a radical queer blog space that defies spatial, physical, religious, gender, political and all other imposed boundaries

[Following is my letter to the executive director of the civic group that organizes and promotes the Taste of Danbury. A Danbury-based anti-immigrant group has announced that it will have a table at the event. Share your concern with City Center Danbury at andreagartner@citycenterdanbury.com]

Ms. Gartner,

I read with some interest on the website for USCFILE - the so-called
U.S. Citizens for Immigration Law Enforcement - that they are
prominently promoting the table they will feature at the Taste of
Danbury. It would seem that if the organizers are willing to allow
hate groups that actively promote bigotry, there must be room for just
about anyone at the Taste. Perhaps one of the events for the day can
include a cross burning, at which leaders of the KKK will be featured
explaining important safety tips to follow the next time you decide to
light one up on someone’s lawn.

Seriously, it is a mockery of the very idea of civic participation that
an event such as the Taste would allow a group such as USCFILE to
participate.

Peter Goselin

This essay is re-posted from the site, By Any Means Necessary. Be sure to check out the site here. Rowland has posted some real food for thought in a new essay titled, “On The Human Rights Campaign, Gay Marriage and Single Issue Activism.” Thanks to Rowland for permission to repost this essay.

On The Fight Against Patriarchy 

The worker is the slave of capitalist society, the female worker is the slave of that slave.”
-James Connolly

Patriarchy, in the narrowest definition of the term, means (from Greek) “father-rule,” however this tends not to fully encapsulate all of the social implications that stem from such a systems implementation. In short, it is one of the primary social constructs under which we live. It is made manifest in many ways, not least of which are the institutionalized forms of Western and Eastern religion. From the perspective of socialism though, we must recognize that the system of male-supremacy far pre-dates the rise of industrial, and even merchant, capitalism. However, the rise of capitalism, when combined with the already existing patriarchy, has lead to an intensification of the subordination and degradation of women through further manipulation of family life and sexuality (such as the widespread production and availability of pornography). This helps the bourgeoisie maintain their control over the working-class and other oppressed peoples. [Read more →]

Check out the hidden verse sung at the end. Let’s “Never Give Up and Never Give In.” We present in our music series “This Land Is YOUR Land”, written by Woody Guthrie. This version is sung by The Nightwatch Man (Tom Morello).

Diana sent this along to QWB.

Access to Sex-Segregated Facilities 

Equal access to resources is a social justice issue that is particularly salient for pre- and postoperative transgender people who need access to sex-segregated facilities, including public restrooms, emergency or homeless shelters, prisons, dormitories, and athletic facilities. Each setting poses some unique issues. For example, transgender people who are incarcerated are generally placed “according to their biological genitalia” (Giresi & Groscup, 2006, p.43; Edney 2004). [Read more →]

forwarded from our comrades at rha

Kailah Hayes, a client of Sylvia’s Place, was arrested yesterday by officers from the 77th precinct and charged with assault for defending herself against a trans-phobic attack. She is being held pending arraignment in Brooklyn, under the name Anthony Hayes. Yesterday, two of Kailah’s roommates, both trans women, were returning home when they passed an adult woman, a boy, and a group of little girls. The boy began yelling “that’s a man, that’s a man” at them. One of the trans women asked the adult to tell the boy to stop, and they continued home. Shortly after, the same group came up to them in front of the building, and the boy again started yelling “that’s a man” and then went across the street and began pointing them out to a couple of adult women in the van, who were staring and laughing at the trans women. [Read more →]

One Opinion of Coming Out & Pride After Living “Straight”

by Kyle S. Smith ed: submitted to qwb for posting…

Coming out stories are regularly seasoned with tales of fear, joy, acceptance, pain, ups and downs, and so on. Mine is no different and I’m glad. I’m also glad that today there are finally more forums, like this one, for discussion and open dialogue about what it means to be a homosexual while still being thought of as more than just our sexuality.

As I look over at my right wrist, I see a rainbow colored rubber wrist band. The word “PRIDE” is in capital letters for anyone to see and notice. The only time I’ve removed in the past year-plus has been to shower. To me, that’s part of what Pride means: 24-7, period. So I’m out, proud, and participating in the gay rights movement. But, what does it mean to be proud? [Read more →]

It was one year ago this month of August that Jerimarie put together our first Queers Without Borders Blog. One year, my goodness it seems longer. One of our first postings was a jointly written piece by Jeri and myself on the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot in San Francisco.  We have been all over the place since then, tackling a host of issues, announcing some pretty radical stuff, and joining with our comrades fighting the good fight for peace, justice, and liberation. QWB firmly believes that we can not be a one issue people, and that all issues are our issues.We know for a fact we are here there and everywhere so all issues are indeed our issues. Visitors to the blog keep growing and people are reading us in Australia, Norway,Argentina, New Zealand, Bermuda, India, Jordon, Pakistan, Israel, South Africa, Germany, China, Singapore, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Mexico, Wales, England, Canada, Vietnam, the United States and a person from Turkey that loves to hack us every once in awhile. Many of the people come back for more. Of course I wonder why don’t some of the people who read us leave comments? I also wonder if any people in Connecticut are reading us? I thought it would be fun to choose one posting from each month that we have been blogging for your viewing pleasure. QWB is a group of queers and allies who invite all to blog with us and to attend any of the functions that are listed on our site. [Read more →]

as promised to richard, i’m posting the final draft of version 1.1 of the first full-length pamphlet i’ve written. this took waaayy too long, but it’s done, and now i can move on with my life. i published a version of this back in april, and this one is probably about as twice as long and a lot less spotty (i hope). if you want copies to give people let me know and i can get you some. i’ve also formatted it into a .pdf file with some nice graphics i like a lot.

[Read more →]

Matt of the IWW, Ct. Jobs With Justice and QWB sent this along to us this evening. Matt is in contact with ZABALAZA, a South African Anarchist group. This is the report. 

* Building a Progressive LGBTI Movement in South Africa Conference - A member of our Gender Working Group attended this conference at the invitation of the Lesbian & Gay Equality Project.

There weren’t many people there because there was a conference on AIDS the same day. I was also surprised that the LGBTI movement in South Africa is not really that progressive. Only a small group considers themselves radicals, the group I have been in more contact since then. The more radical LGBTI people have a strong class analysis. They are very pleased by ZACFs engagement with their issues and have expressed interest in the Anti-Chauvinist network that ZACF is trying (or helping) to build. [Read more →]

Reminding all that this Sunday August 17 at 5:00 Queers Without Borders will be holding a meeting for any and all who wish to continue to build a multi-issue Queer Movement. Information can be had by clicking on the meeting as posted in the events section of QWB’s home page. The meeting will be held at MCC in the Parish House of the Church of the Good Shepherd, 155 Wyllys Street in Hartford. Directions here. Thanks to pastor George Chien of MCC for use of the space.

Items so far to be discussed: Spetember viewing of the movie, “OUTRAGE 69″, Queers Without Borders publication in October, The Anarchist lecture and events in October, upcoming events that our comrades are involved with or sponsoring, update on ADAPT and the Library doors, demostrate against HRC in Boston. Please bring any items for discussion.

Hope to see everyone out and about. Invite your friends. We have a lot of work to do. 

Click on over to our friend and comrade Diana’s Little Corner in the Nutmeg State and read her posting ,”Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome or AIS. Have you ever heard of it?”  Click here.  The piece was written by Mary Hanan and appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” and is titled, “Women with Rare Syndrome Learn to Live with Male Chromosomes.  Within the posting you can click on the title of the piece and go to ABC and view the news video. I like how Diana ends her posting, ”Nature is not just black and white, but all the shades of grey. Gender does not just come in male and female, but a whole multitude of blends male and female.”   

This essay is written by Jessica of True Colors mentoring program. 

Envision yourself walking down the hallway with your significant other. People brush it off and barely even notice. You walk them to class and give them a kiss goodbye. Now imagine that your significant other being the same sex as you. The act of holding hands gets you a barrage of stares as if you were contaminated. Giving that simple kiss might get you some un-needed comments. You hear the voices buzzing like mosquitoes in your brain saying, “dyke” or “faggot”. They burn your ears. YOU wonder to yourself, “Why are they acting like this? What’s wrong with me?” In a sea of people you feel like a lone buoy. If being gay is such a beautiful thing, why are people treating us like we are aliens? When old friends act differently towards you. The warm embrace of a welcoming hug turns cold and empty. When you go into the locker room to change, the stares rush right back, the whispering gets louder; your ears burn even more. You see people scurrying to hide in fear that you might look at them in a sexual manner. You really start to think you’re diseased, but the only disease around is pure ignorance. [Read more →]

U.S. Naval Armada heading towards Iran.

This just in from the Boston Troops Out Now Coalition.

Growing threat - Join us in mobilizing to Stop War on Iran!

The aircraft carriers USS Theodore Roosevelt and the  USS Ronald Reagan, along with the USS Iwo Jima, an Amphibious Assault Ship are sailing toward the Persian Gulf to reinforce the US strike forces in the region, along with a British Royal Navy carrier battle group and a French nuclear hunter-killer submarine.

[Read more →]

You gotta check out Ethan St. Pierre’s posting over at QueerToday.com. Ethan’s posting Organized Tragedyputs HRC right where they belong in a pile of their own crap. Ethan takes on HRC’s executive director, Joe Solmonese’s statement about the murder of Angie Azpata which amounts to “Hypocritical Statements” and questions the “heinous inexcusable actions of HRC.” 

Ethan writes and I quote: “The fact is that given the opportunity, HRC has always supported legislation that does not include gender identity. The cost of HRC’s decisions to continue to do so is mounting in loss of jobs, education, the homelessness of our youth, and in a rising death toll. We continue to pay with our lives. What a way to educate Congress.” To read Ethan’s post click here.  Be sure to check out some of the links in the article.

 

 

“BUSTED!

AGAIN”

a transadvocacy fundraiser

DATE: Sept 12, 2008
TIME: 8 PM
LOCATION: Tommy’s Restaurant
825 Saybrook Road
Middletown, CT 06457
Directions
Download Flyer

$10 at the door (Pay what you can, no one turned away for lack of funds)
21+

BUSTED! A fashion show by and for the trans and gender non-conforming
community, its allies and friends.

BUSTED! Every time someone’s messed up your pronoun, read you on the street, asked you about your genitals five minutes after shaking your hand.

BUSTED! Because you just had top surgery and want to show off your new chest.

BUSTED! Because it’s someone else’s turn to feel like they don’t fit in.

BUSTED! Because you know how hot you are and want to strut your stuff.

Free Food, Cash Bar, Strut Your Stuff
Further info: diana@transadvocacy.com
or call (860) 983-8139
rsvp appreciated but not necessary

Regina sent this along to QWB with these words.

 ”Please forward widely. I think those interested in justice issues need to complete the survey and plan on how to be a part of the regional discussions about the kind of state we want Connecticut to be. Without our voices, can you imagine what it will sound like?”

The text of the request reads as follows.

I am sending you the link to this survey because very often, the opinion of everyday people is hardly included in these types of discussions or planning sessions. Your thoughts are needed to be included in the future planning process of making the Hartford Region a better place to live. Please read and follow the link below to complete the survey! Your input is needed: [Read more →]

Mark D. Snyder our comrade and friend over at QueerToday.com has posted a clip from Face Off.  In the clip Rachel Maddon highlights John McCain’s nine houses, his very expensive shoes while bringing up the the point about the scrutiny of  Barack Obama by the news media and others compared to the scrutiny of John McCain. Check it out here.  Thanks Mark for this piece.

Todd Vachon sent this along to QWB.

If you are like me, you probably get a lot of e-mails from organizations you care about. After a while, you must wonder if it’s worth it to sign another petition.
The answer is yes. 
In 2003, nearly 3 million people signed an online petition demanding that Congress stop the Federal Communications Commission from gutting media ownership rules. Those millions of actions added up and helped turn the tables on the FCC. [Read more →]

The protest before tonight’s meeting was focused on the issue of teachers’ retirement. To be honest, I was a bit underwhelmed as I was expecting to see people out front with signs for various issues. At least one of the signs gave me a laugh, as it has a really perverted (and totally wrong!) alternate meaning.

Inside City Hall, a group of children demonstrated how funding is dispersed to the various branches of the library. The Downtown branch was the trunk and had the most “money” tied to it. The neighborhood branches were a bit smaller, and the Blue Hills and Mark Twain branches had no “leaves” on them.

Unfortunately, I had to leave the meeting early, but there were something like 45 people signed up to speak. Many voiced their concern about the library closures, violence, retirement situation, and the immigration ordinance. One person called for a boycott of the Downtown Branch of the Hartford Public Library. A few others pointed out how ridiculous the curfew is, since the recent shootings all occurred during daylight hours. Another said that this curfew was unfair, as it punished many for the crimes of a few.

A couple mainstream media outlets were there, and they left about 90 minutes into the session. Before the session began, I spotted a man affiliated with WTNH-8 dancing mockingly while protesters were chanting and circling. How objective and professional!

I’m hoping that others who were able to stay for the full session can add their comments about what else ensued.

The following is a copy of a draft flyer that was on my (jerimarie) old AOL account sent by Carolyn Gabel(-Brett) dated 9/12/99. Perhaps a final hard copy is over at the CCSU Archives.

The Connecticut Stonewall Foundation is proud to announce the Second Day Long conference celebrating LGBT History month in Connecticut. The event is entitled “Celebrating Our Life Stories and Our Relationships” and will be held from 9:00 AM until 5:30 PM, October 23rd, 1999 at Trinity College, Hartford. This event features a keynote speech from the Stonewall Veteran - Sylvia Rivera in addition to workshops, panels, and exhibits on LGBT relationships.

The event will conclude with celebration and music featuring Mystery Date. Further details will be forthcoming in your late September mail, so be sure to mark your calendars for this October 23, 1999, event at Trinity College, Hartford.

If you have any questions or require further information contact Peter Kenny at (860) 232-8552 or email JeriMarie at Jeritg@aol.com

The video from this event is included in this blog entry (also click here to view) which features two key Stonewall Foundation Organizers Carolyn Gabel-Brett and Richard Nelson both introducing Sylvia Rivera. In this video Sylvia reads from a prepared speech however during the Q&A session we see a much more animated and wonderful St. Sylvia.

There is a special significance to this event that was never mentioned in the flyer that involves (yet again) a major response by the CT Stonewall Foundation against Metroslime ~ who in April 1999 allowed a mean spirited and derogatory letter to the editor appear (unedited) attacking Drag Queens/Trans folks and especially the much loved and respected Mucha Mucha Pleasure. I hope that some of those folks intimately involved will add their comments to this Queer CT History blog posting. Click here to view PDF scans of the original letter and subsequent responses appearing in the following two issues.

The Conference Video is embedded below for your viewing pleasure (click here to go to video page, click here to report viewing problems).

The situation of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is deteriorating.

www.FreeGaza.org [Read more →]

One can’t help but dig our young people, they are so fresh, so full of ideas and passion and they know how to express it. I admire Melange Lavonne and the rap, “Gay Bash”. This is about a fictional friend who becomes a victim of a hate crime. Melange confronts those including the church, who condemned him and his lifestyle. The video with its powerful message is directed by Little Red Pictures. My wish for Melange is a long and wonderful career. You make this old queer proud.

Marquita of Connecticut Working Families party sent this to QWB today. If anyone is available please join the rally and attend the council meeting.

There are so many issues up in the air in Hartford right now it’s tough to keep track. Between Library closures, retiree healthcare increases, and Board of Ed firings, working people have to be on our toes.

There’s another critical issue I want to make sure you know about. Hartford City Councilor Luis Cotto (WFP) has introduced an ordinance that will come to a vote at Monday’s Council meeting that would make life a little less scary for one of the populations that has it the toughest: undocumented immigrants. [Read more →]

Analyzing the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival’s Womyn-Born-Womyn Policy

The birth of the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival began in 1976 by Lisa Vogel, her sister Kristie, and Mary Kindig, of the We Want the Music Collective. The festival is a place of community, creativity, and performance. As the title suggests, the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival (MWMF) is not for everybody. There is a strict “womyn-born-womyn” (WBW) policy that the festival has adhered to, although that seems to be changing. “Womyn-born-womyn” refers to people who were born and raised as girls and who currently identify as women. In 1991 or 1992 (both dates are cited more than once), a transwoman was asked to leave the festival after having previously purchased her ticket at the ticket booth. Because this woman was not a womyn-born-womyn, her ticket was refunded and she had to leave the festival. However, a lot of criticism has remained in the wake. Furthermore, [Read more →]

Diana sent this along today from the PFLAG On-line page. It was published Monday August 4, 2008 in the Washington Examiner. The front page story is about the religious right’s efforts to push for a ballot initiative in Montgomery Country Maryland. According to one right-wing activist this effort is considered “a template” for other, similar efforts across the country. To read the article click Here.

The brilliance of McCain shines through each and every day of his pitiful life. Today he went to the Fermi 2 nuclear power plant near Monroe, Michigan (not far from Detroit) to espouse the benefits of Nuclear Energy and made the brilliant statement (regarding nuclear power): “I knew it was safe then (when he was in the Navy) … I know it’s safe now.” I can only surmise that this president wannabe fool is a total idiot when it comes to historical facts (and of course most things he says confirms this) for in 1966 the Fermi 1 reactor suffered a partial fuel meltdown! Or perhaps he wasn’t tuned into Gil Scott-Heron’s powerful song “We Almost Lost Detroit” or guess he wasn’t rapping to MUSE (Musicians United for Safe Energy whose first album was No NUKES!). I have pasted just a sampling of Gil Scott-Heron’s song below:

Though perhaps such insensitive and stupid actions are part of his repertoire considering on June 17, [Read more →]

Forwarded to QWB by Vanessa Foster Williams (orig posted by her on Trans Political)

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Donning The Rose-Colored Glasses

“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” - Chinese Proverb

The rumors have been flying for some time, and even recently Donna Rose noted on her blog about meeting with Joe Solmonese with HRC. One might think she’s going there to give them a piece of her mind (or another piece as she’s already made public her opinions post-ENDA).

As it turns out, that’s not the case. A friend of mine there locally reported of the upcoming San Francisco HRC Banquet and its accompanying protest from the bay area’s GLBT community in a show of strength. Of course, we recently received a press release of HRC holding up their current Business Council trans person, Diego Sanchez as speaker (fresh from testimony on Capitol Hill.) It wasn’t the press blurb over Diego that really got my attention, but the report that another trans person was working hard to be the trans keynote there: Donna Rose. Per the note, she was trying to be “the bridge between the two parties” by addressing the banquet. [Read more →]

“The Union Song”

The Night Watchman

This song is for Alex Svoboda of the Providence IWW. Alex was brutally maimed by members of the North Providence RI police department. And to Jason Friedmutter also of the Providence IWW who was arrested. See our events side bar for info.

AND TO

To all our sisters and brothers who organize today fighting the good fight where ever you may be. To all who fight hard just to keep the little that they have. We dedicate this song to you. Solidarity Forever for United We Are Strong.

Tye Anderson of OIA (Out In Asherville) has done a splendid interview with Mattilda. The title “Reasons Not to Participate in Your Own “Cultural Erasure,” goes right to the heart of my thinking. Many of us stand up and speak out when those on the outside try to erase, deny, suppress, and omit us and many of us do the same when our own and ourselves do it too. It has got to be this way, it is a matter of survival for all of our people.

 Many articles on QWB have spoken out about this trend. With assimilation, backs are turned on many of our people, the “we got ours now go get yours,” the “those people are an embarrassment to us and our lifestyle”, “the those people,” the “they are not one of us,” becomes the norm.  Some very scary words were spoken by the Vice President of the Harvey Milk Club concerning the crowd at the HRC dinner. She compared them to the rich elite in Nazi Germany watching, as she was being roughed up and dragged out by the goons of HRC.  Oh, yes, when the shit hits the fan they will be silent, as political queers, gender non-conforming queers, queers of color, undocumented queers, and any and all who do not fit the assimilationist dream are dragged out. They don’t speak up now. Why would they speak up then? By then their transformation will be completed, they will be the enemy.  Their face will be their face all in one the enemy. [Read more →]

  Do you want to know how much Joe Solmonese is compensated each year?

  How about the 7 highest-paid Officers at HRC?

  Click here.

  This information came via Kelli Busey’s site Planetransgender.  Kelli always has some great things to read on  her site.

“Happy Pride, everyone!”

The following article was written by William Urich, with grateful acknowledgment from additional contributors to the Human Rights Forum held during an Annual General Meeting of InterPride: Dmitri Bartenev, Moscow Pride; Tomasz Baczkowski, Warsaw Pride, Rosanna Flamer-Caldera, Equal Ground, Sri Lanka; Oscar Ataderro, ProGay, Manilla, the Philippines; Nada Raphael, HELEM, Beruit and Montreal (Diverscite); Aidan Dunn, San Francisco

Yes, Happy Pride. It’s the familiar greeting you hear repeatedly all day at the once a year festival you go to to buy GLBTIQXYZ-themed chatchkas, lavender candles, buttons, the occasional piece of jewelry and bumper stickers, and to enjoy a beer or share recent gossip with friends. You walk around with your dog, who might be wearing a rainbow collar or hankie. You enjoy watching a parade and might even cheer the contingent of queer police officers who pass by as active participants in the Pride Parade. You hear gay and lesbian-related messages and music from queer (and supportive) speakers and musicians on stage. You see folks you know, or those you only see out at such events. But you see people. Friendly people. Lots of people. People like you. They’re all doing the same thing you’re doing: being seen strutting your Pride and enjoying a peaceful day. Fear is the farthest thing from your mind. [Read more →]

The 17th International AIDS Conference in Mexico City commences today and runs from 3-8 August 2008. Some key links:

• Official conference website can be found at AIDS2008.org
• Program at glance (with roadmap search) can be found at AIDS2008.org/Pag/PAG.aspx
• Extensive online coverage can be found at Kaisernetwork.org/aids2008/
• Community Voices (real time blogging) from the AIDS 2008 conference can be found at AIDS2008.com

As the conference moved towards its opening day, the Joint United Nations program on HIV/AIDS released their new report on the Global AIDS Epidemic. Some highlights from the report are:

• Number of people newly infected with HIV has fallen from 3 million in 2001 to 2.7 million in 2007
• Total number of AIDS-related deaths worldwide has decreased slightly in the last two years-from 2.2 million to 2 million
• Ten-fold increase in the number of people receiving antiretroviral medicines in these countries. In terms of HIV prevalence, declines exceeded 25% in seven African countries
• The number of people becoming newly infected with the disease each day-7,500-remains unacceptably high
• Sub-Saharan Africa remained the most heavily impacted region by AIDS in 2007, accounting for 67 percent of all people infected with HIV and 72 percent of all AIDS-related deaths
• The AIDS epidemic is certainly not over in any part of the world.

Some select trans relevant sessions are:

• Roadmap ‘Female, Male, and Transgender Sex Workers’
• Transchallenges: An Insider View of Obstacles, Challenges and Problems Faced by Transgender People for Access to HIV Prevention, Care, Treatment
• Sexuality, Body Image and the Meanings of Gender
• HIV/AIDS In Prisons and Pre-trial Detention Centers:A Public Health and Human Rights Disaster
  
• Male and Transgender Sex Workers: Identities and Vulnerabilities
• HIV Risk among Transgender People: The Social and Cultural Context from a Global Perspective
• Mobilizing, Building the Capacity and Researching on Gay, Transgender and MSM Issue
• Gender and HIV: Emerging Issues
• HIV/AIDS Epidemiology among hard to reach populations
• Intervening with Marginalized Communities: Successes and Challenges
• Programmes and Research on HIV and Prisons
• Trends in HIV in Different Geographical Regions: Estimates and Risk Factor

[Read more →]

Featuring Johnny Dangerous, “Dirty is the New Black,” a single from his upcoming album “White Hot.” Video features appearances by God-des & she, produced by Tori Fixx and video directed by Brian Lange. ENJOY this queer artist.

Boston - QueerToday.com activists and allies will protest the annual Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Dinner at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston on October 25 at 5pm.

The group is working to build a coalition of trans and queer activists, anti-war activists, and women’s rights activists to protest HRC’s lack of grassroots coalition building, support for pro-war and anti-choice candidates, and support of a non-inclusive version of the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA).

“It’s time to show HRC what real solidarity looks like,” said [Read more →]

Please re-post as widely as you wish!

Call For Papers: “Queering Anarchism”

Radical queer politics and anarchism have much in common. Queer theory argues against traditional identity politics, recognizing the social construction of “sexuality” and identity categories. Anarchism argues against any structured hierarchical arrangement of humanity that allows some members of society to systematically exploit and oppress others. Thus, both projects argue for a need to move beyond hierarchical and naturalized arrangements of socially constructed identities–though, at times, articulating those arguments in different ways. Nevertheless, despite these commonalities, little has been written about the deep connections between anarchism and radical queer politics. This edited volume is an attempt to fill that gap.

With this book, the authors wish to assemble writings that are useful to activists (i.e. not written in obscure academic jargon and relatable to social movement contexts) working in the intersections of queer and anarchist politics. Many anarchists use the term “queer” as shorthand for the LGBT community and have little understanding of what queer theory can provide for a contemporary radical praxis and how it differs from traditional LGBT politics—even some radical strands. Likewise, there are many among the queer community who know little to nothing about anarchism—relying mostly on the sensationalist news medias’ construction of anarchists as terrorists, anti-organizationalists, etc. This volume, then, will be split into three sections (theory, praxis, and personal experience) featuring writing that deals specifically with these intersections. [Read more →]

I found this article today on www.lesbian.pro and thought it should be read by all of us. I am sure Connecticut TransAdvocacy could fill us in on stories of our homeless youth here in the city of Hartford. The article is titled “Trans Formed: To Be Homeless and Transgender” written by Lydie Raschks as a special to the Washington Post. The article can be found here. I wonder what type of an example are groups like HRC setting for these young people? I wonder what can we do as older activists? How can we help these kids and keep them safe? What can our organizations here in Hartford do to help out Connecticut TransAdvocacy with providing for these youth and others?

While Paris Was Burning, Hartford Sizzled
(Dir. Liesegang, Stillson, Smith and Anja, 2004, USA , video, 40 min)
This first-of-its-kind documentary takes an in-depth look at Hartford’s “houses” of the ‘90s. Contains rare footage of drag competitions between the houses and interviews with house members. Don’t miss this little gem of Hartford’s queer history.

This film premiered to a sold out Cinestudio audience at the 2004 CT Gay and Lesbian Film Festival on June 5, 2004 at 7:30 PM.

The film is embedded below for your viewing pleasure (click here to go to video page, click here to report viewing problems).

Pasted below is a paper written by Rebecca Boyden in 1994 as part of her Urban Anthropology course at Eastern CSU.

The House of Pleasure:

A Social Organization in Hartford’s Gay Community

Rebecca Boyden

Urban Anthropology

Eastern Connecticut State University

Instructor: Allison Bingham

December 1994

Shameless is channel surfing. A dark-blond, animated man in his twenties with slight mustache and goatee, he wears glasses, jeans and a t-shirt. He finds a station blaring rock music, with a high-fashion model walking a

[Read more →]

Queers Without Borders is adding a new feature to its blog line up: Queer Connecticut Archives. The recent insult and revisionist perspective perpetrated by the LGBfakeT magazine known affectionally as Metroslime has revealed the importance of Queers in Connecticut ACCURATELY documenting the history of our Queer and Diverse communities. And to this point many of us at QWB have decided to commence this series titled (and categorized as) QUEER CT ARCHIVES.

We encourage anyone and everyone to please contact us at blog@queerswithoutborders.com if you have any archival information or material you would like to add to this QWB Queer CT Archive series.  Or feel free to post yourself and tag with the category Queer CT Archives.

Our first window into the Queer CT Archives will be around the Hartford Houses and Balls of the early 1990’s. Many thanks to Mucha Mucha Pleasure for providing much of this archival material, as well as the many houses and sisters/brothers who partook in this important and pivotal historical period.