Writer.
#QueerHeroes Day 30 - Us. I began doing this series because I’m constantly in awe of our collective magnificence. The trans drag queens of 1890s New York who started the first trans rights group in the attic of a queer brothel. The queers who formed a kickline in the faces of the riot police outside of …
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#QueerHeroes Day 29 - Gilbert Baker. Baker was an army medic stationed in San Francisco in the 60’s. He was out even then and later honorably discharged. While working to pass one of California’s first marijuana legalization bills, a fellow activist taught him to sew. He began making banners for early queer rights organizations and …
#QueerHeroes Day 28 - Ellen Page I feel like Ellen Page perfectly captured this trend of queer “anti comedy” comedy with Juno (in no small part to Diablo Cody’s brilliant script). Even though her sexuality had been more or less an open secret in the queer community, no one was expecting her to come out …
#QueerHeroes Day 27 - Miss Major She was kicked out of two colleges for being transgender. The ostracism mobilized her to become an activist. On June 27, 1969, she met with a friend at the Stonewall inn. The infamous raid occurred and she was one of the queers leading the charge against police. She was …
#QueerHeroes Day 26 - Alexander Chee Chee’s fiction is hypnotic, but I’m always most entranced by his essays. He turns everyday experiences into symphonies. Planting a garden suddenly becomes as arduous and majestic as giving birth. A catering gig becomes a tale of overwhelming intimacy and quiet heartbreak. I encourage all of you to read …
#QueerHeroes Day 25 - Crystal LaBeija of the legendary House of LaBeija. In the late 60s-mid 70s, the drag pageants were overwhelmingly white-dominated, so much so that black contestants would score higher if they lightened their skin and succumbed to white palatability. Crystal LaBeija was not that queen. While still breaking through that barrier (reigning as …
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#QueerHeroes Day 24 - Mister Wallace Revolutions aren’t only fought on battlefields. More often than not, the most fiery of revolutions begin through sparks ignited by the words and ideas of a society’s artists. Mister Wallace knows this. The queer rapper and DJ may be based in Chicago at the moment, but their music is revolutionizing …
