this is such garbage

jem! beautiful

Sun, 06 May 2012 19:57:05 -0400

jem! beautiful

hehe

Sat, 05 May 2012 17:00:13 -0400

hehe

truth!

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 21:58:15 -0400

truth!

aaliyah is one of my all-time faves! best best best. let me...

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 19:52:07 -0400

aaliyah is one of my all-time faves! best best best. let me knowwwww

Ballad by Frank O'Hara

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 15:07:16 -0400

BALLAD

Yes it is sickening that we come

that we go that we dissembling live

that we leave that there is anywhere in the world someone like us

it is that we are always like a that never that

why we it is me

why is it that I am always separated from the one I love it is because of

some final thing, that is what makes you a that, that I don’t do

though everyone denies it who loves you

that makes you a that too

why is it that everyone denies it it’s apparent as the air

you breathe and you don’t want to be breathed do you

why don’t you

because it would make you that air

and if you were that air you

would have to hear yourself

no I will never do that

so when you speak to me I will always be other

it will be like the strains of an organist on a piano

you will hate certain intimacies which to me were just getting to know

you

and at the same time

you know that I don’t want to know you

because the palm stands in the window disgusted

by being transplanted, she feels that she’s been outraged and she has

by well-wisher me, she well wishes that I leave her alone and my self alone

but tampering

where does it come from? childhood? it seems good

because it brings back the that

that which we wish that which we want

that which a ferry can become can become a bicycle if it wants to get

across the river

and doesn’t care how

though you will remember a night

where nothing happened

and we both were simply that

and we loved each other so

and it was unusual

——-this poem is so beautiful and sad

analogcinema: Erica Schreiner - untitled video still from Stars...

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 17:38:28 -0400

analogcinema:

Erica Schreiner - untitled video still from Stars ©2012

rejoice

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:21:22 -0400

i got accepted to sarah lawrence’s mfa program in poetry! woooo! i have a potential future!

i am in love with this re-do. this is everything that i wanted...

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 15:24:36 -0400

i am in love with this re-do. this is everything that i wanted ‘we found love’ to be, but didn’t know how to envision or articulate! i remember thinking how gay the original was— because of the way the characters looked, etc., and also because, to me, the song is a sort of lgbtq love anthem. this is just perfect and wonderful!

yeeeeeahhhh

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 20:04:49 -0400

yeeeeeahhhh

these commentaries are both really amazing and...

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 19:50:05 -0400

these commentaries are both really amazing and important.

glitterpolitic:

sometimescoherent:

My own experience and why i like this critique:

I very much appreciate this rethink of the original poster (same image: Not gay as in happy; but queer as in fuck you) as a response to some of the bullshit that goes on in our own community. I still like the original (not more or less so) and see it more as a response to the media’s portrayal of gay people in shows like Will and Grace and Queer eye for the Straight Guy (unsurprisingly usually men). These media caricatures reduce queerness to an approximation of heteronormative society and remove any anger and outrage toward a bigoted society. The original image for me is still powerful and inspiring as it gives me the ability to say “fuck you” to what society expects of me and my own queerness. However, this re-think is powerful in it’s own right. This re-think importantly critiques our own community and relates to my own experience in queer and trans* spaces.

In my own experience and community I’ve experience a queerer-than thou mentality as well as a lot of trans-misogyny. People who take on identities such as gay, lesbian, bisexual, man, woman are often looked at, in queer spaces, as inherently less radical than those who are queer and/or non-binary. I’ve see it first hand situations where the pronouns one uses and the language one uses to describe themselves instantly determine how “cool” of a radical-awesome-queer (tm) you are. These serve as stand ins for your political ethics. I find that when I use non-binary pronouns I’m seen as more of an equal than when I use binary pronouns (fucked up right?).

Trans-misogyny pervades queer/trans* spaces and must be questioned. trans-misogyny is something in my own community which I struggle against as a trans woman. trans men are often seen as inherently more radical than women, and thus can better articulate that radicalness. Thus, what I said about the pronouns in the last paragraph is often overshadowed by trans-misogyny. This leads to typical misogynist behavior such as trans men speaking for trans women without consent. When called on it the response is often that “we all have to stick together.” Something that is hard to argue again but masks the silencing of women identified voices. This is not universal, but it is something I have experienced in my time within the what is termed radical queer community.

I’m fighting against any monolithic projection of identity, and queer is no exception. I often us queer to describe myself because I have little else that fits and I choose queer because it does not “fit” anything. But, sometimes it’s that I feel guilty over using more recognizable terms like lesbian. I’m struggling with my own internalized misogyny with regard to my gender and my pronouns. I’m navigating my own identity even within a supposed radically open queer space. I see the image above as a potential source for allies in this struggle. And for this, I thank those who created and those who shared it.

This is amazing commentary by @sometimescoherent! I have a few things to add that I couldn’t fit in the last one.

I need to clarify that in my previous post, I was talking about the radical potential of the word, Lesbian, and the radical nature of some contemporary lesbian communities. I was not defending or aligning myself with “Radical Lesbian Feminism.” Undoubtedly, much of the theory and activism that came out of these communities and this cultural time is loaded with brutality. I am not interested in calling myself a Radical Lesbian Feminist. Even if all of these words individually and in differing variation sometimes apply to me and my politics, I recognize the cultural weight and the complex nature of the identity politic as a whole.

What I do find fascinating is that as queers, we have somehow created this notion that the word, Queer, is free from all of the brutal elements that Radical Lesbian Feminism carries with it. In this discussion in particular, Queer is being discussed as a magical fairy land where all can come to fuck and live in harmony. We are forgetting that (“radical”) queer spaces, queer theory, queer identities are often dominated by white, middle-class, masculine, able-bodied queer people. The racism, misogyny, trans-misogyny, and ableism that is rife in much second-wave lesbian history is very much alive and kicking in contemporary queer communities.

The other element to this that frustrates me is that when one identifies with the word, Lesbian, out loud, what is conjured simultaneously is a homonormative, assimilationist, white, middle-class, apolitical cis-woman AND a Radical Lesbian Separatist. I mean, ultimately, these political spaces are seemingly opposite spectrum ends. Both of these spaces are limited in their scope and fully erase the truth that many women of colour, trans-women, women with disabilities, poor women, young women, and women with very radical politics identify with the word and the culture of Lesbian.

The question, for me, in this poster is not “Who is allowed to use the word, Queer?” but rather “Who is allowed to use the word, Radical?” When the word, Radical, is placed along side the word, Lesbian, we get the above invocation. Contrastingly, when it is placed beside the word, Queer, credit and praise are handed out unflinchingly. This is a problem, as it renders the word, Radical, relatively meaningless, yet at the same time makes it a weapon we can use to tear each other apart. I mean, what does one even have to do to be considered a “good radical” in the queer community other than saying that that’s how they identify and throwing on a black hoodie and a dirty pair of skinny jeans?

There’s not a lot of room for a lot of different people under the rubric of Radical Queer, and I just think it’s time we start being able to name that and quit ripping each other to shreds in the name of identity. Until we shift the paradigm, all we’re doing is destroying ourselves.

this is inspiring

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 15:17:47 -0400

this is inspiring

yeshairy: Don’t Act Like A Girl Opening Night

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 01:26:04 -0500

yeshairy:

Don’t Act Like A Girl Opening Night

yeaaaaahh! homemade mocha whip cream donut filling. put it in...

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 23:22:51 -0500

yeaaaaahh!

homemade mocha whip cream donut filling. put it in yr mouth!

album cover for when mo and i have our garage band in 90s...

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 21:28:34 -0500

album cover for when mo and i have our garage band in 90s washington.

Bodies Of Work Magazine: intercept by Rex Leonowicz

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 09:39:18 -0500

Bodies Of Work Magazine: intercept by Rex Leonowicz:

my poem on bodies of work :)

bodiesofworkmagazine:

i never worry that we don’t deliberate,

arm ourselves with gloves thick

against our elements i don’t think to

put up barriers we’ve convinced

ourselves impervious

even while some of us dodging little futures:

paunch she called baby fat pressed to my back

in sleep. i hated baby fat and

…

love-and-radiation: Liz Suburbia’s Storm indicates to me why...

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 15:37:07 -0500

love-and-radiation:

Liz Suburbia’s Storm indicates to me why more super-hero comics should be drawn by non-super-hero artists.

Photo

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 15:31:00 -0500

Life In Perspective: Binary trans men, you are capable of being sexist.

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 18:14:48 -0500

Life In Perspective: Binary trans men, you are capable of being sexist. :

iragray:

Trigger warning for discussions of sexism, transmisogyny, rape, and abuse.

I just wanted to remind you, because almost every trans man I interact with is incredibly sexist. I recognize that whether or not we (sometimes we, since I’m non-binary) gain access to male privilege can be…

queering donuts

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 17:08:00 -0500

queering donuts

The Spirit Was...: Sylvia Rivera & NYPD Reflect on Stonewall Rebellion

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 19:37:33 -0500

The Spirit Was...: Sylvia Rivera & NYPD Reflect on Stonewall Rebellion:

thespiritwas:

Today is the fifth day of my ten day memorial for Sylvia Rivera. During the early 1970s Sylvia Rivera was involved in the Gay Activist Alliance, co-founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries, and organized with the Black Panthers and Young Lords. But before all that Sylvia Rivera…