~The Sueer Marife Published Anonymously by Queers How can I tell you. How can I convince you, brother, sister that your life is in danger, That every day you wake up alive, relatively happy, and a functioning human being, you are committing a rebellious act. You as an alive and functioning queer are a revolutionary. There is nothing on this planet that validates, protects or encourages your existence. It is a miracle you are standing here reading these words. You should by all rights be dead. Don't be fooled, straight people own the world and the only reason you have been spared is you're smart, lucky, or a fighter. Straight people have a privilege that allows them to do whatever they please and fuck without fear. But not only do they live a life free of fear; they flaunt their freedom in my face. Their images are on my TY, in the magazine I bought, in the restaurant I want to eat in, and on the street where I live, I. want there to be a moratorium on straight marriage, on babies, on public displays of affection among the opposite sex and media images that promote heterosexuality. Until I can enjoy the same freedom of movement and sexuality as straights, their privilege must stop and it must be given over to me, for my queer sisters and brothers. Straight people will not do this voluntarily and so they must be forced into it. Straights must be frightened into it. Terrorized into it. Fear is the most powerful motivator. No one will give us what we deserve. Rights are not given they are taken, by force if necessary. It is easier to fight when you know who your enemy is. Straight people are your enemy who don’t acknowledge your invisibility and continue to live in and contribute to a culture that kills you. Every day one of us is taken by the enemy. Whether it is an AIDS death due to homophobic government inaction or a lesbian bashing in an all-night diner (in a supposedly lesbian neighborhood). We are being systematically picked off and we will continue to be wiped out unless we:realize that if they take one of us they must take all of us. AN ARMY OF LOVERS CANNOT LOSE Being queer is not about a right to privacy; it is about the freedom to be public, to just be who we are. It means every day fighting oppression; homophobia, racism, misogyny, the bigotry of religious hypocrites and our own self-hatred. (We have been carefully taught to hate ourselves.) And now of course it means fighting a virus as well, and all those ~ homo-haters who are using AIDS to wipe us off the face of the earth. Being queer means leading a different sort of life. It’s not about the mainstream, profit- SETTING IT... STRAIGH MYTHS and FACTS about Lesbians and Gay men: MYTH: Gays and lesbians do not contribute to society. FACT: Gay men and lesbian women have made major contributions to all aspects of society: social services, education, politics, arts and humanities, and sciences. MYTH: Lesbians and gays are mentally ill. FACT: Research done by the National Institute for Mental Health found no greater incidence of mental illness among lesbians and gays than among heterosexuals. 4 February 11 1998 The Pink Press margins, patriotism, patriarchy or being assimilated. It’s not about executive directors, privilege and elitism. It’s about being on the margins, defining ourselves; it’s. about gender- fuck and secrets, what's beneath the belt and deep inside the heart; it’s about the night. Being queer is “grass roots” because we know that every one of us, every body, cunt, heart, ass and dick is a world of pleasure waiting to be explored. Every one of us is a world of infinite possibility. We are an army because we have to be. We are an army because we are so powerful. (We have so much to fight for; we are the most precious of endangered species.) And we are an army of lovers because it is we who know what love is. Desire and lust, too. We invented them. We come out of the closet, face the rejection of society, face firing squads, just to love each other! Every time we fuck, we win. 1. PM ANGRY. THE STRONG SISTERS TOLD THE BROTHERS THAT THERE WERE TWO IMPOR- TANT THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT THE COMING REVOLU- TIONS. THE FIRST IS THAT WE WILL GET OUR ASSES KICKED. THE SECOND IS THAT WE WILL WIN. I’m angry for being condemned to death by strangers saying, “You deserve to die” and “AIDS is the cure.” Angry as I listen to a man tell me that after changing his will five times he's running out of people to leave things to. All of his best friends are dead. Angry when I stand in a sea of quilt panels, or go to a candlelight march or attend yet another memorial service. I will not march silently with a fucking candle, I want to take that goddamned quilt, wrap myself in it and furiously rend it and my hair while cursing every god religion ever created. I refuse to accept a creation that cuts people down in the third decade of their life I’m angry at straight people who sit smugly wrapped in their self-protective coat of monogamy and heterosexuality confident that this disease has nothing to do with them because it only happens to “those people.” Also at teenage boys who upon spotting my “Silence = Death” button begin chanting “Faggots gonna die” and I wonder, who taught them this? Enveloped in fury and fear, I remain silent while my button mocks me every step of the way. There’s the anger I feel when a television program on the quilt gives profiles of the dead and the list begins with a baby, a teeriage girl who got a blood transfusion, an elderly Baptist minister and his wife. Ending with a gay male description of someone who knowingly infected teenage 2. IF YOU’RE QUEER, SHOUT IT! Queers are under siege. Queers are being attacked on all fronts and I’m afraid it's ok with us. I hate straight people who think they have anything intelligent to say about “outing.” I hate straight people who think stories about themselves are “universal” but stories about us are only about homosexuality. I hate straight people who say, “I don’t see why you feel the need to wear those buttons and T-shirts. I don’t go around telling the whole world I’m straight.” I hate that in twelve years of public education I was never taught about queer people, thinking I was the only queer in the world and I hate even more that most queer kids still grow up the same way. I hate that I was tormented by other kids for being a fagggs, but more that I was taught to feel ashamed for being the object of their cruelty, to feel it was my fault. I hate that the Supreme Court of this country says it’s okay to criminalize me because of how I make love, that so many straight people are so concerned about my goddamned sex life. I hate that so many twisted straight people become parents, while I have to fight like hell to be allowed to be a father. Our education systems are guilty of genocide. They create an atmosphere of zero tolerance for my young queer brothers and sisters. They ban resources to help my brothers and sisters resist committing suicide. I'm angry! Why is it that many of my queer sisters and brothers have contemplated suicide? It’s active ignorance! Most straight people don’t care if a teenage ‘faggot’ kills himself every five hours. Meanwhile, most older queer people just stand by and do nothing. Seems that they have been taught to actively ignore the situation as well. My queer family you have an obligation! Don’t let another queer sister or brother go through what you had to endure! Raise your fists high against the bigots: Kari Simpson, Robert Pickering and the “Concerned Parents” who have absolutely no concern for our sisters and brothers. I hate straights. 3. WHERE ARE YOU, SISTERS? Invisibility is Our Responsibility I wear my pink triangle everywhere. I do not lower my voice in public when talking about lesbian love or sex. I always tell people I'm a lesbian. I don’t wait to be asked about my “boyfriend.” I don’t say it’s “no one’s business.” I don't do this for straight people. Most of them don't know what the pink triangle even means. Most of them couldn't care less that my girlfriend and I are totally in love or male prostitutes with the virus. What else can »having a fight on the street. Most of them you expect from a faggot? I’m angry. don’t notice us no matter what we do. I do men are effeminate. FACT: While some lesbians may appear mascu- line, and some gay men effeminate, the reality is ‘that lesbians and gay men are no more masculine or feminine than heterosexual members of the same sex. MYTH: Homosexuals are usually white males. FACT: The homosexual community is very diverse, consisting of both males and females, blacks, whites, Asians, Hispanics, and Natives. Homosexuality has been found to exist in almost every culture worldwide. what I do because I don't want lesbians to assume I’m a straight girl. I am out all the time, everywhere, because I WANT TO REACH YOU. Maybe you'll notice me, we'll start talking, become friends. Maybe we won't say a word but our eyes will meet and I will imagine you naked, sweating, open-mouthed, your back arched as I am fucking you. We'll be happy to know we aren't the only ones in the world. We'll be happy because we found each other, without saying a word, maybe just for a moment. But no. You won't wear a pink triangle on that linen lapel. WHERE ARE YOU? 4. WHEN ANYONE ASSAULTS YOU: FOR BEING QUEER, IT IS QUEER BASHING. Right? The straight world has us so convinced that we are helpless and deserving victims of the violence against us, that queers are immobilized when faced with a threat. BE OUTRAGED! These attacks must not be tolerated. DO SOMETHING. Recognize that any act of aggression against any member of our community is an attack on every member of the community. The more we allow homophobes to inflict violence, terror and fear on our lives, the more frequently and ferociously we will be the object of their hatred. Your body cannot be an open target for violence. Your body is worth protecting. You have a right to defend it. No matter what they tell you, your queerness must be defended and respected. You'd better learn that your life is immeasurably valuable, because unless you start believing that, it can easily be taken from you. If you know how to gently and efficiently immobilize your attacker, then by all means, do it. If you lack those skills, then think about gouging out his fucking eyes, slamming his nose back into his brain, slashing his throat with a broken bottle—do whatever you have to, save your life! 5. NO SEX POLICE For anyone to say that coming out is not part of the revolution is missing the point. Positive sexual images and what they manifest saves lives because they affirm those lives, making it possible for people to attempt to live as self-loving instead of self-loathing. The famous “Black is beautiful” quote changed many lives, so does “Read my lips” affirm queerness in the face of hatred and invisibility as displayed in a recent governmental study of suicides that states at least 1/3 of all teen suicides are Queer. This is further exemplified by the rise in HIV transmission among those under 21. We are most hated as queers for our sexualness, that is, our physical contact with a MYTH: All lesbians are masculine and all gay . Here’ a big tip of the hat to all the people who made this queer supplement a success: Barbara Hubert Tilley the Wunderqueer Andrew Carroll Alicia Abramson so myself, StO The last Word Gweny Wong: Coordinator All those great people down at the Pride Collective. Queen Saffron (who didn't do anything, save walk in during production and bring some of that joy and regal bearing that we admire and miss. Love ya, babe.) The usual editors and production staff at the OP who copy-edited, proofread and got these pages looking pretty damn hot, if I do say To all you queers, friends and people who could ve contributed but didn‘... theres another one of these coming out next year, but why wait? Make your presence known. Write for the OP We'll welcome you with open arms, straight, queer or other. : the same sex. Our sexuality and sexual expression are what makes us most suscepti! to physical violence. Our difference, our otherness, our uniqueness can either us or politicize us. Hopefully, the majority us will not let it kill us. I HATE STRAIGHTS I hate straight people who can’t listen to queer anger without saying “hey, all straight people aren't like that. I’m straight too, you know,” as if their egos don’t get enough stroking or protection in this arrogant, heterosexist world. Why add the reassurance “Of course, I don’t mean you. You don’t act that way.” Let them figure out for themselv whether they deserve to be included in our anger. But of course that would mean listening t our anger, which they almost never do. Thi deflect it, by saying “I’m not like that” or “now look who's generalizing” or “You'll cat more flies with honey...” or “If you focus on the negative you just give out more power” “you're not the only one in the world who's suffering.” They say “Don't yell at me, I’m o} your side” or “I think you're overreacting” or “BOY, YOU’RE BITTER.” They've taught us that good queers don't get mad. They've taught us so well that we not only hide our anger from them, we hide it from each other. You don't need to see onl hetero couple grocery shopping on your TV. Tell them “GO AWAY FROM ME, until YOU change.” Go tell them go away until they have spent a month walking hand in hand in public with someone of the same sex After they survive that, then you'll hear what they have to say about queer anger. Other- wise, tell them to shut up and listen. RULES OF CONDUCT FOR STRAIGHT PEOPLE IN QUEER SPACES 1) Keep your displays of affection (kissing, handholding, embracing) to a minimum. “Your” sexuality is unwanted and offensive to many here. 2) In clubs, if you must slow dance, be as inconspicuous as possible. 3) Do not gawk or stare at lesbians or gay men, “especially bull dykes or drag queens.” We are not “your entertainment.” 4) If you cannot comfortably deal with someone of the same sex making a pass at you, get out. 5) Do not flaunt your heterosexuality. Be discreet, Risk being mistaken for a lezzie or a homo. 6) If you feel these rules are unfair, go figh homophobia in straight spaces, or 7) Go Fuck Yourself.