The Queer Query Bringing in the New Year!
Table of Contents
2015! Things to look for
Page 3: 2015!
World News - 2015 has been designated the International Year of Light and the International Year of Soils by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Page 4-5: Rumble
Book Review
Page 6-7: EDM and
the LGBT Community
- September 10 : If still reigning, Queen Elizabeth II will surpass her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria as Britain’s longest-reigning monarch. - September 13 : A partial solar eclipse will occur.
Movies -Furious 7: starring Vin Diesel and Paul Walker -Avengers: Age of Ultron -Jurassic World
Page 8-9: Did You
Know?
-Terminator: Genisys - Black Mass Starring Johnny Depp and Benedict Cumberbatch -The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 2
Music - SremmLife by Rae Sremmurd - Title by Meghan Trainor - Super Critical by The Ting Tings - American Beauty/American Psycho by Fall Out Boy - Reality Show by Jazmine Sullivan
Rumble by Ellen Hopkins
-Review by Shannon Maloney
Ellen Hopkins’ most recent novel Rumble tells the story of Matthew Turner and his attempt to navigate life after his brother, Luke, commits suicide. Luke, a freshman in high school, was bullied after being publicly outed as gay via social media. This novel deals with Matt and his ability to forgive not only those around him, but also himself. Hopkins’ unique style of prose writing allows her readers to truly connect with the intricate characters she creates. When she needs you to listen she can Slow down time. Or when she wants youtoknowhowanxioussomeonefeelsshecanspeeditup all with just a few visual changes. Matt becomes someone you already know and suddenly you find yourself connecting to his story personally and then five short hours later you close the cover feeling like you just lived an entirely different life for a day. After reading Rumble, one of my new year’s resolutions has become abundantly clear; listen. A key theme of this novel is Matt’s regret that he did not listen to his brother when he reached out for help. I want to spend this year developing the ability to listen and know when to reach out to those closest to me. Many times we lose the ability to truly see those we have become the most comfortable with. Matt does not realize the seriousness of Luke’s situation until it is too late despite multiple warning signs. Another major theme of this novel is tolerance, developed between Matt’s atheism and his girlfriend, Hayden, who has an unwavering faith in Christianity. When Hayden’s father decides to petition the school board to remove Perks of Being A Wallflower from its classrooms Matt is finally able to stand up for his brother, and others in his situation. This year, I have resolved to keep an open mind. It is because of small minded prejudices that Luke feels that he has no other way out of his situation. I hope to not allow my own opinions to be swayed by those around me, even those of the people I love and respect. I highly suggest reading this and any of Hopkins’ other novels this year. They will open your mind to world you may not have known existed in the modern age, let alone in America. My top picks would be Tricks, Impulse, and Crank. http://ellenhopkins.com/YoungAdult/books/rumble/
Electronic Dance Music and the LGBT community The LGBT commuinty has been a key part of the growth of the musical genre of Electronic Dance Music or EDM as it is commony abbriviated to. This article will be going through and pointing out some of the ways that the community helped in building up this genre.
Disco
In New York City at the beginning of the 1970s, queers of color (primarily of AfricanAmerican and Latin-Caribbean ancestry) and many straightbut-not-narrow allies came together to create small pockets of space in the city’s harsh urban landscape—spaces where they could be safe, be themselves, be someone else for a while, and be with others in ways not permitted in the “normal”
everyday world. Music was an essential part of these gatherings, and the sound of these events would eventually develop into the style called disco. The sound was a mix of soul, funk and Latin music with a driving, four-four kick drum pattern. It took its name from discotheque, the French word given to nightlife venues that featured recorded music instead of live performances.(Garcia)
Disco would later become the begginings of what would be know as Chicago House music. Both based off the four - on- the -floor style beat, which is a bass drum that is used at every beat so it would be counted out 1,2,3,4 and each time the drum would be used.
Chicago House
Most histories of Chicago house begin with Frankie Knuckles, a disco DJ from NYC who played records with Larry Levan at the Continental Baths, a gay bathhouse in downtown Manhattan. Levan had been offered a job as the resident DJ of a new nightclub that Chicago promoter Robert Williams was opening in the city’s West Loop in 1977, but Levan was already committed to a permanent residency at the Paradise Garage. Levan recommended Knuckles, who relocated to Chicago and took charge of the music at The Warehouse, a dance club that would cater primarily to gay black and Latino men. When the club doubled its entry fee and went upmarket in 1982, Knuckles left The Warehouse and started his own club, The Power Plant. Not to be outdone, The Warehouse responded by renaming itself The Music Box and hiring DJ Ron Hardy as its new resident. (Garcia)
EDM Electronic Dance Music is one of the many styles of music that came about from the Chicago House scene. Although it is a distance relationship it still holds many similarities to the Chicago house style with four-on-the-floor beats, synthesizers, and 808 drum styles. Recently this style of music has managed to gain more attention and is being used in many collaborations. With some of the major artists showing up on the radio like Calvin Harris, Zedd, David Guetta, and Daft Punk. Although these artists have helped in making EDM become a major music style it may have not been possible without the help of Disco and House music and their LGBT promototers and fans. For more info check out these websites: http://gawker.com/frankie-knuckles-discos-revenge-and-gay-black-music-1556413442 http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1927 information cited as Garcia can be found at http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1927
Did You Know? The LGBT Resource Center takes the initiative to make sure that there is information and resources available for students and faculty across campus. One waythis happens is by informing people of uncommon facts and underepresented identities in the community. This section is simply just a quick way to say “Hey, did you know that.....?”
Demigirl - A gender experience which is composed partially of feeling female and partially of some other sort of gender experience.
Demiguy/boy
Neutrois
- An umbrella term within the bigger umbrella terms of transgender or genderqueer. Includes people who do not identify within the binary gender system (i.e., man/woman). According to Neutrois.com, some common Neutrois identities include agender neither-gender, and genderless.
- A gender experience which is composed partially of feeling male and partially of some other sort of gender experience.
Alia or aliagender
Transmasculine
- Someone assigned a female sex at birth and who identifies as masculine, but may not identify wholly as a man. Often, you’ll encounter the phrase “masculine of center” to indicate where people who identify as transmasculine see themselves in relation to other genders.
- A gender experience which is “other”, or stands apart from existing gender constructs
Bigender - A gender which includes any two distinct gender experiences, either simultaneously or alternately
Transfeminine
- Someone assigned a male sex at birth who identifies as feminine, but may not identify wholly as a woman. Often, you’ll encounter the phrase “feminine of center” to indicate where people who identify as transfeminine see themselves in relation to other genders.
info from thedailybeast.com
info from askanonbinary.tumblr.com