Drum (American magazine)
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DRUM issue 27, October 1967 | |
| Editor | Clark Polak |
|---|---|
| Categories | News, Erotica |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Circulation | 10,000 |
| Publisher | Janus Society |
| First issue | 1964 |
| Final issue | 1967 |
| Country | USA |
| Based in | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Language | English |
Drum (corporately styled DRUM) was an American LGBT-interest magazine based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Published monthly beginning in 1964 by the homophile activist group the Janus Society and edited by Clark Polak, Drum took its title from a quote by Henry David Thoreau: "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears the beat of a different drummer."[1]
Drum differed from earlier homophile magazines in that it included a combination of news and erotica. Beginning in April 1965 it featured the first ongoing gay-themed comic strip, the erotic parody comic Harry Chess: That Man from A.U.N.T.I.E. by "A. Jay".[2] In December 1965, Drum published the first full-frontal male nude pictorial in an American magazine.[3] DRUM also took a more militant editorial and political stance than other publications of the day. This combination quickly led to a monthly circulation of 10,000, the largest circulation at the time for any magazine of its kind.[4]
In 1967, a federal grand jury indicted Drum editor Polak on 18 counts of publishing and distributing obscene material. In exchange for avoiding a prison sentence, Polak agreed to cease publishing Drum and relocate from Philadelphia to Los Angeles.[5]
Notes
References
- Gross, Larry (2001). Up from Invisibility: Lesbians, Gay Men, and the Media in America. New York, Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-11953-4
- Kranz, Rachel and Tim Cusick (2005). Gay Rights (3rd ed.). Infobase Publishing. ISBN 0-8160-5810-5
- Streitmatter, Rodger (1995). Unspeakable: The Rise of the Gay and Lesbian Press in America. Boston, Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-19873-2