Lavender (magazine)
Lavender is a biweekly award-winning print and online magazine, part of Lavender Media, published in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community. Each issue highlights current trends and happenings in cuisine, nightlife, news, travel, and style. It is distributed free of charge in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul and in some other cities throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin. History. Founded in 1995 by George Holdgrafer and Stephen Rocheford, "Lavender"'s mission is "to appeal to the greatest number of Minnesota GLBT readers, and direct them to [their] advertisers." "Lavender" published its  500th issue in June 2014. In 2010, "Lavender" drew attention to Lutheran pastor Tom Brock who was privately homosexual as well as critical of allowing homosexuals joining the Lutheran clergy. Although Brock was put on leave, he was not fired from his position. In 2017, Stephen Rocheford, CEO of "Lavender", publicly voiced criticism of the exclusion of police officers from the 2017 Twin Cities Pride festival parade. Controversies. In 2016, after the Orlando nightclub shooting, "Lavender" editors wrote an article accused of anti-Muslim bias. The opposition to the articles organized a Change.org petition aimed at Stephen Rocheford for singling  out Islam as a source of violence. Awards. In 2016, "Lavender" was named Magazine of the Year by the Minnesota Magazine & Publishing Association (MMPA). It has also received more than 90 MMPA awards in the categories of overall excellence, best digital media, best internet site, best director, best single cover, best feature article, best regular column, best single topic, best how-to article, best use of visuals, best redesign, best media kit, and best editor's or publisher's editorial.