Greetings, droogs, dags, daddies and delinquents! It’s Alex Creece, one of Archer’s online editors and human embodiment of the Person Emoji. 🧍

What can I say to summarise 2024? Frankly, nothing. So, let’s allow your reading habits to do the talking!

This year, we launched the RESISTANCE issue, which is one of my faves yet. In the online space, we’ve platformed a gorgeous array of personal stories throughout the year. It’s been especially wonderful to see our Archer Asks series getting a lot of love – queer art is my strawberry jam, and it’s such an honour to connect with this talented community and celebrate your projects and fierce activism.

From drag storytime to intersex solidarity to neuro-inclusive spaces, here are Archer Magazine’s most read online pieces of 2024.

Disability, pleasure and ageing: The pleasure principle by Alice Wong

Image: María del Río

 

“Disabled pleasure knows no bounds, bringing an intimacy that goes beyond romantic love, genitals or penetrative sex. My pleasure principle is expansive, grounded in flexibility, access, openness, and innovation.” Read more…

 

 

Archer Asks: Janet Anderson and Thea Raveneau, stars of all-trans theatre production ‘Overflow’

 

“It’s beautiful that the first woman of colour playing Rosie is a woman that belongs to these lands. It’s amazing. Both my communities are fulfilled by doing this. I’m in awe.” Read more…

 

 

Queer and neurodivergent: Finding neuro-inclusive queer spaces by Justine Field

 

“Most of us want connection, but the options for finding it can be limited. A sense of belonging shouldn’t depend on someone’s ability to perform in and withstand crowded, noisy and busy environments.” Read more…

 

 

Archer Asks: Hugo Grrrl on drag storytime events

Image: Auckland Live

 

“The notion that drag storytime events are anything but positive, wholesome and uplifting is just rooted in fear and misinformation. It’s essential that we confront that narrative.” Read more…

 

 

 

Archer Asks: Hasib Hourani on Palestinian liberation and poetry politics 

Image: Leah Jing McIntosh

“While still completing my liberal arts degree, I kept rubbing up against zionists — students, teachers and miscellaneous acquaintances — every one of whom considered themselves some sort of ‘progressive’.”
Read more…

Lesbian music history: Searching for my mum’s long-lost record from 1993 by Molly Mckew

“Painted vividly in the lyrics, I smirk at the thought of my grandmother, dressed in a stern twin-set with a silk scarf neatly around her neck, losing her daughter to lesbianism and rock and roll.” Read more…

Macho Sluts and Love Lies Bleeding: Patrick Califia’s lesbian erotic classic lives on by Tiger Salmon

“Until I read Macho Sluts, I had no idea lesbian sex was so much fun. Why did nobody tell me?! Didn’t my feminist foremothers realise this was very important information for a young dyke to know?” Read more…

Bipolar disorder and dating: A mad girl’s love song by Hannah Reekie

“As a young woman with bipolar, I struggle with my relationship to sex. Something that had been such a fun and invigorating part of my life is now met with concern and is tamped down under the guise of my mental wellbeing.” Read more…

Intersex experiences and bottom dysphoria: Story of a hymenectomy by Claude Kempen

Image: Seth @vein__boy

“I had thought my condition was neither rare nor anything other than a little hiccup in my anatomy. The possibility of it being an intersex variation fills me with joy, albeit tentatively.” Read more…

Sexuality OCD and queerness: Soothing doubt through art by Cristi López

Image: Cristi López

“I figured that there must be some bit of information – a particular relationship, or an elucidating feeling – that would finally prove to myself that I actually am a lesbian. If I just found the key, I’d be free. But there’s no key. There’s not even a lock.” Read more…

Endless thanks to you – our Archer community of readers, writers, artists and supporters all over the world. You’re the heart of everything we do.

Over the holidays, stay in touch on our Instagram, subscribe to our eNews or even pitch us a story if you wanna see your name in lights (on this list!) next year.