QUEER ICONS Number 196 Winter 2023 $11.952RFD 196 Winter 2023 Issue 197 / Spring 2024 DO IT YOURSELF Submission Deadline: February 15, 2024 www.rfdmag.org/upload Jim Jackson timber framing at Faerie Camp Destiny. Photo by Matt Bucy. Wood chip photo by Lignum Group (CC SA 3.0) One of the core memories of RFD is its em- phasis on self-reliance, finding one’s own way and working collectively to find solu- tions. As we click closer toward our fiftieth year, we ask you to consider ways you “do it yourself,” ways you learn skills, ways you transform yourself or react to a problem with ingenuity. Many of us find ways to recreate skills lost to mechanization. We pick up crafts or skills in the garden or kitchen, and we manifest a fix-it yourself approach to things. Please consider sharing an acquired skill, a lost art, aW technique that helps you every day. WAlso, con- sider how we take up the task of “do- ing it ourselves” as part of a collective response to being part of the larger queer/LGBTQI+ community. How have we learned to share in the task of collective response? How has the age old act of skill sharing spread to our political/social lives as we react to oppression, unjust laws and merely mean spirited people around us. The art of doing it yourself is a way of saying, “doing it for one’s self” or one’s community. So dig into your toolkits, your recipe boxes, your crafts or skills and see how they apply to your personal life as well as the larger world. Show us the simple sign you created at an im- promptu demonstration or how you come together to share ideas like organic gardening, timber fram- ing, making jewelry, creating clothes, and making music. Just do it for us! Share your stories, artwork and poetry as we explore the varied ways we do it for ourselves. RFD 196 Winter 2023 1 Red Frequency Drift Vol 50 No 2 #196 Winter 2023 Between the Lines Welcome to winter! As we all cozy up on the couch to settle in to read this issue about Queer Icons / Queer Iconography keep an open mind for the varied approaches people take to assigning value and significance to people, images and ourselves. We’re so appreciative of the reflection people put into this issue and we had an overabundance of submissions. We want to thank every- one's take on icons in our lives. We include in this issue an interview about Michael Ma- son’s new book, In the Blood of My Ink. We hope everyone will consider buying this wonderful collection of poetry. Speaking of poetry, we had many poems submitted for this issue, we hope you enjoy them in all of the myriad ways the poets contemplated icons and imagery in their queer lives. RFD flourishes with your interest and we’re gearing up for our fiftieth anniversary so please help out if you can. RFD turns fifty next year and we are reading all past RFDs to select ‘the best of” for our upcoming book and we need your help! We need more readers for the prose and poetry that has graced our pages these past fifty years. You can be part of the team determining what we print in this anniversary salute to our community and contribu- tors. We offer as thanks a two year subscription to RFD. Are you free to read? If so, please contact Rosie Delicious at rosie@ rfdmag.org. Meanwhile, the crew here in New England that put together the magazine hustled back from holiday fetes to work on this issue right after Thanksgiving. In a world of turmoil, war and struggle, we hope everyone was able to reach into their own sense of family or merely happy place to celebrate coming to- gether even as we reflect on our heritage and histories. From a chilly clear day in Vermont! —the RFD Collective2RFD 196 Winter 2023 RFD is a reader-written journal for gay people which focuses on country living and encourages alternative lifestyles. We foster community building and networking, explore the diverse expressions of our sexuality, care for the environment, Radical Faerie consciousness, and nature-centered spirituality, and share experiences of our lives. RFD is produced by volunteers. We welcome your participation. The business and general production are coordinated by a collective. Features and entire issues are prepared by different groups in various places. RFD (ISSN# 0149- 709X) is published quarterly for $25 a year by RFD Press, PMB 329, 351 Pleasant St., Ste B, Northampton, MA 01060-3998. Postmaster: Send address changes to RFD Press, PMB 329, 351 Pleasant St., Ste B, Northampton, MA 01060-3998. Non-profit tax exempt #62-1723644, a function of RFD Press, Inc., with office of registration at 231 Ten Penny Rd., Woodbury, TN 37190. RFD Cover Price: $11.95. A regular subscription is the least expensive way to receive RFD four times a year. First class mailed issues will be forwarded. Others will not. Send address changes to submissions@rfdmag.org or to our Northampton, MA address. Copyright © RFD Press, Inc. The records re- quired by Title 18 U.S.D. Section 2257 and associated with respect to this magazine (and all graphic material as- sociated therewith on which this label appears) are kept by the custodian of records at the following location: RFD Press, 85 N Main St, Ste 200, White River Junction, VT 05001. Production Managing Editor: Bambi Gauthier Production Editor: Matt Bucy Submission Deadlines Spring–February 15, 2024 Summer–May 15, 2024 See inside covers for themes and specifics. For advertising, subscriptions, back issues and other information visit www.rfdmag.org. To read online visit www.issuu.com/rfmag . org. Visual Contributors Inside This Issue Artwork not directly associated with an article. Front Cover "Smoking" by Gordon Binder Back Cover "Horizontal" by Duncan Hilton Gordon Binder ....................Front Cover Oscar Zamora Graves ....................2, 57 Dmitry Bitjukov ............................5 Duncan Hilton .................Back Cover, 55 Richard Vyse ..............................11 Patrick Gracewood .......................4, 41 Denison Beach .....................31, 39, 58 Victorien Biet. .............................34 "Cherub" by Oscar Zamora Graves RFD 196 Winter 2023 3 CONTENTS In The Blood of My Ink: Michael Mason’s Poetic Legacy ..........RFD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Harry Hay—Queer Icon ...................Dragonfly (Les K. Wright) .............10 Uncle Sydney ............................Allen Klein ..........................12 Assotto Saint As Icon .....................Franklin Abbott ......................13 The Sims ................................Eric P. Mueller .......................14 Tiresias ..................................Lupine Cottontail .....................17 My Queer Icon ...........................Gordon Binder .......................18 The Kiss .................................Jeff Marsh ...........................21 The Psychedelic Art of Ralph Hall ..........Ian Young ...........................22 Veronica ................................Kae Chatman ........................24 The 12th Station of the Cross ..............Agat & Chicken ......................25 Screaming Queen and Drag as an Icon ......Jim Jackson ..........................26 Leaving Berlin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D. Scott Humphries ...................28 Anal Iconography ........................Frater Guaiferius .....................29 Ken and Me or iKENography ..............Alan N. Yount ........................32 Somewhere ..............................Ed Madden ..........................35 Gone ....................................Liana Kapelke-Dale ...................37 Queer Iconography .......................JN.exe ...............................38 who haunts lonely roads ...................charlotte amelia poe ...................40 Puja ......................................Daniel W.K. Lee ......................42 Elegy for Jack Twist .......................Daniel W.K. Lee ......................42 A Vocation—or, Self Portrait as a Young Novice ..........David Derbin Nolta ...................43 Pink Triangle Escapade ...................Gregory T. Wilkins (a.k.a. Equus) .......56 Biograph Theater, 1978 ....................Gregg Shapiro ........................59 The Water Wheels of Hama ................Craig Martin Getz ....................60 Cranbrook, 1979 ......................... David Derbin Nolta ..................62 Split .................................... David Derbin Nolta ..................634RFD 196 Winter 2023 We will run a full gathering calendar in the Spring issue for the rest of 2024. Dec 27, 2023 – Jan 1, 2024 The Billy’s, Upper Lake CA www.radfae.org Dec 28, 2023 – Jan 1, 2024 Hail the New 2024 Easton Mountain, Greenwich NY www.eastonmountain.org Jan 11 – 15, 2024 Bear Your Soul: Winter Hibernation Easton Mountain, Greenwich NY www.eastonmountain.org Jan 12 – 14, 2024 Winter Meditation Gay Spirit Visions, Highland NC gayspiritvisions.org Jan 15 – 18, 2024 Queer Magic Winter Breitenbush OR www.radfae.org Jan 18 – 28, 2024 Asian Faerie Gathering Koh Yao Yai, Thailand www.radfae.org Feb 15 – 19, 2023 Breitenbush Gathering Breitenbush OR www.radfae.org Feb 16 – 19, 2024 Winter Gay Spirit Camp Easton Mountain, Greenwich NY www.eastonmountain.org Winter Gathering Fare "The GreenMan in Autumn" by Patrick Gracewood. Carved wood model for bronze fountain. RFD 196 Winter 2023 5 "Sanctus Pantaleon" by Dmitry Bitjukov. Watercolor.6RFD 196 Winter 2023 RFD is thrilled to be able to publish Michael Mason’s In the Blood of My Ink. Michael’s poetry graced the pages of RFD and he was an early poet- ry editor as well. From his roots in North Carolina to his various homes in Florida, Washington DC, New York as well as Tennessee, he always brought his poetic vision and worked on producing work along the way. He shared his poetry in small news- letters, regional literary journals as well as in the pages of RFD itself. He also read his work aloud, which is helpful in reading his poetry. It was meant to be read aloud by a fire at a gathering or at a coffeehouse poetry reading. He was a poet but he also was a stonecutter who created many memorial stones while he was at Running Water that are now at Short Mountain. With the release of the book, we thought we would reach out to two people who knew Michael well to get their impressions of the book and of Michael’s legacy as a poet. Franklin Abbott was RFD’s poetry editor and knew Michael from gather- ings as well as corresponding as friends and fellow poets. Billy Toth was Michael’s partner and witnessed Michael’s process of gathering together his poetry into a typed manuscript before he died from HIV in 1990. The typed manuscript was copied and shared with a few friends and with the intention that a chapbook would be produced. Then it lay dormant until the new RFD crew in New England came across it and worked with Charles Simpson to produce the book. We are grateful to everyone who helped in the process most especially Charles Simpson, Billy Toth, the many hands who helped proof and lay out the book—Multiforme, Matt and Kwai. We also want to thank Michael’s family for allowing us to print the book. RFD : Franklin can you reflect on Michael’s poetry and his engagement with writing? It seems from the typed manuscript he left behind that he was prolific in writing poetry right up to the year of his passing; did he share his poetry and ideas with you? Franklin : Michael and I met at the first Run- ning Water gatherings in the late ‘70’s and we often read poetry in the heart circles. A third poet who read with us was Aurora Corona, a member of the Louisiana Sissies in Struggle. We were very different people and very different poets. Poetry flowed from Michael who was prolific in his writing. Many of his poems were published in RFD. Some were lyrical (he loved Joni Mitchell) and some were longer almost Ginsberg like rants. We saw each other many times at gatherings and always read together. He was a letter writer and there were always new poems in his frequent, thick letters. RFD : Billy how did Mi- chael come into your life? How was it like to be involved with such a creative force? Can you share anything about Michael’s process of working on his typed manuscript? Billy : My memoir in the book tells how Mi- chael and I met at Running Water. When I was in Michael’s company there was never a dull moment. He had an easy joyful laugh and loved drama— he was creative, curious, optimistic, stubborn, trusting, adventurous, and loving to the point of obsession. Michael’s poems were his main obsession— writing them and toward the end organizing them—long hours into the night with coffee and cigarettes at hand. In The Blood of My Ink: Michael Mason’s Poetic Legacy An interview with Franklin Abbott and Billy Toth RFD 196 Winter 2023 7 RFD : Franklin what poems in the book stands out to you that our readers should read? Franklin : “Yes” and “What Holds the Poem Inside.” RFD : Billy did any poems that Michael pro- duced stand out to you? Billy : The poems “Manhattan” and “Unsoiled” capture the intensity of our relationship at a chal- lenging time in both our lives—two high vibration lovers pulled in many directions in the maelstrom of NYC. RFD : Franklin & Billy, I only met Michael once before he passed away. So I did not get to hear him read his poetry. What was it like to hear him read his work? Franklin : He sang his poems. He had a mel- lifluous voice and quite a charismatic presence. All eyes and ears were on Michael when he read. Billy : Michael was a natural performer and loved being the center of attention—his twinkling amazing blue eyes, deep sexy voice and animal magnetism made for very enter- taining readings of his poems. RFD : Michael’s po- etry seems to surround a love of sound; he used a lot of words, which evoke a sound, as well as a word. He seems to be using his poetry to share his voice as a gay man. Can either of you talk about how his poetry as way for him to reflect his identity as a gay man? Franklin : The Radical Faeries emerged in the late ‘70’s as a marvelous departure from “straight acting” conformity. Michael was not just gay but fey. His work is infused with his insistence on be- ing gay and fey and one of a kind. RFD : Billy, family was a large part of Michael’s identity, his roots in North Carolina and he worked on genealogy. Can you talk about how important family ties were to him? Billy : He loved his family—His mother Mary and sisters Sheree & Tootsie in particular—he kept in close touch and talked about them often. RFD : Franklin—AIDS took a number of creative people from us, how does Michael fit into the pan- theon of others like Essex Hemphill, Tim Dlugos, Walta Borawski, Assotto Saint, Steve Abbot and Paul Monette. Franklin : It was and still is heartbreaking to think of all the creative gay men who were lost in the epidemic. Many, like Michael, died young while they were still developing their craft. I have great sorrow over what we lost in losing these voices and visions. RFD : Billy, can you share your favorite moment with Michael? Billy : My favorite moment with Michael? Was it when we first met at Running Water and fell hope- lessly in lust? Or my first visit to Short Mountain and got to share his world and sleep in his bed? Or the march in DC when he came to live with me in NYC to share my world and sleep in my bed? Or when we had our wedding party at a gath- ering at SMS? Every moment with Michael was precious or maybe I only want to remember the joyful ones. RFD : Franklin is there anything that Michael shared with you that sticks with you? Franklin : We had lots of deep conversations; we were creating a new world as emerging Radical Faeries. Michael spoke not only in words but in stone. He, true to his name, was a stone- mason. I remember one of his carvings from Running Water. It was a line from a Phoebe Snow song, “have mercy on those men with no feelings.” Michael was angry at times (lots of anger in his poetry) but was also terribly tender and compas- sionate. As with others I know who died young, I think he had an intimation that he might not live to be old so he lived fully, plumbing the depths and soaring to new heights. No one who knew him could ever forget him. Bringing him back to light with this new anthology is such a great gift. Thank you RFD. RFD : Thanks to you both for sharing your insights about Michael and his passionate voice in your lives. Photograph by Billy Toth.Next >