Interview: Paris Lees

[SandraJane]

    



Interview: Paris Lees


Culture | 24 February 2012

http://sosogay.org/2012/interview-paris-lees/





As the flagship issue of META - the UK's first magazine written for and by the transgender community – has hit the electronic shelves, we wanted to catch up with its creator and Editor-In-Chief, Paris Lees.

Quite the chameleon, Paris Lees has made her name as an activist for transgender rights – a strong-mouthed member of Trans Media Watch and a freelance journalist for DIVA magazine, however this is the first time that she has been given the seat of power in any of her roles. So when we asked her if it was scary, we were astounded when she said, 'It's just exciting more than anything, and it's not as if it happened overnight. We've been working the project for almost a year now, and the first issue only came out last week, so I've had time to get used to the idea. It's also been a huge learning curve for me, and I couldn't have done it without such a fantastic team around me'.

[Padma]

This is actually a pretty good magazine, and seems to have a broader remit than some trans-themed magazines I've seen (which are all about dresses-or-muscles stereotypes). A lot of typos, though - I've offered my services as proofreader!