Opening Letter – The DIY Issue!

Hello,

We started this magazine when we realised that mainstream news rarely represents Queer people in a fair and balanced way, instead choosing to angle stories towards division or tokenism. Queer experience filtered through a het/cis editorial newsroom rarely comes out authentically – it comes watered down or sensationalised. The reality of Queer experience is too nuanced and unpalatable for advertisers to put up with. Mainstream media is another tool to tell us what we should think, feel and do, where we are allowed and not allowed to exist and whether people should loathe, pity or fear us.

As Queer Cumbrians, we are dictated to a lot.

We have been told that boardrooms with no Queer representation know best how to allocate support to our community, rather than allowing the community to decide for ourselves. Gatekeeping in the guise of altruism allows power imbalances to remain intact.

We have been told by creative institutions that we need professionals from other areas to create our cultural sector when we know our culture better than anyone, if they’d care to pay attention.

We have been told that scientists should dictate how we identify, corporate sponsors should dictate how we gather, pseudo-feminists should dictate where we piss and when in doubt, god and capitalism should dictate everything else.

We have been kept out of discussions about our own health, our own bodies, our own communities and our own futures our whole lives.

It’s a symptom of a system that is built to allow Queer people just enough to survive (at best) but never enough to thrive.

If we want to have rights, dignity and freedom there’s no point waiting for the system to do it for us, we’re going to have to do it for ourselves.

Marsha and Sylvia did it with a brick.

Rosa Parks did it on a bus.

George Michael did it with a revolving urinal and a disco ball.

How will you do it?

Welcome to the DIY issue.

Queer Cumbria.