Queeruption (a compound of queer and eruption)[1] is an annual international queercore festival and gathering started in 1998 where alternative/radical/disenfranchised queers can exchange information, network, organize, inspire and get inspired, self-represent, and challenge mainstream society with do-it-yourself (DIY) ideas and ethics.[2][3][4] Shows featuring queer punk bands, performance artists, and other entertainment are put on at night, while workshops and demonstrations take place during the daytime.[3][4][5] Queeruption generally takes place in a different city in a different country every year.[3][4] It has contributed to anarcho-queer (queer anarchist) movements.[6] The groups that organize each event and even within the same city may have disagreements about how aspects should represent politics including queer safe spaces.[7]

History

The first Queeruption was held in London in 1998 by a network of radical queer anarchists.[8][1] According to the 2004 Queeruption Zine, the first Queeruption started with several queer activists in London squatting in a building one weekend with the goal of a "politically inspiring and educational gathering."[9] This squatting and gathering of queer anarchists was the result of gentrification in a neighborhood in South London.[1] This same zine states that the first Queeruption was in the Spring of 1998, however an article from Bi Community News in 1998 conflates this, determining that the first one occurred in a weekend in September. According to this same article from Bi Community News, the first Queeruption in London involved many different performances and presentations from various personalities and acts such as the performance artist The Divine David, bisexual writer Charlotte Cooper, queercore band Mouthfull, artist Sexton Ming, and playwright Marissa Carr.[10]

Although framed as a festival, Queeruptions' main purpose is community acitivism and outreach within queer communities around the world. Squatting has been an important part of past Queeruptions, as the first one in London was founded upon squatting in a gentrfiied area of South London.[1] The justification behind squatting is the reclaiming of "public spaces" in order to use them as political, educational, and artistic spaces by queer individuals. Inherently, Queeruption participants see this squatting and gathering as an act of resistance against capitalism.[11]

Information for Queeruption has typically been spread through zines.[12] In more recent years, the information has been spread online, such as the now defunct Queeruption website or Instagram for the 2017 Budapest festival.[13] The moto of Queeruption is "Queer mutiny, not consumer unity," and generally these events stand for a display of queer expression that the groups argue diverts from the conventional Gay Pride events.[14] According to the 2004 Queeruption Zine, the gatherings in the past have included "vegan meals, political discussions, direct action, skills, workshops, bands, spoken word, dressup and cabaret, dance parties, film screenings, radical sex, spontaneous haircuts, and more."[12]

List of gatherings

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Brown, Gavin (2007). "Mutinous eruptions: autonomous spaces of radical queer activism". Environment and Planning. 39 (11): 2685–2698. Bibcode:2007EnPlA..39.2685B. doi:10.1068/a38385. S2CID 145065317. Archived from the original on 2014-01-16. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
  2. ^ a b "8 Days a Week". SF Bay Guardian. April 27 – May 4, 2005. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d Vaneslander, B. (2007). "Long Live Temporariness: Two Queer Examples of Autonomous Spaces". Affinities Journal. Vol. 1, no. 1. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
  4. ^ a b c Richard J.F. Day and Sarita Srivastava (2007). "Journal Editors' Introduction" (PDF). Affinities: A Journal of Radical Theory, Culture and Action. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
  5. ^ Mittelmann, Laurie (June 25 – July 1, 2008). "He's taking action to make the impossible possible". The Villager. Vol. 78, no. 4. Archived from the original on 1 September 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
  6. ^ Hekma, Gert (15 May 2012). Jamie Heckert and Richard Cleminson (ed.). "Book Review: Anarchism & Sexuality. Ethics, Relationships and Power". Journal of Homosexuality. 59 (5): 757–759. doi:10.1080/00918369.2012.673949. S2CID 143038958.
  7. ^ Haworth, Robert H. (2012). Anarchist Pedagogies: Collective Actions, Theories, and Critical Reflections on Education. PM Press. ISBN 9781604861167.[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ Browne, Kath; Lim, Jason; Brown, Gavin (2007). Geographies of Sexualities : Theory, Practices and Politics. Burlington, VT, USA: Ashgate Publishing Company. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-7546-4761-4.
  9. ^ "Queeruption InfoZine." Athen and Fiscious. Queeruption VI, January 2004.
  10. ^ "Queeruption". Bi Community News. November 19, 1998. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  11. ^ White, Melissa Autumn; Dobson, Kit; McGlynn, Áine (2013). Transnationalism, Activism, Art. University of Toronto Press. p. 121. ISBN 978-1-4426-9562-7.
  12. ^ a b "Queeruption InfoZine." Athen and Fiscious. Queeruption VI, January 2004.
  13. ^ "queeruption". Instagram.com. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  14. ^ Routledge, Paul (2017). Space Invaders: Radical Geographies of Protest. London: Pluto Press. p. 125. ISBN 978-0-7453-3629-9.
  15. ^ Kouri-Towe, Natalie; Rentschler, Carrie (2008). War and pride: 'Out Against the Occupation' and queer responses to the 2006 Lebanon War (Thesis). McGill University's Institutional Repository (Canada): McGill University.
  16. ^ Wagner, Roy (2012). Sexual and National Mobility-Visibility Regimes In Israel/Palestine, And How To Cross Through Them. Activist Media and Biopolitics. doi:10.25969/mediarep/1879. ISBN 9783902811042. Archived from the original on 2020-11-27. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  17. ^ "Queeruption Festival - Budapest". Facebook. Archived from the original on 2019-08-09. Retrieved 2017-06-08.

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