Frances "Franco" Stevens

Visibility and representation are the most powerful tools in existence to protect LGBTQ+ people, and Franco Stevens knew this 30 years ago. Her work helped move the nation forward socially and politically by creating space, visibility, and empathy for anyone who identified as lesbian.

Growing up, Franco never saw any representation of queer women — she didn’t even know it was possible for a woman to be gay. When she realized she was a lesbian, it changed the course of her life. Franco founded the most successful lesbian magazine in the world, raising lesbian visibility in a way that connected the lesbian community, created the lesbian market for advertisers, helped the lesbian community accept femme-identifying lesbians, changed the way lesbians are seen by the mainstream, highlighted the transgender experience, brought attention to lesbian families, raised awareness of attacks on LGBT rights, and amplified the work of lesbian activists.

We are in the midst of a significant cultural shift around women and queer people claiming their voices and power in unprecedented ways. Propelling inclusive, creative, positive change requires that we inspire, coalesce, and arm the LGBTQ community with stories of making positive change with joy and connection as we and our allies gear up to defend our right to marry, second parent adoption, visitation rights, housing and employment rights, and hate crime legislation. Franco’s story has deep relevance today, charting the course of how far lesbians have come, both politically and socially, in the last 30 years, and making clear all we have to fight for today. Franco engages audiences with her story of how in meeting her own needs she met the needs of hundreds of thousands of others. She speaks to an extraordinary time when the lesbian community galvanized as never before, inspiring audiences to champion community and visibility.