Homoerotic Archaeology: Numbers (July 1983), Part One

Friday, July 18, 2025

Numbers (July 1983), Part One

Beginning as a lumber town in the 1870s, Guerneville – located in northern California – struggled to become a fertile vacation destination after deforestation depleted the region’s redwood trees. Nearly a century after its founding, a group of gay individuals settled in the neighborhoods east of Wohler Bridge and, in 1978, Fife’s gay resort opened in the heart of the town, launching the emergence of other gay business throughout the city and making Guerneville a popular tourist spot and safe haven for the gay community. In this July 1983 issue of Numbers (which has been broken into two parts), Mike Hippler offers a brief history of the town and its thriving gay population. Also included in this first half are reader-submitted letters about everything from rekindled relationships to bisexuality, reviews of R. A. Fournier’s book The Intelligent Man’s Guide to Handball and Christopher Ragè’s film Orgy, the short story “Rural Deliveries” (about romance between two pen pals), and photos of model Tom.

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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.