The Gay Test
I found this snooping around instagram, of course. I remember Mandate Magazine. I used to get the black envelope and I just KNEW what was in store. I think I stopped subscribing when I moved from PA to OH in the early aughts. It was a thrill, getting these magazines in those olden times at the turn of the century. It's been more than twenty years since I've seen these magazines circulating. They may have stopped after the internet killed the gay publication.
Apparently, Mandate was groundbreaking. It came out in the seventies and it was unheard of then of having a glam gay magazine. How quaint is that? This issue is from 1991 (Thanks, Lurkie!!) and what called my attention was that it had a test to figure out how gay you were. I completed it, of course. Because faggotry. And I got most of them right!! A good combo of campy answers, good ol' gay history (herstory?) and some common sense.
Woot woot! Hello, I'm Gay. Oh, BTW, did you get to buy gay magazines? I used to love Mandate, Inches, and Honcho. The erotica that you used to find sandwiched between some nude spread and some political piece were fantastic. And I think The Advocate had one magazine dedicated to couples? Oh, those were the times...
XOXO
P.S. I would LOVE to have kept my collection of magazines. I would have been dragging them through several states, but there's no beef like the beef on gay skin magazines, internet be damned.
I just check my collection. I have a few copies of Honcho and a few copies of Freshmen. I suppose they're collectible now.
ReplyDeleteOMG yes!
DeleteTotal collectibles. They are more expensive than let's say, vintage Playboy or Penthouse magazines. Honcho was the ish.
XOXO
HuntleyBiGuy:
ReplyDeleteSince I lived a cloistered life for much of my young adult life, living at home, and not sure of my identity I really didn’t look for the popular gay magazines. When I was able to go to an adult bookstore, I tended to gravitate to the pictorial publications, and video tapes (before I got a DVD player) to build a spank bank.
XOXO👨🏼❤️💋👨🏽
Hahaha
DeleteSuch a good Midwestern boy. Oh, video tapes! I lost a fantastic collection in a basement flooding. Dang.
XOXO
Big says,
ReplyDeleteI used to read each of those once in a while. Bought them at a store, though, when I wanted one. The first one I saw was at a part-time job when the guy on the previous shift left it on the tool bench. Oops. Got me hard in an instant. XOXO
P.S. I hope our allergies clear up soon. I know how miserable we both are right now. XOXO
Oh yes.
DeleteI remember they used to sell them and they were always on the top shelf. I loved the one hand reading in those magazines. And the spreads! Such a thrill.
XOXO
p.s. allergies are still fucking me up. I'm taking one of those 24 hour pills once in a while...
"Those olden times at the turn of the century" -- hahahahaha, thanks for making me feel even older than I am (*shakes fist*). I read every LGBTQ publication I could get my hands on in the 80s and 90s. The glossy mags were all from the USA, like the Advocate, OUT, and the lesbian mag Curve (originally called Deneuve until Catherine sued). But most publications were the cheaper newsprint papers and mags that were more affordable for local LGBTQ communities to produce. In Canada, we had The Body Politic from Toronto (later called X-tra), Swerve (in Winnipeg), Perceptions (in Saskatoon) and a lesbian one from Vancouver that I can't recall the name of now. They all flourished before the internet. Those were the days!
ReplyDeleteP.S. I answered your shout-out over at Lurkie's blog, thanks.
Hahahahaha
DeleteWell, it's just twenty three years ago! I know, I know.
And I still get OUT. I'm subscribed. It's kind of nostalgia and sotto voce activism. I remember Curve! And I love the little gay rags they put out in bars. I always grab GRAB when I go to a bar (which is not very often, natch).
XOXO
I dont remember the magazine. But I do remember the Harry Hamlin scene from Making Love pictured in the magazine.
ReplyDeleteThat movie gave me some JO material for at least two weeks.
DeleteI think I had some Mandate magazines in my collection.
DeleteOh that movie! A classic.
XOXO
I kept my pile of porno mags forever but finally had to send them on their way. They made the journey with me from several states but after the kiddos came along, it just felt like it was time for them to go. I should have dumped them in the woods because that seems to be the way me and friends found them back in the day. Take care, Sixpence, and have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteSame!
DeleteI gave mine to a friend. I wonder if he still has them...
And finding porn in the woods? So true! I was one of those who found a whole stash of Playboys I think. I found the other boy's reactions more titillating than the actual magazines, of course.
XOXO
Shit, no test need tell me, I'm gayer then Paul Lyde covered in glitter!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes.. in the mid 90's when I could buy porn, I used to get Beau and one called {2}. Those Beau stories were hot... and made me do the naughtiest of things to myself.
Hahaha oh, babes. Samesies.
DeleteOh, I remember (2)! I think that's the one The Advocate published? I don't remember. And Beau? I need to google that!
XOXO
love David Bowie, he was so nice and sexy and so bisex!
ReplyDeleteSame!
DeleteHe was a trailblazer.
XOXO