Honcho (February 1980), Part Two

In his review of Hillary Evans’ history of prostitution, John Preston claims the fight of feminists is also the fight of gay men, with both working to dismantle the heteronormative gender roles which suppress them. In fact, Preston’s argument is similar to that made by Carl Wittman in his 1972 article “A Gay Manifesto,” stressing all minority groups need to band together to fight systems of oppression. Contained in this second half of the February 1980 issue of Honcho (see the first half here) is the short stories “Cop” (where a hitchhiker encounters two aggressive police officers while travelling through New Mexico) and “The Driver’s Seat” (about a wealthy socialite’s affair with his limousine driver), and photospreads titled “Canadian Rocky,” “Mr. Cellophane,” and “Wilderness Together.” 

Honcho (February 1980), Part One

In his review of Hillary Evans’ history of prostitution, John Preston claims the fight of feminists is also the fight of gay men, with both working to dismantle the heteronormative gender roles which suppress them. In fact, Preston’s argument is similar to that made by Carl Wittman in his 1972 article “A Gay Manifesto,” stressing all minority groups need to band together to fight systems of oppression. Contained in this February 1980 issue of Honcho (which has been broken into two parts), Preston’s review is accompanied by an article on the S&M Inferno event hosted by Chicago’s Hellfire Club, the short story “Piers and Lovers” (where the narrator grapples with his open relationship), and photospreads titled “Heat Wave” and “Orion’s Belt.”

Advocate Men (February 1985), Part Two

As the AIDS epidemic decimated the gay community at the start of the 1980s, prejudice began to rise: many dentists and family physicians dropped patients they perceived as gay and funeral directors throughout the nation refused to prepare the bodies of deceased persons who tested positive for HIV. To control the virus’ spread, medical professionals – specifically those in San Francisco and New York – began pushing for the closure of bathhouses. The action divided the community. Some gay men saw the activity as a necessary precaution; however, others viewed it as a form of anti-gay discrimination. Fed by conspiracy theories that the government was using the virus as biological warfare against the community, they refused to trust the findings of government agencies and medical reports which identified the establishments as primary spreading grounds for the virus. In 1983, this debate reached an apex when New York City’s Office of Gay and Lesbian Health fought the closure of the city’s bathhouses, rejecting the scientific data and arguing shuttering the facilities eradicated safe spaces for gay men and would only lead them to find sexual encounters elsewhere in dangerous locations. They were supported by the businesses themselves; but, as sociologist Amin Ghaziani explains, their union was not born out of solidarity for civil rights but profit, since closing bathhouses would mean financial ruin. In his 1985 novel Jack the Modernist, Robert Glück recalls what life in bathhouses was like prior to the AIDS epidemic and fights over closure. A portion of his book is published in this February 1985 issue of Advocate Men (which has been broken into two parts). Contained in this second half (see the first half here) is a cartoon by Rex, a showcase of John Dinsdale’s art, the short stories “The Beverly Hillbilly” (where a country boy is sent to California after his family learns about his sexual activities) and “Telesex on the Wire” (where the narrator calls an old flame only to learn he has become a born-again Christian), and photospreads of models Jim Bentley and Vincent Thomas.