disclosures website. Here's a screenshot of the filing: And closer up: In an email to The Huffington Post, a Facebook spokesperson offered a statement on the donation: Facebook has a strong record on LGBT issues and that will not change, but we make decisions about which candidates to support based on the entire portfolio of issues important to our business, not just one. A contribution to a candidate does not mean that we agree with every policy or position that candidate takes. We made this donation for the same reason we’ve donated to Attorneys General on the opposite side of this issue -- because they are committed to fostering innovation and an

31 years ago today astronaut Sally Ride became the first American woman to fly in space. Almost two years ago, after Dr. Ride's death, it was revealed that she had been with her female partner, Tam O'Shaugnessy, for 27 years. Today we celebrate her life, her legacy and her love.  

What is life like for the queer community in the United States? That's the question Vocativ, the global media organization for the Digital Generation, set out to answer with their new Queer Index, "a thorough examination of dozens of quality-of-life factors for America’s LGBT communities, based on Vocativ’s proprietary technology that mines the 'Deep Web' –- the 80% of the Internet outside the scope of search engines," according to a statement from the company. The Queer Index incorporates data from open databases, public sites and social networks, including Craigslist, Facebook, Yelp, Rentboy, the US census and the FBI crimes database. Vocativ used this information to determine its definitive listing of the top 35 most LGBT-friendly cities spanning the United States. 16 "key lifestyle metrics" were measured, Vocativ notes, and "specific factors explored include the size of cities’ LGBT communities, number of 'out' singles, openly gay and lesbian politicians, queer-friendly businesses, hate-crime rates, and even the ease of casual hook-ups." “For Pride Month, we wanted to create a useful and

Nordstrom marked LGBT Pride Month with a poignant and colorful Instagram photo. It isn't the first time that Nordstrom has taken a public stance on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights. In 2012, representatives for the Seattle-based retail chain backed same-sex marriage in Washington state via a company-wide memo. "With respect to our gay and lesbian employees, Nordstrom was an early adopter of adding sexual orientation to our anti-discrimination policy, which means we guarantee the same legal rights and protections in our workplace to gay and lesbian employees just as we do for other employees regardless of sex, race, color, creed, national origin, religion, age, marital status, pregnancy, physical, mental or sensory disability, and gender identity," the memo, which was also posted to GLAAD's official website, read. "We feel the next step in this journey is to now support freedom to marry, also called marriage equality," it continued. A year later, the company followed up with a commercial expressing similar values. Dubbed "The Ultimate Wedding Party,"

It was July 1993. American geneticist Dean Hamer shocked the world when he released a study that suggested the existence of a “gay gene.” The gene, Hamer said, was on the X chromosome and passed on by the mother. Hamer’s findings were controversial because they offered scientific evidence that (gasp!) being gay wasn’t a choice. In the 20 years since the release of that groundbreaking study, others have been conducted that offer contradictory results. Bible thumpers and homophobes alike have often either denied Hamer’s research or mocked it. In 2011, Ann Coulter charmingly said, “As soon as they find the gay gene, guess who the liberal yuppies are gonna start aborting?” Now, the Washington Post reports new research finds that, despite what some naysayers would like to believe, Dean Hamer was right all along. A gay gene does exist. In fact, there are two of them. Maybe — in fact, probably — even more than two. Researchers at the Human Genome Project, an international scientific research group that examines human DNA, conducted a study on several pairs of gay brothers. “Sexual orientation has nothing to do with choice,” Michael Bailey of Northwestern University, who carried out the research, said. “Our findings suggest

A list of the most gay-friendly cities in the US is out, and the one that took the top spot might not be what you were expecting. Seattle placed first in the US, whereas San Francisco, known for its large gay community and history came in second. The NerdWallet list is based on a number of factors, including the presence of gay community, gay friendly laws and indexes, and LGBT safety and tolerance. The overall score for each city was calculated using the percentage of households with same-sex partners, using the US Census Bureau American Community Survey, the 2013 Municipal Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign, and the number of sexual-orientation related hate crimes divided by 100,000 people from FBI crime statistics. The list describes the city: “Seattle is home to the highest percentage of same-sex households of all major cities in the U.S. and gay marriage is legal in the state of Washington. Furthermore, the city has an equality index of 100 and a relatively low rate of sexual

Fans are using the hashtag, #LuckyToBe, to express who they are and why that identity makes them lucky. If you grew up in the US, it is pretty likely you loved eating those Lucky Charms. It might have also occurred to you, with all those colors, shapes and rainbows, that might have been the queerest way to start your day as a kid. And now, you’ve been proven right. The cereal, best known for its leprechaun mascot, is running a new campaign for Pride month. They are asking fans to use the hashtag, #LuckyToBe, to express who they are and why that identity makes them lucky. ‘We don't all look the same, believe the same things, or love the same people,’ they say in the campaign video. ‘And that's a good thing. It makes our world more interesting. Special. Beautiful. Magical.’ GLAAD is also promoting the campaign, with the group’s vice president of communications and programs Rich Ferraro saying he was ‘excited to see a brand like

LGBT rights just got another big push from the president himself. The White House on Friday issued a proclamation by President Barack Obama calling on Americans to eliminate prejudice “everywhere it exists,” declaring June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. “As progress spreads from State to State, as justice is delivered in the courtroom, and as more of our fellow Americans are treated with dignity and respect – our Nation becomes not only more accepting, but more equal as well,” the proclamation begins. Obama writes that although the gay rights movement saw a massive victory this month last year with Supreme Court’s decision to strike down a key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act, giving gay couples married in states where it’s legal the same federal benefits that straight couples receive, full equality is not yet here. “Despite this progress, LGBT workers in too many States can be fired just because of their sexual orientation or gender identity; I continue to call on the Congress

[caption id="attachment_1768" align="aligncenter" width="675"] Maya Angelou in 2008. Credit Tim Sloan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images[/caption] Maya Angelou, the memoirist and poet whose landmark book of 1969, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” — which describes in lyrical, unsparing prose her childhood in the Jim Crow South — was among the first autobiographies by a 20th-century black woman to reach a wide general readership, died on Wednesday in her home. She was 86 and lived in Winston-Salem, N.C. Her death was confirmed by her longtime literary agent, Helen Brann. No immediate cause of death had been determined, but Ms. Brann said Ms. Angelou had been in frail health for some time and had had heart problems. As well known as she was for her memoirs, which eventually filled six volumes, Ms. Angelou very likely received her widest exposure on a chilly January day in 1993, when she delivered the inaugural poem, “On the Pulse of Morning,” at the swearing-in of Bill Clinton, the

  NEW YORK – Actress and comedian Lea DeLaria will host the reception for the five winning couples of the American Civil Liberties Union’s "My Big Gay (Il)legal Wedding” contest at 54 Below in New York City on May 19, 2014. “I’m honored to host this wedding reception and celebrate the love between the five same-sex couples who won the ‘Big Gay (Il)legal Wedding’ contest,” said DeLaria “But we also want to highlight the inequality they face just because these Americans live in a state that does not yet recognize same-sex marriage.” Attendees of the wedding reception will include allies and proponents of the ACLU’s Out for Freedom campaign as well as the winners of the "Wedding Crashers Sweepstakes.”  Supporters can visit weddings.aclu.org to sign the wedding guestbook and enter for the chance to win one of five VIP trips to NYC to "crash" the marquee "My Big Gay (Il)legal Wedding” reception. The guestbooks, calling for the freedom to marry, will be delivered to

A new burial area reserved for lesbians is opening this weekend in Berlin. Basically, a 400-square-meter section of the existing Lutheran Georgen Parochial cemetery will be set aside for gay women, with space for up to 80, the Associated Press reports. The Safia association, a national group primarily for elderly lesbians, said it created this space as a place “where life and death connect, distinctive forms of cemetery culture can develop and where the lesbian community can live together in the afterlife.” The group has promised to clean up, landscape and maintain the area in return for free use of the space. Dr. Astrid Osterland, a member of Safia, told German newspaper The Local that this effort has “absolutely nothing against men” and that technically, there are no rules prohibiting men (or heterosexual women) from selecting plots in the lesbian section. But, since the whole point is to preserve the bonds of the lesbian community, we assume they really only want lesbians. (Courtesy of Time.com)

The Trans 100 List, honoring transgender trailblazers, is out! The unranked list shines a positive light on underrepresented communities.

Vernita Gray, a pioneer of marriage equality and longtime LGBT rights activist, has passed away at 65. Her legacy will continue to inspire many.