It’s pride month! What better time to go spelunking in the archive, so as to situate the current moment, or thank an ancestor? I’ve been on a research kick, personally. Thanks to round-ups like this one from Lindsy Van Gelder—and the robust free public archives available on JSTOR and Internet Archive—it’s never been easier to sift through the stacks.
And at a(nother) moment when queer and trans people are under active threat from the state, it’s more than heartening to reflect on the authors and activists who wrote their realities out of previous American hells. In this spirit, here are five queer magazines from the post-Stonewall moment. All worth getting to know.
Drag
Drag published its first issue on the eve of the Stonewall riots. Helmed by gay drag activists Lee Brewer and Bunny Eisenhower, the magazine focused on trans queer folks (in the nomenclature of the time), who were often marginalized within the gay liberation movement.
For the Smithsonian blog, Eli Boldt described Drag as a vital record. “Drag recorded history as it happened, shared resources with a wide audience, and showcased the community. It led the drag and trans* community through triumphs and griefs, through celebrations and arrests, through pop culture moments and protests.”
