The Sad Mag team has been hard at work on our biggest project of the year: issue 7/8, a special double issue commemorating Vancouver’s queer history from 1960-today. The new issue launches Thursday, November 3 at the Cobalt, and we hope you’ll join us to honour Vancouver’s incredible artists, performers and community leaders.

Sad Mag Queer Culture Awards and Show

Thursday, November 3
The Cobalt at 917 Main Street
8:00pm – 1:00am
Tickets $6 / Door $8
Includes a complimentary copy of the magazine.

Join us for an evening of LIVE entertainment in our queer artists cabaret hosted by funny woman Morgan Brayton, featuring comedian Dan Dumsha, drag artist Isolde N. Barron…and more to be announced!

Tickets available at Red Cat Records and Little Sister’s Art and Book Emporium. See the event on Facebook.

About This Issue

Sad Mag‘s first cover star was Isolde N. Barron, East Van’s intrepid drag queen, so it won’t come as a surprise that we’re fascinated and delighted by Vancouver’s vibrant queer artists. However, what has surprised us in the past two years of publishing was the public reaction to our queer content. People asked, was Sad Mag a queer magazine, then, by publishing articles about queer artists?

Sad Mag‘s mission is to celebrate and promote independent, accessible and community-oriented art and culture in Vancouver, BC. For our editorial team, it would have been a significant oversight as an art magazine to ignore the force of creativity and expression reflected in Vancouver’s queer communities. From drag stars to award-winning playwrights, dancers to musicians, writers, photographers and beyond—it has been our privilege to witness the stunning creativity and sheer ambition of our city’s queer artists.

We weren’t trying to make a statement by publishing the stories of queer artists. It would have been a statement not to.

In our Queer History Issue, our editorial team and contributors have endeavored to explore the theme of queer art and culture in greater depth. Made possible by the City of Vancouver as part of its 125th anniversary celebrations, the Queer History Issue is a starting point: a place from where we can begin to understand the impact of the west coast LGBT movement on Vancouver, and the impact of Vancouver’s queer communities on the world.