It’s Lesbian Visibility Week and to mark the occasion, The New Feminist interviewed Abi Martin Hill, founder of Nonchalant magazine. Nonchalant is a digital lifestyle magazine for queer women and allies. The magazine began with a small team of four and has since grown into a team of fifteen writers, videographers, and creators worldwide. Nonchalant has proudly worked with brands such as Meta, Hilton Hotels, Playstation, Film4, and Somerset House. In our interview with Abi, she discusses her inspiration for creating the magazine, what she is most proud of, and her thoughts on queer representation in the media.
“Growing up in the 90s, there was very little queer representation in magazines or on TV”, Abi explained. She could only remember seeing negative stereotypes and storylines of queer women in the media. When she moved to London in 2013 and began reading magazines on her commute, she found that there was still very little content for queer women. This is what inspired her to create Nonchalant. Abi wanted to produce content that provided not only access to inspiring queer role models but also fun, relevant, and engaging content.
Nonchalant started off as a blog where Abi invited a few friends to write for it. The main goal for the platform was to showcase inspiring queer women for the younger generation to look up to. Abi told us that providing positive role models that people can relate to reinforces positive views of themselves and increases what they feel they can achieve personally.
“I’m extremely proud of the interviews section, we’ve carried out some great interviews with the likes of Heather Peace, Chelcee Grimes, Lucy Spraggan, Megan Barton-Hanson, and Zoe Lyons.” Abi’s favourite piece on Nonchalant is the interview with Chelcee Grimes because she’s super charming, funny, and has achieved amazing things in her career already.
Nonchalant now has an incredible team of contributors, ranging from writers, photographers, videographers, and marketers.
Abi believes that queer representation has come an extremely long way since 2015 when Nonchalant Magazine began, but we still have so much more work to do, especially for our less fortunate LGBTQ+ community members and in areas of the world that are not so supportive or even dangerous to live in.
Nonchalant is partnering with Velvet Ibiza this May as the lead media partner for the festival. Nonchalant’s team will be there as part of the partnership: “We are so excited to have the opportunity to be the lead media partner for Velvet Ibiza this year. The festival is taking place in May and will see hundreds of queer women head to Ibiza for a much-needed rave. Our team will be there as part of the partnership and we’re really looking forward to it. A week-long party in Ibiza…How could we say no?”
Right Image: Abi with team (Zoie O’Brien, Felicity West), interview with Megan Barton-Hanson
In terms of lessons learned since starting the magazine, Abi says that she has discovered how much she still struggles with internalised homophobia. She finds the generation below her inspiring as they are leading the way in allowing people to be themselves. The best advice she has received is to never give up. “I’ve been really lucky to have had a lot of great advice from family and friends throughout. Especially from my partner Cara, and sister Emma. I think the most important piece of advice that I had to hang on to throughout (and still now) is – don’t give up.”
Nonchalant Magazine is a fantastic platform that showcases inspiring queer role models for the younger generation to look up to. The magazine provides a safe space for queer women to read fun, relevant, and engaging content and is making strides towards creating a more inclusive society. Abi has certainly paved the way for magazines like The New Feminist, and we are proud to be celebrating Lesbian Visibility Week with them!