I was not surprised by the putrid rhetoric in Declan Leary’s most recent column, but I feel the need to address two matters that he either chose not to acknowledge or of which he was unaware. The term “zine” has a long history and the use of the term does not signify the fear that he seems to believe the creators of the zine felt by refusing to use the term “magazine”—the word “zine” is immediately recognizable to those of us from punk rock backgrounds. Zines have been around for some time and signify a small run, independent publication that is produced by a collective of like-minded people for the purpose of forming a community, and often those communities are under-represented or repressed and need a shared space for their words and their art, like the LGBTQ+ community here at JCU. A simple Google search could have informed Mr. Leary of the history of this art form, though he chose to present it as a purposeful act to exclude the magical incantation he and his ilk see in those four missing letters. I was also struck by his introduction, and I have to ask Mr. Leary: are you aware that the late Graham Chapman, who portrays King Arthur in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, was a homosexual and a vocal proponent of gay rights? I find it interesting that you are fine presenting the art of a gay man as a defense of your own outdated belief system as long as you can massage that art to fit your message. The less said about your conception of art the better, but those who wrote for that zine and presented their artwork in its pages possess more courage and creativity in their acts than in hundreds of your columns, which display nothing more than your fear of a world where people finally begin to stand up to bullies who spout nothing more than ignorance.

– David Young, Adjunct Lectuerer of English, JCU MA 2013