performance

COM|PASSionate Events

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Morning, REVOLUTIONARIES! We've been meditating on what it means to stand our ground... {Image Credit: http://bit.ly/1GOHrSj}

We've had some wonderful community connections recently. We've been networking with one another, checking in with past contacts, and reaching out to folks that have hovered nearby but that we've never actually had a reason to interact with.

Reaching out to folks and finding connection has given us this amazing sense of abundance in community. It's made us think about all those times it felt like we weren't being seen and all those times when it felt like as hard as we looked we couldn't find reflection anywhere. The hardest thing it brought up was memories of those moments that made us question who we (inherently) are... the moments when it seemed like it would be easier to chop off our magical queer unicorn horns and make our way amongst the ponies. It's a sad thought that we could have changed course, toned down our colors, and hidden ourselves so well that other unicorns might not recognize us when they ran into us!

So set your most fierce stance, hand on hip, don your most epic fucking flannel, tallest heels, and most dapper bow tie, and raise your eyebrow challengingly over the top of your sunglasses at a world that would have you be any different!

Oh, and, huzzah for marriage equality! There's still a lot more to do but let's congratulate the country for getting it's shit together and continue to stand our ground. No wait....

...let's fucking runway stomp our path to get there!

EVENTS

Get out, take care of yourself and heal in community!

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Don't forget there's lots of upcoming ways to get involved!

  • Gender Spectrum is coming up in July! "Gender Spectrum provides education, training and support to help create a gender sensitive and inclusive environment for all children and teens." They run an annual conference in Berkeley, CA for youth, families and professionals! Go check them out! Registration is now open! They are also looking for volunteers!
  • You've done plenty of volunteering and advocacy this year! How about you do something for your queer kinky unicorn heart and run away to Amorous Revolt? Amorous Revolt is queer kinky camping, "To celebrate our bold love, our brilliant spirits, our playful (and sometimes serious) sex, our creative relationships, our radical interdependence, our perfect bodies, and our unstoppable power and agency."
  • Hey younger COM|PASSionate REVOLUTIONARIES looking for something fun to do this summer?? How about Brave Trails-- a leadership summer camp for LGBTQ Youth & Allies?! Folks that are our age or older-- we know what you're thinking-- where was this camp when we were in high school?? Well, you can still go help out by being a camp counselor or leading a workshop! Go check them out!
  • All of these internet shenanigans too much? Need to digitally detox? How about checking out Camp Grounded: Summer Camp for Adults! CA camp is over but you can still take a road trip to hit the North Carolina camp in August!

RECOMMENDATIONS

For all of our dirty hippy healing talk, many of us this way are also admittedly smitten with queer fashion. Partly, because our queer community is adorable and perfect but also because outward expressions of our internal identities is a powerful act! For a community that struggles with being told we're not who we are, shouldn't be addressed the way want, can't love the way we do, and sometimes have difficulty seeing and being seen-- presentation and performance can offer a much needed sense of agency! Here are some fun places on the interwebs that celebrate this:

House of Alexzander

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Genderfork

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QWear

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In COM|PASSIONATE REVOLUTION and FEARLESS Fashion,

The COM|PASSionate REVOLT Community<3

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*Events are put on by the CR Community/CR Community members. Other events are by friends of the CR Community or of interest to the CR Community. Feeling a little nervous about getting out and involved? Email us and if we can we'll make some introductions so you have a friendly face to say "Hi" to when you get there!

**Most of these events will be local to Southern CA (unless we notice an event that sets us off into road trip dreamland.) If you want to do a COM|PASSionate event round-up for your local area let us know!

***Are you an individual, meet-up or community group that has some COM|PASSionate events of your own? Email us for details on how to submit your event to our calendar!

****Have your own story about healing or thoughts on healing? Are you a queer vegan healer? Want to talk to your community about ways you're living consciously and connected? Do you want your blog, org, or event to be featured on one of our running series or want to do an interview introducing yourself to the COM|PASSionate REVOLT Community? Are you a unicorn in a pony world disguising your magickal star dust sprinkling mane to live amongst the commoners?

Pitch us a blog series or interview idea!! Contact us at compassionaterevolt@gmail.com!

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There are photographs in this post that were borrowed lovingly from the internet and do not belong to us. All are linked and credited to the best of our abilities in hopes of attracting more traffic to the photographers and websites who have blessed us with this imagery. The inclusion of a photograph here should not be interpreted as an assertion of the subject's or artist's identity or beliefs. If there is a photo included here that belongs to you and you want it removed, please email compassionaterevolt@gmail.com and it will be removed promptly, no questions asked.

Isn't it Queer?: The Alchemy of the Spirit

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Trigger warning: In today's Isn't it Queer? I will be discussing transphobia and gender discrimination. In some of the content, I pull from examples of parents or loved ones who make judgments of gender which may be triggering for some individuals. There is a painful beauty in the necessity of social deviance and in breaking gender norms in order to become our authentic selves. Many individuals experience years of excruciating gender conditioning, especially when we brave the gender "deviance" necessary to become who we feel we are on the inside; i.e. "You look prettier in a dress," "I don't know, you just look too...girly...can't you wear the baggier jeans honey?" "I don't know what you are trying to prove by not wearing make-up, it just makes you look like an angry bitch." The early conditioning, littered with misogyny and gender discrimination, plants seeds of shame and fear in our ideas of self. Members of the trans community also face degrading judgment in the form of outright transphobic statements; "You are my daughter, you can't be a man," or "ewww! that is disgusting, what happens to their genitals?", creating a foundation riddled with fear of isolation from family members, and the very real possibility of not being able to find work and stability because we want our inner gender identity to match our visible exterior.

"When the Japanese mend broken objects they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold, because they believe that when something's suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful." - Barbara Bloom

So here is my light bulb moment! We can and are finding ways to take care of ourselves and our communities using art, self care, therapy, yoga, and human connection. We are finding our fissures and breaks and casting them in the gold of our authenticity. All corn aside, we need to celebrate our painful transitions into our real selves as being gorgeous acts of androgynous alchemy. Taking our traumas, processing them, and using the hurt to fuel or drive our passions and pursuits can turn the tables on systematic oppression for our own self empowerment. In further tangential pondering, this artistic thinking can help us reframe concepts such as 'transitioning,' to be so much more substantial, and less black and white, than "getting a sex change." How powerful would it be if we viewed transitioning as being lucky. What other humans get to watch their coming of age, and transition into becoming their authentic selves, physically as well as emotionally? Explicitly said, the function of this reframing is not to invalidate the immense pain of being repudiated by a culture or to play down systematic oppression, but instead the reframe is meant to be a function of empowerment for the individual's emotional growth. To help us feel healthy and whole, we need healthy and whole perspectives on what it means to be who we are, whether that is trans, bi, gender queer, etc.

These are some artists, performance artists, and photographers that are busy demonstrating the earthy, real beauty of gender fluidity, trans identity, and gender non-conformity. I hope these pieces move you to tears, like they did for me:

Heather Cassils 1

Heather Cassils 2

Half and Half

{http://www.janamarcus.com/docus/TransPresentation/sld001.htm}

Jana Marcus's Transfigurations, is a photography-interview project that aims to illuminate the Trans perspective, using insightful information from the personal anecdotes of trans individuals. These personal accounts are movingly penetrative and offer a more complex depiction of fluidity in the identities and experiences of trans individuals. To view the project visit Jana Marcus's website: Transfigurations.

{http://www.glaad.org/blog/photographer-jen-rosensteins-transformational-project-features-transgender-subjects}

{Patty Chang, Melons (At a Loss) }

{http://dusticunningham.com/}

{http://dusticunningham.com/}

{Genderbent http://dusticunningham.com/}

So to leave on an alliterative note, the world of trans, gender non-conforming art and activism is alive with variety. New bold spirits brave enough to turn their pain into inspiring testimonials and social commentary, emerge every day.

So my lovely gender warriors, one last question: In what way can your pain power your passion?

-To your personal revolts and riots and especially to your learning,

Cory

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Cory is a poet and novelist in the Los Angeles area. They have worked in mental health, education, social justice and fashion blogging and they aim to lead by example by bravely living an examined lifestyle.

"The learning process is something you can incite, literally incite, like a riot."

Audre Lord

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