The magazine was first published on November 1, 1971 by an informal collective, operating out of the home of Glad Day Bookshop owner Jearld Moldenhauer. Many members of the collective had been associated with the underground publication Guerilla, which had been relatively gay-friendly but alienated some of its LGBT contributors when it altered Moldenhauer's article about the We Demand protest of August 28, 1971. At a September meeting of the Toronto Gay Alliance, Moldenhauer first proposed the idea of launching a gay-focused publication. Names considered for the magazine included Mandala and Radical Pervert.