There have been plenty of articles and posts around the interwebs on why new generations of queer* folk don’t know about, aren’t interested in, and perhaps don’t even need to know, their (our) history. These are often followed by young queers saying they DO want to know.
It is important that we all understand the benefits and limitations of sharing the past. Many of the challenges we currently face are not new- bigotry & hatred and economic, legal & social injustice are familiar to all generations. Basic human behaviour has not changed very much at the core; we know all too well the old reactionary tactics, no matter the branding and spin now used.
Some of the techniques we used 40 years ago may be less effective now with changes in social norms and increased technology. Whether they are replaced or just modified (Resistance 2.0 if you will) they are a starting point. See my Life of Service page for my own volunteer work over the decades.
In addition to stories of:
# Coming Out in early 1978 in a small Ontario city’s daily newspaper;
# Fighting to include ‘sexual preference’ in basic civil rights laws;
# A summer working in a gay bathhouse (after the raids, during the early years of the hiv/AIDS pandemic);
# Taking vows as a fully-professed Sister in the Toronto Order of Perpetual Indulgence;
# Becoming aware of my interest, then becoming active in leather/ fetish/ kink communities across North America;
I love to share my poetic prose contained in the self-published chap book shown here.
I’ve done bits of these in this blog, in a few interviews/ podcasts and on my youTube channel. Descended from Irish storytellers, I’m always up to share. If you have a podcast/ youTube channel and are interested in chatting with me, I’d love to chat with you.
I’m also now uncovering the unique NeuroDelightful brain that was masked for about 5 decades. Just one of the mental health injuries I’ve sustained during this lifetime.
** Note on Queer: I respect the right of others not to self-identify with this word. I do- I reclaim it, and other words, with some limitations. Any specific use of a word reflects the speaker’s intent- the sweetest voice won’t easily hide hatred.
At the same time I can not over-emphasize that my generation (late-stage Boomer) would do well to accept (if not embrace) the new language and paradigms these ‘kids’ use. When I came out in 1978 many groups were just growing from ‘Gay [whatever]’ to ‘Lesbian & Gay [whatever]’. We in the ‘first world’ generally (certainly not exclusively) viewed human sexuality and gender within a fundamentally binary construct.
