Journalist
In June of 2018, I began posting a brief bio and picture/video of a different queer hero every day to Facebook to celebrate Pride. The posts became invigorating to write and research; a way to commemorate the reasons Pride exists.
#QueerHeroes Day 30
TBD
I wasn’t sure how to end this or what one person would be the best to end on, but I know that these current times, especially as SCOTUS continues to devolve, will temper us. We’ll mobilize like we always have, unfurling the activists, artists, and innovators that will characterize these times for the ones to come after.
(Also including additional heroes without descriptions in the comments, cause there are way more than 30)
#QueerHeroes Day 29.
Ryan McGinley.
McGinley moved to New York in the 90’s. He began taking polaroids of his friends partying in the East Village. After compiling the photos into a book (The Kids are Alright), he sent it to magazine editors and famous photographers. It was the beginning of an incredible career.
Since then, he’s photographed Beyoncé, Brad Pitt, and a slew of others. He’s organized shows for burgeoning queer photographers as well. GQ called him “the most important photographer in America.”
A Little Life writer Hanya Yanagihara cites his photos as one of her biggest inspirations for the novel.
McGinley’s latest exhibit Mirror Mirror opened at Team Gallery last night. Check it out!
#QueerHeroes Day 28
Sasha Velour.
I know most of y’all know who she is so I’ll keep this brief: Miss Velour is doing wonders with her voice and artistry.
She was the season 9 winner of drag race and since then, she’s created a series of short films called One Dollar Drags (check it out) and she’s launching her own magazine. She still finds time to bring her monthly drag revue “Nightgowns!” to her old stomping grounds in Brooklyn.
I went to Nightgowns! shortly after RuPaul’s reprehensible comments about trans people competing on drag race. She began the show with stories of the Mollycoddles, of Marsha, of the Balls, testifying the necessity and validity of trans queens. She’d booked multiple trans performers that night and it was some of the most thrilling, revolutionary drag I’ve ever seen.
She constantly hands her mic to those society too often tunes out. Her creativity can render her Keith Haring one day and Queen Elizabeth the next.
“Gender is a construct, tear it apart!”
#QueerHeroes Day 27.
Harvey Milk.
Honestly? Fucking google him.
#QueerHeroes Day 26.
Leigh Bowery.
Bowery was raised in Australia before moving to London where his outlandishness and creative passion made him an underground sensation. His artistic acumen seemed limitless, excelling at fashion design, performance art, music, and events.
As a performance artist, he performed on piece that had him in a giant gown, towering over the audience. He would sing a song and dance a tad. Then without warning, he would fall on his back and writhe in pain before birthing a naked young woman (his artistic partner Nicola Bateman, who’d been strapped to his body 69-style) amidst a sea of stage blood. Bowery even ate the umbilical cord (sausage links).
His club Taboo, which developed from an underground party, became one of the most exclusive establishments in London, as well as a den of drugs and sexual liberation.
In the 90’s, he started a band called Minty. The band got a two week engagement at a popular London cafe, but the city council shut them down after one performance (of which Alexander McQueen was in attendance). It was Bowery’s last performance.
He died of AIDS related complications on New Year’s Eve 1994. He continues to inspire legendary artists like Lady Gaga and Vivienne Westwood to this day.
Evan Brechtel 