Destroyer Magazine

Covers from editions 3, 4 and 5

Destroyer – Journal of Apollonian Beauty and Dionysian Homosexuality (f. 2006) was a Swedish-based gay magazine published by Karl Andersson, containing features, photos, essays, interviews, reviews, columns, culture articles and fiction. Unlike most gay magazines, it focuses exclusively on boys and younger men, who, says the editor, were once a part of gay culture, but have vanished in recent years.

Destroyer was the brain child of Karl Andersson, a Swedish magazine professional. In 1999 he headed Straight, Sweden's first glossy gay magazine, and he has since then worked for Aftonbladet, Sweden's biggest daily, Slitz, the biggest men's magazine in Scandinavia, and for IDG Sweden. He has a bachelor of arts degree in language consultancy, MA in Visual and Media Anthropology, and lives in Berlin.

The magazine was printed and officially published in the Czech Republic, but distributed globally through its website, destroyerjournal.com. It has received a lot of criticism from the media and child-protection professionals for allegedly "sexualizing" children, but Andersson has been quick to defend his publication and gives interviews to argue against his critics.

Destroyer contained no images of nude boys under 18, and claimed to be legal in all countries where homosexuality was legal. Whilst the risk of prosecution for owning a copy of a gay magazine is probably very low, some countries have moved to criminalize clothed images of youth under the age of eighteen. Readers should always study the law in their jurisdiction before ordering a magazine of this nature.

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.[4] The magazine also received criticism from child-protection activists for allegedly "sexualising" children.[5]

Destroyer's 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,[6] which was criticized by the culture editor of Expressen.[7] Key players in the initial scandals were interviewed[8] 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"[9] 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[10] may or may not include, and how that can change over time.

One doctoral dissertation describes Destroyer's 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."[11]

References

Hafkamp, Hans (11 January 2012). "The Short But Turbulent History Of Destroyer Magazine". Gay News.

Van Meter, William (2012-01-11). "Eternal Youth: Destroyer, the controversial zine that objectified teen idols". Out.

"P1-Morgon". Sveriges Radio. 2006-06-22.

"Scandalized Scandinavians". The Guide. 2006-08-01.

""Tonårspojkar är väldigt vackra" Unga pojkar visar könsorgan i ny gaytidning". Aftonbladet. 2006-06-21.

Stahre, Ulrika (27 October 2010). "En sorglig pojkdröm". Aftonbladet.

Olsson, Karin (3 November 2010). "Gossedyrkan". Expressen.

Brandel, Tobias (27 October 2010). "Bögarnas värste vän är tillbaka". Svenska Dagbladet.

Andersson, Karl (2011), Gay Man's Worst Friend - the Story of Destroyer Magazine, ISBN 9789163368998

Kerstinsdotter, Reb (18 February 2008). The Beautiful Boy, The Destroyer: Sexradikalers förhandlingar om tidskriften :Destroyer – en intervjustudie om anständiga bögar, fula gubbar och sexualiserade barn (Thesis). Stockholm University.

Warburton, Timothy Ryan (2014). From AIDS to Assimilation: Representations of Male Homosexuality in Swedish Literature (Ph.D. thesis). University of Washington. p. 131.

• Destroyer Editor: Karl Andersson
• Categories: Gay
• Frequency: Twice a year
• First issue: 2006
• Final issue: 2010
• Country: Sweden
• Language: English
• Website: destroyerjournal.com
• ISSN 1801-8203

See also

• Gay Man's Worst Friend - the Story of Destroyer Magazine (book)
• Koinos
• Uncommon Sense

External links

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destroyer_Magazine
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LGBT_publications
• http://destroyerjournal.com

Categories: 2006 establishments in Sweden 2010 disestablishments in Sweden Defunct magazines of Sweden Magazines established in 2006 Magazines disestablished in 2010 Modern pederasty Swedish-language magazines Swedish gay men's magazinesBiannual magazines