About Flag Magazine

In November 2024, just a few days after the election results were announced, co-founders Nico Urban and August Shapiro were sitting on a porch, overlooking busy traffic. They spoke of the new sort of grief they were feeling. It was a harrowing grief, one unlike what was felt in 2016. The feelings of fear and the unknown lingered, but the results did not take them by surprise. In the near-decade since the 2016 election, they’d watched far-right extremism infiltrate the American political landscape in frightening ways. Specifically, they witnessed conservatives positioning trans individuals as scapegoats throughout the campaign trail for political gain. Even in a so-called liberal city like Los Angeles, both co-founders noticed a declining feeling of safety that had been lent to the LGBTQ+ community and was being yanked away.

As they watched cars and the conversation continued, their sorrow turned to optimism as they bounced around their personal creative goals. And then the idea hit them: “Let’s start a queer magazine.”

They wanted it to not only showcase LGBTQ+ artists, but to also act as a vehicle for in-person community building. Suddenly, ideas started flying. What kind of resources could they include? What kind of events could they host parallel to the publication? How could they tie in social media to get the word out? Both co-founders felt so helpless. And yet, they realized that the way to get through this administration was to build community through art and connection.

Flag Magazine is a love letter to the LGBTQ+ community. It is a celebration, it is an act of resistance.

Flag Magazine was born out of a desire to bring people together through art, collaboration, and collective care. We are so grateful for the community that made this publication come to fruition. Thank you to the community organizers who inspired us, the individuals who shared their stories during interviews, the artists, writers, creators who lended their work to our first issue, and to all of our supporters and readers. We give our most sincere gratitude to our queer and trans friends for welcoming Flag Magazine into the community in Los Angeles and on an international scale.

We are not only a publication, but also community event organizers! Beyond issue release parties, we’ve hosted a few events already since the conception of Flag Magazine. We’ve already done a variety show, a park collage hang, and a group hike. More events to come later this year.

Our first issue features plenty of resources that serve the queer and trans community in Los Angeles and nationally. We feature a detailed map of Los Angeles with a huge list of LGBTQ+ bars, hair salons, health centers, and more. Additionally, we’ve dedicated a few pages to virtual resources, national organizations, and Los Angeles-specific programs related to needle-drop locations, PrEP/PEP services, and more. We plan to continue sharing important resources in our future issues. We also regularly share similar resources/organizations on our Instagram (@flagthemag).

We originated out of Los Angeles, but you don’t have to live in Southern California to enjoy or submit to our publication! Plenty of our resources are SoCal specific, but we also make sure to include resources that are accessible to individuals all across the country. We are also building connections with international zines/publications and we are excited to see how our magazine can expand nationally and internationally in the future.

As a new publication, we are working off mostly donations and volunteer efforts. We maintain high standards around financial transparency, and we’ve even dedicated a section in our first issue to a financial breakdown of the most recent cycle. We are still learning, but we try to compensate individuals in whatever means we can. This means paying our performers/photographers, giving free print copies of our issue to anyone who worked on it/was featured in it, etc. This also means a lot of costs are paid out of pocket from the core team behind Flag Magazine. Please consider donating to us here, to help us find further success as we start our second issue, coming this winter.