'L Style G Style' going national

AUSTIN (KXAN) - After nearly five years of being in operation, the creators of "L Style G Style ," a free magazine featuring stories on gay and lesbian leaders in the community, plan to expand to other cities around the country.

"It's one facet of who our community is, that we're gay or lesbian," said Lynn Yeldell, one of the publishers. "But we're also teachers, we're leaders, we work for the city, we start our own companies. And it's a really nice thing to have the magazine out there without the sort of screaming icons of the rainbow or triangle."

The magazine was launched in 2007, and now has a following of 50,000 to 60,000 readers both online and in print. Twenty thousand copies of the free magazine are distributed every two months to more than 400 locations in the Austin area.

"We're just doing a service for everyone," Yeldell said.

The magazine has become so popular that there are now plans to take it to other cities. Houston will get its own version in September, and then Dallas in March 2013. The creators then plan to start the magazine in other cities, in other states.

"Charlotte, Seattle and Minneapolis," said Alisa Weldon. "Five-year time frame; hopefully we'll be in 10 cities at that time."

Weldon came up with the idea for the magazine in 2004. She sold her home and used her life savings to get it started in 2007. But in 2008, a bad economy caused some problems.

"We did take a pretty big hit, and we maintained the growth and continued to focus on our efforts. And we got out of it quickly," Weldon said.

"L Style G Style" now has a following that doesn't just include gay men and lesbian women, but also straight men and straight women.

"Well, I would never have expected that a lead surgeon who's a straight male would have said, 'Oh my gosh! I love that magazine. I have my wife pick up that magazine every time she goes to Whole Foods or Central Market,'" Weldon said. "The intent of the magazine from the start was never to put the word lesbian or gay on the cover, because the moment someone creates something or has a stereotype, or experience that might be negative, we don't want them to shy away from what the stories are about."

"That's what is really core to our message, being able to put a face to the community and bring everyone together; the businesses, nonprofits and individuals," Yeldell said.

"It's really important to start out with who a person is and what they do and how they contribute. It's the tertiary element that they're gay or lesbian. So, when we write the stories, it's the last thing we want people to realize. We want them to get to know someone, before they make a judgment of someone," Weldon said.

Weldon and Yeldell are not only business partners, but they're also life partners. They met about six months before the launch of the magazine, and have been together ever since.