'Uncompromising, Sexual Male Nudity': Israeli Queer Zine Fights Back Against Silencing

Indie zine Bayad features uncensored male nudity alongside political discussion. Editor Dror Amsalem says its existence is more important than ever under a far-right government

“We’re outlaws if we don’t follow the usual rules and don’t want to be part of mass culture,” wrote Tom Jennings and Deke Nihilson, the editors of the American queer fanzine Homocore in the introduction to the first issue, published in 1988. “We’re mutants if we try new things, things that are honest and human, like making our own cultures,” they added. In that introduction, they distilled the essence of fanzines in general and queer periodicals in particular.