Queer Dollars, Musical Numbers & Films: Our Curated Week
The 21st week of queer things we’ve been up to and into
Our own best hope for countering the chaos is to organize, ally across differences, and intervene on behalf of our best vision of inclusive radical democracy. Yes that’s an easy cliche on the left! But really, without indigenous views of sovereignty and climate care, queer and feminist reimaginings of kinship and intimacy, anti-racist accounts of systemic racial capitalism, immigrant visions of a borderless globe, organized workers’ plans for cooperative economics, disability activists’ dreams of an accessible world, and more, we can not fight effectively. If the culture warriors can attack the socially vulnerable without mass pushback from the left, then the class warriors (funded by the same forces) will win. ~Lisa Duggan1
One way to participate in community with queer people this Pride month is to directly support the livelihood of queer-owned companies, writers, and artists. We all know (and are being very clearly reminded this year) that capitalist corporations don’t really care about the wellbeing of, material support for, or solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community. Very few will prove to be our allies.
Let’s start with our encouragement to support two of the queer designers who had their merchandise pulled from the Target Pride collection due to anti-LGBTQ+ harassment.
Queer collection by Ash + Chess. From posters to t-shirts, these indie designs are as cheerful as they are pointed.
Pride collection by JZD. Jen & Vero started and run this queer Latina-owned lifestyle brand and company that not only represents Latina poder but also celebrates muy bien queers in cute tees and accessories.
But don’t stop there—we hope people will spread the love and coins around to more queers.
NIST Collection by Nihat Karaarslan. This lovely little company is bringing us all a bit of the Turkish Hamam experience, wherever we may be in the world. Whether you need new towels (waffle towels or peshtemals), clothing (scarves or Şile pants), crocheted washcloths, and/or soaps, NIST Collection has a wide variety of beautiful hand-made and ethically sourced goods. When you buy something from NIST, you not only support a small queer business owned by our dear friend Nihat, but also support Turkish crafts-people, like the women who crochet the washcloths from designs handed down through generations.
Queer for Fear art print by Amie Pascal. You know how you can directly support us and a PNW artist business? You can buy a print of Amie’s painting (which is the cover of Heather’s book Queer for Fear: Horror Film and the Queer Spectator, available for preorder with a discount code—just ask us for one) beautifully printed by the fine folks at Buy Olympia. If the print doesn’t fit with your decor, might we suggest you purchase it and donate the very queer artwork to your local Q center (or have the print sent to us and we’ll donate it to our local Q center).
Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. This is another show that was already canceled before we even learned about it. We debated whether or not we wanted to “recommend” this show since it is narratively too straight to be queer, but it’s also too queer to be straight. Here we are with the recc, though, since we are both massive suckers for musicals and were charmed by the magical realism of the show’s song-and-dance numbers—and, really, what’s more queer than people busting out singing in everyday moments. Mo, Zoey’s queer genderfluid neighbor, is our favorite character (duh) and we enjoyed all the time we got in the musical show with them, Mary Steenburgen, Bernadette Peters, and the ever-lovable Harvey Guillén. While we couldn’t care less about which dude Zoey sleeps with (please just give us more choreographed musical numbers), we did appreciate how the show grapples with grief and the emotional fallout of losing a beloved parent, as well as the Season 2 take on race in tech and the workplace—and, really, society in general.
Queer film collections on the Criterion Channel. Well done, Criterion! We haven't seen such a wonderful curation of LGBTQ+ films outside of film festivals, university classes, and personal collections.
Masc curated by Jenni Olson and Caden Mark Gardner. Spotlighting 19 films about trans men, butch lesbians, and gender-nonconforming heroes, this collection challenges ideas about the nature and construction of masculinity through a diverse range of representations of masculine identity that transverses decades, borders, labels, and genres. We are about halfway through the collection, so we look forward to visiting a few faves as we’re introduced to more new-to-us films.
If you get through the Masc collection, we recommend you then settle into Criterion’s LGBTQ+ Favorites: 20 Unforgettable Films, a collection of films all of which are truly ‘must see.’
Criterion rounds out the featured LGBTQ+ content with three films by Gregg Araki, ten filmic representations of the gay best friend, and Stanley Kwan’s Lan Yu (2001).
Seriously, there’s not a single dud in the entire queer Criterion bunch, so get an account and watch them all if you can!
