FlawLes Issue1
 Who Is FlawLes?
By now the question is rhetorical, however we thought we should take the time to answer this question in our own words. Rarely do you have the opportunity to capture the attention of an audience for the sole purpose of defining yourself, what you do, who you are, and why you do it. So here goes:
FlawLes is a name and a concept that we developed over a year and a half ago to address the issues and demands of a changing lesbian community. By identity and simple definition, we felt included. However, we didn’t feel like we were participating enough. We looked to a number of already established women in the community to collaborate with, support and learn from. When we launched flawLes.com, we hoped that our online calendar, articles, blogs, pictures and everything else the online space offered would provide a place for women to connect with other women. Through events and new monthly socials like the Supper Club, FlawLes started showing up in more places. With a very specific outcome, we scouted some of the nicest venues in San Diego to host special events and fundraisers. FlawLes was a movement to us, and in order to get this message out we needed to get it to the community. These events aimed to entertain and inspire all types of women from a variety of ages and backgrounds, accompanied by a strong and positive message: Everybody is invited. What started out as “just a website” to bridge the gap in the lesbian community, has now evolved into a wide-open space for ideas, creativity, entertainment and now a print publication. The vision of this magazine is to move beyond the virtual world of flawLes.com to get the pictures, the stories, the attention, and the feedback of readers, subscribers [and lesbians] everywhere. Through the process, we hope that new doors open for some, and allow foundations to get stronger for others.
In a society now facing the inevitable opportunities and awareness of the LGBT community, we truly wanted to “be the change we wished to see”. It’s never been our goal to change the minds or identities of women, but rather bring them to the surface to serve as great examples for those still struggling to find theirs. FlawLes wants to highlight these women. FlawLes wants to celebrate their victories and support their challenges ahead. And we hope that we can create a community that unites, not divides. FlawLes, although just a name, has been an amazing journey to find compelling reasons to move ourselves and our community forward, while continually searching for opportunities to give back. Through this magazine, we hope that you find both value and your place to experience the community that surrounds us. We value you. We honor you. And no matter whom you are or whom you choose to be, we want you to know that we are in this together and we all deserve to be FlawLes.
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FlawLes Issue2
 Who is FlawLes?
FlawLes is a name and a concept that we developed over a year and a half ago to address the issues and demands of a changing lesbian community. By identity and simple definition, we felt included, although we didn’t feel like we were participating enough…
Our first issue, released this past July, sparked quite a bit of controversy and fluid conversation, and we couldn’t be happier. Under the pressure of a launch release, we knew we wanted to be both provocative and bold in our approach to editorial content, photography, design and layout, and the feedback we received seems to have met this outcome. As we learn the rules and break others, we continue to lay the foundation for our future vision of FlawLes.
In this current issue, you can expect to find more of the same thought-provoking stories and images that support our mission to explore the lifestyle and entertainment interests of a changing lesbian community. This quarter, we focus on women in music. You’ll quickly see just how much women reshape both how we listen to music and how we see the expression of lyricism in the female form. In addition, this issue will display how lesbians influence the changing trends and standards within the music industry. We are no doubt strong and powerful in our determination to have our voices heard.
We’ve also dedicated this issue to Breast Cancer, which is not only an important issue in women’s health but also an issue that greatly impacts the lesbian community with staggering statistics. In our quest to arm our sisters with knowledge and inspiration, we highlight this information for you in stories and words that encourage immediate action. Note to the ActiveLes inside all of us: the battle is not over.
We believe in two constants of life: change and growth. And the future issues of FlawLes Magazine to come will be dedicated to addressing the changes and faces of our community, realizing that both growth and complexity are abundant. Stay with us for more of the same, as we continue along this journey to raise the expectation of the modern-day lesbian.
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FlawLes Issue3
 Who is FlawLes?
Happy New Year from FlawLes! This year, before you get too far into 2009, we’d like to encourage you to start off the year by doing something new, something different and at some point something you’ve never dreamed possible until now. We invite you to make positives changes, clean out your closet, find new love, get fit and above all, to define your dreams! What do you really want? What does it look like? Will you make a difference this year? Just like the beginning of a new year, these are the questions we ask ourselves, before each issue of FlawLes Magazine is produced - we reflect on its previous issue, reviewing the images and the stories that were moved to print. After all, FlawLes is a modern-day movement.
On the heels of our first release, the team decided to flex its literary and artistic muscles. This year, we aim to illustrate progressive stories, reveal noteworthy faces and to uncover the hidden gems of our surroundings. With deliberation, these articles, people and places were hand-picked to represent the vision and mission of how we see our community and how FlawLes hopes to drive it forward.
In this current issue, FlawLes focuses its attention again on the influential modern-day lesbian. After years of struggle and transformation, we found it quite astounding and proud to see how far these women have come and how their actions have impacted the masses.
We start this magazine with a closer look into a variety of health, fitness and culture options that are as close as your fingertips. With this commitment to health and wellness, FlawLes pauses to articulate our recommendations to support your New Year’s Resolution of getting fit – emotionally, spiritually, sexually and physically.
Thank you for sticking with FlawLes throughout 2008, and now moving into a new year with us. We expect this year to be big, with growth, expansion and enough “raising the expectation” to keep you engaged for another 365 days! Expect to see FlawLes in more places, doing new things, meeting new people and producing new ideas to foster a new day, a new lesbian and a new FlawLes YOU! FlawLes 2009 promises to GO BIG or GO HOME!
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FlawLes Issue4
 Who is FlawLes?
FlawLes is a name and a concept that we developed to address the issues and demands of a changing lesbian community.
Today, FlawLes is a Movement – A movement working to stretch the comfort zones of our surrounding communities, while also challenging the current beliefs and identities that exist within us. The team at FlawLes deliberately chose to tackle a subject that would not only further our mission, but would also aim to fulfill the team’s desire to learn and grow as a community figure. As a result, we landed on the subject of Gender. What other topic could force us to surrender our own ideas and tread uncharted territory of the differences that ironically bind us together? After all, FlawLes must continue to grow, to meet the ever-changing demands of the individuals who support us.
What does it mean to be transgender? Someone once told me, many individuals in the lesbian and gay community identify as transgender and yet do not reveal these parts of themselves to others. Is it possible for some to be closeted in our own community? It is more than a possibility, it is a reality. We must be mindful as well of the difference between transgender, which refers to an identity, and transitioning, which refers to a process.
What it means to be transgender is not something that anyone on the outside has any business in defining. What we can do is participate in our own transgressing of gender lines, reflect on the gender fluidity we have grown up with, and look deeply at the anima/animus (a Jungian concept) within ourselves. What ultimately transforms our understandings of gender are the ways in which gender is performed on the very stage of life and captured in art, leading us into a phase of discovery.
A further benefit gained when thinking about transgender issues are the immense challenges faced by those in the LGBT community. Once part of the dominant lesbian and gay circles, women and men in transition sometimes face banishment and isolation from those once thought of as family. Others may bypass mainstream queer culture altogether, for better or worse, and weather through hormone therapy, surgeries, and legal issues in loneliness or small systems of support. And yet still there are others who yearn for something more – even if it is unnamed – or who yearn for something less in desiring no gender pronoun whatsoever because words fail.
We identify with transition and going against established structures to create space for ourselves, sometimes alone and always humbled by the growing pains of a new identity, all the while striving to go beyond what labels we take on. We live in an era where many issues continue to challenge us on a national and international level, and we welcome dialogue, communication, discussion and sharing. Now is the perfect time to confront challenges within our community. After all, nobody said growth is easy.
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FlawLes Issue5
 Who is FlawLes
As we say goodbye to another year, we look back at the growth, contribution and lessons we’ve learned through FlawLes. After two years since its inception, and only one year since the release of FlawLes Magazine, the FlawLes concept and organization have both faced many challenges and changes, along with the birth of a new team, direction and focus.
And as we celebrate this anniversary of FlawLes Magazine, we figured there would be no better time to introduce our readers to the faces behind the scenes.
One of the newest editions to the FlawLes concept is FlawLes TV. In our effort to keep up with the rapidly changing climate of communication, as well as to meet the demands and expectation of a changing demographic, FlawLes developed and introduced an online television show. The vibrant and charming personalities of two FlawLes team members, Jess and Mary B., allowed FlawLes to reach the homes of thousands of lesbians and queers around the world! The show’s grass-roots production and personal touch has sparked a surge and curiosity that the FlawLes team couldn’t be happier to welcome. What’s next for FlawLes TV is exciting and aims to support and tackle the wants and needs of our subscribers and readers everywhere!
Now, as we leave another long hot summer, we enter the introspection of the fall season and turn inward. Care of the body and the pushing of physical limits are one the main features of this issue. For the modern day lesbian, participating in sports provides more than an adrenaline rush or a good workout.
Women in sports are FlawLes. Women’s sports break new ground every day. We surprise ourselves when surviving the adversity that comes our way, and yet our support systems know all along what we are made of. We gather for a drink and a cheer when the ritual dance of competition is over. We honor one another’s strength when we honor our own.
As FlawLes Magazine celebrates its one-year anniversary, we stand with humility and gratitude to all those who have supported our mission along the way. Reach out to our FlawLes team, and hear the aspirations they have for propelling the movement to the next level.
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