PHOTO: (left) magazine article by Jesse Archer, "Poppers are dead: Long Live Popers. Is alkyl nitrite the gay peyote or just a vestige of a different time that we no longer need?" The Advocate, Feb.-Mar. 2013, p. 26-27 posted online anuary 15 2013 next to (right) cover of gay comic book by Jerry Mills, "Poppers Gay Comix #9, Winter 1986-1987. (See previous post Jerry Mills 'Poppers' gay comic (3/13/10))
PHOTO: cover of comic book by Jerry Mills, "Poppers Gay Comix #9, Winter 1986-1987. I only saw this comic book for sale in a San Francisco Castro district magazine rack -- I doubt it was ever sold from the same racks where kids bought comic books. Later, I saw it being sold in an adult shop that catered mostly to straight men. (Also see previous post Jerry Mills 'Poppers' gay comic (3/13/10))
I only tried using poppers once in college (when I was given a free sample) and so my opinion is based solely on what I've heard from actual users. In addition to the slight high or rush feeling poppers can provide, in my experience, inexperienced bottom boys often said they were using poppers to relax their muscles right before penetration and then they would take an additional hit right before orgasm to get an extra rush feeling. When I took a hit (legally when I did it), I just felt like I was inhaling paint thinner and it was making me dizzy. Given the health risks, especially when it was being blamed for AIDS before HIV was discovered, I never pursued poppers. I bet there are still health risks to using poppers.
For more on gay comics see previous post Howard Cruse, gay marriage 1976, Gay Comix 1980-1998, Lulu.com publish on demand (3/7/10).
On a loosely related note, "The Advocate" magazine is now a bimonthly magazine (previous subscribers were still getting a monthly issue mailed to them bundled with a copy of Out magazine). Read Matthew Breen, "Editor's Letter: Our Mission Continues," The Advocate, Feb.-Mar. 2013, p. 8, who says "big changes are afoot. The Advocate, after several years away, is returning to the newsstand and will now be publishing bimonthly. Our media landscape is changing, and The Advocate has always changed with the times to offer our readership the content they desire in the format most befitting that content."
However, I wonder if "The Advocate" will be available at newsstands in Corvallis, given that most magazine newsstands and bookstores in Corvallis went out of business a few years ago and I bet the remaining grocery store newsstands will not carry it. I am not sure if the OSU Bookstore still sells magazines or not, but they might carry it.
For more on the history of "The Advocate," see previous post Advocate 40th anniversary issue (9/11/07)
Even more loosely related is the article by Matthew Breen, "Gayest Cities in America, 2013," The Advocate, Feb.-Mar. 2013, p. 36-45 (See Salem, Oregon #14 on p. 39 and Eugene, Oregon #7 on p. 42), but Corvallis didn't make the cut. Also, Diane Anderson-Minshall, "It's in your genes. Can Your Genes Explain Sexual Orientation? Genetic testing can explain many things. Is your sexual orientation one of them?," Advocate, Dec. 2012 - Jan. 2013, p. 49 (23andMe.com (buy a saliva test kit online)) and Michelle Garcia, "Meet the Class of 2013," Advocate.com posted Jan. 3, 2013.
