Didier Lestrade (born 22 February 1958), is a French author, magazine publisher,

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

and

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 33 ...

advocate.

Biography

Didier Lestrade was born in

Médéa Médéa ( ber, Lemdiyyet, ar, المدية ''al-Madiya''), population 123,535 (1998 census) is the capital city of Médéa Province, Algeria. It is located roughly 68 km south of Algiers. The present-day city is situated on the site of ...

French Algeria French Algeria (french: Alger to 1839, then afterwards; unofficially , ar, الجزائر المستعمرة), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of French colonisation of Algeria. French rule in the region began in 1830 with the ...

. He grew up in the south-west of France, and left home in 1977 after failing twice to graduate from the ''

baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

''. 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'' or ''Gai pied hebdo'' was a monthly, then weekly (hence the name Hebdo), 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, figur ...

''. ''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 ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' 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. In 1986, the publication folded after conducting ninety full-length interviews, in both English and French, including

David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists o ...

Bronski Beat Bronski Beat were a British synthpop trio which achieved success in the mid-1980s, particularly with the 1984 chart hit "Smalltown Boy", from their debut album '' The Age of Consent''. "Smalltown Boy" was their only US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 s ...

Brion Gysin Brion Gysin (19 January 1916 – 13 July 1986) was a British-Canadian painter, writer, sound poet, performance artist and inventor of experimental devices. He is best known for his use of the cut-up technique, alongside his close friend, the ...

Divine Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine

Gilbert & George Gilbert Prousch, sometimes referred to as Gilbert Proesch (born 17 September 1943 in San Martin de Tor, Italy), and George Passmore (born 8 January 1942 in Plymouth, United Kingdom), are two artists who work together as the collaborative art du ...

Bill Ward (British artist) William Ward (1927–1996) was a British erotic artist. He is best known for his strips featuring bear-like men and in particular his ''Adventures of Drum'' series for ''Drummer'' magazine. Life and work Born in London he lived almost all his ...

and

Tom of Finland Touko Valio Laaksonen (8 May 1920 – 7 November 1991), pseudonym Tom of Finland, was a Finnish artist who made stylized highly masculinized homoerotic art, and influenced late 20th-century gay culture. He has been called the "most influential ...

. ''Magazine'' was also a leading outlet for cutting-edge European and American male photography of that time, introducing vintage work from

Pierre et Gilles Pierre Commoy and Gilles Blanchard, also known as Pierre et Gilles, are French artists and romantic partners. They have been producing works together since 1976, creating a world where painting and photography meet. Their art is peopled by their ...

, Patrick Sarfati,

Erwin Olaf Erwin Olaf Springveld (born 2 July 1959), professionally known as Erwin Olaf, is a Dutch photographer from Hilversum. Time magazine described his work as straddling "the worlds of commercial, art and fashion photography at once." Biography ...

, and Paul Blanca, 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

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

positive, Lestrade developed a career as a freelance music journalist, writing for ''

'', ''

Libération ''Libération'' (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Initially positioned on the far-left of France's ...

'' and ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

''. He played an influential role in the new house/techno music scene, writing weekly reviews in ''Libération'' that were widely read. In 1989, at 31, he shifted his focus to AIDS activism, and founded the first French chapter of

ACT UP AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) is an international, grassroots political group working to end the AIDS pandemic. The group works to improve the lives of people with AIDS through direct action, medical research, treatment and advocacy, ...

with close friends and journalists Pascal R. Loubet and

Luc Coulavin Luc or LUC may refer to: Places * Luc, Hautes-Pyrénées, France, a commune * Luc, Lozère, France, a commune * Le Luc, France, a commune * Luč, Baranja, Croatia, a settlement People and fictional characters * Luc (given name) * Luc (surname) ...

. He was president of Act Up-Paris for the three first critical years. In 1992, he played an important role in founding of , 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 Bareback sex is physical sexual activity, especially sexual penetration, without the use of a condom. The topic primarily concerns anal sex between men who have sex with men without the use of a condom, and may be distinguished from unprotected se ...

and confronted the ground-breaking writer

Guillaume Dustan Guillaume Dustan (November 28, 1965, Paris – October 3, 2005) was an openly gay French writer. Dustan's 1998 novel, ''In My Room'', brought the author instant notoriety for his masterful use of autofiction and depiction of gay glamour and ...

. The romanesque story of this fight was written (without Lestrade's approval) in

Tristan Garcia Tristan Garcia (born 5 April 1981) is a French philosopher and novelist. His first novel, ''La meilleure part des hommes'' (2008), won France’s Prix de Flore. It was translated into English in 2010 with the title ''Hate: A Romance''. His most im ...

's first book, awarded by the

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 ...

, ''La meilleure part des hommes'' in 2008.

As a journalist

In 1995, at 37, he co-founded the leading French gay & lesbian monthly magazine, ''

Têtu ( French for "stubborn") is the main LGBTQIA magazine published in France. It was subtitled in French ( en, the magazine of gays and lesbians) until 2007, and reaffirmed itself as a men's magazine since then. As of December, 2012, its certifie ...

'', again with the help of Pascal R. Loubet. Financed by

Pierre Bergé Pierre Vital Georges Bergé (; 14 November 1930 – 8 September 2017) was a French industrialist and patron. He co-founded the fashion label Yves Saint Laurent, and was a longtime business partner (and onetime life partner) of its namesake des ...

, of Yves Saint Laurent fame, and run by Thomas Doustally, its editor in chief, ''

'' 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.

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

Alençon Alençon (, , ; nrf, Alençoun) is a commune in Normandy, France, capital of the Orne department. It is situated west of Paris. Alençon belongs to the intercommunality of Alençon (with 52,000 people). History The name of Alençon is firs ...

. 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 may refer to: * Camille Flammarion (1842–1925), French astronomer and author * Gabrielle Renaudot Flammarion (1877–1962), French astronomer, wife of Camille Flammarion * Flammarion engraving by unknown artist; appeared in a book by C ...

and related his five years of loneliness in the countryside after leaving Paris, influenced by the work of

Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading Transcendentalism, transcendentalist, he is best known for his book ''Walden'', a reflection upon simple living in natural su ...

. For this purpose, he travelled to

Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. At the 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is near where the conflu ...

, and visited

Walden Pond Walden Pond is a pond in Concord, Massachusetts, in the United States. A famous example of a kettle hole, it was formed by retreating glaciers 10,000–12,000 years ago. The pond is protected as part of Walden Pond State Reservation, a state par ...

. 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 2006–07 edition of ''

Who's Who ''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biography, biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a gr ...

in France''.

As a club promoter

In 2000, Didier Lestrade along several friends opened, a monthly review at the

Boule noire Georges Thurston (December 29, 1951 – June 18, 2007) was a Quebec singer, author and composer and radio show host. He was known as Boule Noire since 1975 and worked in the music industry as a solo artist for nearly 30 years and as part of music ...

. This mixed house gay club with DJ resident Patrick Vidal lasted until 2004. Then he followed with Otra Otra with DJ residen
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'' (

WEA The Wea were a Miami-Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as either being closely related to the Miami Tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami. Today, the descendants of the ...

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 blogs. 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.

Bibliography

* Didier Lestrade, ''Act Up. Une histoire'', Paris, Denoël, 2000 (). * Didier Lestrade, ''Kinsey 6 : Journal des années 80'', Paris, Denoël, 2002 (). * Didier Lestrade, ''The End'', Paris, Denoël, 2004 (). * Didier Lestrade, ''Cheikh. Journal de campagne'', Paris, Flammarion, 2007 (). * Didier Lestrade, ''Chroniques du dance floor. Libération 1988–1999'', Paris, Singulier, 2010 (). * Didier Lestrade (with Gilles Pialoux), ''Sida 2.0 - Regards croisés sur 30 ans d'une épidémie, Paris, Fleuve Noir, 2012, (), * Didier Lestrade, ''Pourquoi les gays sont passés à droite'', Paris, Le Seuil, 2012, (). * Didier Lestrade, ''Minorités : l'essentiel'', Paris, Des ailes sur un tracteur, 2014, (). * Didier Lestrade, ''Le Journal du Sida - Chroniques 1994 / 2013'', Paris, Books on Demand, 2014, ().

References

External links

* (fr) (en) * (fr) (en
Minorités.org
* (fr
TRT-5 official site
* (fr
Têtu official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lestrade, Didier Members of ACT UP 1958 births Living people French diarists French activists People with HIV/AIDS French gay writers French LGBT rights activists French magazine founders French male essayists 21st-century LGBT people