The #Ownvoices discourse has done a lot of harm in the queer community. Queer authors have been pressured to come out before they are ready, and people who may never have the opportunity to publicly discuss their own identity are discouraged from exploring queerness in their art. As if exploring queerness through art isn't meaningful and important no matter the public identity of the artist.
Also it is absolutely ridiculous to think that we can deem a work from a country where queerness is illegal less legitimate because the author has not chosen to publicly disclosed their identity. Authors who were forced to hide their names because of government crack downs on queer art have been questioned for not being openly #Ownvoices.
I'm passionate because I have experience with this issue. I was questioned as to whether I could write about trans people, while I had been out as genderfluid in my personal relationships for years. I just didn't think it was a strangers business. If not for pressure from outsiders, I may have had a better experience coming out on my own terms, but some of y'all ruined that for me.
#Ownvoices is useful as a marketing term for the people who want to use it, but it is not the barrier art must cross to be deemed "queer enough".
germansingergirl
pixelskylines
romaincrisis
gummygunk
tangentwithtanner
annaxmalina
