Founded in Chicago in 1989 by Robert Ford, Trent Adkins, and Lawrence Warren, THING magazine was a Black gay and lesbian underground arts journal. THING Magazine began with issue no. 1 (Nov. 1989) and ceased with issue no. 10 (summer 1993).
THING’s issues are full of art, house music, interviews, commentary, small and large features, recurring columns, poetry, and articles centering around Black culture, LGBTQ+ culture, HIV/AIDS activism, drag, camp, and more. Individuals highlighted and interviewed in the ten issues include notables such as Marlon Riggs, Joan Jett Blakk, Essex Hemphill, RuPaul, and Vaginal Davis.
THING was published in Robert Ford’s Chicago apartment from 1989 to 1993, and thousands of copies were distributed worldwide through stores, subscriptions, and written requests for individual issues. At its height, the zine reached a circulation of nearly 3,000.
In an interview with Owen Keehnen, Robert Ford said, “We knew for ourselves what a rich and important cultural thing gay Black men have and share. We wanted to make a magazine that would be a way of documenting our existence and contribution to society. Our idea was not so much radicalize or subvert the idea of magazines as to make one from our own point of view. It wasn’t about deconstructing what a magazine is, it was playing within its perimeters.”
Each issue of THING contains at least one photo spread featuring people, parties, and events around town. With detailed captions, the photographs provide social news, gossip, and information on LGBTQ+ activities. Articles on trends allowed the creators and other writers to get their opinions in print.
THING covered events in detail that mainstream media overlooked or dismissed. For example, Wigstock—the annual drag festival that ran from 1985 to 2005—and the presidential candidacy of Joan Jett Blakk were given front and center treatment in the zine.
Advice and suggestions pepper the zine, often written by the staff. Regular columnists also weighed in, offering editorials, retrospectives, and satire.
THING’s interviews featured poets, filmmakers, artists, dancers, musicians, and other creators. What THING provided, however, was a platform specifically for Black gay creators.
Essex Hemphill was an openly gay poet, writer, public speaker, and activist. Although he passed away at age 38, he left behind a large body of work. In THING no. 5 (Fall 1991), Simone Bouyer’s artwork introduces an interview with Hemphill conducted by Tod Roulette.
THING provided a new platform for drag artists. Both long form and short form interviews with drag notables pepper the zine, often with multiple interviews in a single issue. Drag artist and performer Lady Bunny is interviewed by Trent Adkins in THING no. 6 (Summer 1992). An interview of performer and hostess The Lovely Carol by Jamoo appears in THING no. 10 (Summer 1993).
THING magazine touched on all aspects of LGBT+ life, including HIV/AIDS. At a time when there was little information in mainstream media about HIV and AIDS, THING served up any information it could. The zine featured ads, public service announcements, articles, interviews, and more to promote HIV and AIDS awareness and openness.
Many artists used work to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS or to depict the turbulent emotions of the epidemic. Additionally, as HIV and AIDS hit the artist community incredibly hard, THING would feature editorials and retrospectives on artists who had passed away. The impact of the epidemic is clear in THING—it is not unusual to see a feature by an artist in one issue of THING and a eulogy for that same artist in a subsequent issue.