British newspapers and tabloids have recently been talking about the much-rumored “are they or aren’t they?” amorous relationship between Lindsay Lohan and Sam Ronson. Even The Sunday Times devoted two pages to it, throwing in the phrase “lesbian chic” and stating how cool it is to be, or appear to be a lesbian. And with fashion magazines declaring it’s very “on-trend” to look gay, to combine a shoulder pad-blazer with a boyish haircut such as Agyness Deyn and Pixie Geldof (who aren’t even lesbians) things seem to be clear: the media is implying that one of the biggest trends of 2008 is the emergence of “lesbian chic.”

To find out whether this means the taboos around lesbianism and gay culture will finally disappear, psychoPEDIA chatted with Jessica Gysel, who runs GLU (short for Girls Like Us) Magazine, along with her fellow lesbian Kathrin Hero. Established in 2005, GLU is a lesbian magazine, run by lesbians only, based in Amsterdam and published in New York. Created as an antidote to the vanilla representation of lcontemporary lesbian culture, GLU goes against the mainstream representation of lesbian culture. Approaching this milieu with a new angle, GLU shows the less sexy image of lesbian girls and brings a no-nonsense twist. As their worldwide distribution means their release parties can occur anywhere from Berlin to New York, psychoPEDIA spoke with Gysel about the constantly evolving global image of lesbianism:

Why do you think Amsterdam has always been at the forefront of radical queer culture?
We’re both import to the Netherlands; Kathrin is Swiss. I am Belgian. I can’t give an answer from a Dutch point of view, but I guess the sort of free-of-Catholic-pressure and no-nonsense, direct non-religious culture may have made a lot of things possible. That said, I think that the queer avant-garde Amsterdam glory days are a bit over now. The ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s were much more daring and innovative. With GLU, we never really targeted a Dutch audience. We were much more inspired by international developments within the lesbian scene.

Do you spend a lot of time in the New York City lesbian community?
I think there’s a very good scene in New York, especially in Brooklyn. My ex-girlfriend lives there, so I spent a lot of time there and basically have been traveling to NYC frequently since 1995. GLU is built around an international network of cool lesbians I met in the last 10 years or so. I travel a lot and have connections with upfront lezzer scenes in most of the bigger cities like London, Berlin, Paris, NYC, LA, Sao Paolo, etc. We also get invited a lot for festivals, so the network grows organically.

What’s happened to the image of lesbianism since GLU’s launch?
For sure, worldwide influence and dominance of the L Word. I am surprised that people can’t seem to get enough of that. Mainstream lesbian magazines have finally found something to write about, it seems. Also interesting is the rise of a lot of lesbian-fronted or comprised bands like Hercules & Love Affair, Gossip, and Telepathe. In collaboration with German artist Susanne M Winterling, we just made our first CD, GLU Music, which features a lot of these bands.

What’s your opinion on the media’s attention to Sam Ronson’s speculated lesbian relationship with Lindsay Lohan?
I don’t have a specific opinion about it, but we’re busy with Sam Ronson. I would love to have her interviewed in GLU. Not so much because of Li Lo, but more because I think she’s really cool and seems lost in the wrong network.

With national newspapers praising lesbianism, does the taboo around the culture seem to be disappearing?
I think it’s much more complicated and nuanced. As long as the girls look cool and hot, there’s no problem. It’s all about sexy media representation such as with Li Lo and the L Word. We have a super hard time with GLU to find advertisers, because we also portray the less sexy-– which is subjective– faces like transgendered girls and boys. I think there’s still a lot of work to be done, and I’m curious to see the first brand featuring a mustached queer inter-sexual being, although JD from Le Tigre might pop up at some point…

What do you think of the newly formed style, ‘lesbian chic’…
Looks are one thing– what you really are all about is another. A lot of lezzies look like cute boys, and this happens to be the fashionable look at this moment. Even Fantastic Man magazine will have a feature with lesbians in its next issue. I think we do have a fashion moment, indeed. But as you know with fashion, it can be over the next moment.

Since your website's tagline states: “Cool lesbians. Cool girls. Cool women. Cool guys. Cool whoever can change contemporary lezzer culture,” what do you feel is left to accomplish?
There’s a lot more to discover. Hard to say what and when, but there is. Just for starters–- how to represent lesbian sex in a good way. I’ve been thinking for six years about that one and feel that. Only now, we have a chance for a good take.

~Freddie Janssen