Before Echo Magazine, IONAZ, Red and Western Express

As you may have noticed, I have resurrected the Gay Bar History pages on the blog.   Here you will find a limited history of the Phoenix gay bar scene.  Limited at least for now, while I collect and edit content for the area.  Content, I might add… that you are encouraged to contribute as well.

During this search for more Phoenix gay bar historic items, I happened upon a reference to this little gem of gay newspaper history named “Sunday’s Childe“.

“Wow, Sunday’s ‘CHILLED‘”, I thought to myself.  Sounds “cool”.  I’m visualizing a group of feathered hair 70′s gays chillin’ poolside.  It’s gotta be at some mid-century Haver home and of course, on a very hot Sunday afternoon.

1957 Janet Manor home by Ralph Haver – ModernPhoenix.net

Later I figured out my mispronunciation of “Childe“, should have been “child“.  Wow, I had stumbled upon a Phoenix gay news source I had never even heard of… and I’m a gay Phoenix native.

Reading through the old copied pages, I found more than just a gay paper.  Sunday’s Childe was something special that I could not define.  Was it a newspaper, an activist group or a social group?  Or perhaps all of the above?  The paper’s somewhat amateur graphics gave the paper a special grassroots type of feel.  No gloss here, just lots of substance.

What a curiosity, lost in the old courier typeface was mention of the Jerry Lewis telethon and how much money was raised at a place called The F0rum.  It just seemed odd, I had to think about it for a minute.  “Why did this seem out of place?“, I thought.

Old Party Maps from Sunday’s Childe – I had to redact the addresses since we all know SOMEBODY will end up showing up 30 years late to the pool party.  I can’t believe they put their address out there like that, especially in those days.

Then it hit me!  This was all written pre-HIV, pre-AIDS era gay Phoenix.  All of my time in the community has been experienced through the lens HIV.  There were only benefits for AIDS, warnings about safe sex, fear of death and dying.  I couldn’t imagine a time when we thought about anything other than dealing with HIV.  But there it was, “Let’s help the kids with muscular dystrophy”!  Wonder what life was like pre-HIV…  hmmm.

The name of the paper was obviously taken from the children’s poem of the name, “Monday”s Child“.  It’s a rhyme created to help children remember the days of the week.  The lyrics go something like this:

• Mondays child is fair of face
• Tuesdays child is full of grace
• Wednesdays child is full of woe
• Thursdays child has far to go
• Fridays child is loving and giving
• Saturdays child works hard for his living
• And the child that is born on the Sabbath day, Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.

I had to look them up:  The word “bonny” is a way to address a loved one or baby and “blithe” means happy.

Oh darn, I was born on a Monday, near midnight.  Guess I’m good looking, straight, and almost full of grace.

While searching the Web for any other tidbit of information on this little mystery, I discovered an album by John Martyn titled Sunday’s Child.  The album’s namesake “Sunday’s Child” was track number five.  Could this have been the song that triggered some budding activist’s memory of the nursery rhyme?  Perhaps a DJ at one of the clubs?  Could a simple song be the start of Phoenix’ first real gay newspaper/activist group/social group?  Reading through the lyrics reminds me of someone, tired of the bar scene, what do you think?

Sunday’s Child Lyrics by John Martyn

Saturday night comes creeping
Saturday night comes creeping cold
Saturday night comes laughing and dancing
Sunday leaves you cold

Saturday night comes crying
Saturday night comes weeping and sore
Saturday night finds you looking for friends
That you don’t want to see no more
Saturday night comes crazy
Saturday night comes swinging and wild
Saturday night comes sharp as my suit
I want to be Sunday’s child

Saturday night comes creeping
Saturday night comes creeping and cold
Saturday night comes laughing and dancing
Sunday leaves you old

Leaves you old

Sounds to me like a group of people, weary of the Saturday night bar scene may have found new hope by creating an alternative.  To be sure though, I need to find the owners, writers and founders.  And so, my Sunday’s Childe Project is borne.

SUNDAY’S CHILDE PROJECT TO-DO LIST

1.) Locate the founding members of Sunday’s Childe.
2.) Ask them why they spelled it with an “E”.
3.) Ask them if Martyn’s song had anything to do with the paper.
4.) What was “Free Spirit”?
5.) How was “Free Spirit” of Tempe related to Sunday’s Childe?
6.) Was Sunday’s Childe or Free Spirit the first gay paper in the Valley?
7.) …

Ahh, but wait… Wikipedia may have also provided the answer to this question as well.  A definition of “childe” turns up

“the son of a nobleman who had not yet attained knighthood, or had not yet won his spurs.”

Perhaps choosing the “childe” spelling is a reference to the struggle the gay community felt in trying to win their “spurs“!  The paper was written with such a “gay liberation” flavor, this must be the correct answer.  You know…. I like it, I’m going with it.  Let’s cross number two off my list!

If I’m right about all of this, they could not have chosen a more symbolic moniker for their great adventure.  I envy them and the huge reward it must’ve been to have been a part of such meaningful work.

The paper was founded in August of 1976 and produced from January 1977 until April of 1981.  This particular span of years could be the reason it was foreign to my ears.  I graduated from high school in ’86 so you do  the math.  My earliest memory of a gay Phoenix paper was the Western Express and Tucson Observer.  I’m more of a middle 80′s Hotbod’s child than a 1970′s Harpo’s or His Co. Disco boy.

Later publications like the now dominant Echo Magazine arrived then smaller operations like Odyssey and Red that suddenly disappeaRED.  A current favorite is, of course the fun and glossy IONAZ.  There is mention of something called “Free Spirit“, which I’m still researching.  I will follow up with you all on that.  So far, the only lead I have found is in this PDF.

I located the entire collection of copied editions of Sunday’s Childe at the Polly Rosenbaum State Archives and History Building just behind the State Capital building in Phoenix.  There I sat for hours in the dimly lit viewing room, reeling through the old microfiche film roll wondering how we ever made it before digital.  After spending my entire roll of dimes making copies of its pages, my eyes were weary and I left for the day.  I plan to visit again soon, another roll of dimes in hand, ready to read through all of the years of this great mystery!