Diseased Pariah News

Diseased Pariah News (DPN) was a zine published "by, for and about"[1] people with HIV and AIDS in the 1990s. The publication used black humor and shock humor to address many of the issues that affected people who had been diagnosed with HIV or AIDS.

Diseased Pariah News
EditorBeowulf Thorne
EditorTom Shearer
EditorTom Ace
EditrixMichael Botkin
PhotographerMod Bob
CategoriesLifestyle magazine
FormatZine
Total circulation5000
First issue1990 (1990)
Final issue
Number		1999 (1999)
11
Country United States
Based inSan Francisco Bay Area, CA
LanguageEnglish
Websitewww.diseasedpariahnews.com

While the publication dealt with issues related to having HIV/AIDS in a humorous, if dark, manner, many of the articles contained factual information about managing and living with the disease.[2] The content was largely aimed at gay men, but the editors routinely acknowledged AIDS as a global concern and solicited material from "diseased pariahs" of all kind.[2] All of the editors of the Zine had HIV or AIDS and only one of the four main editors survives today.[3]

The name of the zine came from a cartoon from The Advocate about how Delta Air Lines refused to seat a passenger who had AIDS. In the caption, an airport gate agent asked an emaciated ticket-holder, "Will that be smoking, nonsmoking, or diseased pariah?"[1]

The official mascot of DPN is the oncomouse.[3] This animal was chosen as the editors felt they were natural pariahs, due to the fact they were bred to generate tumors.[3]

Content

The irreverence and black humor of the magazine were attempts by the editors and contributors to fight what they felt was a view in the media of people infected with HIV as "languishing saints" or "hug objects".[4] The editors sought to reject this label imposed on them and embrace their identity as "diseased pariahs".[5] Scholars have seen this and a related zine called "Infected Faggot Perspectives" as counterpublics, spaces where marginalized cultures can create their own discourse and identity, outside of the one imposed on them by society.[6][7]

Notable columns

Archive

In November 2009, the New York Public Library digitized the first eight issues of Diseased Pariah News and posted them online at new DPN Online Archive.[10] The goal is to eventually have all eleven issues digitized and made available to allow AIDS historians and others to benefit from reading the publication.

References
  1. Lugliani, Greg (October 1997). "Last Laughs". POZ. Smart + Strong. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  2. Scapp, Ron; Seitz, Brian, eds. (1998). "2". Eating culture. SUNY Press. pp. 42–59. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  3. Allen, Mark (31 December 2010). "That's Not Funny, Or Is It?". Vice. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  4. "AIDS: Grin and Bear It". Newsweek. 14 April 1991. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  5. Long, Thomas (October 2000). "Plague of Pariahs: AIDS 'Zines and the Rhetoric of Transgression". Journal of Communication Inquiry. 24 (4): 401–411. doi:10.1177/0196859900024004004.
  6. Brouwer, Daniel (2005). "Counterpublicity and Corporeality in HIV/AIDS Zines". Critical Studies in Media Communication. 22 (5): 357–371. doi:10.1080/07393180500342860.
  7. Long, Thomas Lawerence (2010). "AIDS and the Paradigms of Dissent" (PDF). In Long, Thomas Lawerence; Li, Zhenyi (eds.). The Meaning Management Cycle: Making Sense of Health, Illness and Disease (First ed.). Oxfordshire, United Kingdom: Inter-Disciplinary Press. ISBN 978-1-84888-023-8. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  8. Ace, Tom (August 1999). "Thorne on Our Side". POZ. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  9. "Diseased Pariah News Nos. 1–11 [all published]". Maggs Bros. LTD. Archived from the original on 12 November 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  10. "Diseased Pariah News - Online Archive". Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
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