Tag Archives: queer youth

it gets different (doesn’t it?)

"If I die, you die" -- black spray-painted graffiti on grey concrete

Found in Cambridge, on Mass Ave: the text reads, "If I die / you die"

I’m thinking this morning about the kids who are killing themselves, the kids bullied and done with it, the kids who are either gay or who someone decided must be gay and who got teased, relentlessly. One boy tried to hang himself and was found unconscious in his backyard, another boy hung himself, one boy shot himself, one young man jumped of the George Washington bridge after his fucking roommate secretly used a webcam to video-stream him having sex with another man. That’s just this month, and that’s just the stories that are making the news. We aren’t getting many many other stories, about kids who’ve killed themselves rather than endure one more fucking minute, nor about the kids who are still going through it.

This isn’t about kids not being tough enough, not being able to “man-up” — this is about a terrible hazing, a constant, multi-lateral, multi-faceted hazing into american adult society that we’ve set up and chosen or been forced to participate in, as the bullied, the bully, or the bystander.

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Upcoming events!

Feb is turning out to be a busy month around these parts! Come on down for one or more of these events in San Francisco:

Feb 15: Open Mic at the Exiles!
Keep that V-day energy moving! Gina De Vries and I will be the features at this first ever kinky and erotic open mic sponsored by the Exiles! Open to all Exiles members and guests. 5 min per performer, signup at 7:30, program begins at 8. For more info, visit The Exiles online (http://www.theexiles.org/).

Feb 16: Philosophy/Art Salon: What is Erotic?
Join us for a Socratic dialogue on the question: What makes for erotic art? Philosopher-at-Large Rita Alfonso, Ph.D., will be joined by erotic Writer Jen Cross and visual artist Dorian Katz for a brief show-and-tell followed by philosophical discussion. At Femina Potens, 2199 Market St. at Sanchez, SF. Admission is $10-$25 sliding scale. (www.feminiapotens.org)
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Kicked Out – Call for submissions!

Passing the word — Someone else noted that one needn’t be a youth *now* to tell your story. Fell free to forward it on to anyone you think might be interested.

(Forwarded) Call for submissions:

Kicked Out is a new anthology, which uniquely seeks to tell the tales of former queer youth and current queer youth who were forced to leave home because of their sexuality and/or gender identity. This anthology will tell our collective stories of survival, weaving together descriptions of abuse, and homelessness with poignant accounts of the ways in which queer community centers offered sanctuary, and the power and importance of creating our own chosen families in the face of losing everything we have ever known. Kicked Out offers advice and wisdom to the queer youth of today from those who have been in their shoes.

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