Destroyer Magazine

''Destroyer – Journal of Apollonian Beauty and Dionysian Sexuality'' was a Swedish-based pederastic magazine published by Karl Andersson, with the objective "to bring back the adolescent boy as one of the ideals of gay culture". The magazine contained features, essays, interviews, reviews, columns, culture articles, fiction and sexually suggestive shots of boys as young as 13.
The publication received intense criticism from the LGBT community.

Controversy

''Destroyer'' was subjected to massive criticism by the gay establishment in Sweden, because of its young male models. In a live radio debate, the chairman of the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights accused ''Destroyer'' editor Karl Andersson of "giving gay people a bad name", an accusation they stood by when questioned by international LGBT media. The magazine also received criticism from child-protection activists for sexualising children. Many of the images were taken in developing countries, and it was unclear in some cases whether the depicted boys were aware that they were being photographed.

''Destroyers final issue (#10), published in January 2010, was limited to 1,000 copies.

Book

Karl Andersson's Swedish book ''Bögarnas värsta vän - historien om tidningen Destroyer'' was published in October 2010 and covers the reactions to the magazine.

The book made headline in several national newspapers. ''Aftonbladet'' published a favorable review, which was criticized by the culture editor of ''Expressen''. Key players in the initial scandals were interviewed by ''Svenska Dagbladet'', including Andersson himself and the former chairman of the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights.

The English translation ''Gay Man's Worst Friend - the Story of Destroyer Magazine'' was published in March 2011.

Academic interest

The reactions to ''Destroyer'' have repeatedly been used in academic discourse as an example of what kind of expressions gay culture or sex radicalism may or may not include, and how that can change over time.

One doctoral dissertation describes ''Destroyers relevance thus:

"The tension along the culturally determined barrier between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ sexual expressions is demonstrated in the scandal of ''Destroyer'' magazine and the outrage it sparked within gay rights debates."

See also

* List of LGBT publications

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website

2006 establishments in Sweden
2010 disestablishments in Sweden
Biannual magazines
Defunct magazines published in Sweden
Magazines established in 2006
Magazines disestablished in 2010
English-language magazines
Gay men's magazines published in Sweden
LGBT-related controversies in literature