Items below, listed alphabetically by author or published source (in bold), offer more background on lesbian and gay periodicals. Highlighted titles are available online.
A look at pioneering gay groups and periodicals, including Vancouver's Association for Social Knowledge (publisher of ASK Newsletter, 1964 - 1968), and the Toronto magazines Gay (1964 - 1965) and Two (1964 - 1966).
Ed examines this "first comprehensive, scholarly look at the role of the lesbian and gay community press" -- and finds that its "understanding of this international phenomenon remains myopically American." Appx 500 words.
A 1983 review looking at the history of "physique" magazines, from the late 1930s to their eventual demise in the face of mainstream competition. Appx 650 words.
A look at the explosion of gay publishing in Russia, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and other post-Communist states after 1989. Appx 750 words.
A piece in our online newsletter, on electronic and print resources for gay and lesbian periodicals -- leading to many hard-to-find titles. Notes many Asian, Indian, Japanese, South African, and Latin American titles, as well as some produced by Black and Hispanic communities in the U.S.
Tom opens with a quote from Laud Humphreys, in Out of the Closets: "Change movements must leap communication barriers that society erects in self-defence. The role of the gay press becomes a central and decisive one in the movement for gay freedom." This 3-page feature charts the early development of gay publishing in Canada -- still sporadic then, but very much part of a movement for gay freedom.