L.A. Queer Zine Fest

Zines have long been a tool for queer and trans people to document our lives, share resources, tell our stories, build community, and create outside of traditional publishing.

L.A. Queer Zine Fest celebrates that legacy by creating a space where queer and trans makers can gather, sell their work, perform, read, archive, and be witnessed. The event combines vendor tabling, live performances, hands-on activities, food, and community partnerships to platform queer voices and encourage participation in the preservation and celebration of queer history. 

Whether you’re a longtime zinester, a first-time maker, a poet, performer, artist, reader, or simply curious, this fest is a space to connect with queer and trans creativity in all its forms.

• 45+ queer and trans-identifying vendors sharing zines, prints, small-press publications , art, and handmade goods
• Drag performances by Trantula Vulnicura, Miranda Rights, and Pestilence  
• Live Music by Denseboy
• Poetry Open Mic for writers, poets, and storytellers
• Zine-making workshop led by ONE Institute
• Food and drink vendors!

During the event, guests are welcome to visit NEED ME, or, (de)mystifying the myth of the modern primitive. NEED ME is the first ever public exhibition to present the Western history of body piercing and its roots in queer history. A culmination of years of archival research, NEED ME traces the networks of queer individuals throughout the sexual underground who were essential to modern piercing history through magazines, correspondence, ephemera, and artwork. Artwork and ephemera by Catherine Opie, Ron Athey, Bob Flanagan & Sheree Rose, Leigh Bowery, Annie Sprinkle, and Efrain Gonzalez illuminate the nuanced and layered drive toward the modern practice of piercing. 

ONE Archives at the USC Libraries is the largest repository of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ+) materials in the world. Founded in 1952, ONE Archives houses millions of archival items, including periodicals, books, films, videos, audio recordings, photographs, artworks, organizational records, and personal papers. ONE Archives has been part of the University of Southern California Libraries since 2010.

It is the mission of ONE Archives at the USC Libraries to collect, preserve, and make accessible LGBTQ historical materials while promoting new scholarship on and public awareness of queer histories. 

TRANS•FORM is a multi-approach programming series where queer, trans, gender-fluid, and nonbinary people participate in gatherings that heal and nurture the relationships they have with their physical forms.

TRANS•FORM creates space in the world for trans people through art, resources, and collective care, recognizing that trans liberation is intertwined with broader struggles for justice. Through a growing network of workshops, performances, community events, and collaborations, TRANS•FORM aims to build a living ecosystem of care, art, and resource-sharing.

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Host or Publisher ONE Archives at the USC Libraries