CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 3/20/2025

She Knows Who She Is…

Published out of Chicago during the DIY heyday of 1989 through 1993, THING magazine circulated throughout queer Black underground culture the old-fashioned way: by hand, mail and word of mouth. Today, like many of its early contributors—including Vaginal Davis, Larry Heard, Essex Hemphill and RuPaul—it is legendary. Built around the explosive early-90s house music scene, THING featured musicians, DJs, writers, artists, activists, performers and gossip alongside crucial information about the HIV/AIDS crisis that was decimating the community. Now, for the first time, all ten original issues of the magazine have been brought together in one facsimile reissue. Published by Primary Information, this pitch-perfect 460-page paperback arrives at just the right moment, as we find so many of our most beautiful, irrepressible, self-defined cultures again under pressure and in crisis. Contributions by editors Robert Ford, Trent Adkins and Lawrence Warren, plus likeminded luminaries including Lady Bunny, Bill Coleman, Dennis Cooper, Deee-Lite, Lyle Ashton Harris, Steve Lafreniere, Michael Musto, Ultra Naté, David Sedaris, David Wojnarowicz and Hector Xtravaganza, among many others.