The Phoenix: Midwest Homophile Voice, Issue 4 Vol. 1  (cover)

This cover is from a 1966 issue of the Phoenix Society's magazine The Phoenix: Midwest Homophile Voice. The term "homophile" was adopted by some within the gay community to decenter sex in the naming of their identity, though others within the community pushed back on this, arguing that the queer movement should be more radical and not conform to the comfortability of heterosexual society. The Phoenix Society was a homophile organization founded by Drew Shafer, located in Kansas City, Missouri, and their publication was the first LGBTQ+ magazine in the Midwestern United States. 

The Phoenix was made as a response to a lack of connection and communication among queer individuals and groups in the Midwest. Made possible by Drew Shafer's access to his father's printing press, the magazine is an example of how mass mediation shapes personal and social identities. While lower technology zines and other ephemera were common within the LQBTQ+ communities of centralized urban areas like New York City, the geographical dispersal of the Midwestern population put the queer people living within it at a disadvantage for hearing from or meeting those they shared a social and personal identity with. The Phoenix gave the gay people in these communities, who likely felt alone, a voice and a connection to like-minded folks. It published a mix of positive and sadly realistic content, from poetry, short stories, and jokes, to political news, reviews of gay-friendly (or not) establishments, and advice on interactions with legal and medical professionals.

The existence of The Phoenix, and the operations of its parent organization (which continued to grow and host social and activist gatherings as well as print materials for the greater North American Conference of Homophile Organizations) indicates the importance of community in the development and affirmation of identities. This issue was published 3 years before the Stonewall Riots and 49 years before the nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage, during a time when it was not safe for queer individuals to assume that they could be themselves without risk of arrest, harassment, or brutalization. Magazines like this provided connection, but also education and advice about living a queer life, undoubtedly helping many feel more comfortable and confident in themselves, and aware of the larger network of people that they were a part of and the issues they faced, as individuals and as a collective.