Most importantly, the book indicates a way forward — in which many more individuals will continue fighting for liberation by speaking out, creating art, and putting themselves on the line for their queer siblings. In a way, it offers much hope for what the next 100 years will bring.
Punk occupies the precipices between survival and resistance, rage and anguish, hope and giving up, love and nothing. PUNK IS ABOUT LOVE… It implores us to bear witness to those who need to speak and receive support. It made me cry. Crying is so punk.
For those eagerly awaiting, Tiny still has no name, and neither does Simone.
It is a big deal! That someone’s gonna love me unconditionally, even if I don’t have to fulfill something with you, makes me want to be with you all the more. And that’s important. If I had to go on a Mars Rover tomorrow, the two people I’d want to see most are on this couch.
The world is exhausting. A queer woman can not survive on her own.
We drank desperately, incredible amounts, and I barely remember that year. But I do remember Lizz bringing me South Indian takeout so I could eat it while I sat on the floor packing up my apartment and crying, and I remember driving Lizz to clean out the wreck of her car after a friend totaled it and then taking her to get sandwiches from the place I worked. I remember feeling like I wasn’t sure either of us would make it, and realizing how deeply I wanted Lizz to. I didn’t know the term at the time, but it was the first time I think I understood chosen family: people who help you survive by deeply linking your survival to theirs.
There was a deep sharing of emotion and feelings and we planned the future and organized and then shared opinions about finger-fucking and chlorine you know, very loudly, next to some children.
[Trans women] must stop being afraid, because fear is a form of violence. If we replace fear with knowledge, we can become safer.
Stacy Velasquez Vasquez via Venir Al Sur Creates Vital LGBTI Feminist Community In Latin America
When I first started, I was told I couldn’t do this because if it was so easy someone would have done this already. I was told I needed lots of money. I was told there was no market for gender neutral shoes. I was told I couldn’t make shoes that would be different than what companies have already done for women in men’s styles. I was told no no no… but I didn’t care.
I wanted to write about this week’s book not because it’s unknown but because it’s a YA title that deserves more reading outside of the genre’s usual audience, and because there are things I want to say about it that I haven’t read elsewhere: things that make it queer, inventive, and otherwise a standout.
I think about it all the time, what would my childhood have been like if I knew it was okay to wear ‘boy’ clothes, or if I knew it was okay to walk standing up straight, or if I knew it was okay to say no to my boss. You know? TV has painted a picture for us, a picture that we all subscribe to because we don’t have the opportunity to see anything else. That’s why it’s so amazing when it happens.