Homoerotic Archaeology: November 2025

Friday, November 7, 2025

Honcho (November 1982), Part One

In a 2005 article for The New Republic, political analyst Andrew Sullivan argues online dating sites are making the gay bar obsolete. Over a decade later, social scientist James Scott wrote an article for The New York Times contending gentrification is the true killer of the gay bar. Their stances are just two of many which lament the downfall of a space that was once the center of gay culture. In fact, Skip Coburn’s article “Beyond the Bar” found within this November 1982 issue of Honcho (which has been broken into two parts), attests to the former mecca that was the gay bar, serving as a safe location for camaraderie, courtship, and socialization. Also included in the first half of this issue are the short stories “Cop Undercover” (about a man’s encounter with a police officer at a bathhouse), “Domination” (where a twenty-one-year-old guy from Dayton discovers his sexuality in a Los Angeles bar), and “My Brother’s Keeper” (about sexual attraction between two brothers) and photo spreads titled “Bruiser,” “Django,” and “King Size.”

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.