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QZAP - The Queer Zine Archive Project

@qzap.bsky.social

190 followers 22 following 36 posts

LGBTQ+ zines, comics and print ephemera; queer history; queer arts; queercore subculture, zine librarianship, archives, and overall community building through storytelling and zucchini waffles. 🖥️ https://qzap.org 📚 https://archive.qzap.org

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QZAP - The Queer Zine Archive Project @qzap.bsky.social · 7d

We will be tabling at Beet Street in Milwaukee this Saturday from 1pm - 7pm-ish.

This street festival is organized and hosted by our friends at Cactus Club, and looks like it's going to be rad as fuck.

Details here:
www.visitmilwaukee.org/event/beet-s...

Image is a psychedelic ameboid frame with purple, green and pink flowers and over a black and white image of two male sailors kissing each other.

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QZAP - The Queer Zine Archive Project @qzap.bsky.social · 15d

We're pretty sure @rachaelhouse.bsky.social donated it to the archive when she visited in 2014. 💗💜💙

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QZAP - The Queer Zine Archive Project @qzap.bsky.social · 15d

Woke up thinking about this sticker that we've got in the archive here:
archive.qzap.org/index.php/De...

Sticker depicting actor Divine holding a pistol. Text reads "Destroy Fascism - Eat Shit Nazi Scum" and has a rainbow flag and a black flag in the upper left with the words "Antihomophobe Action"

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Reposted by QZAP - The Queer Zine Archive Project

Invisible Histories @invisiblehistories.bsky.social · 19d

Button from the 1970s from the Georgia Gay Liberation Front.

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Reposted by QZAP - The Queer Zine Archive Project

Milo @miloblue.bsky.social · 27d

NEVER FORGET!!!
On this day in 1973 the Arch Cafe in Springfield, MA was firebombed and destroyed.

Cover of Gay Community News from September 22, 1973 with an article about the bombing of the Arch Cafe in Springfield, Massachusetts on September 11th.

Early Tuesday morning (Sept. 11) at 5AM, one of Springfield’s gay “hangouts”, the Arch Cafe was completely demolished by a bomb explosion. Owner Louis Lake had received an unusual number of obscene phone calls, as many as “12 to 15 daily prior to today’s mishap. Lake said, “You’ve got to expect a certain number of calls, mostly from straight people who object (to homosexuality.)

Lake estimated damages at between eighty and ninety thousand dollars, and said that his insurance would “in no way” cover losses.

State police bomb squads are said to be investigating the source of the explosion and witnesses reported the smell of flammable fuel permeating the rubble in one section of the bar. Firemen suspected bombing after they combed through the debris and found the gas main and meter servicing the building intact. A fire inspector, when asked if the blast was the work of an explosives ex-pert, said “if it wasn’t, it sure as hell was a good amateur”.

Several residents of the neighboring Charles Hotel, mostly elderly people, were knocked from their beds by the blast. Authorities said that some of the occupants were shaken but there were no injuries. The bar was unoccupied at the time.

GCN contacted Rep. James Boller (D., Springfield) at the State House. He remarked upon viewing the wreckage Wednesday morning, that the former Arch Cafe was “completely demolished”, and that both adjacent buildings had also experienced damage. When questioned on the perpetrator of this act and his possible exper-tise, he remarked that a pro
“could not have done such a good job’. He labeled it a “fool-ish’ act done by some “wierd” person whose motivation “could have been anything, an argument or something”

Boller added that they “knew what they were doing” , implying that the bomber was taking deliberate action against the gay com-munity.

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QZAP - The Queer Zine Archive Project @qzap.bsky.social · 28d

A little conflicted this morning because fuck the nyt, and also hooray for Vaginal Davis!!!

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/a...

Parody, Punk and ‘Terrorist Drag’: Inside the World of Vaginal Davis

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by QZAP - The Queer Zine Archive Project

Dr. Amanda Wyatt Visconti @literaturegeek.bsky.social · Sep 8

If you want to make a smaller zine (< 1/2-sheet page size) but w/more page space than a minizine (1/8 sheet)—or just dislike not being able to get the minizine creases all perfect—1/4 size zines are another option. (HT @alienmelon.bsky.social wonderful Electric Zine Maker tool I learned this from!)

Screenshot of a comic tutorial for "assembling a quarter-letter folded zine (aka "hand pies", for Zine Bakery Homemade quarter-size zines)". Steps are:
1) Fold your paper so it's been creased in half both horizontally and vertically.
2) Fold the top half of the paper down over the bottom, such that just the back cover (left) and front cover (right) pages show.
3) Put 2 staples through the vertical center crease.
4) Use scissors to cut off the smallest possible strip of paper along the top (you're freeing those pages from being connected, while trying to lose as little of the zine design to the cut as possible).
5) Fold the back cover around to the back, so just the front cover shows.

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QZAP - The Queer Zine Archive Project @qzap.bsky.social · Sep 2

It's Fall!!!!! (Almost) Anyway, we're excited to be mostly exciting the melting dome of summer, and are hitting up some events over the next couple of months.

First up, on Sept. 14 is the Denver Zine Fest!

For a full schedule, check out our post at QZAP:
gittings.qzap.org/gross-indece...

illustration of a brown and white horse standing on a hill of green grass with a blue gradient sky above. Text on the image says "I'm A Denver Zine Fest 2025 Exhibitor!!!"

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Reposted by QZAP - The Queer Zine Archive Project

Rachael House @rachaelhouse.bsky.social · Sep 2

It’s Bi Visibility Month, and here’s a page from my 2019 zine, ‘still bisexual’.

A blue riso printed drawing on peach paper of a flag with a scale pattern. There’s a skull in the centre of the flag inside a circle adorned with M,F & Trans symbols.
Text reads- the bi flag is rather dull, I’d like to propose this one instead.
STILL BISEXUAL

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QZAP - The Queer Zine Archive Project @qzap.bsky.social · Aug 6

This list of lesbian magazines from Riese at
@autostraddle.bsky.social
is lit!!! 🔥

We've got a handful of issues of some of these in our collection, and lots more to learn about.

www.autostraddle.com/lesbian-maga...

78 Years Of Lesbian Magazines Keeping Our Queer Legacy Alive

The desire to connect with other people like us has been the driving force of queer media since the first lesbian print magazine ever launched in 1947. Here are just 50 of the many publications that b...

www.autostraddle.com

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QZAP - The Queer Zine Archive Project @qzap.bsky.social · Aug 2

"sorry this is late..." said every perzinester ever... so even though we missed the end of International Zine Month by a couple of days, we're still stoked to share this "What Kind of Queer Zine Are You" quiz that QZAP intern @bluespringwrites.bsky.social made:

gittings.qzap.org/quiz-what-ty...

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QZAP - The Queer Zine Archive Project @qzap.bsky.social · Jul 23

There's a new Zine of the Gay post up at QZAP! This week Lauren is talking about Bar Dykes, written by Merril Mushroom and designed and published by Faythe Levine and Caroline Paquita in 2016, and more abstractly about butch/femme culture in the 1950s.

gittings.qzap.org/bar-dykes/

Bar Dykes - QZAP - The Queer Zine Archive Project

Trigger warning: police, mentions of domestic violence Bar Dykes is a one-act play by Merril Mushroom written in the 1980s, made into a zine format by Faythe Levine and Caroline Paquita in 2016. The p...

gittings.qzap.org

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QZAP - The Queer Zine Archive Project @qzap.bsky.social · Jul 20

Zine Librarian’s Code of Ethics zine

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QZAP - The Queer Zine Archive Project @qzap.bsky.social · Jul 20

11. Shared Authority - Zine Union Catalog for Beginners

QZAP - The Queer Zine Archive Project @qzap.bsky.social · Jul 20

6. From Staple to Spine - A Compendium of Books About Zines, 2022 Edition

8. A Pocket Guide to the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center

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QZAP - The Queer Zine Archive Project @qzap.bsky.social · Jul 20

Here are just a few of the zines ABOUT libraries, info shop, collections, and overall zine librarianship that we’ve collected over the past couple of decades.

1. Bend/Mend/Discard - A Zine About the Brooklyn College Library Zine Collection

2. Blood Orange Infoshop - Demanding The Impossible Tomorrow Since Yesterday

3. A Handful of Librarians Dance in the Empty Caverns of Reactionary Skulls

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QZAP - The Queer Zine Archive Project @qzap.bsky.social · Jul 20

It’s ALSO a great day to make a donation to your favorite zine libraries! Either a copy of your zine, and/or a financial contribution to help the libraries continue to collect and make zines available to all readers would certainly be welcome.

(to donate to us at QZAP head over to qzap.org)

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QZAP - The Queer Zine Archive Project @qzap.bsky.social · Jul 20

July 21 is International Zine Libraries Day!!

To celebrate this annual event, it is customary to bring donuts or other baked goods to your favorite zine librarians (just check in with them first about any dietary restrictions or requests!)

1/6

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Reposted by QZAP - The Queer Zine Archive Project

Ben Wrex 🏴 @benwrex.bsky.social · Jul 20

THEY HAVE ARRIVED. $4 each or wholesale is available as well, email [email protected] to order! They measure about 2x4 inches, vinyl, waterproof, printed by the fine folks at Stickerninja in Portland, OR

a bunch of stickers with a drawing of a long arm stapler that says “I only got into zines for the money”.

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QZAP - The Queer Zine Archive Project @qzap.bsky.social · Jun 27

@miloblue.bsky.social is at #alaac25 this weekend doing stuff with the Zine Pavilion folks. They’ll be selling zines and QZAP swag tomorrow, so stop by if you’re at the conference.

Image shows a sticker with a paper cutter. text reads “If this is the only guillotine you have, use it. Make Zines”

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QZAP - The Queer Zine Archive Project @qzap.bsky.social · Jun 22

NO WAR!!!

This is from the ACT UP - Chicago sticker folio circa the early 1990s.

archive.qzap.org/index.php/De...

#nowarwithiran #nowar #aidsfundingnow #actup #actupchicago #chicago #stickers #cracknpeel

Money for AIDS / Not for war / ACT UP Chicago

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Reposted by QZAP - The Queer Zine Archive Project

Digital Transgender Archive @transgenderarchive.bsky.social · Jun 18

Cover of Thing Magazine No. 8 (Winter 1992-93), featuring drag queen Joey Arias.

For more information about this item, please visit the DTA via the link in our story/bio. Image courtesy of @lltransarchive.

#TransHistory #TransHistoryIsBeautiful #PrideMonth2025

Pictured: Magazine cover with black and white image of feminine person looking downwards, holding her arms across her chest with her dress draped down her shoulders. Her dress and large earrings have been recolored with a pastel orange and yellow overlay, and a halo has been drawn over her head. A small caption on the bottom left side reads “Joey Arias channels Billie Holliday” in blue cursive. Above the model, the title “Thing” is printed in purple block letters underneath a tagline, “Inside: Black Fags Talk Dirty” in blue letters. Under the main title, “Winter 92/93” is printed on the left and “Number 8 - $3” on the right, both in yellow font.

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QZAP - The Queer Zine Archive Project @qzap.bsky.social · Jun 18

The Zine of the Gay is back!! After a brief hiatus for some torch passing, our intern Lauren is making their QZAP ZotG debut with Butcher Queers #4.

gittings.qzap.org/butcher-quee...

Butcher Queers #4 front cover. A man wearing only rugby helmet and briefs points a toy pistol at the viewer.

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QZAP - The Queer Zine Archive Project @qzap.bsky.social · Jun 11

We're honored to be recognized by our local freekly, The Shepherd-Express, as their "heroes" of the month.

shepherdexpress.com/news/hero-of...

#freekly #freeweeklypaper #localpress #milwaukee

Queer Zine Archive Project Preserves LGBTQ+ DIY History

What started as the combined zine collections of co-founders Milo Miller and Christopher Wilde has ballooned to over 4,500 archived items in their physical collection and about 600 in their digital da...

shepherdexpress.com

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QZAP - The Queer Zine Archive Project @qzap.bsky.social · Jun 4

Remember there is so, so little time. And I want to be a lover of each and every one of you. Next year, we march naked.