An issue that I’ve been activated into participating in is how queer lives are under attack. Not only have bills been passed which actively ban discussion of queer issues, some are going as far to make gay marriage illegal again. Lawmakers pass these under the guise of “protecting children” when they’re using it as a means of silencing queer voices and further dehumanizing them (“Don’t Say Gay," “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” despite being repelled in 2011 is reinstated due to Trump’s transgender military ban, several book bans in southern United States, etc.). While laws such as these haven’t made their way to New Jersey, there’s no telling what lawmakers will do next with the fiasco Trump and Elon have been making lately. It’s causing a scare not only in me, but my friends and family who are queer/worried about my future. Queers used to throw bricks at cops. I will not stand for silence when the incredibly strong queers who came before me put their lives at stake so I could live comfortably today.
I made a flyer/poster with tearable pieces of paper on it which state "My life is worth living" on them. At the top, a statistic explains, "Despite it being 3 months into 2025, over 500 anti-LGBTQ+ laws have been referred in 49 states" (https://www.aclu.org/legislative-attacks-on-lgbtq-rights-2025) (https://translegislation.com/). In the middle in big, bold fonts displays the text, "Your Life is Worth Living" which captured people's attention and made them scan the flyer more. Amidst this era of fear and uncertainty, it's easy to feel isolated, like one's the only person in the world suffering in silence. It's incredibly important to remind queers that we as a community will suffer, and as a result, be there for each other always. We are still standing. We got out of bed, changed, and hurried to work or school. People underestimate how great of an achievement it is to simply wake up and live in spite of the world. The purpose of this intervention is to remind queer people that their troubles are seen, and that giving up is letting our oppressors win.
While researching and putting my intervention together, I took heavy inspiration from other interventions mentioned in The Art of Activism by Steve Duncombe and Steve Lambert. "Undocubus" was made in 2012 by undocumented immigrant activists as a form of protest against several anti-immigration laws that were being passed in the southern U.S. It's straightforward in both its imaging, symbolism and message that it's trying to get across, and I believe that makes an effective and powerful intervention. "Donning butterfly wings at their events, and with butterfly designs covering their bus and emblazoned on their shirts, the Undocubus activists forged an association between human immigration and a natural and majestic migration, reframing the image of a population unjustly feared and routinely degraded. Who, after all, can be enraged at a butterfly?" (Duncombe, Lambert, 30).
However, I also believe symbolism and pictures can only go so far. Sometimes the best way to grab one's attention is to put the information right in their face (hence my statistic at the top which, when thought about, is insane). Have Sex - Go to Jail curated by Andy Campbell and used by the Act UP/LA foundation in 1991 used big, eye-catching fonts and pure facts to showcase the absurdity of anti-queer laws that were being passed at the time. Any rational person would read it and be astonished by how absurd it is. It's criminalizing the act of being human; criminalizing loving in one of its most intimate, purest forms.
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| Provided by www.advocate.com (2023, June 6) |
Lawmakers are, to this day, still trying to criminalize being a human. Regardless of age, gender, race, or religion, everyone bleeds the same color. The lack of empathy that man has for other man just because they like the same gender or want to be called a different name is saddening and a bleak peek into the potential future of queerness in America. However, as mentioned earlier, that's the future. It cannot be stressed enough how vital it is to care for oneself in the present. Today will impact tomorrow, so while the night is still young, remember that you're stronger than you give yourself credit for. Outlive all who have tried to wrong you.
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