The Queer Cultural Center will be awarding at least 20 commissions of between $250 – $1000 each for individual artists and groups to help create and stage innovative community-building projects. Cross-cultural, multi-ethnic and intergenerational projects are strongly encouraged. To be considered, you MUST attend the 90-minute introductory workshop on June 29th at 7pm at the Center for Sex and Culture in San Francisco. The address is 1519 Mission Street at 11th. For more information on the annual funding process, click here.
Category Archives: SCANDAL: Politics, Crime, Revolution and More.
We Fund Artists! Want a Commission? Queer Cultural Center – SF Workshop June 29
Posted in Activism, DIY and Maker Culture, San Francisco, Surveillance
Tagged Art, Arts Funding, Culture, Gay, Money, QCC, Queer, Queer Cultural Center, San Francisco
New York Times article: “My Ex-Gay Friend”
photo credit: NY Times
In this article, a New York Times journalist travels to Wyoming to visit a former colleague, Michael Glatze – a young man who had been an activist and advocate for queer youth, a scholar of queer theory, and the editor of XY, a defunct magazine for young gay men. Now, Michael is an ex-gay attending a Bible college in Wyoming.
(Here is another blog post about his history as an ex-gay activist. And here is one that reveals strange racist comments that Glatze made against President Obama. And here is Joe My God’s coverage of Glatze.)
This article provides insight into Glatze’s strange transformation, and includes an insightful interview with his former partner of 10 years, Ben. Ben is quoted as saying,
“A radical queer activist and a fundamentalist Christian aren’t always as different as they might seem.”
Questions about Glatze’s future and how long this former role model for young queers turned ex-gay will remain in his current fundamentalist Christian heterosexual lifestyle remain unanswered. His ex maintains that Glatze’s legacy as a queer activist still remains:
“He devoted a decade of his life to helping gay youth, and the work he did saved lives,” he told me. “What he claims to believe now doesn’t take that away.”
Check it out – worth reading.
-AidanAbroad
Following Savage Campaign for Queer Youth, Peter Fiske says “It Gets Better” But DOES It?
But does it? Well-known Leatherman and friend of this site Peter Fiske has made an “It Gets Better” video and posted it on YouTube. We are, of course, re-posting. Kudos, Peter! It is fantastic. Of course. Messages of future promise are great, and can be just the thing to turn despair into hope. But. But. But. The “It Gets Better” video pep talks, started by columnist Dan Savage last year in an effort to curb high rates of suicide among queer youth, have really taken off. Cool. More on them here. Great campaign, but…it is not enough. Not nearly.
By all means, keep these positive messages coming. But. But. But. There are a few problems here. First off, it does not always get better – and we know that. If it always got better, dead friend of this site and Frameline co-founder Mark Finch would not have jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge. A popular, successful adult gay man kills himself. Or: youthful co-conspirator WRG, handsome, smart, set to inherit two fortunes, dead in a hotel room in Rio with a spike in his arm, the body stripped of valuables. They had to identify him by dental records. Just two examples. It did not get better for either of them, and they were pretty well set to overcome the past.
But. But. But. Another problem: The most vulnerable queer kids may be those least likely to be able to respond to these messages. Consider two scenarios:
One: You are 17, a junior in high school, with loving, educated PFLAG parents, a nice group of theatre friends, early acceptance to UC, and a problem with the school bully who taunts you with calls of “Faggot!” and elbows you in the hallways to the amusement of his toadies. It makes your stomach churn.
Two: You are 17, living on the periphery of San Francisco’s Castro district. You left Idaho and your violent Christian Identity family at 13 when your mother caught you with another boy. She broke a bottle over your head as you fled the house. See the scar? Arriving in SF, you met guys who turned you on to meth and fucked you raw. Already shell-shocked from childhood, you seroconverted at 14, have been on the streets for four years, and look really rough. Half-crazy with rage and despair, you kick trash cans and shout in frustration, sometimes sit on the curb sobbing. Everyone avoids you.
These are two pretty extreme, but true, examples. “It Gets Better” is a good message, but it is not enough. The kids need more than words. Even the UC-bound good gay kid needs more than words. And seriously damaged youth need a lot more. They also need the tools to survive a world which will continue at times to be hostile. Food. Shelter. Protection. Health care, including mental health and substance abuse help. Access to education, job-training, connections and good adult mentorship. Spiritual support, including services for survivors of religious abuse. They do not need to be encouraged in magical thinking: “Oh…if I can only get to San Francisco! It’s like Oz! Everything will be fabulous!” Yes, sometimes it gets better. But: it does not always get better, and it does not automatically get better. If we actually want to see the kids flourish, we need to open our eyes to the full scope of the horror under which some queer kids come up – and add real resources that are equal to our encouraging words. We need to get real.
Posted in Activism, AIDS, Human Rights, Leather, San Francisco, SCANDAL: Politics, Crime, Revolution and More., Sickness and Health, Spirituality, Youth
Tagged Abuse, Culture, Dan Savage, Gay, Homeless, IDAHO, It Gets Better, Leather, Pep Talk, Peter Fiske, Queer, San Francisco, Spirituality, Suicide, Video, Violence, Youth
The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage
I’ve been saying for a long time that gay marriage is actually a conservative cause… Here is an article by Herbert Hoover’s great-granddaughter Margaret Hoover that argues the same thing: “The conservative case for gay marriage: GOP is not the party of intolerance.”
This article was written in the context of the current fight for same-sex marriage in New York State. She writes, in part:
“Conservatives are right to value marriage as the world’s most powerful social institution. The marital bond provides a nongovernmental social safety net, whereby individuals care for one another and anchor civil society in self-sufficiency.
“But to deny one class of citizens the freedom to marry based on their sexual orientation is discriminatory – anathema to the great tradition of freedom and equal opportunity upon which the Republican Party was founded. Civil unions are an inadequate substitute. We’ve seen in America that separate is never equal.
“Limited-government conservatives believe in maximum individual freedom consistent with law and order. We do not believe that the state should have the power to confer rights upon some law-abiding citizens while discriminating against others.
“Nor should the government be in the business of telling churches, synagogues or mosques whom they can and cannot marry. That’s why the bill in New York includes protections for religious liberties that ensure no religious leader or institution will have to solemnize marriages for same-sex couples.”
Worth reading – check it out.
-AidanAbroad
Ubij pederima! (Kill the Fags!) Fascists attack Split Croatia Pride Celebration
“It was scary so forgive the camera shaking.” Friend of this site Anna Kirey, who was there and shot the video posted here, reports that 5 people were taken to the hospital with injuries sustained during attacks by fascists and ultra-nationalists during the 1st ever pride celebration in Split, Croatia on June 11, 2011. Attackers chanted “Ubij pederima!” and “Ubij srbina!” – “Kill the Fags!” and “Kill the Serbs!” According to first hand reports, many police stood back, laughing, and the Mayor of Split, wearing Croat fascist black, watched the action from a nearby outdoor cafe.
Kontra reports from Split: “Public gathering ended in violence. Rute of the march was not secured. Attackers were allowed to throw explosive objects, thorches, big rocks, ashtrays and other objects during the whole time of the march and on Riva where programe was supposed to be held. Facists were allowed to hold hands in facist salute and shout «Kill faggots» and «You must die» almost on the entire length of the rute. Before exit from Marmontova street to Riva it was allowed for big number of violent attackers to completely narrow down the passage for the march. They were also throwing explosives and other objects and participants of the march had to go back twice and then finally go through narrow passage. During all of this police officers were telling to participants to go through the passage, although they were constantly hit by explosives, rocks and other objects.”
Lepa Mladjenovic provides political analysis of the situation: “Croatia and Serbia are states after the long wars, and militaristic & fundamentalist religious politics vastly present .. on top of this there is a special role of the football fans in making of soldiers in the Balkan wars, they are now as well ones who are ultra nationalists, the same militarism continues with them precisely, supported with political nationalist parties and church!! thats all to understand.”
More video: From Balkan artist Rakijamala, click here and for uploads from Queer Zagreb, click here. Interested in the situation around the world? Check out ILGA: The International Lesbian and Gay Association. Kind of like the Queer United Nations.
Posted in Activism, Crime, Croatia, History, Human Rights, Military, Photography, SCANDAL: Politics, Crime, Revolution and More., Subcultures, Surveillance, Video
Tagged Activism, Croatia, Fascist, Gay, Kill Fags, police, Pride, Resistance, Split, Surveillance, Ubij pederima, Video, Violence
Other Blogs: Joe My God’s classic Pride Rant “Watching the Defectives”
One of the web’s very best, Joe Jervis of Joe. My. God. has been blogging for over eight years, and has built a loyal and lively readership. Unlike many queer sites which strive to create safe spaces for their readers, JMG operates more like a free zone. The unmoderated comments section is always entertaining, informative and challenging…and often offensive. This is a good thing. Debate is healthy. Covering up rot just breeds more rot. And we’ve all got our rotten elements. Air helps dissipate the stink.
Joe published a rant in 2006 in which he talked back to the ‘normal’ gay people who want to rid pride parades of ‘defectives’ – those nice folks who discuss “how we might go about ‘discouraging’ certain ‘elements’ from taking part in the parades.” We all know who the elements are. Joe’s nice gays spell it out: “Why must all the coverage be drag queens and leather freaks in assless chaps?” The more outre the image, the better the press.
Of course, freaks have always made for good spectacle. The ancient Romans even bought and sold deformed human slaves at specialty ‘monstrosity markets.’ We no longer generally buy and sell living human bodies, but we do trade in representations of those bodies: images, words, memes. We deal in abstracts: Semiotic Weaponry – wars of words. Violence is inherent in communication. We undo and remake one another with our choice of words, appearance and other social signifiers. We attract and repulse one another. Vanillas might be put off by Leather’s overt sexuality and we might gag on their cologne. Punks and preps trade shade. We insult each other on purpose and accidentally. Dykes can see patriarchal oppression in a nice basket, and few gay men want to look at naked jiggling double D-cups – even with those little pieces of electrical tape over the nipples. One guy’s hot hairy bear is another’s disgusting old fat man. You think that intersex or trans boy is an attractive man? The guy next to you might think she’s a stupid self-deluding bitch. Feelings are real, but they are not facts. We can modify our interactions to minimize psychic damage, but the potential to offend others with our particular “defects,” or to participate in a particular ideology by our presence, will always be there. Only solitude and silence guarantee against this. We can stake out a spot on the mountaintop or disappear into the depths of a shimmering nishikigoi pond. Not a bad plan for serious self-reflection, but eventually we just might want to rejoin the party. Maybe.
Joe continues: “I’m not worried what the outside world thinks about the drag queens, the topless bulldaggers, or the nearly naked leatherfolk. It’s OUR party, bitches. If you think that straight America would finally pull its homokinder to its star-spangled bosom once we put down that glitter gun, then you are seriously deluding yourself. Next year, if one of the Christian camera crews that show up to film our “debauched” celebrations happen to train their cameras on you, stop dancing. And start PRANCING.” For the rest of the rant, click here.
Posted in Drag, Internet, Leather, SCANDAL: Politics, Crime, Revolution and More., Spirituality, Subcultures
Tagged Culture, Drag, Freaks, Gay, Intersex, Joe Jervis, Leather, Pride, Punk, Queer, SCANDAL: Politics, Crime, Revolution and More., Semiotic Weaponry, Semiotics, Spirituality, Trans, Violence, Watching the Defectives
AIDS Ribbon on Twin Peaks
The AIDS Ribbon on Twin Peaks in San Francisco – commemorating 30 years of AIDS, and remembering all of those we have lost.
Seen from Civic Center/Market Street.
-AidanAbroad
Hairy Cartoon Bears at Magnet!
Noel Ibay
Noel Ibay is exhibiting his images of Bears and Chubs at Magnet. The show is called BEarMUSEMENT, and includes graphite drawings, electronic media, cartoons, and pop-culture parodies and is intended to queer audience notions of male beauty. At Magnet in San Francisco through June. 4122 18th Street in the Castro district. Part of the 14th Annual Queer Arts Festival. More on that here.
Posted in Activism, Art and Artists, Collecting, Comics, DIY and Maker Culture, Men, San Francisco, Subcultures
Tagged Art, Bara, Bears, Chub, Comics, Culture, Gay, Magnet, QCC, Queer Arts Festival, San Francisco, Sexy, subculture
Harry Hay Stairway!
The Eastsider LA reports that the Cove Avenue Stairway in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles may be renamed in honor of Harry Hay, who in 1951 formed the early gay rights group the Mattachine Society in a house he lived in at the top of the stairs. For the full article, click here.
Buy it online! 30 Years into the AIDS epidemic, HIV virus is decorative wall Art.
Doubt the death of the author? At art.com, visitors can choose images from the library and preview them framed over the couch in a choice of living rooms or stretched over canvas above the toilet in the bathoom. It’s the ‘view-in-room’ option, a database-driven, semi-automatic and very interactive shopping experience. Most of their images are drawn from the visual arts canon, but they also offer medical stock photography and other arcane scientific and historical subjects, which make for some very strange interior design possibilities. Pictured here: AIDS Virus, Black Background Photographic Print, 32′ x 24″ framed, displayed in the #2 children’s bedroom option. Get it here. Or not.
The Gay Highwaymen 