This is the spot to check out for artists, producers and writers looking for people to join them in an art event, production, anthology, contest, or similar sort of adventure. If you are looking for people to join you in such an endeavor, post your Call here. Send it to info@commonbondnm.org
OutHistory.org Launches “Local LGBTQ Histories Contest” at Outhistory.org/Since_Stonewall_Contest
To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, Outhistory.org will award five substantial prizes for the best online exhibits about the local LGBTQ histories of particular villages, towns, cities, and counties in the U.S. since June 1969. The top five exhibits will receive awards from $5,000 to $1,000. The contest is supported by a grant from the Arcus Foundation to The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS), an institute of the City University of New York Graduate Center.
OutHistory.org the LGBTQ history website, is an ambitious attempt to put reliable information about this history on line, and to enlist the community in the effort. The history site, like Wikipedia, encourages anyone with documents, data, and citations to contribute to it. “OutHistory.org is an unprecedented experiment in recording the history of the LGBTQ community, by the community” says the site’s founder and director, the historian Jonathan Ned Katz. Along with community-created content, the site publishes entries by major scholars in the field of sexual and gender history.
OutHistory.org/Since_Stonewall_Contest hopes to receive at least one exhibit submission from every U.S. state. Drafts of local history exhibits must be posted on OutHistory.org/Since_Stonewall_Contest by June 28, 2009. Creators will be able to develop their sites over the next year, and winners will be announced in June 2010. Guidelines for “Since Stonewall” contestants are available on the OutHistory.org/Since_Stonewall_Contest website.
OutHistory.org/Since_Stonewall_Contest will offer some technical and scholarly assistance to participating individuals and groups as they work to recover and present their local LGBTQ histories. OutHistory.org/Since_Stonewall_Contest will also convene a panel to judge the best local LGBTQ histories.
In the four decades since Stonewall, books have been published on the subject and a formerly ignored LGBTQ history has begun to be recovered. Many cities have established LGBTQ community centers, newspapers, and social and political groups, some towns have created school-based advocacy groups, and a grassroots archives movement has sought to preserve the documents of LGBTQ history.
“There are histories of gay life in NYC, LA and San Francisco, but there is a lack of public knowledge about LGBTQ histories outside of major metropolitan areas,” said Lauren Gutterman, the Coordinator of OutHistory.org/Since_Stonewall_Contest. “We think this local LGBTQ history contest will begin to correct that omission,” she added.
Katz and Gutterman believe that the new local histories produced will demonstrate the huge, positive effects of organized LGBTQ political action since June 1969 and highlight the work still to be done. According to CLAGS Executive Director Sarah Chinn, “In the wake of Proposition 8, we need to remind Americans that gays and lesbians have a long history of actively resisting discrimination.”
For more details see:
http://www.outhistory.org%2Fwiki%2FSince_Stonewall_Contest
CONTACT :
Lauren Gutterman, Project Coordinator
outhistory@gc.cuny.edu
(212) 817-1955
Destination Q is looking for artists to submit a logo for the group to us in promoting Albuqureque as a LGBTIQ tourist destinantion. See the contest info & rules here.
Call for Submissions (Anthology)
Working Title: Sexual Ability: Embracing the Intersection of Sexuality and (dis)Ability
Editor: Shanna Katz, M.Ed, Human Sexuality Education, Widener University
Contact: sexualability@gmail.com
Submission Deadline: March 31, 2009
Even as we approach the end of the first decade of the 21st century, there is still a large gap in people's minds when they think about sexuality as it relates to people who are disabled, whether cognitively or physically. While some studies have been performed regarding the potential for differently-abled people to lead satisfying sexual lives, in which satisfying seems to center around the ability to orgasm, very little has been written about the experiences involving the sexualities and experiences of people who identify as handicapped/disabled/differently-abled, as well as their partners.
People of all ability levels are sexual beings. Sex is hard enough to navigate and negotiate when one fits in with society's notions of what a sexual being is, but once you add in the concept of ability, it can become quite challenging. This anthology, Sexual Ability, seeks to bring forward the stories, challenges and experiences of differently-abled people and their partners, putting a face on the trials that so many valuable members of our society must face. By sharing the experiences of the disabled community in relation to sexuality, Sexual Ability hopes to challenge people's viewpoints, foster discussion and conversation, and open doors towards a shift in the social constructions surrounding sexuality and disability.
Essay submissions should be well thought out, and written in a scholarly manner. Acceptable submissions can be in the form of short research papers, non-fictional accounts of personal experience(s), discussions on issues regarding sexuality and disability, etc. Fictional pieces/erotica will NOT be considered. Each author may submit a total of two (2) essays for consideration.
Some topics that authors might consider (but are certainly not limited to) include;
*Coming out to a new partner and facilitating the "disability discussion"
*Reclaiming words surrounding sexuality and disability, such as "crip," "handicapped," etc.
*Issues within the medical community; talking with doctors about being sexually active when you're differently-abled.
*Having to create new sex techniques, positions, conversations, or having to re-define the traditional definitions of sex, etc.
*Disabled and queer, disabled and of color, disabled and religious; reconciling multiple identities alongside sexuality.
*Re-conceiving your sexuality after loss of previous abilities, either solo or with a partner.
*Ability and kink; negotiating within the BDSM community when differently-abled.
*Sexuality and ability through out different cultural experiences.
*Portrayal of disabled people in the media (film, TV, art, advertisements, etc) and the connection to sexuality.
*Disability rights; the fight for them, and how they affect sexuality amongst the disabled community.
*Birth control/contraception; getting it, using it, adapting it, as well as pregnancy/adoption/abortion.
*Creating your identity as a disabled person who is a sexual being; how did it evolve, and what was your journey.
*Any other subjects you feel cover the topic of sexuality and (dis)ability.
By March 31, 2009, please send:
*Your 2,000 – 6,000 word submission, as a word document attachment. It should be titled as such: SubmissionTitleAuthorName.doc (example: SexualAbility.ShannaKatz.Doc). Submissions must be received in 12 point Times New Roman font and sent in via Word documents (other files and cut/pasted text will not be accepted).
* Your complete contact information, including legal name, pen name (if you have one), phone number, email, address, and website (if you have one).
*A 50-100 word biography about yourself.
Please submit the above to: sexualability@gmail.com with the subject line of "Sexual Ability – Submission." Submissions will be read and reviewed as received, but decisions will be made final by July 2009. Please note that accepted submissions will be approved on a tentative basis, pending editorial board approval once the anthology has secured a publisher.
Questions can be directed to Shanna Katz at sexualability@gmail.com or please visit the Sexual Ability MySpace page at www.myspace.com/sexualability.
Please distribute widely. Feel free to post on blogs, websites, social networking sites, listserves, etc.
A note: I would not dare to define what disabled/handicapped/differently-abled meant to anyone. Please do not ask me if your disability counts; if you or your partner identify as such, then I welcome your submission to this anthology.