FUSION Spring 2019 www.ohiofusion.com
FASHION FORWARD
WHAT’S INSIDE LGBTQ 2018 MIDTERM WINS “ NO FATS, NO FEMS, NO ASIANS.” CONVERGING IDENTITIES
GETTING DOWN TO THE ROOTS
LEGALIZING TRAUMA GA(Y)TE KEEPING: A PERSPECTIVE
MOVIES WITH LGBTQ THEMES
FASHION FORWARD
ARE YOU CALLING ME FRUITY?
MEET THE STAFF
Ella Abbott Editor-in-Chief
Dani Watts Photo Editor
Carlyle Addy Senior Editor
Stephen Francis
Anu Sharma Senior Editor
PHOTOGRAPHERS
DESIGNERS
Nick Gates Jake Ball Zach Rodgers Alyse Nelson
Danielle D’Amico
ILLUSTRATORS Emily Loccisano Marcus Molina Lily Horvat
MAKEUP Meg Spisak
FACULTY Bruce Zake Fusion Adviser
Kevin Dilley
Director of Student Media
Norma Young Business Manager
Jacyna Peña Media Speciaist
Tami Cindea Bongiorni
Assistant Director of Student Media
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Art Director
WRITERS Jenn Noga Emy Loy Colleen Carroll Natasha Gaj
MARKETING Abby Winternitz Bailee Bober Madison Brattoli Kalib Kiser
MODELS Emma Untermoser Sydney Schwegler Tommy Beeler Ruby Callen Alyse Nelson Mickey Erdos Hana Baran Christian Ward
Michael Gallagher Mikayla Stone Mason Makuch D’Antae Butler Allie Austin Fotini Kaim Akii Butler Eli Less
A LETTER FROM
THE EDITOR Dear Readers, What a year, am I right? The world we live in has been changing so quickly and strangely in the past year or so. Both in positive and negative ways. People have continued to fight the good fight – both to wins and losses. In 2018, we saw historical wins for the LGBTQ community during the midterm elections across the country. Here in Kent, we saw some losses. I began my work with Fusion in 2016 and, during my time with the magazine, we’ve never shied away from the reality of our losses or the celebration of our wins. When you cover the LGBTQ community, it’s easy to try to use rose-colored lenses. Sometimes you don’t want to think about the tragedy, the loss. But the history of this community is vast and unyielding. It is a community that has refused to remain under boot, that has stood up and fought for themselves, for others, for a world they wanted to leave behind. Our world isn’t perfect, but I want to believe it’s trying. It’s trying through activists, through scholars, through politics. Through people like those that have made up the staff of this magazine. Journalists who want to tell the stories that need to be told, that struggle to find voice or that refuse to remain silent. Fusion has a duty to tell these stories. A duty to itself, to the people who came before and to you, readers. This semester marks my final one with the magazine. Nearly three years of my life, nearly my entire career at Kent State. I’ve helped put out four magazines over my time – two of them as Editor-in-Chief, including a fall issue for the first time in years. I’ve poured parts of myself into this magazine. Attended Prides and acted as a Fusion advocate. Given it countless late nights of writing and editing, skipped shifts at work, gone to probably hundreds of meetings. Over the past two and a half years, this magazine has been everything to me. But, despite all that, my time with Fusion has taught me to check my ego at the door. Over the past two and a half years, I have made myself Fusion. But Fusion will never be me. Fusion magazine came before me, under the tenure of editors that seem like giants to me. It’s legacy will live on after me, with the incumbent editors who I hope will look fondly on what I and my staff brought to the table. It’s legacy will live on with you, readers. With every word or photo that sticks with you, every call to action it begins in you. And for that I am eternally grateful. I am grateful for every moment, every experience and every opportunity this magazine has given me. I hope it inspires you, serves you and comforts you.
-Ella Abbott, Editor-in-Chief
To advertise with us contact: ads@ksustudentmedia.com or 330-672-2586
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THE RAINBOW OREGON
OR
Gubernatorial Race Kate Brown won re-election for Governor. Brown was the first openly bisexual governor in U.S. history. .
CALIFORNIA 25th Congressional District Katie Hill won her race, becoming California’s first openly-bisexual congressperson.
CO CA AZ
ARIZONA Senate Race Kyrsten Sinema was elected the first female senator from Arizona and first openly bisexual senator in history.
COLORADO Gubernatorial Race Jared Polis became the first openly gay man elected to a governor’s mansion.
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Written By Ella Abbott
W WAVE 2018 NEW HAMPSHIRE NH
1st Congressional District District Chris Pappas is the first openly gay congressman in New Hampshire.
MN WI
WISCONSIN Senate Race
Tammy Baldwin, America’s first openly gay Senator, was reelected to her seat. .
KA
MINNESOTA 2nd Congressional District
KANSAS Congressional Race
Angie Craig was elected, making her the first LGBTQ congressperson in Minnesota.
Sharice Davids was elected, becoming the second openly lesbian member of Congress, first openly LGBT person to represent Kansas, one of the first Native American Congresswomen.
Illustration By Stephen Francis
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Hyacinthe Schwartz smiles for a portrait in the Peter B. Lewis Building at Case Western Campus. They are a PhD student and TAs for a class in the FUSION SPRING 2019 8 building.
“NO FATS
NO FEMS NO ASIANS” A common theme in Grindr bio’s seems to express preferences in a discriminatory way with that one phrase.
D
iscrimination within the LGBTQ community is nothing new.
In fact, when Philadelphia included brown and black stripes on the PRIDE flag, which the city’s Office of LGBT Affairs said was meant to symbolize the inclusion of black and brown people in the LGBTQ community, that caused an uproar within the community.
Hyacinthe Schwartz, a doctorate student at Case Western University studying organizational behavior, said they have been excluded from conversations regarding LGBTQ topics within the community. They are non-binary and use Tum-Tum, an ancient Jewish term, as part of their identity. Aside from being misgendered, Schwartz said they’ve been made to feel they have to choose between being feminine or masculine.
community and causing unrest. Schwartz said that TERFs and the like have not only targeted them but also trans, asexual and bisexual individuals and invalidated those identities. They said they have asexual friends who are cut off and had that identity invalidated and not included in diverse conversations about the community. Susan Halitsky, a lesbian and member of the Official Greater Cleveland LGBT community said she has been guilty of this in the past, however, has changed her mindset because of a friend who helped open her eyes to her own bigotry. Halitsky said she invalidated bisexuality when she was younger and didn’t realize her bigotry until her 40s when she became friends with someone who is bisexual who made her realize that it was a valid identity.
suspicion that Harmony is a sex worker when they are not. Colangelo had to leave her previous job as a reporter with Cleveland Scene due to targeted discrimination by the readers. She now teaches as an artist and works part-time at the bar Side Quest with her girlfriend. She said along with transphobic discrimination, she has been fat-shamed within the community. This is prevalent in the gay community especially with the common theme of “no fats, no fems, no Asians” in many bio descriptions on dating apps. Colangelo also explained that queer women who are TERFs are often exclusively a “gold star lesbian,” a queer woman who has had no relationship with a man, and excludes lesbians who dated men in the past. Similarly, there are gay men who identify themselves as a “gold star gay” someone who has not dated a woman at all.
“A lot of people don’t consider non-binary people valid at all and so they round up or She said she hadn’t realized she had adopted down,” Schwartz said. “And so that’s what traits due to her upbringing. they end up is doing is rounding down for me She said it made her feel smaller in a “My mother was a very opinionated woman, community meant to celebrate such diversity. to gay cis man.” and her opinion was the law,” Halitsky said. It’s an issue that should be addressed within They explained how people won’t consider “So, you know, I didn’t realize that I was her.” the community, however, many people in the their gender and assume what their identity is. community are not aware of the issue itself. She said her mother would not consider While mostly online, they’ve had encounters other’s thoughts or feelings. Additionally, Schwartz said people in the with Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists, community need to know how to address the TERFs, who have called them a misogynist, But Halitsky has surrounded herself with issue in order to solve it, and need the tools invalidated their gender and caused dysphoria. these individuals and has learned more about to change. the issue from a different perspective of what It’s been causing them so much distress she grew up with. “People can only really change themselves,” that Schwartz themselves would begin to Schwartz said. “You can’t change others.” question their identity. These individuals Brittany-Jade Colangelo, or BJ, is a cis found Schwartz by targeting them on social queer woman who has faced discrimination media. TERFs are notorious for committing when in public with her girlfriend Harmony, Words & Photos by discriminatory acts and behaviors within the a transgender woman. They have been Anu Sharma targeted by TERFs and police as well for false
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Getting Down To
THE ROOTS I
n 1978, U.S official Harvey Milk urged Gilbert Baker to create a symbol of pride for the gay community. Baker, a gay man and drag queen, saw flags as the ultimate symbol of pride and believed they gave prominence to the idea of “This is who I am.” Viewing the rainbow as a natural flag from the sky, Baker took those eight colors and constructed a flag. Each colored stripe held its own meaning.
red, we wanted our model, Mason, to exude the feeling of losing our minds. Let’s all rip our hair out in anguish while still looking fierce, shall we?
The concept behind these portraits is influenced by Gilbert Baker’s rainbow flag and strives to provide even more visual context for his vision.
Next, we feel a sense of whimsy with the color purple, which symbolizes spirit. In order to create a sense of spirit, we fanned two poster boards at our model, Mickayla, while her beautiful locks flowed from the frame. Following purple, is our green portrait, representing nature. Our model, Michael, greets us with a soft smile while wearing earthy tones. Lastly, we leave you feeling serene with our blue portrait. I wanted there to be a dreamlike feeling with this photo. I wrapped our model, Fotini, in a light blue, translucent tablecloth which offered feelings of peace and calmness.
But first, let’s celebrate. Turquoise embodies magic and that’s exactly what I wanted to come across with this portrait. We concocted a mess of confetti for our model, Hana to throw and parade around in. Hana’s infectious spirit feels like the life of the party and her smile invites us into the start of the series. Secondly, we ask you to join in the chaos and unpredictability of life. For
Following red is our precious pink. The color pink stands for sexuality. I wanted this portrait to feel flirty and display a sense of playfulness through Christian’s expression.
Words & Photos by Dani Watts
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MAGIC
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LIFE
SEXUALITY FUSION SPRING 2019 12
HEALING The citrusy glow of orange which means healing. For this portrait, I had our models, Emily and Sydney, pose in a way that represents how friendships can be a necessary part of healing.
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SUNLIGHT After orange is yellow, representing sunshine. My approach for this portrait was to evoke a sense of warmth. Our model, D’Antae expresses what it’s like to bask in the golden glow of the daylight.
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SPIRIT
NATURE
SERENITY
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CONVERGING IDENTITIES The prevalance of autism in the LGBTQ Community
Words by Natasha Gaj | Photo by Jake Ball
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tudies from 2018, such as “Sexual Orientation in Autism Spectrum Disorder” by the International Society for Autism Research and “Autistic Traits in Treatment-Seeking Transgender Adults” in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, reported a large and disproportionate number of the autistic community that is LGBTQ compared to the non-autistic population. In light of the intersectionality movement, it is important to listen, amplify, and act in response to the experiences of people who are both LGBTQ and autistic. Rhianna Zuby, a digital science major, continues their second year at Kent State. They are queer/bi+ and describe their gender using metaphors and visual imagery.
“I've never thought about gender the way neurotypicals do, so I mostly just feel like myself, genderwise,” Zuby said. Being neurotypical is a way to refer to someone who isn’t autistic or doesn’t display other neurologically atypical patterns of thought or behavior. Because people with autism often have an easier time communicating via writing, interviewees were encouraged to both say and write their responses to questions. “To be honest when I think about my gender, what comes up is female, badass, nature imagery depending on my mood,” Zuby said. “Right now: a cool, shaded river running through a mountainous forest of primarily evergreen trees. Sunlight filters through in the break created by the river, and the river is small/shallow enough for rocks, some covered in green moss, to be seen.” While they knew they were LGBTQ almost two years ago, Zuby did not realize they were autistic until a few months ago.
Because they witnessed people around them being treated negatively, Nelson did not fully acknowledge their LGBTQ and autistic identities until college. “I think of it as embodiment of queerness,” Nelson said. “Being both is deviating from the norm in multiple ways.” Haley Outlaw is the Programs Coordinator for Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), a national grassroots organization for “Nothing About Us Without Us.” They support disability rights through public policy advocacy, cultural activities, leadership training for autistic selfadvocates, and are used as a reliable resource for autistic activism. ASAN is often regarded in the autistic community as a favorable alternative to Autism Speaks, the largest US organization regarding autism. Autism Speaks has been accused of spreading negative stigma, unjustly allocating funds, and being run and led by non-autistic people. Outlaw is queer and autistic. When asked about the significant number of LGBTQ autistics, Outlaw cited their university capstone project on the intersection of LGBTQ and autism. “In my personal opinion, it’s a combination of a lot of different factors, which has to do with finding out a lot of information about queer identities being involved in social movements,” Outlaw said. “But also I think (and this came up a lot in the research that I did) if you’re already feeling kind of different in one aspect then it’s easier for you to figure out that you’re different in other aspects.” Nelson and Zuby also gave this reason as a hypothesis and based on their experience. Because autism encompasses a different understanding of social interactions, rules and constructs, they both said one reason could be the socially constructed nature of gender and sexuality. In online communities, Zuby found that only other neurodivergent people, or people whose brain functions outside what is considered the norm, described their gender the way they do.
“Suddenly, I knew why I was never quite like the other kids. Why I was so sensitive, why some things never made sense, why I felt like an alien or a sheltered prince visiting the townsfolk for the first time in many social situations–why I always felt so misunderstood, so desperate to be understood correctly, but people so often took away the opposite of what “We just process the world/think about society in a way that I meant,” Zuby said. “For the first time in too long, I felt neurotypicals don’t,” Zuby said. “We are intensely aware of powerful.” ourselves (or at least all of the autistic people I’ve encountered are) while our thoughts and actions are innately unbound by Carly Nelson, who is getting their master’s degree in speech- societal pressures/society’s arbitrary rules. That’s a formula language pathology, alternates between queer and lesbian. for a very queer group of people.”
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Rhianna Zuby, sophomore digital sciences major
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Because queerphobia and ableism, discrimination against the disabled community, are both loaded with inhibiting stereotypes, they interact in ways that can intensify each other. Infantilization of autistic people, as well as the idea that being LGBTQ is a phase, have led to trans autistic individuals being denied gender confirmation surgery. In response to the stereotype that autistic people don’t know what they want, both Nelson and Zuby point out that autistic individuals are often more educated and intuitive than the people who accuse them of this. “I think the world doesn’t know what autistic people want,” Nelson said.
launched a social media campaign with the hashtag #AutisticTransPride. In response to the Trump administration’s plan to exclude transgender and intersex people from anti-discrimination policies in October 2018, ASAN released a statement with the headline “ASAN Condemns Trump Administration’s Attack on Transgender Americans.” According to the ASAN website, “There is a significant overlap between the autistic and transgender communities – and since autistic people first began organizing, many of our strongest leaders have been trans and intersex. An attack on trans people’s rights is an attack on the autistic community.”
“I wish that people would trust us to know ourselves,” Zuby said. “I wish that people didn't want us dead. I wish that people would take the time to listen to us instead of ignoring us. I would teach as many people as possible about ableism, and I would change society's ideas about what ‘sensitive’ means. I wish that people wouldn't pity us.” Zuby also stresses the importance of internet friends, valuing the voices of black and indigenous people of color, not excluding “womxn”, and learning about ableism. They want more people to know that functioning labels for autistic people, such as high functioning and low functioning, are “worse than meaningless” because they cause more harm than good for identifying what accommodations are needed.
For LGBTQ spaces, all interviewees said they are usually not accommodating for Outlaw advises LGBTQ autistic individuals At the intersection of two marginalized neurodivergent people. Social gatherings to be themselves and prioritize self-care. In identities, both LGBTQ and neurodivergent often take place at bars, clubs, and parties response to what they hope for in the future spaces are capable of leaving LGBTQ that are too loud and crowded for people for LGBTQ and autism acceptance, Outlaw autistics feeling either welcomed in or shut with sensory issues, and there is a heightened hopes it happens. out. expectation to be extroverted and/or meet large groups of people. “Definitely the last couple of years, ASAN makes efforts to include and support acceptance of autistic people has become LGBTQ people in and out of the autistic Nelson used PRIDE!Kent, an LGBTQ more prevalent,” Outlaw said. “One of community, according to Outlaw, who says student organization at Kent State University, my main reasons for going into activism is most of the ASAN staff are LGBTQ. as an example of an LGBTQ space they did because I want to make the world a better not feel comfortable in. place for the next generation, so that further “We are sure to include LGBTQ and autistics generations don’t experience the same kinds in our activism and in the policy work that “I just sort of felt there was a lot going on, and of discrimination I did, and that other we do, ensuring that we are standing with the there was a lot of people who already knew people in my community have and are LGBTQ community in solidarity, but also in each other, and it was a very big meeting facing currently. Moving ever forward, ever advocating for LGBTQ autistics,” Outlaw space with a lot of high energy,” Nelson onwards.” said. said. “I didn’t really relate to that and didn’t go back, and I heard similar ideas about that As more online communities and advocates In ASAN’s higher education initiatives, they from other friends of mine who were on the speak out about having both identities, emphasize the need to recruit autistic people spectrum.” visibility of LGBTQ autistics is spreading. from other marginalized communities. In Twainbow is a charity for LGBTQ autistics, their application for the Autism Campus To be more accessible to LGBTQ autistics, People in Action is a UK autistic organization Inclusion Leadership Academy, they state Nelson suggests online polls for clubs like with a group for LGBTQ autistics, and “we want to make sure that ACI is as diverse PRIDE!Kent. They also relate to articles that Autism Women's Network recently changed as possible. We are especially looking for advocate for more LGBTQ coffee shops. their name to the Autistic Women and students who are people of color, people from Nonbinary Network. religious minorities, people with intellectual Zuby said they typically don’t know what to disabilities, people with other disabilities expect before going to LGBTQ events. The neurodiversity movement is still forgotten in addition to autism, nonspeaking people, in conversations about intersectionality, so LGBT+ people, (and) people from low- And they all thought neurodivergent spaces hopefully, with more recognition, LGBTQ were more inclusive of LGBTQ people income backgrounds.” autistics will be given a larger platform and in their experience, aside from isolated an audience ready to listen. ASAN has collaborated with LGBTQ incidents. organizations in the past to address issues Nelson’s advice for LGBTQ autistics is to that affect LGBTQ autistics specifically. “My experience with disability groups is if I find people who love you the way you are. In 2016, Kayden Clarke was an autistic see a segment of the autistic community that transgender man who, after being denied isn’t LGBTQ inclusive, then I just go find “The thing that has been most helpful for me gender confirmation surgery, was killed by one that is,” Outlaw said. “Luckily enough, a is finding little pockets of the world where police responding to a mental health crisis, vast majority is inclusive and understanding.” my identities are understood and naturally in Arizona. accepted, you can’t get a lot of that in the When asked what they wish they could regular world,” Nelson said. “It’s very ASAN, the National LGBTQ Taskforce, change about the way people view LGBTQ validating to just find a community.” and the National Center for Transgender autistics, Zuby would dismantle the bigotry Equality released a joint statement and LGBTQ autistics face.
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Read More in Luna Negra Read More in Luna Negra Magazine, on stands now! Magazine, on stands now!
Let the College of the Arts Help Transform Your Life Through the Arts The College of the Arts invites all full-time, undergraduate students to enjoy a theatre production, dance concert or choose from a huge variety of music events for FREE. Every student receives one FREE TICKET to each and every event (or almost!).
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College of FUSION the Arts SPRING 2019 19 Kent State University, Kent State and KSU are registered trademarks and may not be used without permission. Kent State University, an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer, is committed to attaining excellence through the recruitment and retention of a diverse workforce. 15-cota-00146-020
FASHION F Words By Colleen Carroll Photos By Dani Watts
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FORWARD
How androgynous fashion is shaping a non-binary social movement FUSION SPRING 2019 21
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I
n a 2019 world where gender lines are blurring, and labels aren’t as adhesive as they once were, it seems that creative output in the LGBTQ community is at its peak.
“Call Me By Your Name” won best screenplay for the 2018 Oscars, St. Vincent took home two Grammys, and Akron kicked off their very own LGBTQ art festival in 2017. It seems that a lack of hard defining lines has catalyzed an inspirational, unbridled creative spark in artists across the community. But, the fashion industry may have reaped the most benefits. Queer fashion has seen an exponential expansion in recent years, numerous queer-centric fashion lines are flourishing through a non-corporate medium like online shopping, and androgynous models are walking high end shows; Rain Dove in Calvin Klein and Erika Linder has modeled both masculine and feminine looks for Tom Ford and Louis Vuitton. High end designers have begun to work within the queer facet. Gucci released its queercore shoe line, based on the gay punk scene of the 80s and showcased an androgynous 2018 Fall
line at Milan Fashion Week. More recently, Billy Porter’s gender-nonconforming tuxedo dress caught media spotlight at the 2019 Oscars. Androgynous and queer fashion may be living in the limelight now, but historically this unconventional facet of the industry has been making bounds for generations. From Levi’s first line of women’s jeans in 1934 and Yves Saint Laurent’s iconic smoking suit of 1966 to the avant-garde looks Bowie was serving through the 70s and 80s, androgynous fashion has been a constant and covert component to progress. It’s no doubt that fashion has a permanent residency within social trends, from the impractical Ugg boot to the questionable thong belt of the early 2000s; in old pictures we resort to hairstyle analysis as a type of style guided carbon dating. Fashion informs trends and historically fashion has also acted as an expressive staple in political movements and social reforms. The suffragette movement developed its own fashion color scheme to brand the cause.
Specifically within the western world fashion forward pieces have repeatedly proven that clothes can stand as a platform for social activism. Gender-nonconforming fashion has had a hidden and rich history – in ancient Egypt both men and women applied cosmetics, in the dark ages Joan of Arc dawned chainmail and armor to fight for France. Androgynous fashion in the United States was sparked in the industrial period with Jazz artist Billy Tipton who began living as a man in the early 1930’s. There were drag balls of Harlem that Langston Hughes frequented in the 1920s. “Fashion trends often reflect shifts in the political climate,” said Dr. Sara Hume, curator of the Kent State University Museum. “There is a move towards greater acceptance of LGBTQ rights today and there is also a greater acceptance of people who present themselves in ways that defy our more conventional gender binary.” Dr. Hume further explained how gender is central to the construct of fashion development.
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“Gender is central to the way fashion has developed in our society,” said Dr. Hume. “There is little space in the system for clothing that is unisex.” Androgynous fashion has become a major point of expression for many members of the LGBTQ community, however there is still a disparity between what is accepted for men vs. what is accepted for women. “It is more socially acceptable for women to cross the gender lines and wear clothing that is coded male than for men to wear women’s clothing,” said Dr. Hume. “There is more discomfort in society by the idea of men in skirts than women in pants.” Dr. Hume has studied the developing relationship of fashion trends and political climates. She explained that within the 70s there was a large push towards women’s equality and fashion quickly became involved in the feminist movement, producing more unisex lines. Designers such as Rudi Gernreich pushed boundaries of sexual norms with avant-garde pieces such as the monokini which was a topless variation of the bikini. Alexander Marr and Dominic Iudiciani are
Akron-based fashion collectors who have accumulated an impressive selection of genderless pieces from runway lines like Rick Owens and Dior. They spoke with Dr. Hume on a panel at the museum in February about masculine vs. feminine limitation within fashion. “Men’s fashion is changing very rapidly,” Marr said during the panel. “One indication is the men's skincare market, it’s augmented by men’s fashion. We’re seeing a massive spike in the industry as the traditional idea of what a man is supposed to be fades away.” The clothes we wear are intrinsic to identity expression. Our sense of style conveys insights about our personality. It is how we find commonalities among others, graphic tees can display our similar music interests, we make connections through brand loyalty, we can express culture through fashion and style. This is all extremely important to constructing and displaying our identities. “Fashion is an integral part of how people live in the world and how others see them,” Dr. Hume said. “Every day when people get dressed they choose how they will present themselves.”
beings,” Marr said. “It starts to become our skin to a certain extent, it’s about communication and assists the wearer in defining what you stand for.” Kent State student Elliot Burr spoke about their personal experience with androgynous style. “My fashion ranges, sometimes I dress really grunge in all black and other times I’ll go around in a floral dress with a bomber jacket over it,” said Burr. “My goal is to confuse people as to what my gender is by dressing as in between what stereotypical feminine and masculine fashion would be.” Burr, a VCD major who is non-binary began developing their style in high school. Androgynous and queer fashion has had a complex and evolving history that has often been utilized as a uniform for activism and a catalyst for social reform “It was affirming of my identity,” they said. “I’m non-binary no matter how I dress it doesn’t define my gender but it does make me feel better to dress in a way that makes me feel comfortable.”
“Fashion is so woven into who we are as human
Anxiety in the Age of Birth Control
I
f you feel my arm in a certain place – press down on the spot of soft skin inside of my elbow – you’ll feel a sudden hardness in the flesh. It’s a little plastic rod the size of a matchstick called Nexplanon. For the next two and a half years – until August 14, 2021, according to the flexible plastic card I carry in my wallet – it will release progesterone into my bloodstream. I like my Nexplanon – though it was very painful to insert, though sometimes when I bathe, it itches like fire. I like it because the Nexplanon contraceptive implant, according to its website, is supposed to be almost as effective as sterilization in preventing pregnancy. It isn’t fallible by human error. It just sits there, held in place by my skin, waiting. I don’t remember the first time I learned about birth control, but I do know that, until college, I didn’t have a clue about it. At my boyfriend’s urging, 19-year-old me walked through the doors of the Women’s Clinic at DeWeese Health Center. I was scared, and I had never done this before. I told my doctor so. Though my memory has eroded the exact details of my time in the office, I remember feeling a pressing in my chest. It must have been excitement
over this, the idea that I would be able to take control over something that had been worrying me. I would finally be protected, and once I was protected, I would be safe. I knew things were better now than they had been. “The birth control pill was kind of rushed to market, and that the early women who were taking it ended up, to some degree being, in the worst-case scenario, guinea pigs … they were testing out the glitches, and they were finding what might go wrong with the product,” Suzanne L. Holt, the director of Women’s Studies and a professor at Kent State, says. But this was not the age of the Dalkon Shield. What kind of birth control was I looking for? I did not know. Maybe, I said, the pill. After all, the pill was the only kind of birth control I knew anything about. I could handle it, the pill and its diminutive name. It wasn’t long until I had taken the prescription to CVS, read the little packet that came with the blue envelope carefully, and unfolded its cardboard wings to reveal perfect lines of pink and white.
Read more in the Burr, on stands now!
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LEGALIZING TRAUMA The effects of conversion therapy in Ohio
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Words By: Emerald Loy & Ella Abbott Illustration By: Stephen Francis
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onversion therapy is the pseudoscientific attempt at changing someone’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity to heterosexual and cisgender, through a variety of behavioral, cognitive and psychoanalytic techniques.
And it’s still legal in Ohio. “Gay American History” by Jonathan Katz is a work on gay history that talks about where conversion therapy comes from. The history of the practice in the United States has roots in the beginning of the 20th century and the heyday of Freudian psychology.
asked about the emotional and psychological effects conversion therapy had on the survivors. Eighty percent said they felt shame, seventy-one percent said they felt depression, fifty percent reported psychological harm. The American Psychological Association (APA) has published substantial research on conversion therapy and found, through various studies, survivors of conversion therapy experience, among other things, “decreased self-esteem and authenticity to others, increased self-hatred and negative perceptions of homosexuality, anger at and a sense of betrayal by SOCE [Sexual Orientation Change Efforts] providers, an increase in substance abuse and high-risk sexual behaviors, a feeling of being dehumanized and untrue to self ” as well as lasting confusion, depression, guilt and suicidality.
conversion therapy. The only cities in Ohio to ratify legislation specifically banning this practice are Cincinnati, Toledo, Columbus, Dayton and Athens. The last time the Senate proposed any legislation to do with conversion therapy was in 2015. According to studies done by the University of California, Los Angeles Williams Institute, more than 700,000 LGBTQ people have experienced conversion therapy in their life, and an estimated 80,000 LGBTQ youth will experience it. The Pan American Health Organization, a regional office of the World Health Organization, released an informational sheet on conversion therapy with suggestions for people in the government, academics, professionals, civil society organizations and the media on how to accurately talk about conversion therapy.
Freud and other prominent psychoanalysts like Wilhelm Stekel and Edmund Bergler spent approximately 30 years trying to define ‘homosexuality’ according to Katz. Then, between the death of Freud in 1939 “All conversion therapy does is make people think and the Stonewall riots in 1969, conversion they’re unwanted,” said Amy Moore-Ramirez, therapy became accepted by most psychiatric counselor at Safe Space and part-time lecturer “Health professionals who offer ‘reparative therapies’ align themselves with social practitioners in the country. at John Carroll University and the University of prejudices and reflect a stark ignorance in Akron. “It does nothing to heal people.” The history of conversion therapy practices matters of sexuality and sexual health,” the is a painful and, oftentimes, violent one. Despite many health and counseling sheet concluded. Unfortunately, it also doesn’t seem that long ago. organizations, such as the National Association of Social Workers and the Ohio Counselor, It also said conversion therapy has no medical Less than a 100 years ago, gay men were being Social Worker and Marriage and Family indication and represents a severe threat to the castrated in order to transplant their testicals Therapist Board, coming out again conversion health and human rights of patients. Cari Orris, with “heterosexual testicles,” according to or “reparative” therapies, the law has failed to a professional clinical counselor in Kent, agreed. history.com. Some LGBTQ people were follow. “Conversion therapy has no basis in science,” subjected to electrotherapy or lobotomies, all in the belief that homosexuality was a mental In 2016, The Ohio Board of Psychology Orris said. “It hasn’t been proven once to heal illness that could be “cured.” warned licensees that practicing conversion or help someone’s life.” therapy could cost them their licenses. The Pan American Health Organization also Today, the methods used are less commonly said it’s the job of health professionals not to so physical, but they are taxing and painful Conversion therapy remains legal in most of nonetheless. The effects of conversion therapy the United States, the exceptions being 14 cause harm, but to offer support to patients are broad, but one thing they have in common states and the District of Columbia, including without making their problems more severe. is they are all negative. California, New York, Oregon, but not Ohio. Between 2011 and 2013, an organization called Beyond Ex-Gay surveyed over 400 survivors of conversion therapy. Question 10 of the survey
It is legal in nearly every municipality in Ohio for a parent of a minor to take their child to
“All conversion therapy does is make people think they’re unwanted.”
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Are You Saying I’m
/fru‒ti/ Fruity: (adj.) a guy that is not always gay but could be; he may act in a flamboyant, bouncy, or feminine way
Words By Stephen Francis Photos By Alyse Nelson
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F
ruity. A word that has so many meanings all around the world. A word that can be so powerful comes from a term rooted in something as simple as an apple. The slang itself stems from Britain in the 19th century.
The gay slang fruity originated from the word costermonger which was a fruit seller in British markets. People would look at the costermonger as someone who was tender, or feminine, so the word eventually turned into labeling anyone who had a resemblance to the man selling fruit as a “fruit” themselves. The relation is uncanny when looking into the similarities between a gay man and a fruit. Polari is the language that began all of the fruity talk. A mix of Italian incorporated into a British “back alley” slang, Polari first introduced fruity to be used by gay culture in Britain. In Polari, when people referred to someone as a fruit it was meant to refer to the person as a queen.
Positive or negative connotations depend on who is speaking or intent.
term, it was meant to stem from comparing the man to a woman or calling him a woman.
The passing on of this word was generationto-generation and culture-to-culture through word of mouth. Like a game of telephone. It would lead to someone eventually mishearing the word. As it was passed on, fruity began to have more of a negative connotation towards homosexual men.
Comparing a gay man to a fruit meant he was soft, tender, and effeminate. This phrase, along with the term “fruitcake,” was most often used in the 1930s to 1960s. These time periods were most likely looked at as a time when masculinity meant someone who was strong in the traditional sense of being muscular. Often, gay men would be looked at as lesser than or weaker than a heterosexual man. If someone was not “one of the boys” they would often be referred to as a fruit or fruity.
Throughout the 1930s, it began to be a term looked at in a negative light while also being associated more and more with gay men.
In Florida in the 1970s, Anita Bryant, the During World War II, many words that originally spokesperson for Florida Orange juice, had referred to prostitutes began to be applied to strong views against homosexuality. During effeminate or queer men — “queen,” “punk,” the 70s, variations on the term fruit also started “gay,” “fairy,” and “fruit.” The word fruit spread to be used within the community. A “frozen out to have several different variations such as fruit” was used in a gay club to show a sexually “strange fruit,” “the fruit machine,” “fruit salad,” uninterested man. “frozen fruit,” “suck a fruit for Anita,” “fruit loops,” “fruit punch,” and more. When the term fruity would be used as a negative
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Words By Jenn Noga | Illustration by Emily Loccisano
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A Perspective
GA(Y)TE KEEPING: M
y name is Jenn and it feels I’m never going to leave the closet. I, like many other people in the LGBTQ community, was excited to tell the world exactly who they were on National Coming Out Day. The Instagram posts and the Twitter hashtag where my queer friends got to be open and honest about who they are kept me thinking how much I wanted to be a part of that. Within the last year, I had come out to my mom and dad; my little brother; a handful of cousins; and a select group of friends who I love, value and trust. My former roommate and I had taken some photos with our respective flags so that when I was ready to come out to the world and finally own my sexuality, I was prepared. I had written and rewritten the caption for the photo I was going to post and finally lift this weight off my chest. I had never felt that it was the right time for me to come out before and I finally thought I was ready. That was until I made the mistake of opening Twitter. My feed was instantly flooded with arguments over a simple GIF that the official Tumblr twitter account had posted. I didn’t even have to guess very hard as to what the problem was just by looking at it. I went through this same cycle of emotions in July because a GIF the official Oreo account had posted the same problem. The problem was that the asexual pride flag was included in the GIF and the lesbian flag wasn’t. So, imagine my surprise when I found out that my own community didn’t consider my sexuality valid because I was identifying as a cishet (cisgender heterosexual) ace. Suddenly, because I told everyone that I liked women, I was welcomed into the community with open arms but only on the terms and conditions I
didn’t tell anyone I was asexual. The gatekeeping of the LGBTQ community comes in three stances on asexuals; asexuals are not oppressed and therefore do not belong in our community, asexuals are a part of the LGBTQ community only if they don’t identify as cishet – if you’re not straight and identify as asexual, you’re in, or all asexuals are part of the community regardless of whether they identify as cishet ace or not. I’ve never gotten to experience a Pride march because of people who believe in options one and two. I’ve been told that asexual people aren’t welcome at Pride and there would be nothing there for me so why even bother showing up? I had never experienced a soul crushing moment quite like that. Since then, I have never stopped seeing the bashing of my sexuality. My bisexuality is fake, I only came out as bisexual so I could be oppressed. I’m a “halfsie” and a fraud and will never be welcome because I continue to be straight passing – I almost believed them. I internalized these emotions and negative thoughts because I thought what I wanted was to finally be accepted by strangers I didn’t know who would know nothing about me other than my sexuality. These strangers will never know how truly funny I am, how I will almost always cry at the end of Wreck it Ralph, how when my friends call I always will answer the phone on the first ring and a half because I can’t wait to hear what they have to say, they’ll never care about my one woman 90s hit show. They’ll never know what makes me special and an incredible, beautiful, complex human being.
Contrary to people’s perception of asexuality, I’m not waiting for the right person to have sex with, I’m not a late bloomer and I’m not broken. If someday I choose to marry someone, man or woman, I will still be bisexual. I’m not confused, I’m not looking for attention, I’m not invisible or a threat to the community. I’m not fake. I’m here and I want to be seen for me and not the terms and conditions that come with my sexuality. So even after all that where do I fit in? I fit in with the community that I have built. It’s full of people who know and appreciate me for all my flaws and quirks and amazing qualities. Some of them are far away and some of them are less than a door away. Those are the people who are my community. It took me some time to be okay with that. Presidential advisor to FDR, Bernard Baruch, once said, “Those who matter don’t mind, and those who mind don’t matter,” and he’s right. If I try to spend the rest of my life trying to please every single person within the LGBTQ community, I’ll continue to stay in the closet. Despite all of this, it’s time to come out because it finally feels right. I’ve known I was a bisexual asexual since I was 14. I’m 20 now. I owe this to myself. To the 14-yearold me who wants to be loved and accepted. You are. I promise. If you’re reading this and you feel neglected by the community that is supposed to be there for you, know that I see you. Your community is out there. It may not come in the form you think, but it there. You just have to look.
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MOVIES WITH LGBTQ+ THEMES
Words By Carlyle Addy | Illustration by Lily Horvat
L
GBTQ characters have increasingly become the focus of media from independent films to blockbuster movies. From biopics of queer musicians to heartbreaking stories of conversion therapy and irreverent comedies that roast personalities both in and outside of the community, these movies cover the broad
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spectrum of complex emotions that LGBTQ people in the US and around the world have about their sexuality and the social situations in which they find themselves. Some of the most recent and upcoming films that deserve your time tell riveting stories and take every aspect of love, loss, and in some cases hate into account along the way.
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
HURRICANE BIANCA 1 & 2
LOVE, SIMON
This film made major waves when it came to theatres, and not just as a representation of the LGBTQ community. The story portrayed in the film is hopeful right up until the point it becomes heartbreaking. Based on the novel by André Aciman, the movie’s plot stays very similar to that of the book. It’s easy for anyone who has lost contact with a close friend or love interest to relate to the struggle of Elio (Timothée Chalamet), the story’s main character.
Irreverent humor has its own special place in the LGBTQ community, as evidenced by Richard Martinez (Roy Haylock) and the star-studded comedic cast of the Hurricane Bianca films. The cast includes Rachel Dratch, Wanda Sykes and Dot-Marie Jones. While the original is now a few years old, the 2018 sequel continues the story with an even feistier script. With constant jabs at Texas, Russia, the Trump administration, and the LGBTQ community itself, the sequel takes no prisoners when it comes to roasting any and all things gay.
A 2018 hit and one hell of a coming-out story, the film follows the title character struggling with how to open up about his own identity. He spends most of his screen time denying or covering up his sexuality – something still not uncommon for many young people in the community. When Simon finally does come out, the story takes an unexpected turn, and eventually finds its way to a happy ending.
THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST “The Miseducation of Cameron Post” tackles conversion therapy, which is still legal in most of the United States, in a shockingly realistic way. Based on the novel of the same name by Emily M. Danforth, the movie’s 1990s setting comes across as modern, showing that in at least this aspect of the community, some things haven’t changed.
BOY ERASED Similar to “The Miseducation of Cameron Post,” this movie takes on the concept of conversion therapy. “Boy Erased,” however, also shows a different and arguably darker side of the controversial and dangerous programs. Based on a memoir of a man sent to conversion therapy as a teenager, the pain and the fear of Jared (Lucas Hedges) is evident throughout the film.
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The University of Akron Akron’s own Victorian Masterpiece:
HOWER HOUSE
MUSEUM 330.972.6909 60 Fir Hill Akron, Ohio www.howerhouse.org
PUBLIC TOURS:
Wednesday - Saturday, noon 3 pm (admission fee) Adults: Students $10.00 $2.00 (all university students: please show ID) Senior Citizens Children six years and under are free with a paid adult $8.00
GROUP TOURS: By appointment only; call for rates
UPCOMING EVENTS Artisan & Antiques Faire, May 4 & 5 10am-5pm at Old Depot/Quaker Station A&A Faire venue at 130 S. Broadway, Akron, Ohio Summer Exhibit: June 26 - September 28 Great Expectations: Fashion, Formality & Function (available during regular tour times)
Cellar Door Store giftshop open during tours Carriage House to reopen late summer 2019
We look forward to your visit!
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NOW ACCEPTING FLASHCASH!
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
$6.95
$6.95
$6.95
MELTS TACOS
WRAPS
THURSDAY
BURGERS $6.95
FRIDAY
FISH FRY $8.95
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