FagRag No. 3

Boston: FagRag, 1972. Offset on newsprint with black and white photography and illustration throughout. 17 1⁄2 x 11 1⁄2 in, folded to 8 1⁄2 x 11 1⁄2 in. Very good. Item #5782

After Stonewall, when the gay press emerged from past censorship as a vibrant and mobilizing counterweight to mainstream papers one of the most distinctive was Fag Rag, founded in Boston in 1971. The brainchild of Charles Shively, a history professor, poet, anarchist, and incendiary theorist of gay liberation, Fag Rag was produced by a revolving collective of volunteers who operated it for thirty issues between 1971 and 1987.

This is one of the early issues of the magazine, and establishes its trademark irreverent appeal, as its brash name and deliberately unpolished aesthetic attests. This issue contains articles on ‘Cocksucking as an act of Revolution,’ an exploration of how gay men are pathologized and punished by institutions, and a number of creative contributions ranging from poetry to photography to music.

A provocative, witty artifact of radical politics and queer activism during a period of immense change for the gay community.

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