Homoerotic Archaeology

Friday, November 8, 2024

Honcho (November 1989), Part Two

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Friday, November 1, 2024

Honcho (November 1989), Part One

In 1981, Dianne Feinstein, the mayor of San Francisco, established Fleet Week to celebrate the Unites States’ Navy. Since then, the event, always held in October, has become a week-long festivity where visitors can watch airshows conducted by Navy pilots, attend clubs along North Beach spouting nautical themes, and stroll the shops of vendors and eateries around Pier 39. While the event has always been a major tourist destination, with over 50,000 people attending in 1988, it has also been a place for gay men to rendezvous with sailors as, on average, over 5,000 of them visit the city for the celebration. In this November 1989 issue of Honcho (which has been broken into three parts), Willam Cozad’s short story “Sailor’s Discharge” showcases the eroticism of Fleet Week as the narrator hooks up with a sailor from the USS Fox. Also included in this first third is the short story “Mack Stud” (where the narrator recalls his experience with a laborer on his uncle’s farm when he was nineteen) and a photospread titled “International Male.”

Friday, October 25, 2024

Numbers (October 1982), Part Two

Established by Walter Kundzicz in the late 1950s, Champion Studios became a contender for other photography studios like those ran by Bob Mizer and David Hurles, offering images of young, muscular models. Unlike his peers, though, Kundzicz focused more on the boy-next-door types and often captured them in costumes and uniforms, such as cowboys and sailors. At its peak, Champion Studios published two magazines, Big and Go Guys. This October 1982 issues of Numbers (which has been broken into two parts) offers a series of photos from Champion Studios, with the second half (see the first half here) offering spreads titled “Blue on Blue” and “Javièr.” NOTE: THIS PARTICULAR ISSUE WAS FOUND INCOMPLETE AMONG THE BOXES OF MAGAZINES; HENCE, ITS SPARSE PRESENTATION.

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.