Freaks on the Edges: Transness Through Decades of Queercore Zines (2023)

Undergraduate: Ashton Thorne

Faculty Advisor: Ariana Vigil
Department: Women's and Gender Studies

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This research constructs a history of trans representation throughout the queercore media subculture by tracing gender variance found in zines, from 1985 to the present day. I argues that underground media can provide a window into trans politics and self-actualisation over time, as well as how gender variance interacts with broader queer networks. The history of queercore media and subculture is interrogated through a lens of anarchism and trans studies, tracing from early mentions of transness in J.D.s and Homocore to more recent and contemporary works including Shotgun Seamstress and Hoax. Mentions of gender variance throughout zines range broadly, including both mocking slurs and loving, careful discussions of complex trans-centric topics. Borrowing concepts from trans studies and ideas from underground publishing, this work presents zines as a method of non-institutional knowledge dissemination and a site for mutual aid and DIY representation.

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