Witchcraft and the Gay Counterculture by Arthur Evans

Publisher: Fag Rag Books

Year: 1978

Format: Softcover

Edition: First

Condition: Very Good

"The new socialism is not just political, it is magical and sexual." First edition of this controversial and influential book, a history rather than a how-to-guide of gay witchcraft, exploring the relationship between homosexuality and paganism. Employing anthropologist and folklorist Margaret Murray's "witch cult hypothesis," gay activist and writer Arthur Evans compares the persecution of pagans by Christians in old Europe to the current marginalization of and discrimination against the LGBT community. Evans was politically active in the 1960s and 70s, participating in a number of sit-ins and protests in New York and San Francisco; he went on to become involved with several groups during the onset of the AIDS epidemic in the 80s that eventually converged into ACT UP. His philosophical and political work is still felt today. Much of his text, especially in regards to homosexuality, class, and what would soon become neoliberal ideology, are increasingly relevant. Evans and his text were also a primary inspiration for the radical faerie movement, a countercultural movement and network of mostly gay men seeking to reject "hetero-imitation" that is still active today. Dedicated to Marty Robinson, founder of the Lavender Hill Mob, a gay rights activist group formed in response to the treatment of AIDS in the '80s. Illustrated throughout with black-and-white photos and historical reproductions; with an appendix listing "some interesting events in the history of heresy and witchcraft," bibliography, and index