Do people still buy gay magazines?

The first gay magazine I ever bought was called Outrage. It was the late 1980s and I was in Melbourne in Australia. I saw it in a newsagent. I was dying of embarrassment as I paid money, and quickly stuffed in my school-bag before anyone could see what I’d bought. I was desperate to get home and discover whatever it was that lay between the pages of Outrage.

Looking back, Outrage was a pretty standard kind of gay mag – it covered arts, culture, and the gay-scene. It included a lot of information about condoms and safe sex. The articles that I read in Outrage were really my first window into what life as a gay man might be all about – I couldn’t wait to be part of it.

Outrage is no longer available on the shelves of newsagents in Australia. It was first published in 1983 and stopped publishing in 2000. Like many gay mags, it’s been consigned to history.

Just as the world has changed dramatically for gay men, the world of publishing has also changed enormously.

Print-only magazines seem to be a dying breed. Those that are still printing also put a lot of emphasis on their online presence. Publications of all shapes and sizes now need to have a digital strategy in order to engage with their audience – an audience that is increasingly accessing and sharing information through mobile devices.

An added challenge is that with the mainstreaming of much of queer life, it’s harder for gay magazines to have a unique voice.

However, gay magazines do still exist. Here are some of the gay magazines around the world that are worth getting your hands on.