Looky Lookie: Gay Myths

Gay Myths by Edward H. Hutchins is a catalog of misconceptions about gay people. The book contains twenty-four photocopied pages with four foldouts. It is hand-stitched with a black faux leather paper cover with a white title and pink triangle pasted on the front. The message is pretty simple: everyone in the LGBT community has heard these hurtful phrases. And I mean everyone. The phrases are juxtaposed with black and white images to emphasize the text. The gay myths are:

1. We deserve AIDS.
2. We molest children.
3. We hate straights.
4. God doesn't love us.
5. Equal rights are special rights.
6. We're not fit to serve.
7. It's just about sex.
8. It's just a phase.
9. You can pick us out.
10. We hate the opposite sex.
11. You don't know a gay person.
12. We all love opera.
13. We have no history.
14. We don't make good parents.
15. We all know one another.
16. We recruit.
17. It's our parents' fault.
18. We're not fit to teach.
19. We all have good taste.
20. We're "butch" or "femme."
21. We're not happy.
22. We want to change.
23. Our unions aren't sacred.
24. We're going to give up.
25. Bigotry doesn't hurt.

In the colophon, Hutchins states, "For all the marchers missed when the park service ran out of fingers & toes." This is a reference to the March on Washington, 1993, where organizers estimated in attendance  one million while the National Park Service estimated three hundred thousand.


Gay Myths is part of the copier art movement. JCBA has a huge number of copier art books, including the complete run of the International Society of Copier Artists Quarterlies. To read more about ISCA and copier art, click here.