Bioneer, In a 2014 panel for The New School in New York City, bell hooks reframed queerness as “not as being about who you’re having sex with” but “as being about the self that is at odds with everything around it and has to invent and create and find a place to speak and to thrive and to live.” The erasure of queer identities and the imposition of Western categories of gender and sexuality have been critical to the function of white supremacy throughout history. But courageous queer leadership has risen to lead us toward a decolonized future and force a reckoning with this legacy of exploitation. Queer leadership has been critical in progressive social, environmental, and political movements. In the spirit of the ways queer people must learn to invent and create space through which to love, queerness teaches us to innovate toward a future in which we can thrive. This week, we share wisdom from queer people leading the way to healing and building a regenerative future. |