The Fall 2022 Philip and Frances Hofer Lecture at Houghton Library will be given by Linda Simpson, drag queen and editor/publisher of the underground gay magazine My Comrade, whose production archives were acquired by Houghton in 2021. My Comrade served as a symbol of hope and frivolity in New York City’s East Village during the AIDS crisis by celebrating the queer community in its cut-and-paste mishmash of articles and photo spreads. Simpson’s lecture will recall the zine’s history, New York’s avant-garde drag scene in the 1980s and 90s, and the queer activism and nightlife culture that paved the way for drag to become the pop culture phenomenon it is today.

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