Trans/queer writer and socialist hero Leslie Feinberg died last week. The event rekindled my memories of squatting on the floor of Barnes and Nobles at the age of 17, reading the work zie’s1 most known for, Stone Butch Blues, a bildungsroman set in the lesbian working class bar scene during the Stonewall era. I was… Continue reading Remembering Stone Butch Blues’ Pledge To Sex Workers
Tag: queer
The Week In Links—May 9th
“I just want them to stop fucking with us.” VICE talks to Mexican sex workers participating in a May Day march for labor rights in a piece acknowledging the economic appeal of sex work: “Inflation has caused Mexico’s minimum wage to decrease over the years, and many of the country’s citizens have turned to the… Continue reading The Week In Links—May 9th
Activist Spotlight: Melissa Gira Grant on Playing The Whore and Policing the Policers, Part One
In the early aughts when I was a novice escort and On Our Backs was still being published, I was wowed by Melissa Gira Grant, an internet porn-making, geeky, theory-spouting phenom, even managing to be friends with her despite the fact that she was an Anais Nïn devotee. Over the years I’ve kept in touch… Continue reading Activist Spotlight: Melissa Gira Grant on Playing The Whore and Policing the Policers, Part One
Who Gets Left Out: Respectability Politics Round Table, Part Two
You can read part one of this dialogue here. Emma Caterine: Red Umbrella Project has definitely encountered issues around pressure to conform to respectability politics from larger groups who fund or sponsor us in different ways. It is telling that I can’t mention many of the specifics for fear of re-opening old wounds. Particularly the… Continue reading Who Gets Left Out: Respectability Politics Round Table, Part Two
Interview: Sophia St. James
Sophia St James is all smiles. The former stripper and current queer pornographer, activist, and sex educator, had taken a seat on the soft couch of the quiet, NE Portland feminist bookstore. The perpetually busy James had found a few minutes from her day to meet with me and I was thrilled. So, how would… Continue reading Interview: Sophia St. James