Our archive consists of a variety of punk memorabilia- zines, videos, songs, and other items collected by fans starting in the 1970s. Zines served multiple purposes within the queer punk subculture. Authors used them to spread ideas and information about various bands and artists, as well as conventions, festivals, and other punk-related events. Their use as modes of communication indicates a complex network at the intersection of queer and punk that varies according to geographical location. However, locating copies or images in the digital era of zines that were in circulation over 40 years ago presents certain challenges. Zines exist as a temporal form of media, serving little purpose outside of the archive once the zine’s contents become out of date or seemingly irrelevant. As a result, these precious relics of the past are often thrown out or forgotten, only to be remembered many years later as part of a digital archiving class.

In the era of the Internet, many zinesters have shifted their platform from paper issues to online website publications, citing motivations such as instant gratification and automatic archiving, increased accessibility to a wider “invisible” reader base, and smoother and cheaper publication processes. This shift then begs the question if an online zine can be considered a true zine. Bruce LaBruce and other zine authors believe that the essence of the zine is unique to its paper form and cannot be transferred to an online format. Cutting, pasting, crafting, and going to the post office are all a part of the larger zine experience that cannot be replaced with modern technology. Online publications reach a larger, farther audience, but eliminate the human contact involved in zine exchanges. Luckily for those who have caught “archive fever,” academics such as Kelly Bessser, who we had the pleasure of zine-ing with, work to preserve and collect these zines for future generations of queer punks. Kelly works at UCLA’s Punk Archive to document various punk narratives throughout Los Angeles. Additionally, sites such as the Queer Zine Archive Project [link], contain a database of searchable zines.

In addition to zines, queer punks channel the DIY ethos of their particular subculture through their videos and live shows. Many bands and artists that we came across reject ideals of mainstream music by remaining independent performers, rather than signing with a record label. As a result, music videos and recordings are generally of relatively low quality. Because the purpose of much of the queer punk scene is not exclusively to gain fame, notoriety, or remarkable commercial success, participants are able to focus their energy and resources on projects with personal meaning that they sincerely enjoy doing. Furthermore, because the height of the punk scene in Los Angeles occurred in the 1970s and 1980s, few videos of live pre-Internet era performances exist online. We were able to locate recordings of songs and often had to listen carefully to the lyrics, as many artists have not published the lyrics to their songs and few fans have attempted to transcribe them. This limited accessibility to song lyrics is yet another example of punk ethos. Making song lyrics readily and easily available may garner more interest and popularity for an artist or band, but that is not the sole objective of queercore performers. Rejecting the mainstream builds a sense of community and queer punk music serves as a building block for that community.

If this chapter were to be continued, it would further explore the connections between the individuals in our network. Multiple artists shared common locations, events, and other temporal ephemera that could be elaborated on. Additionally, we came across many other names while researching these key figures, so expanding the network itself would prove useful. The nine individuals on whom we focused were indeed crucial in the queer LA punk scene, but they were not the only key leaders in the scene. People that could be further researched include Sean De Lear, Craig Lee, and Gerardo Velasquez. Adding a section on the bands each person performed in and exploring the impact these bands had on Los Angeles would also be a valuable addition to our chapter. If possible, looking into the reception of bands such as Nervous Gender, the Cramps, or the Germs in different neighborhoods of Los Angeles could reveal possibly overlooked demographic divides. Further investigating the racial divide between punk scenes in Los Angeles could uncover similarities and differences between chiefly white and Chicano punk subcultures, but also between geographical differences within Los Angeles. In order to carry out these possible expansions, conducting and/or listening to oral histories and visiting the sites mentioned would provide personal information that is not always captured in academic literature. Revisiting the ONE Archive's Club Fuck! exhibit, as well as other materials stored by the ONE relating to the queer LA punk scene, would also provide useful information to accurately relate the members of our network and gain a better understanding of the greater subculture. The UCLA Library Special Collection's Punk Archive documents punk lifestyle and music in Los Angeles, and, although it seems to lack a queer lens, would still be a beneficial visit to gain knowledge from primary sources.