#crusing utopia

Intersectionality - one of the biggest concepts within human rights activism. Where being black and gay makes it harder for you to achieve the rights you deserve, because you are part of two minorities. The Toilet - a play that exemplifies a time where you could be either black or gay, but you couldn’t be both. Hiding a part of who you were was easier said than done. Obviously you can’t hide the color of your skin, but hiding your sexuality seemed like the best route to take. The 60s were a trying time for so many difference groups. Activism picked up drastically, pushing for equal human rights all around. Women wanted more rights, African Americans wanted more rights, LGBTQ+ wanted more rights - all of which were rightfully longed for and deserved. But where within the Stonewall Riots and pride did having an intersectional identity fit in?Where was is a possibility to fit in with a crowd who didn’t disown you as a part of your other identities? Pride was created for the white person, black activism was created for the straight person. We continue to fight for those with intersectional identities to this day - we push against the blatant racism and homophobia pushed upon the youth of each community as they are killed for their skin color and the person they love. Utopia does not discriminate against your skin color. It does not tell you that you can either be one identity or the other. Utopia is where you can be part of any identity that you please, whether you are a person of color, queer, a woman, or anything that makes you who you are. Utopia is a place where you must accept the differences within each person and not tell them that they can or cannot be a part of who they are. Utopia is something we have not seen, because we keep hurting our brothers and sisters and nonbinary pals by telling them that they can only claim one identity that sets them apart from the others.

Kevin Aviance - a huge symbol to the queer community. Musician, performer, queer extraordinaire. His performances had the crowds riled up, feeling every single emotion he was, moving to the beat of a different drum. A single gesture could have the whole audience reeling in their seats. Simple hand motions held more meaning than an entire movie (we’ve all seen those plot-less movies, let’s be honest). Gestures are not rooted in masculine code, but instead transcended everyone into a space where being was just being. It didn’t matter if you were a man, a woman, or someone in between. You are queer in any way possible. Sway your hips, flash your hands, push your movement to the absolute limit. Queering your movement conveys meaning and understanding. Your walk makes you seem feminine, your stature makes you seem masculine, the way you comb through your hair sets you somewhere between the two. Kevin Aviance knew what his motions meant and he knew he was the only person who could truly present them in the way he did. His movements gave the crowd a glimpse inside his mind and within his soul. A queer utopia relies on these gestures. It relies on your expressions and how much you queer yourself in the way you move. Utopia isn’t based simply on how masculine or feminine you are, it’s how you incorporate the two withing the way your body reacts to each shift around you. Your body knows who you are - you just have to start allowing the queerness in your movements to push you closer to that utopia we all so clearly reach for.

HIV is a stigma that haunts the queer community. The epidemic left people confused, scared, and completely abandoned. Public sex, though, that’s where everyone could come together. Queer sex was expressed in a social form, erasing the fear of HIV and the nasty ghost that follows it around. Sweat and passion and togetherness - isn’t that what queerness is all about? Not accepting that relationships must be kept private, kept in a way where you don’t know that the queer people walking down the street were sharing their bodies with each other, fighting against the stigma of gayness leading to an imminent death (media coverage and biases can really push that point across). Gay sex was celebrated and toted around with pride during this time. Public sex pushed people together, giving everyone a piece of what they wanted. But HIV haunted the queer community and the queer community haunted the straights. Establishments got shut down, queer groups were forced back into private sectors to engage in their intimacy, and straights could finally breathe again. But the ghosts that now follow the queer community are that of losing their places to be openly queer with one another in th most physical form. Utopia accepts these ghosts. These ghosts fuel what utopia should look like and what we crave out of it. A craving for a primal desire, which is what queerness is comprised of. Primal desires push our utopia and our utopia pushes for us to embrace our queerness.

Jose Esteban Munoz

Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity