I’ve wondered about this from reading numerous biographies of the Beatles. At some point I forget now which, Brian Epstein had to appear in court as a witness, and I believe he was being blackmailed with regard to his sexual preference. In a couple of the biographies, it’s mentioned that he walked into the courtroom holding a copy of Queen magazine. What was it about? Was it considered “gay” in any way? Or was it about HRH QEII?
Queen has since merged with Harper’s Bazaar to become Harper’s & Queen. My impression is that, then as now, it was simply a glossy fashion magazine. The title dated back to the nineteenth century and so was not a reference to either the present Queen (although I suppose it might have been named after Queen Victoria) or homosexuality. I assume that Epstein was using the title rather than its contents to make his point.
While fashion mags aren’t “gay” per se, the average person would probably tend to wonder if a man that carried one into court was gay, particularly if the man’s sexuality was a pivotal issue in the case.
I got the impression that the biographers were trying to demonstrate Epstein’s occasionally foolhardy behavior in that regard. He spent his adult life denying his homosexuality to almost everyone he knew, yet everyone seemed to know the truth. And if he didn’t want to be out, then common sense would dictate that he would carry some innocuous publication such as The Times, which would make him look like a typical conservative businessman.