A fond farewell

By Mariya Alfa Staugaard (She/Her), Editor-in-Chief

Dear reader,

This editorial is not easy to write. That’s not (only) because I’ve always found them a tricky task, but because it will be the last one – as this is the last edition of HeartCore.

An organisation like Copenhagen Pride consists of many parts that all have to work together to make the wheels go around; and for practical and financial reasons, HeartCore is a part that needs to be let go for the sake of the organisation as a whole.

It was with a lot of sadness that the editorial staff received this news – but after the initial melancholy had subsided, we found space for immense pride. Since 2020, we’ve published 15 editions of this magazine, and each and every page is the result of hours of work, dedication, and creativity.

The magazine was founded by the former Communications Manager of Copenhagen Pride with an ambitious vision of creating something that lived up, not only to the expectations of the organisation, but of the LGBTI+ community as a whole. To be a platform worthy of the voices it amplified.

This is the ethos we’ve been working with for the past 3.5 years. It’s a commitment that hasn’t been taken lightly, and every time we’ve discussed our vision for the next edition, we’ve reflected on how best to include and represent the community.

And that brings me to another reason why I’m sad the magazine is coming to an end, and why I’m so proud to have been a part of it. The many, many people who have contributed over the years, and in particular the regular editorial staff, have been such a pleasure to work with, and when I say that HeartCore exists because of the passion of the volunteers, this is no exaggeration.

None mentioned, none forgotten. I remember each and every one of you.

A thanks should also go to KLS PurePrint, our partner in print. Each delivery of magazines felt like the arrival of a present (if a very large, very heavy one).

HeartCore has taken us to many places, from Aalborg’s Buens Bogcafé to EuroPride in Serbia. It has taught us about many topics, such as practising witchcraft, underground collectives, kink clubs, bisexuality, queer meditation, climate justice, vikings, cosplay, and vampires, to name just a few. Every time you’ve picked up a magazine, you’ve received an invitation to learn something new, both about the world around us and about the lives of the people in our community who experience that world differently. In that way, we’ve more than succeeded in living up to the original vision of the magazine as a platform to view new horizons.

Although we didn’t know when we chose it, the theme of NUANCES is very fitting for our very last HeartCore. At the very core of it, it sums up what we’ve been trying to achieve – a look at the in-betweens, the fluidity of identity, a space to express ourselves without the confinement of binaries. The content you’ll read in this edition is an exploration of that concept; and a meaningful note to end on.

Where do we go from here? Nowhere and everywhere. HeartCore as we know it will cease to exist, our monthly editorial meetings will be wiped from our calendar, and we get to dedicate our time to other ventures. But everything we have learned and everything we have built stays with us – and will always be a part of the history of Copenhagen Pride.

Thank you and – for the last time – happy reading.