“When Trump made office it put the fear back into the idea of it all. These kids were feeling fear for the first time and had never been touched. Why? Because we worked so hard to make sure they were never touched.”
This is Lynn Koval. She’s owned a gay bar in Biloxi, Mississippi for over twenty years.
I started writing down quotes from this interview, but eventually gave up because I SWEAR every single thing she said was quotable. She talks about the challenges of building intergenerational community, the continued importance of gay bars, knowing our history, and her hope for our future. Listen to her. It’s such a breath of fresh air to hear people covering LGBTQ issues and history in the American South. We don’t all live on the coasts, y’all.
Queer Looks is a celebration a selection of iconic aesthetics and symbols used by queer folks in the west from the last 150 years. We have printers lined up and rearing to go, so all we have to do now is raise the money to pay our artists, manufacture the two hard enamel pins, and print the gorgeous 12-piece illustration zine!
Queer people have been sending messages to each other through clothes and accessories for ages, and we’ve always had ways to find each other in a crowd. In the Queer Looks zine, you’ll find the carnation codes of the 1890s, the queer blues divas of the 1920s and 30s, and even the denim and pins of the present day. All these–and more!–are gorgeously illustrated by our crew of Dates veterans:
Check out the Kickstarter page to find out more information…and to pledge! Even if you aren’t able to back the campaign, a reblog or share can make a huge difference.
Let’s make a zine!
Guess what? We HIT GOAL LAST NIGHT (then raised a couple hundred dollars more)! On to the stretch goals–just over $300 to go before we unlock that third pin!
Hey ho, I’m in this and it’s already funded?? Wow!!
Beltainefaerie's Flights of Fancy 