Chicago house music’s queer history explored in THING zine anthology

Chicago house music’s queer history explored in THING zine anthology

Chicago house music’s queer history and origins are explored in THING, a new anthology named after a landmark LGBTQIA+ publication launched in 1989 by the designer and writer Robert Ford. 

Shipping from February, the 460-page collector’s edition brings together all 10 original issues of the magazine. Known for platforming dance music pioneers and performers such as Larry Heard, Frankie KnucklesDeee-Lite, Gemini, and Rupaul, its pages featured poetry, fiction and original artwork, while also containing gossip and interview pieces.

Major articles ranged from coverage of 1987’s Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, to the unlikely presidential run by Black activist and drag queen, Joan Jett Blakk, who campaigned under the slogan “Lick Bush in ’92”, 

“In a moment when the gay community was besieged by the HIV/AIDS crisis and a wantonly cruel government, the influence and significance of this cheaply-produced newsprint magazine vastly exceeded its humble means, presenting a beautiful portrait of the ball and club culture that existed in Chicago with deep intellectual reflections,” Primary Information’s introduction to the forthcoming anthology reads.

“THING was a publication by and for its community and understood the fleetingness of its moment. To reencounter this work today, is to reinstate the Black voices who were so central to the history of HIV/AIDS activism and Queer and club culture, but which were often sidelined by white Queer discourse,” it continued. “In many ways, THING offered a blueprint for the fundamental role a magazine plays in bringing together a community, its tagline summing up the bold stakes of this important venture: “She Knows Who She Is.”

You can pre-order a copy of THING here.

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