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One-off publications

Homo Milk

03.14.11

Homo Milk #1 (1992, Sacramento, CA, USA)

Given the number of prominent gay, lesbian, and transgendered activists in the animal rights movement, you would think that we would have seen a greater number of zines representing a queer perspective on veganism. Thus far we have not found many, but the influence of this small, almost pamphlet sized zine from Sacramento is visible throughout other publications from the early 90s.

Homo Milk was a brief declaration of queer-vegan militancy. It put straight and gay folks alike on notice that there was an intersectionality between gay and animal activism. Produced by two radical activists and zinesters, Tom Scut and Todd Pollution Circus, it aimed to spread veganism in one community and the embrace of difference in another. No one was let off the hook.

“Who would steal milk from a baby? Someone like me, a few years ago, ignorant and blinded by years of nutritional brainwashing. People who, from habit or greed enslave, exploit, and oppress other species to consume the milk intended for their offspring (already off to confinement in veal crates or being prepared to replace their mothers as slaves and milk machines). Who else? Dykes eating Haagen Daas ice cream while lamenting sexism? Queers who find their own oppression intolerable but are blind to the suffering of others? Vegetarians cramming the coagulated stolen milk into their self righteous bellies? And all the rest, humans, not kind, but blind, not seeing, not caring as the rape and theft goes on. Who supports this perversion of the most primal bond, that of mother and infant? Maybe YOU. Why?”

Tom recalled those times in a recent e-mail: “Josh, you have to picture Todd and I, riding our bikes around and putting up anti-leather fliers at queer bars. We had some interesting confrontations. I remember screaming ‘They (cows) are your sisters!’ at a leather dyke during one such incident in Sacramento. She was so befuddled!”

Writings and graphics from Homo Milk made their way into many other zines at the time, from punk zines, to Dressed in Black and Underground. The Cows Bash Back graphic was also reprinted as a poster and wheat pasted heavily in Eugene, OR and likely other cities. We hope the influence of Homo Milk will continue now that it is being re-introduced by Conflict Gypsy.

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