July Announcements
~ From My Writerly World ~
LOVE, with benefits
“Queer people did not invent love. But LGBTQI people have much to say about it. We know what it is like to risk everything for it. We know what it is like to negotiate love without the crutch of gender roles to fall back on. Most of us know what it was like to love without benefit of marriage or social recognition. To love despite disapproval. We know what it is like to love lavishly, fiercely, sequentially or simultaneously, without the advantage or constraints of convention. We know love to be of greater importance than a whole mess of shoulds.” — Reb Irwin Keller of Congregation Ner Shalom, excerpted from “Gifts of the Queers, 2020” at Itzik’s Well
Last weekend marked the 2015 Supreme Court ruling in favor of same-sex marriage equality plus San Francisco’s 50th Pride (Online) Celebration—elevated by the recent ruling in favor of workplace protections for queer and trans people. This week of June also marked my 7th wedding anniversary.
When people ask how long Kristen and I have been married, I’m not quite sure how to answer. To commemorate our first five years of togetherness in 2012 we registered as domestic partners—unceremoniously signing with a notary public at the UPS store—the only state-sanctioned and federally recognized form of same-sex union legally afforded us at the time. Real romantic.
Kristen especially wanted a ceremony and celebration to mark the occasion (including a darn registry!), so we made plans for the following summer, after we’d both finished grad school. We debated over calling it a commitment ceremony or a wedding, for all the complicated reasons.
Who knew that the day we chose to marry on her family’s farm, including a reception under the canopy of an oak tree her grandmother planted, would arrive just after the Supreme Court struck down California Prop 8 while also ruling the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional. To hardly a dry eye, my father toasted our love and the legal reversal that legitimized it.
Further logistics required a delay in signing the marriage certificate, which we did in our officiant’s chambers: July 3, 2013. Happily wed!
Thanks to my amazing artist-musician friend, Yurika Chiba, who created our ketubah and just posted this image on her Instagram yutaikocat:
“I have been thinking about pride a lot lately and how it affects your self-identity in contrast to shame. I think about kids growing up with either pride or shame for who they are, whether it be their sexual orientation or skin colour. The droplets started out as tears but I turned them into leaves. I dedicate this to my friends Nicole and Kristen who just celebrated their anniversary.” ❤️ Thank you, Yu!
Practices of Hope + Resistance, Resilience
About Place Journal, which published my nonfiction narrative on the historical colonial occupation of Uluru/Ayers Rock (see “Please Don’t Climb: Controversy at the Heart of Australia”), features readings/artist talks from the Practices of Hope themed issue recorded at YouTube Live on June 12, July 10, August 14 & Sept. 4 at 4pm PT. Questions posed by the issue include:
What can speculative or non-realist forms mean for eco-arts? How can we imagine a different future with more of us in it? What hope can we afford? What hope do we need? Together, we reach for art that activates new relationships to embodiment, racial justice, climate crisis, species extinction, and environmentally located social pressures.
About Place Journal is published by the Black Earth Institute dedicated to re-forging the links between art and spirit, earth and society. It seeks creative non-fiction, poetry, fiction, hybrid work, video, and artwork for an upcoming issue on Works of Resistance, Resilience. Submissions are due by August 1.
Writing From Memory or Imagination
I just completed two more 6-week series of writing workshops based on the AWA method. Of 15 participants, a dozen of them want to continue together with more sessions! You can read excerpts from some of their work below.
Amherst Writers & Artists is a non-profit founded on a commitment to social justice:
“We believe that everyone is born with creative genius, that everyone can use words to create art. These values demand a commitment to lift up the voices of those marginalized by racist oppression. We intend to live up to this mission. The AWA Board has identified a series of actions that we can take to become a more equitable organization, to extend that equity into our AWA affiliate program, and into the communities of writers our AWA leaders serve.”
Workshops (as well as weekly Shut Up & Write sessions) will resume in August. Initially hosted at The Sitting Room, Writing From Memory or Imagination is currently held virtually via Zoom. For more information or to fill out an Inquiry Form: https://www.nicolerzimmerman.com/workshops/.
AWA Workshoppers Write:
The following pieces of just-written, unrevised work are from two participants who followed the same prompt in our final session, with only 10 minutes to write:
What I Want
By Martha Ezell
I want to hug my daughter, I want to hug my friends
I want the warmth of another human’s touch without being afraid
I want to spend the night at a friend’s house
I want to sing in a large choir
I want to see a performance in the company of thousands
I want to walk the streets of New York City
and see the kaleidoscope of human activity without masks on
I want to travel in a plane, a train, a car with friends
I want to plan for next month, next year, for years from now, without fear
I want racial equality and justice. I want to face the unfairness together
and then create a new world
I want to see the exquisiteness of nature as it is now,
less stressed, more dominant
I want to make a difference, be a helper, express my creative gifts,
spread kindness
I want to share what I’ve been given with those less fortunate and those I love
I want to feel the power of a world in balance
This is What I Want
by Beth Fein
I want identity
To be a point of knowing
But not separating
I want
Skin color
Ethnicity
Religion
To be the essence
Of you
Not a fence
To keep you in or out
Your gender too
Is solely yours
Share your body
As you desire
We all have
Our different lives
We all have a mother
And maybe a father
Perhaps siblings
or children
Do we have work
Is it the right job for us
Or does it just make us tired
Let me
set the table
There is a chair
for everyone
Come be
Your beautiful self
Let your
Ethnicity
Gender
Nationality
Language
Shine through
Come sit
At the table
Bring your best of intentions
Your love for others
And for yourself
Come sit at the table
And let’s share
Can I Get An Amen?
Last month I offered a reading & resource list on challenging racism and transphobia. This month I’m serving up some queer media realness. Not only are the following recs highly entertaining, but they engage both heart & mind at the intersectionality of race, class, sexuality, and gender expression in ways that deeply connect us to our humanity. Bring tissues for the laughs & cries.
Never Have I Ever Hilarious Netflix series created by Mindy Kaling.
The Half of It A coming-of-age queer romance by Alice Wu.
Queer Eye Gotta love the Fab Five. Read Jonathan Van Ness’ memoir Over The Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love. Watch: Gay of Thrones.
RuPaul’s Drag Race “If you can’t love yourself… how the hell you gonna love someone else?”
We’re Here The queens come to town. Bob, Eureka, and Shangela!
Pose Created by Ryan Murphy (of Glee, The Politician, and Hollywood), with some of the best episodes written and directed by Janet Mock.
Cheer It’s about a lot more than competitive gymnastics.
Special Single gay male with cerebral palsy seeks love.
Love, Simon Totes adorbs!
We’re off to camp and hike and swim—at a distance—under the Ponderosa Pines of Butte Lake at Lassen Volcanic National Park. Be well, everyone!