Dear Reader

WELCOME to "The Kink Issue" (Jan.-Feb. 2026)! The features in this issue mark a bit of a departure for The G&LR as we crack open the bedroom door to examine the "kinks" that appeal to some LGBT people. Here are some highlights:

· In "The Power of the Foot," Sergio Interdonato explores an epic human fetish through the lens of art history, arguing that feet have long held an erotic charge as the very foundation of the human body. Link to article below.

· The great Robert Mapplethorpe is examined by Matthew Bamberg, who argues that the photographer's work helped to mainstream BDSM by presenting it in a manner both lurid and classical.

· Remember the early days of Tumblr? It was in the 2010s that you could discover an all-you-can-stomach buffet of sex roles and gender identities, as contributor Casper Byrne did along with members of Gen Z and others who were coming out as queer in this era.

· The life and work of the libidinous Boyd McDonald, known for his "Straight to Hell" series, are explored by Michael Quinn.

Turning to matters more literally more earthy: Patricia Ann Mathu and Taylor Hartson, recipients of The G&LR’s Writers and Artists Grant, document how LGBT farmers are finding means for queer expression through agriculture. Vernon Rosario delves into three recent books on pioneering sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld of pre-Nazi Germany. And Daniel Vaillancourt takes us to 1950s Iowa for a tale of gay oppression that turns into one of acceptance and empathy. 

Plus: Be sure to check out Philip Gambone’s review of a new biography of poet May Swenson. Also of interest: recent Blog and Here’s My Story pieces published exclusively on The G&LR’s website.

Jeremy

Jeremy C. Fox, 

Managing Editor

* Links to feature article and book review below

Features

🟠 The Power of the Foot By Sergio Interdonato

As an object of desire, it has a long history in Western art

When BDSM Went Mainstream By Matthew Bamberg

Robert Mapplethorpe’s art brought it to a whole new audience

Tumblr Was a Gateway to Kink By Casper Byrne

A sexual free-for-all flourished on the platform in the 2010s 

Reclaiming the Sacred Dungeon By Umar Ibrahim Agaie

Queering the age-old connection between S/M and spirituality

Farmers Are Us, Too By Patricia Ann Mathu 
By Patricia Ann Mathu and Taylor Hartson

Appreciating the queerness of nature comes with the territory

Magnus Hirschfeld’s Moment By Vernon Rosario

His pre-Nazi advances in sex studies are still coming to light

20 Landed in the Cuckoo’s Nest By Daniel Vaillancourt

Iowa, 1955: Entrapped, institutionalized, and rescued by two saints

Book Reviews

THE KEY TO EVERYTHING

May Swenson, A Writer’s Life 

by Margaret A. Brucia

Princeton University Press

288 pages, $29.95

IN THE FALL OF 1970, fresh out of college, I was teaching at a private girls’ school in Kansas City. The headmistress required the seniors to attend a poetry reading given by May Swenson. Although I’d majored in English, I had never heard of Swenson, then 57 years old with five books of poetry to her credit.

Swenson, “a little walnut of a person,” according to one of her friends, was at the top of her game that night. I remember being delighted by the wit and humor in the poems she read, their coy wisdom and crisp imagery. What I most remember, though, was Swenson’s haircut, close-cropped and boyish. In New England, where I hailed from, her look wouldn’t have attracted my attention. But in Kansas City, where women and girls groomed themselves for maximum “feminine” appeal, Swenson was an outlier. My God, I thought. She’s a lesbian! … Continue Reading

Other Books Reviewed in This Issue

Recent Here's My Story Essay

My Three Weddings

By Charles Davis

I married Michael in a quickly cobbled-together, history-making ceremony on a drizzly spring morning in 2004. Dry-mouthed and giddy, we, along with hundreds of other couples crowding the foyer of Portland, Oregon’s Keller Auditorium, stood between a volunteer clergyman and a tiny cocktail table, exchanging vows we’d written the night before. I barely made it through the words, but Mike started crying the second he opened his mouth and had to have the minister read his vows to me. … Continue Reading

From The G&LR's Blog