Under the benevolent gaze of LBJ, more than 150 Texas queer kids have gathered to brainstorm, compare notes, take this “life” to anotha lev-elllll. Community. Kids. Cute as hell and earnest as all get out. Kate Bornstein thanked the kids assembled at her 11:45am workshop, Sex & Gender Outlaw Survival Tips for the 21st Century, for picking up a torch that has blazed into territory even she could not imagine 30 years or so ago. The kids are pumped, the cookies delicious, and my mind has already been blown/rocked humble by the energy … and honey, it’s just lunchtime.
– KXM
What has blown me away is the vibrance alive in these kids. Maybe’s mine’s been beaten outta me by the cruel world of unfair homophobic principle. Not these kids, though. Optimism abounds. The T-shirts for the conference deem them “More Than a Label.” And they are proving it. Gender-neutral bathrooms elevate social normality, discussions explore issues happening now. I attended the Gender, Race, and Hip-Hop Workshop, where we watched Byron Hurt‘s Beyond Beats and Rhymes, a documentary begging to reassess the man’s role, queer or straight, in hip-hop and mainstream culture as a whole.
– K8G
Click the pic to access the photo gallery!
See entry below for registration and tonight’s keynote (with Kate Bornstein) info.
This article appears in April 13 • 2007.