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The Gals Behind Girlfriends
Now HAF employs 13 women, and works with a host of interns, freelancers, designers, and other independent contractors. HAF also has the distinction of being the only multi-title lesbian publishing company in the world. Peruse our stellar line-up of staff below, and if you'd like to be a Girlfriend yourself, click here. Here's what our Editor in Chief has to say for herself this month. |
Girlfriends Staff
 [Editor in Chief] Heather Findlay published her first feminist erotica magazine Positions when she was a 23-year-old senior at Brown University. After Cornell University awarded her a Ph.D. in English in 1992, she became the editor of On Our Backs from 1993-1994. Her work has been published in academic and popular journals from Feminist Studies to Out Magazine, and she is editor of A Movement of Eros: 25 Years of Lesbian Erotica (Kasak/Masquerade). |
| [Publisher] Erin Findlay gave up her luxurious life In November of 1994 as a Marin homemaker to support her daughter's new publishing venture. She served as a city councilwoman in Belvedere in the 1980s, and as a staff writer at The Ark newspaper since 1977. She is a model mom in every way. She does our books, helps organize promotions, takes us out to lunch a lot, and threatens everyone who owes us money. |
 [Managing Editor] Kathleen Hildenbrand started at Girlfriends two years ago as a lowly intern and worked her way up to become managing editor. "Sometimes I can't believe I landed my dream job of being a magazine editor," she says. "But then the stacks of work on my desk remind me." It's not all endless toil, though: she's gotten to interview cool people like Ani DiFranco and Michael Moore, and considers herself fortunate to be in the small subset of writers who actually get published and paid for their work. |
| [Associate Editor] Sarah Jane Friesema [] comes to Girlfriends from an online computer magazine publisher. Ultimately, she says, she doesn't really care if geek magazines get onto the internet, but she is much more excited about working with Girlfriends. She is an avid traveler-she completely filled her passport with stamps, got extension pages put in, and now has even filled those. She now is trying, nonetheless, to stay put in San Francisco. |
 [Assistant Editor] Nyondo Nadi is a recent addition to Girlfriends. Previously employed as a web-site reviewer, a computer consultant, and a freelance writer, she says that her new position is "an adventure, every day." She resides in San Francisco with two wives, a girlfriend, five cats, and way, way, too many computers. |
 [Art Director] Bonnie C. Barrett is a Jersey girl and proud of it! She has a BFA from Moore College of Art and Design, which she is equally proud of. After spending a magnificent five years in New York City (missing many of her wonderful friends there), she headed west to San Francisco, chasing and catching dreams.Bonnie collects "greetings from" postcards... Send her one and she will send you a quirky and fun card in return! |
 [Advertising Director] Catherine Draper worked at SF Weekly, the local alternative weekly, before joining Girlfriends. She felt strongly about what Girlfriends was offering and jumped at the chance to work here. In her spare time, she plays "monsters" with her three-year-old son, and studies astrology. |
| [Marketing Director] Nikki Galvan |
 [Marketing Assistant] Maia Klein [] Maia Klein, Marketing Assistant I'm fortunate to live and work in a place where the norm for coffee table coverage is gay and lesbian publications. I'm always pleasantly surprised when I allow my impulses to take control. Who would've thought they would lead me here. |
Girlfriends Contributing Editors
[Girltalk] Pat Califia is the author of numerous titles on lesbian sexuality, including Sapphistry and Coming to Power. Her latest publication is Bitch Goddess (Greenery Press), a collection of writings on the spirituality of the dominant woman. Got a Girltalk question?
[Ask Dr. Dyke] Dr. Beth Brown is a family physician and author of numerous health and interactive columns for the queer press. Got a question? .
The first issue came out in 1994, just in time for the Stonewall celebrations. We had hardly any advertisiers, no subscribers, and a paid staff of three. But we were a hit! We published on a bimonthly basis after that, and by the summer opf 1995 our sales and our staff had grown enough to warrant a real office. In 1996, Girlfriends underwent a massive redesign -we got rid of our centerfold and changed our masthead - and its parent company, HAF Enterprises, purchases the infamous but bankrupt lesbian sex magazine, On Our Backs.