Www.unc.edu/ glbtsa/lambda
OPINION
Calling All Queers
A guest writer talks “flashmobs," "kiss-ins,” “genderfucks,” - oh, my!
By Jon Tirpak
Culture wars concerning the LGBTIQ commu
nity are raging throughout our country. We should
'vage our own war on these cultural battlefields that
''^ill grab the attention of every public official and
citizen. What happens now will shape our politi
cal realities. Our involvement and presence at the
table is crucial. Queer organizing creates spaces,
otherwise inaccessible, for all activists and organiz
ers to fully articulate their demands for recognition
and change.
It can be difficult, if not impossible, to orga
nize around what University of Michigan Queer
Studies professor David Halperin describes as, “by
definition whatever is at odds with the normal,
die legitimate, the dominant.” On this notion of
Soeerness, Halperin notes, “There is nothing in
particular to which it necessarily refers. [Queer] is
identity without an essence.” If we are defined
^ our contrast to the norm, our exclusion, our
Sneerness, how can we hope to achieve equality?
As an outgrowth of radical feminism and AIDS
Activism, queer organizing’s most basic tenet is
diat all identities are completely socially construct
ed and that the formulation and performance of
identities varies across cultures.
As a movement, we cover that entire array of
Socioeconomic levels, races, sexes, genders, faiths,
^liilities, gender identities and sexualities. No single
^bel can define or contain all of us. This is the
definitional difference between queer and LGBT.
^min those four letters, there are gray spaces and
People who are excluded. At its base, queer or
ganizing acknowledges the individual differences
^i^ong us and works to destabilize identities that
not stable to begin with, particularly sexual and
Sender identities.
^ I-GBTIQ folks transgress the rigid gender
^Ondaries established by sexist ideology. This
^^ansgression strikes at the roots of heteronor-
*l^ativity and heterosexism, which are rooted in
^ invisibility and the erasure of LGBTIQ folks,
are forced to live everyday in a political void,
^^cer organizing allows participants to be who
are and not simply representatives of their
ntire “classification.” Queer presence, in and of
is activism. It actively challenges the het-
^l^normative climate we feel every day, using the
.,^^®^fses of cultural politics - protests, kiss-ins,
^shmobs”, “genderfucking”, and much more.
Although queer organizing doesn’t consume it
self with the desire for legitimacy in the eyes of the
masses, by default it supports the idea that visibility
creates awareness and dialogue, which in turn fa
cilitate change. By showing Carolina’s campus that
“we are here and we’re queer,” the political play
ers involved in the discourse must acknowledge
us. How many times do you see 50 same-gender
couples holding hands or kissing in the Pit? These
activities profoundly affect campus climate. With
numbers that large, no one can say that we’re not
here.
Beyond the satisfaction of breaking through
invisibility, queer organizing is fun. What LGB
TIQ citizen won’t feel a bit of wicked glee when
the shocked proprietors of a restaurant on Frank
lin Street realize their place of business has been
taken over by guerrilla queer forces, relaxing and
enjoying themselves as anyone else has the right to
do?
Carolina needs queer organizing. The
GLBT-SA and the LGBTQ Office do great work.
But there is a new student organization forming
on UNC’s campus — the Committee for a Queerer
Carolina. CQC will use direct action organizing
to bring queer voices to the discourse on campus
and to maintain queer visibility and presence in a
multitude of progressive causes. By being an ac
tive, visible and tangible presence on campus, we
hope to facilitate policy change. All the LGBTIQ
organizing on campus is directly related to CQC’s
goals. But CQC hopes to take part in direct action
that is more in your face and shocking. CQC wants
to work alongside other pre-existing organizations
to build coalitions between the social, political and
cultural movements on campus. Because we’re
here, and you know what? We’re queer.
Come out of the dorms, apartments, communal
houses - wherever you live. Wear leather gear, get
pierced, sport a polo and a white hat, bring props
(of all varieties), sag your pants, kiss your lover(s)
publicly, make noise - whatever you want to do.
Show people you are here and that you won’t be
invisible any longer. 0
Guest miter and sophomore Jon Tirpak, a Trench and
women's studies double major from Cary, N.C., can be con
tacted about this article at lambda@unc.edu.
Beyond the satis
faction of
breaking through
invisibility,
queer organizing
is fun.