''Gai pied'' or ''Gai pied hebdo'' was a monthly, then weekly (hence the name Hebdo),

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

magazine, founded by

Jean Le Bitoux Jean Le Bitoux (16 August 1948 – 21 April 2010) was a French journalist and gay activist. He was the founder of ''Gai pied'', the first mainstream gay magazine in France. He was a campaigner for Holocaust remembrance of homosexual victims. He wa ...

. Its name, which literally means "Gay foot", is a homophone of ''guêpier'', which means a hornet's nest or, figuratively, a trap or pitfall — a reference to the magazine's determination to torment the status-quo.

History and profile

The magazine's name was suggested by

Michel Foucault Paul-Michel Foucault (, ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, writer, political activist, and literary critic. Foucault's theories primarily address the relationship between power and knowledge, and how ...

, who wrote an article for the first issue and continued to contribute material to the magazine throughout its existence. The first issue was sold at two thousand kiosks throughout France on 1 April 1979. It was published by Pink Triangle publications and printed by the Revolutionary Communist League. Among the magazine's collaborators were

Yves Navarre Yves Navarre (24 September 1940 – 24 January 1994) was a French writer. A gay man, most of his work concerned homosexuality and associated issues, such as AIDS. In his romantic works, Navarre was noted for his tendency to emphasize sensuality an ...

Tony Duvert Tony Duvert (July 2, 1945 – August 2008) was a French writer and philosopher. In the 1970s he achieved some renown, winning the Prix Médicis in 1973 for his novel '' Paysage de Fantaisie''. Duvert's writings are notable both for their styl ...

, Gianni De Martino,

Guy Hocquenghem Guy Hocquenghem (; 10 December 1946 – 28 August 1988) was a French writer, philosopher, and queer theorist. Biography Hocquenghem was born in the suburbs of Paris and was educated at the Lycée Lakanal in Sceaux and the Ecole Normale Supéri ...

Renaud Camus Renaud Camus (; ; born Jean Renaud Gabriel Camus on 10 August 1946) is a French novelist, Conspiracy theory, conspiracy theorist and White nationalism, white nationalist writer. He is the inventor of the "Great Replacement", a Far-right politic ...

, Alain Pacadis,

Copi COPI is a coatomer, a protein complex that coats vesicles transporting proteins from the ''cis'' end of the Golgi complex The Golgi apparatus (), also known as the Golgi complex, Golgi body, or simply the Golgi, is an organelle found in most ...

, Hugo Marsan, Emmanuel Dreuilhe and others. The magazine enjoyed great success among French gays, and increased their visibility. Apart from its articles, the magazine published personal ads and erotic photographs. In 1980,

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and litera ...

agreed to an interview with the magazine, as did artists

David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists o ...

and Barbara and politicians

Pierre Bérégovoy Pierre Eugène Bérégovoy (; 23 December 1925 – 1 May 1993) was a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France under President François Mitterrand from 2 April 1992 to 29 March 1993. He was a member of the Socialist Party and M ...

and

Gaston Defferre Gaston Defferre (14 September 1910 – 7 May 1986) was a French Socialist politician. He served as mayor of Marseille for 33 years until his death in 1986. He was minister for overseas territories in Guy Mollet’s socialist government in 1956� ...

, showing their support for the magazine's cause. In 1987, minister of the interior

Charles Pasqua Charles Victor Pasqua (18 April 192729 June 2015) was a French businessman and Gaullist politician. He was Interior Minister from 1986 to 1988, under Jacques Chirac's ''cohabitation'' government, and also from 1993 to 1995, under the government o ...

attempted to ban the publication of ''Gai pied''. A demonstration on 19 March, along with statements of support from many public figures including minister of culture

François Léotard François Gerard Marie Léotard (; born 26 March 1942, in Cannes) is a retired French politician. Singer and actor Philippe Léotard (1940–2001) was his brother. Member of the Republican Party, the liberal-conservative component of the ...

, prevented the ban. Between 1987 and 1990 the magazine controlled

FG DJ Radio Radio FG (; since February 2013, formerly FG DJ Radio, acronym for Feel Good) is a French-language radio station that began broadcasting from Paris on 98.2 MHz in the FM band in 1981. It is France's first radio station that broadcasts deep ho ...

. Despite early success, the magazine struggled to respond to the menace of

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

, and was dealt a financial blow by the success of

Minitel The Minitel was a videotex online service accessible through telephone lines, and was the world's most successful online service prior to the World Wide Web. It was invented in Cesson-Sévigné, near Rennes in Brittany, France. The service was ...

. After losing much of its readership, the magazine ended publication in 1991.

References

External links

The authentic history of ''Gai Pied''
by Jean Le Bitoux
''The pink flag at half mast''
an article on the magazine's discontinuation {{DEFAULTSORT:Gai pied 1979 establishments in France 1991 disestablishments in France Defunct magazines published in France French-language magazines LGBT-related magazines published in France Gay men's magazines Magazines established in 1979 Magazines disestablished in 1991 Monthly magazines published in France

History and profile

See also

References

External links