This Saturday is the The I Heart Brooklyn Girls Calendar Release Party. For those of you who aren't acquainted with the calendar, photographer Erica Beckman has created an amazing pin-up calendar of women for the past 4 years, inspired by retro pin-ups and the calendar girls of the past - with a queer femme twist, that is. This year's theme? 60s pulp covers. This is a particularly exciting year for us as Babes, because two of our own are involved: Sex educators Lara Maldjian and Leah Perrotti! Lara gaves us a rundown on her experience being in the calendar and how it affects femme visibility:

Lara: Everyone has a�need for recognition within their community. For people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans or queer (LGBTQ),�recognition can mean�wanting to be read as part of the community, whether it's from inside or outside of it.�Unfortunately, since to the untrained eye, many of us look straight, most of us�femmes have a difficult time getting the queer recognition that is so important to�our vitality. While we all have different (fabulous, ridiculous, hot as h*ll!) approaches to visibility, most of us are really yearning for�a solution�to the invisibility�problem. The question is: how do we keep our nails painted and our�updos up�and still obtain�the queer recognition we desire? Enter�the I Heart Brooklyn Girl's Calendar. The calendar brings femmes into the spotlight (where we thrive) and�reinvents what it means to be a�pin-up girl (SURPRISE! - she's gay!) Just as femme identities work to queer (i.e: gayify)�tradititional gender roles by appropriating them, the I Heart Brooklyn Girl's calendar�revamps the idea of what it means to be a "calendar girl," AND gives us tons of�delicious femme eye-candy, in lots of different flavors!�Fierce!