Here at RPYA, we strive to support the communities with whom we work in part by creating resources that broaden access to health, wellness, and harm reduction. We have the privilege of working with wonderful artists and amazing writers who create these resources. Thanks to their efforts, we recently made an online catalog of our educational and informational materials in the form of RPYA’s Digital Zine Library.

What is a zine? That’s a fantastic question! Originally, the term zine was used as shorthand for any independently published magazine. Activist zines use a design format that lends itself to spreading information in a concise and accessible way, and contains content that is often ignored by mainstream and institutional publishers. For example, during the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, governments and institutions had turned their back on the LGBTQ+ community, seeing HIV as a queer problem. As a result, queer activists had to find a way to inform the public about HIV in order to fill in the gaps in public knowledge, raise awareness, and promote harm-reduction practices. That is where zine making not only came in handy, but became life-saving within the LGBTQ+ community.

Since they are often tools used in grassroot efforts to spread public health information, zines are usually DIY, printed on plain paper, bound by hand, and distributed in places like community centers, art galleries, and independently-owned bookstores. 

Thanks to the internet and more widely accessible printing methods, zines have seen a major resurgence in recent years. RPYA has adopted the format in order to make LGBTQ+ related information free and accessible in the IE and Southern California more broadly. Over the past year, we’ve created zines about sexual wellness, becoming better allies, HIV harm reduction through PrEP/PEP, and party safety! All of these zines are available in person through our tabling events or digitally on our website under “Zine Library”.