RFD Magazine Collection

RFD is a reader-written journal for LGBTQ people, focused on rural living and alternative lifestyles. Since its founding in 1974, the journal has been published at various locations across the United States, including Iowa, North Carolina, Tennessee and New York.

The publication's formal name is simply RFD, although it has alternatively been billed as "a country journal by gay men," "for country faggots everywhere," and "a reader-written quarterly celebrating queer diversity." The name originally tied to the abbreviation for the Rural Free Delivery program of the U.S. Post Office, but later, as the journal became more associated with the Radical Faerie movement, people assumed RFD stood for Radical Faerie Digest. Publishers have also practiced assigning new meaning to the RFD abbreviation for each issue, like "Rotary Fluff Dryers," "Ramblings from Dixie," and "Prescription (Rx) for Delight." We have noted these alternative titles in the finding aid.

Today, RFD has a operates as a collective out of New England. There is a board of directors who help guide the collective and promote RFD's mission to the wider community.