Homoerotic Archaeology: September 2025

Friday, September 5, 2025

Advocate Men (September 1989), Part One

In a letter submitted to the advice columnist in this September 1989 issue of Advocate Men (which has been broken into two parts), the writer highlights the lack of information about intravenous drug use and AIDS. In the eight-year span since the first documented case and the writing of his letter, there were numerous campaigns – one involving actress Zelda Rubinstein – aimed at stopping the virus’ spread by educating men about condom use; however, few addressed the role of drugs. As the writer explains, recreational drugs were (and continue to be) common among gay men and many had not been informed about the role of dirty needles in the spread of HIV. In fact, the writer is not wrong. In the medical literature published in 1990, less than a dozen mention the part intravenous drug use plays in spreading the virus, with one discussing the impacts on homosexual African Americans and Latino Americans. In addition to this letter, the first half of this issue contains the short stories “Tunneling” (where the narrator cruises the tunnels under his university) and “With a Mind of Its Own” (where the narrator still pines for the man he loved in college) and photospreads of models Nick Harmon and Axel Rod.

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.