Chile’s first lesbian magazine, ‘Rompiendo el Silencio’ (Breaking the Silence), will make its nationwide debut this week, according to Patagonia Times. Magazine organizer Erika Montecinos Urrea described its release as a historic moment for Chile.

‘‘It’s been a long struggle, but, finally the social conditions seem to allow space for a printed lesbian magazine,’’ Montecinos told the Santiago Times.

Erika said discrimination and ‘lesbiafobia’ are strong in Chile, even more among women than men, who mostly like to associate lesbians with their sexual fantasies. In some public places, women or men may not kiss or even hold hands because such gestures conflict with social standards. During the dictatorship, she added, it was unthinkable to be an out of the closet lesbian.

“That’s why it is important to offer a real magazine,” Montecinos said. “We want to reach out to woman who don’t use Internet, mostly older women and women in the countryside, and also make a visible statement to the outside world.”

Montecinos is not afraid critics will pigeon hole the magazine as just another lesbian activist publication. ‘‘It’s a magazine just like any other with in depth stories, personal statements and entertainment,” she said. ‘‘Nowadays young girls kissing and touching each other in the street is a more common scene than ever before. It’s something the media pick up as it were a trend. But being lesbian isn’t like the latest fashion or about being “cool.”

The magazine’s goal is to keep lesbians from being classified as a special group. ‘‘We are not looking for tolerance, but simply for respect,’’ said Montecinos.

The very first edition of RS will be available on June 11 in various newspaper stands in Santiago, Valparaíso and Concepción.