queer futures a ku etcwge & sgd collaborative zine project
QUEER IMAGININGS Katie Hinders (she/her) FLIGHT Ophelia Miller (she/her) QUEERING ART, SCIENCE, AND SPIRITUALITY Nathan Pickerell (he/him) GREEN FUTURE Finn Finnerty (they/them) I HAVE SO MANY PARTS OF ME TO MEET STILL Katie Seminoff (she/her & they/them) THE QUEER FUTURE MEANS ACE REPRESENTATION Kaela Bright (she/her)
YOU NEVER LIKED ME ANYWAY Jesse Resendiz (he/him) THE FUTURE MAY BE FLAGLESS David Titterington (he/him) THE QUEER FUTURE IS… Megan Williams (she/her) WHAT DOES THE QUEER FUTURE LOOK LIKE? Connor Engelsman (he/him & they/them) THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT Ash Wilson (they/them)
Is the Pride Flag Homonationalist? Are we putting a rainbow face on what are fundamentally oppressive and violent institutions? As of last year, the U.S. embassy at the Vatican is flying the Pride flag, and while this is progress (of course it’s triggering conservatives all over the world) it is also part of a larger pattern of empire building. There are many ways the U.S. empire coopts liberation movements to further its own global dominance. One way is through homonationalism, coined and defined by Jasbir Puar in 2007 as the apparent embrace of L+ rights by (mostly Western) nations. It’s a form of virtue-signaling first spotted in the context of the US “war on terror,” where the United States for the first time presented itself as exceptionally queer-friendly in contrast to “homophobic” Muslim nations. This oversimplified “in-group/out-group” dichotomy is still used in the framing of the Israel/Palestine conflict. But homonationalism also manifests in subtle ways. It’s changing. It doesn’t have to look like Gays for Trump, and it doesn’t have to only come from conservative people. Now, the ‘liberal’ President of the United States tells transgender children they matter and can absolutely serve in the military. Wonderful! Now, the White House encourages Pride flags to be flown at all its embassies. The US is a beacon, after all. Progress sells, like the CIA-funded “Advancing American Art” exhibitions after WWII. Being the leading edge helps sell occupation, and builds a proud nation. We should be proud of how far we’ve come! Have Pride! As Puar puts it, homonationalism is a “discursive tactic that disaggregates US national gays and queers from racial and sexual others, foregrounding a collusion between homosexuality and American nationalism that is generated both by national rhetorics of patriotic inclusion and by gay and queer subjects themselves.”
Patriotic inclusion… This exceptionalism sounds similar to how Tim Wise describes the creation of Whiteness: Always give disenfranchised people a reason to feel superior to others. Wise: “It was a trick, and it worked Queerbrilliantly.”rightsget absorbed into the “human rights industrial complex.” We see this in purplewashing and socalled feminationalism, as described by Sara Ferris in her book, In the Name of Women′s Rights. The US military also uses feminist branding to sell occupation and violence. “We are justified in perpetuity because the United States is a self-declared, unique protector of modernity and women’s rights.” There is a great Citations Needed Podcast episode on this. The U.S. is proud that women are now the CEOs of four out of the country’s five biggest military contractors, that women now literally run the military-industrial complex.
THE FUTURE MAY BE FLAGLESS
That’s all beautiful! When individuals use the Pride flag, that’s one thing. When entire nations use the Pride flag, or when Raytheon Missiles and Defense use it in their promotional materials, that’s homonationalism.DAVIDTITTERINGTON
Or do they raise it up? When we are talking about homonationalism, I don’t think we are talking about Harry Styles draping a Pride flag over his microphone, or Lady Gaga carrying one on stage. We are not talking about why people incorporate the rainbow colors as flair or to signal that they are allies or even queer themselves.
Feminationalism, homonationalism, and rainbow capitalism are all related. Although the Pentagon and US military bases still won't fly Pride flags (or any unofficial flags, for that matter), they will participate in Pride events and are very proud to point out that the worldwide icon of pride month was created by an army Still,veteran.when
Homonationalism also involves “pinkwashing,” or using the nation’s progressive morality as a way to cover up all the evil it continues to commit. The use of any pride flag to promote state violence is, on one level, a perversion of what those colors originally stood for. It should inspire rebellion! Pride is about solidarity and resistance, right? The flag should be a fist! Or it should be a brick! Maybe it shouldn’t resemble Old Glory or be associated with the White House at all. Maybe those things drag it down.
the Pride flag was projected onto the White House in June 2015, following the Supreme Court ruling in favor of same-sex marriage, it was a spooky sight. Was it installation art? That’s cool, but it’s hard not to see the White House through that rainbow light. The two patterns overlay and a third pattern, a moiré or interference pattern emerges.
The kids are alright!
raine flores-peña (he/him) THE EMILY TAYLOR CENTER FOR WOMEN & GENDER EQUITY SEEKS TO ENGAGE AND EMPOWER STUDENTS TO ACT IN WAYS THAT PROMOTE INTERSECTIONAL FEMINIST CHANGE. FOLLOW US @KUETCWGE THE CENTER FOR SEXUALITY & GENDER DIVERSITY ADVOCATES FOR LIVABILITY, FOSTERS WELLNESS, CRITICALLY EDUCATES, AND CREATES CONNECTIONS WITH AND FOR QUEER AND TRANS STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND STAFF ALONGSIDE THE BROADER KU COMMUNITY. FOLLOW US @SGD.KU
