This collection comprises zines created by members of the LGBTQ+ community from the 1970s to the present, along with additional runs of little magazines, community-based periodicals, art magazines, and some single-issue monographs and comics, also authored and/or published by gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, asexual, or nonbinary-identifying individuals. In some instances, the genre boundaries between a regularly-published zine, a single-issue zine or its spinoffs, and a magazine or commercially-produced periodical are indeterminate. In this collection, we include all varieties of single-author issued publications, small press editions, community magazines, little magazines, comics/comix, and other non-mainstream publishers’ output within a larger LGBTQ+ subject focus. The collection can be called the “Furman Queer Zine Collection” as a shorthand name. ]

The subject matter of the collection’s contents varies widely, from punk and hardcore music to sexuality and erotica; from cooking to cycling; personal zines (“perzines”) to art, poetry, and memoir; from humor to health issues and body image. A conscious effort has been made to acquire (and continue to acquire) materials from LGBTQ+ communities of color, and from makers who identify as transgender or zines about transgender issues. The bulk of the collection is in English, though the countries of origin include the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, and Japan, with the bulk coming from the United States and Canada. This is not a closed collection; it will continue to grow and this finding aid will be updated periodically as new materials are added.

The collection is arranged alphabetically by publication title and described at the item level. The creator’s name and place of origin (city, state/province) are noted, wherever possible, for future indexing.