Frances "Franco" Stevens is the fourth of five children born to Gloria and Martin Goldberg. She grew up and attended school in Potomac, Maryland. She married Blaine Stevens, a doctor in the US Army, at age 18 and moved the San Francisco's Presidio, where Blaine was stationed. The marriage dissolved in 1989, shortly after Frances "came out" as a lesbian.
Founding of ''Deneuve'' magazine
Stevens and a team of volunteer staff launched the first issue of Deneuve magazine in 1990. Unable to find funding for the then unproven lesbian market, Stevens put up her own money and struggled to convince advertisers that lesbians were a viable market. Within two years, she landed ad buys from Budweiser and Warner Brothers. The full-color, glossy mainstream lifestyle magazine covered national and international news stories, politics, celebrity interviews, style, travel, and trends oriented around the lesbian experience. Deneuve was known for drawing attention to “lipstick lesbians” as some celebrities were beginning to come out of the closet, and for keeping up with changing concepts of gender and sexuality in lesbian culture. In an effort to build the magazine's subscriber base, Stevens partnered with Barbara Grier of Naiad Press, at the time the largest lesbian feminist publisher in the world. Grier agreed to include Deneuve's subscription form in their newsletter. The magazine garnered a large subscriber base very quickly thereafter. Stevens also appeared on television shows, including CNN and Geraldo and she took her staff on cross-country tours to grow their readership.
In 1995, the French actressCatherine Deneuve sued for trademark infringement. Stevens denied the name was inspired by the actress. On May 19, 1995, a large fundraiser featuring many local lesbian celebrities, such as Armistead Maupin, Marga Gomez, and Lea Delaria, was held in San Francisco to aid the magazine in covering legal fees associated with the lawsuit. Catherine Denueve stated in the Advocate magazine that “They are using my name, and my name is a commodity. You cannot do that.” The case was settled in 1996, and Stevens changed the name of the magazine from Deneuve to Curve. The magazine continues to be published under its new name and has featured Martina Navratilova, Melissa Etheridge, Tig Notaro, Ellen DeGeneres, Lily Tomlin, and the cast of TheL Word among others.
Acquisition of ''Curve'' magazine by Avalon Media
In 2010, Curve magazine was acquired by Avalon Media. Stevens stated, “I'm excited to begin a new chapter in my life. I'll be passing the baton of publishing over to the magazine's new owner - Avalon Media - and Silke Bader, a woman who has earned my respect and gratitude for her amazing work in lesbian publishing for the last decade.” The magazine reports its circulation at 52,237 with a readership of 182,831 people.
