"Non-gay" mags and papers -- and Canadian daily press clippings
The Archives' general periodical and newspaper collection holds
titles not produced specifically for lesbians and gay men. It includes
everything from mainstream magazines to many alternative publications. Also
here: student papers from colleges and universities; non-daily Canadian
papers; and other newspapers from around the world.
This collection (and our files of Canadian daily newspaper
clippings, most from the 1960s and later, a few back to the 1880s)
chart changes in attitude over time -- from homophobia to homo chic, and
much between. It also includes extensive material on AIDS, both in the
popular media and in many medical journals, up to the mid-1980s
Many titles here on the arts, alternative culture, feminism, and the
politics of the left paid serious attention to gay people and issues. Some
were major venues for lesbian and gay writers themselves -- making them as
much a part of our history as more specifically "gay" or "lesbian"
periodicals.
General Periodicals: Related Documents
- Kid-sex hooker prof scandal!
The Gerald Hannon Affair, 1995-1996
http://www.clga.ca/Material/Records/docs/hannon/ghint.htm
Follow mainstream media treatment of a major story -- as recorded in two contemporary websites now "archived" to the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives site.
The two sites were first set up in Nov 1995 to cover (and help counter) stories focusing on Gerald Hannon: journalism instructor; author of "Men Loving Boys Loving Men", the 1977 article that led to The Body Politic's long legal battles -- and a prostitute. An introductory page and final chronology have been added as separate documents.
A chronology from Nov 1977 to Oct 1983, and from Jul 1994 through Nov 1995 draws parallels between the "Men Loving Boys Loving Men" case and the Hannon Affair of the mid-1990s. It has links to dozens of news reports, editorials, letters, and other related items. The home page of one of the original sites lists others -- more than 50 documents in all. Later chronologies bring things up to date, to May 1997.
Together, they show you the story as it was reported in the press -- or, rather, as it was created there. A Nov 1995 introductory essay discusses the phenomenon of media- generated moral panics; the many newspaper pieces here let you see one unfolding right before your eyes.
One site also offers a more extensive chronology of The Trials of The Body Politic and other events of the period (1977 to 1985). The other includes a list of related contemporary documents available online -- including "Men Loving Boys Loving Men" itself.