One Love: Interview with HRC Visbility Award Honorees Lynn Yeldell and Alisa Weldon

HRC Austin

One Love: HRC Austin Gala 2012
Saturday, February 11
Four Seasons Hotel (98 San Jacinto Blvd.)
$275, 6pm
[info] | [tickets]

L Style G Style co-founders and life partners Lynn Yeldell and Alisa Weldon will be recognized with the Visibility Award at the 2012 Austin HRC Gala. This award recognizes LGBT individuals who are living open and honest lives at home, at work, and in their greater community. The couple met at the Austin Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. Lynn found Alisa's energy and enthusiasm infectious and these same qualities became the foundation to starting L Style G Style.

The couple talked with Austinist about being honored with the award, the difficulties of living openly and honestly, and their views on the Austin LGBT community.

What does the Visibility Award mean to you? How would you describe living open and honest lives?

Alisa: Having an organization as impressive as HRC recognize us is a humbling honor. I feel and believe that living out and open is a social responsibility for us all. We won't change negative opinions if we don't create positive experiences for others to witness. Both Lynn and I are reminded daily that it's ok to be out every single day. For many, fear of ultimate rejection from family and co-workers doesn't allow for ultimate personal freedom. I know that every time Lynn and I walk out of our house, we're 'judged' and we want every experience you have with us both personally and professionally to be one of integrity, transparency and genuine openness. We represent the very essence of our business and we want nothing more than to create conversations and feeling of ease for those that engage us.
 
Has it ever been difficult for you to live openly and honestly?

Lynn: Throughout my career, I have worked in some traditionally very conservative industries such as banking and wealth management. Thankfully, the large majority of my colleagues have been welcoming and supportive, but there still exists an undercurrent of discrimination and lack of understanding. I specifically remember a conversation with my branch manager at UBS who requested that I no longer display L Style G Style in the lobby of our office. It was a really sad day to watch the magazine which represented all that I stood for in being open and honest in my life be banned from the very place that I worked and spent the majority of my waking hours. 

Alisa: Yes, I lived in the closet with a design and marketing client of mine, The Scooter Store from 2001-2004. Because the company had a strong family and somewhat religious culture, when personal questions were asked during meetings, I would steer clear of answering them with honesty. In all truthfulness, I was afraid of sharing my personal life with them in fear of losing them as a client at the time. I'm happy to say that when they reengaged me in 2007 to do some projects for them, I came out to them and my message was received warmly. My professional career began in 1994 and with all the businesses I've worked or with, there were only a few that I stayed in the closet with - primarily because religious aspects of company culture were overly apparent and public.
 
What do you think of the HRC's mission and how it applies specifically to Austin?

Lynn: First, Austin is so wonderfully welcoming to most all types of diversity. So welcoming that when people visit, they are a bit thrown off that we don't have a large and vibrant gay district. I think that it is a testament to the work that HRC is doing across the nation-working for equality. Austin just happens to be more evolved creatively and intellectually perhaps...though there is still much work to do. Another thing I think of is that we are also a capital town. But how many friends do you have that step foot in those offices advocating for LGBT rights and advocacy? I am so thankful to HRC for their lobbying and advocacy on a national level while also taking keen and active interests in pivotal local races.
 
What has been your experience with the HRC so far?

Lynn: I have been active with HRC since my first Gala Dinner in New Orleans in 1998 and have served in most all of the volunteer roles from Board of Governor, Dinner Co-Chair, and more. As with any non-profit advocacy organization, I have disagreed with a handful of positions they have taken in the nearly 15 years of my involvement. But on the whole, HRC is the one organization that I have been able to rely on to help take divisive issues such as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and marriage equality and make real change. Sure, I would love to see change come faster, but they are the only organization that has made any consistent change on these issues. 
 
What inspired you to start L Style G Style?

Alisa: I wanted to create something that was reflective of how I live my life - leading a professional life, giving back to my community and having my sexual orientation be the last element of focus when first impressions are made. I wanted to focus on the positive aspects of those who have contributed to the community and make it better, who happen to be gay or lesbian. The way my father was raised (Southern Baptist) was the impetus of trying to change opinions of who the gay community is in the eyes of the straight community. It was his desire for me to be the best I could be and my grandmother's lessons on connecting to the community around you that drove me to create something any family could read and not feel awkward discussing or sharing. I wanted and want L Style G Style to be a positive experience that would inspire young gay and lesbian people to know that there life can be as important as others.
 
How do you think the magazine has changed the Austin LGBT community?

Alisa: I feel strongly that we have not only brought the lesbian and gay community together (which for those that don't know, in past history we haven't played well together), but we have created a sense of inclusivity for us all-making being gay a non issue. I feel we've put a face to the gay community and while we don't have a "one size fits all" representation, I know for those outside the circle of the gay community have new interest in who we are, what we do and what our story is all about.
 
How do you think it's changed Austin in general?

Lynn: Because we have free distribution throughout the city, we are accessible to everyone. We hear numerous stories from straight allies who read the magazine for months without realizing that all of the people profiled on the cover all happened to be gay. That is one of the highest compliments we can receive as it is our aim to first tell the story of the person which ultimately opens minds and changes lives. L Style G Style has provided unique access and coverage of our gay and lesbian community showing that the most remarkable part about us is that we really that remarkable! 
 
How is Austin's LGBT community different from other LGBT communities you may have lived in or visited?

Alisa: Growing up in Friendswood, TX, a highly conservative Quaker town, is no comparison. I gravitated to Austin because I had heard that it was a welcoming community and it was ok to be out due to a fairly growing gay community. My reference is dated and at the time of moving here in 1993, Ellen DeGeneres hadn't even come out. With that said, when we visit other cities and talk about what we do in Austin, there is overwhelming response to launch L Style G Style for general awareness.
 
What do you hope for the future of the LGBT community in Austin?

Alisa: That diversity is welcomed throughout the community. The divisiveness, I see with LGBT community becomes more cohesive and collaborative. Because the majority of highly supportive organizations supported by the LGBT community were founded at the beginning of the AIDS crisis, I hope we continue to educate, enlighten and garner the support of the greater community. I hope that businesses, families and churches open doors to LGBT individuals with love, compassion and support so that we all can just 'get along'. Most importantly, I wish for the participation every LGBT person in Austin to live out, come out, support those that support us and vote.