How do drag performers network? What resources do new or developing drag performers have when it comes to getting their work seen by the right people? What might it look like to create an organization devoted to education and promotion of drag-related issues? These were among the questions Jamie Bancroft started to ask himself last […]
INTERVIEW: Boy Meets Girl
What’s it like to grow up trans in the South? BOY MEETS GIRL, a new film from Wolfe Video, attempts to answer that question. The film tells the story of Ricky, a transwoman living and looking for love in a small Kentucky town. Ricky is played by newcomer trans actress Michelle Hendley, with co-star Michael […]
LGBTQ Youth and SanghaLink
According to the Trevor Project, suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for young people ages 10-24, and LGBTQ youth are four times as likely to attempt suicide as their straight peers. High school is a difficult time for a lot of young people, and LGBTQ youth especially. It can be easy to feel […]
Sideways Grimace Brings Hedwig to Austin
You don’t have to go all the way to New York City to get a taste of Hedwig and the Angry Inch in the flesh. Austin is home to The Sideways Grimace, a Hedwig Tribute Band. I had the pleasure of speaking with Richard Weiss, lead vocalist (aka Hedwig) and guitarist for the band. It […]
Thoughts on Auntie Kate
Kate Bornstein has had a profound effect on my life in a way she may never know (unless I decide to get brave and tweet this post @ her). In September, I saw Kate Bornstein is a Queer and Pleasant Danger as a part of the Austin Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. In the film, […]
OUTsider: Connections, Conversations, and Family
One of my favorite aspects of art and performance is putting related pieces into conversation with one another, enriching the conversation surrounding a given topic. I’m so very happy with the way OUTsider Festival’s programming is facilitating those sorts of conversations, and I only wish I had the opportunity to participate more fully this year. […]
OUTsider Fest: Queerness Past, Present, and Future
The creators of OUTsider Festival in Austin really did their homework as far as covering a large scope and breadth of queer art and performance in the programming. Which on the one hand, is refreshing and inspiring. But on the other hand, means that there is just so, so much to discuss. Festivals, conferences, art, […]
OUTsider Fest: Khmer Classical Dance
I never feel quite so Western as in those moments when I’m confronted with Asian modes of performance. So it’s only fitting that the second night of OUTsider Festival in Austin featured a performance by Prumsodun Ok, a practitioner of Cambodia’s Khmer classical dance. I think it’s important to be aware of and claim those moments […]
OUTsider Festival: Narcissister and Gay Wax Museum
I wasn’t sure what to expect when headed to see Narcissister for the opening night of OUTsider Festival in Austin. Narcissister’s name is what it sounds like; the complication of our cultural understanding of the narcissist juxtaposed with the idea of sisterhood, and how being a “sister” relates to the identities of women of color […]
Leelah Alcorn and LGBTQ Teenage Suicide
Perhaps I’m cynical, but sometimes it feels like there’s a cycle. One or more LGBTQ teens kill themselves, the media has their heyday, people get up in arms for a few weeks, and then we all return to our lives. Until the news cycle catches wind of another heart wrenching story.
Nothing, however, ever really changes. Or the changes don’t ripple far enough to save troubled teens like Leelah. This article by Mintpress News compares the rash of deaths of transgender individuals to a genocide, highlighting its rampant and violent nature.
Every year we celebrate the Transgender Day of Remembrance, but does the list of names ever really get smaller? And that list doesn’t take into account the transgender individuals whose lives were lost due to violence against themselves, like Leelah’s.