Ep. 11 – Slaying

We both love Buffy the Vampire Slayer because of the smart way that the writers portray adolescence, relationships, and just humanity in general. Because of the overtly feminist themes in the show and also because of its devoted and often politicized fan-base, we were curious to talk to people about their thoughts on queer themes in the show. We also had a lot of fun making this episode sort of meta. We hope you enjoy it!

– Carrie & Rick

EP. 10 – Embodying

Yoga is a practice of liberation. It is one of many ways to explore the gifts of embodiment, connection, and Grace. But yoga classes do not always feel like an exploration of liberation and Grace, especially for queer folks. Yoga for Queers and Misfits was born in October 2010 to provide queer folks with an alternative to the average, "mainstream" yoga class experience. I specifically created YfQ for queer, gender nonconforming, hairy-bodied and otherwise 'othered' folks to provide a safer space in which to explore the practice of yoga as liberation. Where typical classes can be prohibitively expensive and take place in spaces which are uncomfortably bourgie, homogenous and elitist, YfQ is donation-based and offered in a community setting. Since the body itself can be a site of trauma and challenge, especially for queer folks, Yoga for Queers offers a unique opportunity for queer, gender non-conforming, and otherwise othered folks to explore embodiment, healing, community-building, and liberation in (what is hopefully) a safe(r) and welcoming space.

– Patty 

I first heard of Patty’s Yoga for Queers & Misfits classes through friends active in queer organizing in Greensboro. As someone who loves both yoga and queerness, I was really interested to hear Patty talk about how she she connects the two in her teaching and personal practice. After interviewing Patty and several of her students, I’m curious about the other ways in which people might be queering their own yoga experiences, as well as what other practices queer-identified people employ to resist the toxicity and isolation that Patty mentions in this episode.

– Carrie 

Ep. 9 – Thriving

Carrie: In my mind, the impetus for this episode began during a talk-back at a Women’s Studies conference when Avery, who was my student at the time, suggested that KiQ explore the relationship of violence to queerness.

Avery: At the time, I had already been doing research into violence and visibility with respect to queer people in public space. I had started thinking about organizing surrounding street harassment - how to make the streets safer for gender nonconforming people.

Both: From there, we brainstormed about how to put discussions about violence into the context of KiQ, since the show had previously explored more uplifting aspects of queer life. Our hope was to showcase the way that queer people can and do survive experiences with violence, rather than perpetuating narratives about queer people as always helpless and victimized. We initially issued a call for participants and Michael agreed to participate through that. From there, Jeff (Avery’s friend) agreed to participate, and since we felt that the episode would work best with three interviews, Avery agreed to share an interview as well.

Carrie: My hope for this episode is that it may prompt its viewers to appreciate the resiliency of the people who agreed to share their stories within it, and that it may also instigate deeper consideration about the broader implications of what Avery talks about regarding self determination.

Avery: I want the episode to help us to simultaneously hold seemingly conflicting narratives in our mind about queer people’s relationships to violence - on one hand, we have this idea about how queer people are always victims, but here we show how queer people also survive and are resilient - so that we can recognize the complexity of queer life and our relationships to violence.

– Avery & Carrie

Ep. 8 – Searching

Adults often frame the internet as a dangerous place for young people, but Alex begs to differ. As a young person living in a place where the easiest way to find queer culture is online, he offers a few tips and anecdotes about finding queer-positive websites.

The idea for this episode came from a conversation I had with Alex over email the summer after I met him in a class I was teaching. I approached him about the idea of working together on a KiQ episode, and reframing the internet as potentially nurturing for queer youth was the first idea he proposed.

Rick and I hope that this episode can contribute to the great web content already out there that is helping queer teens navigate their hopes, ideas, and identities. In thinking about the episode, what are your thoughts about where the idea of the internet as an unsafe place comes from?

– Carrie

Ep. 7 – Camping

QORDS is a grassroots organization based in Asheville, Durham, and Greensboro, NC that runs a week-long summer camp for queer youth and/or youth from queer families. I first heard of them in the winter of 2012 when they were in the process of planning their first annual camp session and one of the founders paid a visit to a community-based queer youth group that I help to coordinate. Rick and I went to camp during the middle of their summer 2013 session and we were immediately impressed by the general feeling at camp - everyone seemed so thoughtful, creative, and welcoming. After getting a chance to talk with some of the organizers and the campers about their experiences, we were both heartened to learn about how, even as a young organization, QORDS is helping to build such a positive place for queer people of all ages in the South. If you’d like to learn more about QORDS, and/or you’re interested in becoming involved as a volunteer, please visit their website: http://www.qords.org

– Carrie

EP. 6 – Quilting

Michie and I first became friends in college when we were both thinking a lot about the idea of queerness. As I’ve watched Michie’s quilting craft develop over the years, I’ve often been curious about how queerness informs her work. When she offered to give an interview for KiQ, Rick and I were happy to take it up. Producing this episode made us both curious about how expectations of queer artists to make “queer” art might actually produce a new set of creative limitations. Along those lines, we wondered what ultimately makes an artistic practice queer at all. We hope that watching this episode might help you to consider some of those questions too.

– Carrie

EP. 5 – Reading

We discovered the Reading OUTloud campaign through the Women’s & Gender Studies newsletter at UNCG, where we both spend a lot of our time. Since we are also interested in utilizing visual texts to explore queer activism, we reached out to April (the campaign’s curator) and asked if she would be willing to let us create an episode about her project. During our conversations with April, we were interested to learn about the connections between the capacity of visual images to combat racism, homophobia, and transphobia at the same time that they can function as a form of care for marginalized groups. We love how, on the surface, the campaign seems so simple, yet at the same time its potential is so radical. We hope that this episode will prompt you to think about your own thoughts of images of LGBTQ-identified people as well as your personal experiences of libraries. After seeing the episode, what are your thoughts on histories that need to be told?

– Carrie & Rick

Ep. 4 – Clarifying (Performativity), Part II

While the previous episode gives a basic idea of performativity, this second part features interviews in which our subjects explain some of the social stakes of performativity - how identities can get read or misread, and why any of this even matters. We thought it was interesting to think about the way that the idea of performativity both troubles and highlights the element of personal agency, and we’re curious about how people might think differently about their own behavior and choices after listening to some of these conversations.

– Carrie & Rick

Ep. 3 – Clarifying (Performativity), Part I

Part of our mission statement for making this web series is to explore queerness not only in relation to personal identity and social behavior, but also as it emerges within the ideas that we use to understand various patterns and practices in the world around us. For this episode, we asked friends, acquaintances, and friends of friends to sit down with us to tell us about their thoughts on the idea of performativity. We think their stories and explanations in this episode provide a pretty good working definition of the term, and we’re interested in how people who weren’t previously familiar with the idea of performativity might use it to think differently about their social actions and perceptions. We’re also curious about how people who have heard of and used the term before see their understandings lining up with or diverging from the explanations in the episode.

– Carrie & Rick

EP. 2 – Naming

Our friend Alex recently changed his name as part of his FTM transition. We knew that Alex had put a lot of thought into selecting his new name and also that the logistics of navigating the legal system had been fairly complicated, so we asked Alex if he would be interested in reflecting on the process on film. Our conversation with Alex made us more aware of the extent of bureaucracy in what seems like a very personal decision, but also of the humanizing moments that can occur even within state institutions. In reflecting on our interview with Alex, we’re wondering about the potential to preserve familial connections via queerness and about the role that naming plays in broader understandings of personal identity.

– Carrie & Rick

Ep. 1 – Performing

Our friend Bethel Steele came through Greensboro on a tour and agreed to sit down with us for an afternoon to discuss ideas about the relationship between queerness and working as an independent folk musician. We knew that Bethel had spent some time thinking about genderqueerness, and we were curious about how those thoughts were playing out in Bethel’s artistic pursuits. Making this episode made us wonder what it means to be “relationally queer” in the way that Bethel describes. We’re also curious about the political dynamics involved in performing queer visibility; for example, Bethel’s songwriting, performances, and physical appearance might not always read as “queer,” but does that mean that they aren’t? We’d love to hear your thoughts!

– Carrie & Rick

Microdoc #3: Little Red Riding Hood

Ava reflects on performance, sexuality, and personal accountability.

Microdoc #2: Queerling

Bethel shares a term teeming with queer potential.

Microdoc #1: Trans* Alliance

Michelle shares a queer anecdote in which she explores the complicated and fluid relationship between gender and sexual identity.