Didier Lestrade
Encyclopedia
Didier Lestrade is a French
author, magazine publisher, AIDS
and LGBT rights advocate.
. He grew up in the Southwest of France, and left home in 1977 after failing twice to graduate from the French Baccalaureate. He then went to Paris, where he began working for the first French independent gay publication, Gaie Presse. This magazine was short-lived (four issues only). At the age of 22, he then decided to found Magazine Trimestriel, with Misti who soon became art director for the leading 1980s French gay newspaper, Gai Pied
. Magazine Trimestriel was considered by many to be the most influential all male underground gay publication of its time. Dazed and the New York Times website wrote a small story about recent Magazine exhibit in Paris, at the gallery 12Mail. Since then, Magazine is enjoying a revival of sorts with Butt magazine publishing an interview of Didier Lestrade. All the issues of Magazine can be now found on Didier Lestrade's personal website.
In 1986, the publication folded after conducting ninety full-length interviews, in both English and French, including David Hockney
, Bronski Beat
, Brion Gysin
, Divine
, Gilbert & George and Tom of Finland
. Magazine was also a leading outlet for cutting-edge European and American male photography of that time, introducing vintage work from Pierre & Gilles, Patrick Sarfati, Erwin Olaf
, and Paul Blanca
, Stanley Stellar and many more. The last issues were up to 190 pages.
positive, Lestrade developed a career as a freelance music journalist, writing for Gai Pied
, Libération
and Rolling Stone
. He played an influential role in the new house/techno music scene, writing weekly reviews in Libération that where widely read. In 1989, at 31, he shifted his focus to AIDS activism, and founded the first French chapter of ACT UP with close friends and journalists Pascal R. Loubet and Luc Coulavin. He was president of Act Up-Paris for the three first critical years. In 1992, he played an important role in founding of TRT-5, a coalition of major French AIDS organizations. TRT-5 was at the forefront of AIDS treatment issues, and Lestrade was one of its administrators until 2002. By 2000, Lestrade switched from treatment issues to AIDS prevention and became a leading voice against barebacking
and confronted the ground-breaking writer Guillaume Dustan
. The romanesque story of this fight was written (without Lestrade's approval) in the first book by Tristan Garcia, awarded by the prix de Flore
, La meilleure part des hommes in 2008.
, again with the help of Pascal R. Loubet. Financed by Pierre Bergé
, of Yves Saint Laurent fame, and run by Thomas Doustaly, its editor in chief, Têtu
is the most successful gay magazine in Europe. In 2008, he left Têtu and revamped a year later the website Minorités.org with fellow journalists Laurent Chambon
from Netherlands and Mehmet Koksal from Belgium. He is editor in chief of the Minorités's weekly newsletter. The purpose of Minorités is to gather issues regarding minorities around the world.
. He has always been a nature lover and a garden enthusiast. The following book, Cheikh, journal de campagne, was published in 2007 by Flammarion
and related his five years of loneliness in the countryside after leaving Paris, influenced by the work of Henry David Thoreau
. For this purpose, he travelled to Concord, MA
and visited Walden Pond
. His fifth book, Chroniques du dance floor, Libération 1988-1999 is published in May 2010 by "l'éditeur Singulier".
Lestrade has been featured in the 2006-2007 edition of Who’s Who in France.
).
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
author, magazine publisher, AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
and LGBT rights advocate.
Biography
Didier Lestrade was born in Mehdia, AlgeriaAlgeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
. He grew up in the Southwest of France, and left home in 1977 after failing twice to graduate from the French Baccalaureate. He then went to Paris, where he began working for the first French independent gay publication, Gaie Presse. This magazine was short-lived (four issues only). At the age of 22, he then decided to found Magazine Trimestriel, with Misti who soon became art director for the leading 1980s French gay newspaper, Gai Pied
Gai pied
Gai pied or Gai pied hebdo was a monthly French gay magazine, founded by Jean Le Bitoux. Its name, which literally means "Gay foot", is a homophone of guêpier, which means a hornet's nest or, figuratively, a trap or pitfall — a reference to the magazine's determination to torment the...
. Magazine Trimestriel was considered by many to be the most influential all male underground gay publication of its time. Dazed and the New York Times website wrote a small story about recent Magazine exhibit in Paris, at the gallery 12Mail. Since then, Magazine is enjoying a revival of sorts with Butt magazine publishing an interview of Didier Lestrade. All the issues of Magazine can be now found on Didier Lestrade's personal website.
In 1986, the publication folded after conducting ninety full-length interviews, in both English and French, including David Hockney
David Hockney
David Hockney, CH, RA, is an English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer, who is based in Bridlington, Yorkshire and Kensington, London....
, Bronski Beat
Bronski Beat
Bronski Beat were a popular British synthpop trio who achieved success in the mid 1980s, particularly with the 1984 chart hit "Smalltown Boy". All members of the group were openly homosexual and their songs reflected this, often containing political commentary on gay-related issues...
, Brion Gysin
Brion Gysin
Brion Gysin was a painter, writer, sound poet, and performance artist born in Taplow, Buckinghamshire.He is best known for his discovery of the cut-up technique, used by his friend, the novelist William S. Burroughs...
, Divine
Divine (Glen Milstead)
Divine , born Harris Glenn Milstead, was an American actor, singer and drag queen. Described by People magazine as the "Drag Queen of the Century", Divine often performed female roles in both cinema and theater and also appeared in women's clothing in musical performances...
, Gilbert & George and Tom of Finland
Tom of Finland
Touko Laaksonen, best known by his pseudonym Tom of Finland was a Finnish artist notable for his stylized androerotic and fetish art and his influence on late twentieth century gay culture. He has been called the "most influential creator of gay pornographic images" by cultural historian Joseph W...
. Magazine was also a leading outlet for cutting-edge European and American male photography of that time, introducing vintage work from Pierre & Gilles, Patrick Sarfati, Erwin Olaf
Erwin Olaf
Erwin Olaf is a Dutch photographer.Olaf is most famous for his commercial and personal work. He has been commissioned to photograph advertising campaigns for large international companies such as Levi's, Microsoft and Nokia. Some of his most famous photographic series include "Grief", "Rain", and...
, and Paul Blanca
Paul Blanca
Paul Blanca is a Dutch art photographer. His official name is Paul Vlaswinkel. Blanca’s interest in photography was sparked after meeting , who was the daughter of the renowned painter [Aat Veldhoen] . The artistic environment triggered Blanca’s creativity which he decided to express in photography...
, Stanley Stellar and many more. The last issues were up to 190 pages.
As an AIDS activist
In 1986, at the age of 28, he discovered he was HIVHIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
positive, Lestrade developed a career as a freelance music journalist, writing for Gai Pied
Gai pied
Gai pied or Gai pied hebdo was a monthly French gay magazine, founded by Jean Le Bitoux. Its name, which literally means "Gay foot", is a homophone of guêpier, which means a hornet's nest or, figuratively, a trap or pitfall — a reference to the magazine's determination to torment the...
, Libération
Libération
Libération is a French daily newspaper founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Originally a leftist newspaper, it has undergone a number of shifts during the 1980s and 1990s...
and Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
. He played an influential role in the new house/techno music scene, writing weekly reviews in Libération that where widely read. In 1989, at 31, he shifted his focus to AIDS activism, and founded the first French chapter of ACT UP with close friends and journalists Pascal R. Loubet and Luc Coulavin. He was president of Act Up-Paris for the three first critical years. In 1992, he played an important role in founding of TRT-5, a coalition of major French AIDS organizations. TRT-5 was at the forefront of AIDS treatment issues, and Lestrade was one of its administrators until 2002. By 2000, Lestrade switched from treatment issues to AIDS prevention and became a leading voice against barebacking
Barebacking
Bareback is a slang term to describe acts of sexual penetration without the use of a condom.The term comes from the equestrian term bareback, which refers to the practice of riding a horse without a saddle...
and confronted the ground-breaking writer Guillaume Dustan
Guillaume Dustan
Guillaume Dustan , born William Baranès, was an openly gay French writer and journalist.-Biography:...
. The romanesque story of this fight was written (without Lestrade's approval) in the first book by Tristan Garcia, awarded by the prix de Flore
Prix de Flore
The Prix de Flore is a French literary prize founded in 1994 by Frédéric Beigbeder. The aim of the prize is to reward youthful authors and is judged by a panel of journalists. It is awarded yearly in November, at the Café de Flore in Paris. The prize only applies to French-language literature, even...
, La meilleure part des hommes in 2008.
As a journalist
In 1995, at 37, he co-founded the leading French gay & lesbian monthly magazine, TêtuTêtu
Têtu is a gay magazine published in France. It is subtitled in French le magazine des gays et lesbiennes .-History:...
, again with the help of Pascal R. Loubet. Financed by Pierre Bergé
Pierre Bergé
Pierre Bergé is a French industrialist and patron. He is perhaps best known as the co-founder of Yves Saint Laurent Couture House and former partner of fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent.-Early life:...
, of Yves Saint Laurent fame, and run by Thomas Doustaly, its editor in chief, Têtu
Têtu
Têtu is a gay magazine published in France. It is subtitled in French le magazine des gays et lesbiennes .-History:...
is the most successful gay magazine in Europe. In 2008, he left Têtu and revamped a year later the website Minorités.org with fellow journalists Laurent Chambon
Laurent Chambon
Laurent Chambon is a French sociologist and politicologist living in Amsterdam since 1998. Specialist of the question of minorities in politics, he has been elected in the borough of Amsterdam Oud-Zuid for the Dutch Labour Party between March 2006 and May 2010...
from Netherlands and Mehmet Koksal from Belgium. He is editor in chief of the Minorités's weekly newsletter. The purpose of Minorités is to gather issues regarding minorities around the world.
As a writer
In 2000, Lestrade published his first book, Act Up, une Histoire (Denoël), a personal history of the first eleven years of Act Up-Paris. This was followed by Kinsey 6 (Denoël, 2002), an intimate cultural and sexual diary of the eighties, during the time he published Magazine. His next book was The End (Denoël, 2004), a fierce and controversial essay on the failure of AIDS prevention, and the phenomenon of barebacking in France. Lestrade left Paris in 2002 to live in rural French Normandy, near AlençonAlençon
Alençon is a commune in Normandy, France, capital of the Orne department. It is situated west of Paris. Alençon belongs to the intercommunality of Alençon .-History:...
. He has always been a nature lover and a garden enthusiast. The following book, Cheikh, journal de campagne, was published in 2007 by Flammarion
Flammarion
Flammarion may refer to:* Camille Flammarion , French astronomer* Gabrielle Renaudot Flammarion , French astronomer, wife of Camille Flammarion* The Flammarion engraving by unknown artist; appeared in a book by Camille Flammarion...
and related his five years of loneliness in the countryside after leaving Paris, influenced by the work of Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist...
. For this purpose, he travelled to Concord, MA
Concord, Massachusetts
Concord is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 17,668. Although a small town, Concord is noted for its leading roles in American history and literature.-History:...
and visited Walden Pond
Walden Pond
Walden Pond is a 31-metre-deep lake in Massachusetts . It is in area and around, located in Concord, Massachusetts, in the United States...
. His fifth book, Chroniques du dance floor, Libération 1988-1999 is published in May 2010 by "l'éditeur Singulier".
Lestrade has been featured in the 2006-2007 edition of Who’s Who in France.
As a club promoter
In 2000, Didier Lestrade along several friends opened, a monthly review at the Boule noire. This mixed house gay club with DJ resident Patrick Vidal lasted until 2004. Then he followed with Otra Otra with DJ resident Nick V until 2006. Lestrade also released two music compilations with Patrick Thévenin : Paradise Garage (Pschent, 1997) and Paradise Garage 2 (Pschent, 1999). Another compilation came in 2008 : Slow Jamz & Hot Songs (WEAWarner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
).
As a blogger
After leaving Têtu, Didier Lestrade tried to focus his writing on Internet, as most of his articles during the last two decades can't be found online. He opened his blog which has been considered by French GQ website as one of the twenty most influential ones. In 2010, he started his own website. This site is dedicated to archives from his career as a journalist, on topics like music, photography, AIDS activism and gay porn.External links
- (fr) (en) Didier Lestrade's website
- (en) (fr) Facebook homepage
- (fr) Twitter profile
- (fr) LinkedIn profile
- (fr) (en) Minorités.org
- (fr) TRT-5 official site
- (fr) Têtu official site