LGBT pulp fiction collection, 1928-1989

Although pulp fiction is not a precise term, it generally refers to the sensationalist genre literature produced in paperback during the twentieth century. "Pulp" referred to the cheap paper stock on which these stories were printed. While the pages were of low quality, the covers typically displayed eye-catching and provocative illustrations. Mainstream publishers packaged these cheap paperback books to be sold on racks in train stations, drugstores, stationary shops and newsstands. Pulp fiction disturbed and fascinated mass audiences because, as author Mary Elliott states, "it offered glimpses of taboo eroticism, questioned comfortable assumptions about social good and evil, sold itself through beautiful cover art, and provided moments that challenged the premises of established gender and value systems."

The first wave of gay pulp fiction materialized in the 1940s and was primarily composed of reprints of earlier mainstream, respected literary fiction with gay themes. These books—such as Blair Niles' Strange Brother and Gore Vidal's The City and the Pillar—portrayed characters examining what it means to be a man who is sexually and emotionally attracted to other men. Though lesbian-themed pulp fiction was also being produced at this time, they consisted of original stories written by men for a heterosexual male audience whereas the gay pulp fiction books were written by gay men for a wide readership.

Relaxation of censorship laws in the 1960s led to a second wave of gay and lesbian pulp fiction where it was possible to publish work with more explicit sexual content and present unapologetic queer characters. These new pulps contained original, nonliterary stories and were distributed with an intent to sell sexualized material. For both gays and lesbians these new writings, which reached far more people than the earlier literary fiction, "were both a visceral and visible marker of personal as well as group identity" according to author Michael Bronski. Additionally, in the back pages of the books, there were advertisements for homophile organizations and spaces for personal ads. As significant as they are salacious, these pulps capture a transitional period in LGBT history.

(Sources: Bronski, M. (2004). Pulp fiction: Gay (467-470) and Elliott, M. (2004). Pulp fiction: Lesbian (471-475); In M. Stein (Ed), Encyclopedia of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender history in America. New York, NY: Charles Scribners & Sons.)