John D. Stamford

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John D. Stamford (born May 20 to June 21, 1939 in Lancashire (England); † 1999 ? In Belgium) was a priest and first editor of the Spartacus International Gay Guide, which is distributed worldwide .

Life

origin

Stamford was a Catholic priest in Brighton before teaching at a Catholic Sunday school in Lancashire. He later ran a guest house in Brighton . In 1967 the 28-year-old started as JDS Publications, 46 Preston Street, in Brighton with the publication of the monthly gay Spartacus Magazine in DinA5 format and in 1968 founded the Spartacus International Gay Guide for all continents, which appeared in Sussex from March 1970 .

Spartacus

In 1971/1972 Stamford moved to Amsterdam. The third edition of the Spartacus International Gay Guide , published by Euro Spartacus in December 1973 in Amsterdam and designed as a travel guide, brought the target group of gays into the focus of the marketing departments of the international tourism industry - similar to the competing products Places of Interest , Bob Damron's Address Book and Gayellow Pages as wealthy customers. The addresses listed - especially in countries suffering from persecution - were often the focal point of local and cross-border political and apolitical associations of homosexuals. In the more developed countries, Stamford's multilingual publication served as a model for numerous national and regional travel guides, such as the publications from the from the rear series, e.g. B. Berlin from behind from the Bruno Gmünder Verlag . However, Stamford has also been accused of promoting underage prostitution through its publications. Various states put pressure on the Dutch government to shut down Stamford.

publisher

In Amsterdam published Stamford other publications, the magazine Spartacus Traveler and the pedophile -oriented Pan magazine and pornography in publishing The Coltsfoot Press , which temporarily changed its name as a division of Spartacus publishing. He bought a luxury business villa in the Amsterdam suburb of Baarns , which was seized in 1986 for tax debts worth millions. Numerous Stamford personal items were lost in the auction that followed. A former Stamford employee doubted Stamford knew what was going on. Stamford accuses other employees of cheating on him out of tens of thousands of guilders.

The End

On December 1, 1986, the 31-year-old Bruno Gmünder and his publishing house acquired the rights to the gay guide from the 48-year-old Stamford. The travel guide was first published in 1987 - after 15 issues - no longer by Stamfords Verlag, but by Bruno Gmünder. Stamford agreed to forward information obtained through travel to the Berlin publishing house. According to other information, the complete ownership was only passed to Gmünder seven years later in 1994. Stamford traveled the globe with his adopted son and friend the following year.

In 1987 the German-language magazine Gay Journal cited the Dutch newspaper De Gay Krant that Stamford was wanted in Holland for illegal boy trafficking. According to information from various blogs, Stamford is said to have either gone to Asia or spent his last years in Turnhout, Flanders (Belgium), where he was in prison, from which he was released on bail - a few years before his death - on bail from Christian von Maltzahn has been. He died in 1999.

supporting documents

  1. ^ A b John D. Stamford: 'Spartacus Gay Guide', 1975, p. 12
  2. ^ A b Event Magazine (London program guide), David Roper: Good Man Guide , book review, April 29, 1982
  3. ↑ magazine Gay Journal : Be Saved Stamford? No. 7, July 1985, based on articles in the Dutch newspaper The Gay Krant .
  4. ^ Advertisement in the 1985 edition of the Spartacus International Gay Guide
  5. ^ Journal DU & ICH , Wilfried D. Schwarze: In the last minute. With the signing of the contract on December 1, 1986 by Bruno Gmünder (photo left) and John D. Stamford (photo right), the future of Spartacus is secured , January 1987, p. 63.
  6. ↑ Peter Thommen, blog of the gay bookstore ARCADOS: Spartacus - Guide through a "gay world"? ( Memento of the original from September 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. November 2006 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.arcados.ch
  7. ↑ Gay Journal: Stamford in Sight , 1987, No. 4/5, p. 15.
personal data
SURNAME Stamford, John D.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English priest and publisher
DATE OF BIRTH between May 20, 1939 and June 21, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH Lancashire
DATE OF DEATH uncertain: 1999
Place of death Belgium