Friday, July 4, 2025

Honcho (July 1978), Part One

Nearly a decade after the Black Cat raids and Stonewall riots that launched the Gay Liberation Movement, police continued to harass gay businesses and individuals. For instance, a short article within this July 1978 issue of Honcho (which has been broken into two parts) discusses an incident in September of 1977 where a street performance in Greenwich Village resulted in a verbal altercation between gay attendees and the police, prompting Captain Aaron Rosenthal to publicly reprimand his officers for their behavior. Likewise, in Gavin McMillian’s short story “Pool Table Poker,” the empty bar which Jeff enters has been closed due to police raids. As the owner relates: “We got raided last night. Seems there was some kind of disagreement with the cops about our liquor license. It’s no big deal. We’ll be opening up again tomorrow.” Outside of these two features attesting to the lingering animosities between the gay community and law enforcement, the majority of this issue is devoted to athleticism and the “chauvinistic, all-male domain called the locker room [where] fantasy and reality blend provocatively.” Contained in this first half is a hockey-themed photo spread and images of motorcyclist Eddie Kidd and Mr. USA Manuel Perry.

Friday, June 27, 2025

Advocate Men (June 1989), Part Two

In this June 1989 issue of Advocate Men (which has been broken into two parts), a reader named Mark responds to a fellow reader’s letter about the dating difficulties he encounters being HIV positive, with many people rejecting him due to his status. In his response, Mark claims that gay men already face numerous setbacks in the dating world and adding HIV status into the mix only makes things worse. Likewise, he claims someone’s status should not be a barrier to love: “We gays have enough hang-ups without being separated from our life because of AIDS. Life is too short for anyone to be deprived of a chance to feel and share love, to have someone there to hold him and share all that life has to offer.” Included in this second half (see the first half here) are the short stories “Bronc Buster” (where a rodeo cowboy is taught how to tame a wild horse) and “Pit Bull Love” (about an affair between a wrestler and his manager) and photos of models Brian Adams, Lance Anderson, and Sergio Calucci.