"Truth be told, I’m not very good at describing my gender in any language. At the same time, I inhabit an identity that doesn’t make sense without words. It’s not inscribed in my body; I can’t point to a picture or a diagram. I’m not even sure if I’m the same gender, really, as other people who describe themselves as genderfluid, nonbinary, genderqueer. Maybe we’ve just reached for the same words to fend off the same uneasy questions."

Genderfeels in Nomads’ Land - Jinghua Qian for them

https://www.them.us/story/traveling-through-central-asia-nonbinary-genderfluid

#Queer
@queerstudies

“I use every experience, every breakup, every one-night stand, good and bad, to shape a character and shape of phrase in music. I don’t shy away from who I am. When I was a closeted gay man and not secure in who I was, I don’t feel I sang well. People could see — they didn’t know what it is — but they could feel it. Something was not right. Once I let that go, things were different. As soon as I was more open and free with who I was, I feel like I sang better. People started to receive my art and realize I had something to say. Being Black and my Black experience, growing up in church with my family in Miami, and being a gay man — I use all of those experiences in my music and my performance."

Russell Thomas to Chiedu Egbuniwe on his Black queer artiststry for advocate.com

https://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/2022/12/09/superstar-tenor-russell-thomas-being-black-queer-man-opera

#queer
#opera
@queerstudies
@queerperformance

"While I felt practically invisible growing up as a queer young girl, my son frequently sees queer and trans characters on his screen shown in a positive light. Moreover, most of them exist in a world where they are simply accepted for who they are. He’s growing up with shows like She-Ra and the Princess of Power, Gravity Falls, Adventure Time, The Loud House, and so many others where diversity is celebrated and accepted.

Plus, because we’ve always normalized LGBTQ+ people, he’s growing up accepting of others no matter their gender or orientation and accepting of himself and whoever he grows up to be. As for me, in watching these shows with my son, I’m doing a lot of healing of my inner child, something nine-year-old me would’ve never even dreamed of."

Priscilla Blossom for Tiny Beans.

CW for full article: Suicide statistics.

https://tinybeans.com/why-its-important-for-kids-to-see-queer-cartoon-characters

#Queer
@queerstudies

"I didn’t realise I was queer in the West Wimmera. I didn’t have any narratives to work with. Even on television, visibility felt rare, and not just because the cockatoos were wreaking havoc on the aerial signal. I remember in the early 2000s, two mums walked their child on Play School, and it made the news.

[...]

I often feel like queer people have a delayed onset of the teenage experience. When I finally got to Melbourne, I became a teenager at Thursgay. Not long after this, I became a grandpa who rarely leaves the house.

Sometimes Mum asks why I don’t move back home. It’s because I’m queer. If the homophobia felt below the surface, so did the support."

Jasmine Shirrefs for Archer Magazine.

https://archermagazine.com.au/2022/11/queer-rural-victoria-homophobic-hometowns/

#Queer
@queerstudies

"It’s interesting because the industry wants to pivot, with this younger generation that’s gender experimental and gender expansive. They genuinely do not know how to speak to them, but we do. So, there will eventually be more demand for our skills. It’s not happening swiftly or smoothly, but it is inevitable. Time moves in one direction, and we are living in the future. And baby, the future wins."

Zackary Drucker in conversation with Imara Jones and Wren Sanders for them.

https://www.them.us/story/imara-jones-zackary-drucker-trans-futures-week-storytelling

#Queer #Trans
@queerstudies
@queerperformance

“I want to tell those stories before they disappear, before these families leave the country or state, before these families have to go underground,” Freidin said.

Despite this growing moral panic around young trans lives, a few brave kids still feel safe enough to defiantly present their faces to the world.

“The ones who are so at risk but still want to speak out, still want to be in the fight and be public, they’re doing their own kind of activism,” Freidin said.

As a trans man, Freidin feels he can relate to the issue on a deeper level than the mainstream media; “I was so tired of seeing the same image of a trans kid we see in journalism all the time, which is typically by themselves looking sad, playing with toys on the floor.”

Jesse Freidin to Kit O'Connell on his project, "Are You OK?"

https://www.texasobserver.org/trans-kids-youth-are-you-ok-photos/

#Queer
@queerstudies