Title: Boy With Arms Akimbo Girl With Arms Akimbo records

Dates: 1989-2010, bulk 1989-1996

Collection Number: 1996-41

Creator/Collector: Boy With Arms Akimbo Girl With Arms Akimbo

Extent: 6.5 linear feet (two cartons and three oversize boxes)

Repository: GLBT Historical Society

Abstract: Boy with Arms Akimbo/Girl with Arms Akimbo was an anonymous, San Francisco based cultural activism collective that started in the 1980’s during the height of the AIDS epidemic. There was no formal leadership or spokesperson for the group, as the focus was to remain on the message they were sending, not on any one person from the group. Also known by the shortened name Akimbo, which referred to the logo of a boy or girl standing with arms bent, they used the technological resources at their disposal to print and distribute flyers, posters, stickers and faxes to promote queer, pro-sex messages in response to attacks by anti-sex rhetoric, homophobia, and AIDS fear-mongering. With their infamous Just Sex/Sex is campaign, they juxtaposed images of safe-sex acts alongside the text ‘just sex’ or ‘sex is.’ This collection contains mementos from Akimbo’s most active period, 1989-2009, with documents ranging from correspondence, to press coverage, to graphics for their most popular designs (stickers, posters, t-shirts and flyers). Some materials are restricted, which have names and/or contact information for previous group members, as they wish to remain anonymous.

Language of Material: English

The collection is open for research with some limitations. Materials with names of Akimbo members and/or contact information will be restricted until 11/30/2046.

Copyright to material has not been transferred to the GLBT Historical Society. All requests for reproductions and/or permission to publish or quote from material must be submitted in writing to the GLBT Historical Society Archivist. Permission for reproductions and/or permission to publish or quote from material is given on behalf of the GLBT Historical Society as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

[Identification of item]. Boy With Arms Akimbo Girl With Arms Akimbo records. Collection Number: 1996-41. GLBT Historical Society

The collection was donated to the GLBT Historical Society by Boy with Arms Akimbo/Girl with Arms Akimbo in November 1996.

Boy with Arms Akimbo was an anonymous cultural activist group formed in San Francisco, CA in response to anti-AIDS rhetoric and fear-mongering in 1989. Originally, it was composed of gay men, but they quickly added members of all genders. The name came from their logo, a graphic of a boy standing with his hands on his hips. Quickly after, they added another graphic of a girl standing in the same position. Boy with Arms Akimbo and Girl with Arms Akimbo were then used interchangeably. When shortened, the group preferred the name Akimbo. The word ‘akimbo’ meaning ‘set in a bent position’ or ‘at an odd angle’ also took on the meaning ‘a stance of defiance.’ One of Akimbo’s guiding principles was that the root of problems like homophobia and sexual righteousness lies in the belief of placing a moral right or wrong in the way people have sex, and with whom. Akimbo referred to themselves as a network of cultural activists over the term ‘artist collective’ despite the prominence of artistic expression in their activism, because while their group consisted of members from artistic backgrounds there were also many members who were not. They wanted the focus to be on the group, and not any individual member, which also corresponded to their insistence on anonymity. The names of the group members have never been made public, as they wanted their messages and critiques on society to take precedence over the people doing them. Their focus was on nonviolent tactics with an emphasis on intellectual subversion and visual intervention in the form of postering, flyers, stickers, sending faxes, art installations, distributing t-shirts, and performance. In July 1989, conservative senator Jesse Helms attempted to ban works considered ‘obscene’ or ‘indecent’ or ‘homoerotic’ from being able to receive funds from the National Endowment for the Arts. Fortunately, this bill was rejected by the House, but it was the spark needed to create the group known as Akimbo. They launched their first campaign in September and October 1989, the infamous ‘Just Sex/Sex is’ campaign in which they posted thousands of photocopied posters around San Francisco. Another campaign, ‘Safe/Unafe’ was a mix of different images of safely performed sexual acts juxtaposed with conservative politicians or other outspoken anti-AIDS public figures, and the text “safe’ or ‘unsafe’ over them. The idea behind it was to demonstrate the constructed nature of sexuality, and challenge viewers to deconstruct their own sexual ideologies. They wanted to speak against censorship in the arts but also self-censorship in the forms of sexual oppression and prejudice. They shared these flyers with activist organizations around the world, from Boston to Europe and Tel Aviv. A ‘Just Sex/Sex is’ postering campaign taking place at Yale at the lesbian and gay studies annual conference led to nine arrests for ‘obscene materials’ and ‘breach of peace.’ Throughout their tenure, Akimbo built many art installations, participated in protests, and was a strong presence in zines and other counterculture communications.

The collection contains items from Akimbo’s activism.This ranges from written documents (such as correspondence, statements to the press, gallery texts, exhibit faxes, miscellaneous records and planning documents) to graphic design images (stickers, logos, images of protest signs, posters, flyers, and t-shirt designs), and documents relating to their various projects (art installations, poster campaigns, documentary film). There are three books, La Culture Du Désir by Frank Browning, American Sexual Politics: Sex, Gender, and Race Since the Civil War edited by John C. Fout and Maura Shaw Tantillo, and the dictionary where the Akimbo logo came from. Miscellaneous items include t-shirts, magazines with Akimbo profiles or shoutouts, tapes (both VHS and for video camera), mounted text for gallery shows, and a syringe with bleach bottle that was used for a design. There are a number of restricted files, primarily those which contain contact information,financial documents, dictacted phone messages, and correspondence- anything that has names or contact information for members is not available for public viewing until 2046.