Homoerotic Archaeology: Torso (February 1986), Part One

Friday, February 8, 2019

Torso (February 1986), Part One

As the AIDS epidemic rocked the community during the 1980s, several homoerotic magazines took the initiative to publish information about safe sexual practices. The February 1986 issue of Torso contains two significant pieces. The first article, which is featured in this post, discusses the safe-sex campaign launched by the Los Angeles Cooperative AIDS Risk-Reduction Education Service, also known as LA Cares. The operation utilized Zelda Rubinstein, who played Tangina in Poltergeist, as a motherly figure who gives advice to sexually active gay men – and sexually active individuals in general – on which practices to avoid. Although the advertisements helped spread knowledge, Rubinstein, in a 2009 interview with Advocate, disclosed that they greatly impacted her career, especially in an era when association with homosexuality in general was considered morally and socially reprehensible. The second article, which will be featured in next week’s post, showcases sexual alternatives to consider during the Valentine’s Day holiday. Also featured in the first half of this issue is a Rambo-themed comic, models Gregg Strom and Mike Hawck, and an advertisement for a film from Al Parker's Surge Studio.

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What is Homoerotic Archaeology?

In 2016, I discovered several discarded boxes at an estate sale. Under their flimsy flaps were hundreds of well-worn issues of homoerotic magazines from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. I purchased them out of mild intrigue and, as I perused their pages, I was startled to realize that something commonly disregarded as pornographic smut earnestly chronicled the evolution of gay culture: the social and sexual liberation of the 1970s, the crushing devastation from AIDS during the 1980s, and the gradual strengthening of the community in the 1990s. As a gay man, I was touched by the subtle narrative these publications told. As a historian, I was motivated to digitally preserve their content. And, as an educator, I was driven to create a platform to share that information freely with others interested in the progression of gay society. Homoerotic Archaeology is that venue. Here you will find the advertisements, articles, short stories, and (of course) pictures found in these magazines lovingly preserved and presented for future generations of gay men to enjoy and study.

Why Preserve Homoerotica?

As early as the 1970s, scholars such as June Rook have stressed the need to preserve homosexual history in an effort to combat repression and establish a cultural background for future generations. Much of the preservation process admirably focuses on the substantial works of homosexual artists and thinkers; however, it sadly ignores other elements quintessential to the community’s history, particularly homoerotica. Although frequently labeled obscene filth, homoerotica has, just like the significant creations of artists and thinkers, been a prevalent part of the group’s culture and has played an integral role in shaping identities and perceptions (consider how influential Tom of Finland’s hypermasculinity has been in molding the body ideals of modern gay men). Due to this factor, the conservation of homoerotica is just as essential as the preservation of major artistic and theoretical homosexual works.