Up from Underground

In the 1960s, a new generation called for greater personal freedoms, civil rights and visibility. Still, queer perspectives were absent from mainstream media. To express themselves freely in print, queer people had to start their own publications.

From the 1960s onwards, entrepreneurs made queer-led newspapers, independent magazines and comics. Their news, commentary and stories spoke openly to their readers. People ordered them by post and discovered them through a new network of anti-establishment independent shops.

At the same time, comics went underground. In the US, the Comics Code Authority restricted what appeared in mainstream comics. In response, a counterculture movement created uncensored ‘comix’. With their adult themes, they revolutionised what comics could say and who they were for. As they caught on, expressions of queer experience, humour and fantasy in comix proved vital for bringing people together.