#queer worldmaking

Happy August, friends! Everyone's talking about Netflix's reboot of Queer Eye, and the hype is huge – just as it was for the original series in 2003. Been enjoying the new series and wondering if the original is worth a watch? Fan of the OG Fab 5 and curious about the new crew? Never seen either? Check out this video from Cinematica for a quick then-vs-now catch-me-up!

Hope everyone is enjoying issue 5.1 this summer! Ever thought about getting your work published with us? Consider submitting to QED!

July has rolled around, and we have one more spotlight for you from QED 5.1! In their piece, “'What Does It Mean to Be Undocuqueer?' Exploring (il)Legibility within the Intersection of Gender, Sexuality, and Immigration Status,” Jesus Cisneros and Julia Gutierrez share excerpts from the interviews they conducted with various young undocumented queer people, which detail the areas in which these two forms of discrimination overlap. The interviewees relate their difficulties obtaining education, employment, housing, and medical care due not only to a lack of protections for LGBTQ+ people, but also to their inability to produce documentation, and how these interlocking issues compound each other in severity. Cisneros and Gutierrez emphasize the necessity of considering the intersection of documentation (or lack thereof) and gender/sexuality during this time of heavy immigration criminalization.

It's time for another spotlight from QED 5.1! Brett Cameron Stockdill brings beautiful and personal insight into his piece on AIDSphobia and living with HIV, titled “Love in the Time of ACT UP: Reflections on AIDS Activism, Queer Family, and Desire.” Stockdill recounts his whirlwind romance and subsequent falling out with a man who lied about his HIV status due to his position as an underprivileged gay man of color, examining the experience through the lens of AIDS activism. Stockdill goes on to chronicle his own diagnosis, the emotional turmoil that followed as he realized he still loved the man who lied to him, and his eventual acceptance of his HIV-positive status and decision to speak about his experience publicly. Pick up Issue 5.1 and delve into this thoughtful, powerful piece!

On to our next showcase from QED 5.1! “Out of Sync: Complex Temporality in Transgender Men's Youtube Transition Channels” by Ace J. Eckstein examines the Youtube channels of five trans men and the confused temporality of these snapshots of the transition process. Eckstein points out that each video encapsulates a moment in the time, a point on a “transition timeline,” which is expected to advance in chronological order. However, the ability to view these videos in any order, as well as the ability to view them back to back in a single concentrated sitting, scrambles or speeds up the viewer's experience of the timeline. Eckstein draws parallels between this scrambled temporality and the very nature of transness – the assembly and reassembly of bodily associations that make up one's gender, which do not always proceed in an orderly fashion from point A to point B.

It's Pride month, the spring issue of QED is here, and we’ve updated our social media accounts! We're QEDJournal both here and on Twitter, so give us a follow if you haven't already!

QED 5.1 is out in the world! In addition to essays by Tamar Shirinian, Ace J. Eckstein, Brett Cameron Stockdill, Jesus Cisneros and Julia Gutierrez, this issue features three exhibition and performance reviews and eight book reviews. Keep checking back for spotlights on each article in the coming weeks!