"Queer is the New-Age Hipster Version of Being a Special Snowflake"

Photo by Vanessa Marino

I’m very proud to share that I recently had my very first guest post published by a larger publication! Last week,

Monica Harris

, the Executive Director of

FAIR

and supporter of my work, very kindly asked me to contribute my thoughts on Pride, and I was honored to write a piece.

So I went H.A.M. y’all!

The original title of my article was,

“LGBTQ Pride Has Become a Symbol of Cultural Degeneracy”.

Like Okay, we packin’ a punch here!! 👊🏾👊🏾👊🏾

Although they loved my article and didn’t ask me to change anything in my piece, the Editor reached back and suggested a “softer” title, since ‘degenerate’ can be perceived as a harsh (although accurate) word to describe LGBT Pride.

I understand. They didn’t want anyone clutching their pearls, or for people to see the title and close their minds to what I had to say.

But on the other hand, I couldn’t think of a better word to describe Pride! I whipped out the Oxford dictionary and looked up the actual definition of ‘degenerate’ to make sure I was being clear, and only confirmed my intuition:

Degenerate:

/dəˈjen(ə)rət/

1. having lost the physical, mental, or moral qualities considered normal and desirable; showing evidence of decline.

2. TECHNICAL

   lacking some property, order, or distinctness of structure previously or usually present.

.

This was at the heart of what I had to say.

(((Along with a few jabs at queer culture, as quoted in the title of this post.)))

In the end, FAIR suggested a completely new title that reflects their style, while agreeing to keep “cultural degeneracy” in the subtitle, and it was a go.

And it was a hit!

You can read the full article here.

I want to express how grateful I am to collaborate with an organization that actually supports dissident Artists in this wacko-doodle political climate.

I went to one of FAIR’s community meetings last night, and it was so refreshing to be in the company of other Artists who are grappling with questions of cancel culture.

I’m applying for a couple of artist grants right now, and noticing that I feel like I have to emphasize other aspects of my Artistry in order to even have a chance.

Although that’s easy for me to do because I have a wide-ranging Artist portfolio, I admit that it doesn’t feel great to feel like I have to omit the stellar and unique work I do in critiquing gender ideology to obtain the fiscal support I rightly deserve.

I rely on individual supporters like you, and platforms like FAIR who are intentional about supporting dissident Artists, in order to build my platform sustainably in this new paradigm.

Eventually, I feel that the current work I’m doing will become so prominent that it will be impossible to hide or downplay it, and that’s Okay because I’m in the business of playing big and allowing myself space to shine.

Truth is, I’m ahead of my time, and eventually the culture is going to have no choice but to catch up or be left in the dust.

The growing pains that Artists like me go through right now are not going to last forever, because the current paradigm we live in is unsustainable. That’s how I approach my work—is with an expanded vision. I bet on myself.

I treat my Creative Voice as though it’s the future, because it is.

We all have a choice to decide-are we going to be true to ourselves and invest in carving out our own lane ahead of the curb, or are we going to let society dictate where we go next, what we say or don’t say, and how we move through life, forever?

You already know what it is.