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

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, 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.

Sequels

Some time in the early 10s, Andersson returned to publishing with Breaking Boy News. Both this, and the original Destroyer were featured as a tangent in the Jacob Breslow controversy , with both being wrongly referred to as Child Pornography magazines, or otherwise grossly misrepresented.

References

• 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
• https://www.newgon.net/wiki/Destroyer