Profile: Maria Rivers, founder of lesbian social-networking site
We didn’t quit publishing Labrys because we went broke. We quit publishing because we evolved. LabrysATL.com is a social media now. It’s like a Facebook for lesbians.’
In 2004, Maria Rivers launched Labrys Atlanta, the only lesbian-centric publication in the city at the time. ‘’This year, she shifted Labrys from print to an online ’zine and social networking site.
When did you start Labrys?
June 18, 2004, we had our launch party at what was then known as the Red Chair. It started out that the Red Chair was all male, and I begged them to let me have a Thursday. They were so reluctant at first. There were over 600 women there. It was jammin’.
What was your idea behind the publication?
I guess the main reason was that the women’s community needed a presence. When I moved here in 2003, I didn’t know anybody. I didn’t know where to meet them besides going to My Sister’s Room, and that was it.
I got in touch with the only woman who had started a publication, and she was like, “Why? Why are you starting a women’s publication? They won’t support you in this.” She was just totally bitter. And I’m like, “There’s a shift, there’s a change in this world and we have to embrace it, and I believe we can make it this time!”’’