Homoerotic Archaeology: Numbers (October 1980), Part Two

Friday, October 27, 2023

Numbers (October 1980), Part Two

In 1956, after four years of service in the United States’ Army, Roy Blakey joined the ice revue at Chicago’s Conrad Hilton Hotel, where he fostered a passion he acquired while stationed overseas in Germany. As his ice-skating career blossomed, he began to take photography classes and created a makeshift darkroom in the hotel’s bathroom. In 1967, after nearly a decade on the rink, Blakey retired from ice-skating and pursued his second passion: photography. In 1972, he self-published his first book of male nudes and launched a photography career that made him a major name in the realm of homoerotic photography. This October 1980 issue of Numbers (which has been broken into two parts) offers a showcase of Blakey’s work, including a picture of George Payne. Included in this second half (see the first half here) is the short story “A Lost Man” (a murder-mystery that deals with sexuality and family tension), a poem titled “Pitstop Poetry,” a Halloween-themed comic, and photo spreads titled “A.W.O.L.” and “Rawhide.”

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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.