"Forging gender and racial solidarities at trans-inclusive women's fest" by Elizabeth Currans DOI: 10.1080/10894160.2023.2187160">
 

Forging gender and racial solidarities at trans-inclusive women's festivals

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2024

Department/School

Women's and Gender Studies

Publication Title

Journal of Lesbian Studies

Abstract

This article explores the interweaving of successes and failures at trans-inclusive women’s festivals. I analyze conflicts that occurred at the Mystical Womxn’s Magic Festival and the Ohio Lesbian Festival. In the process, I demonstrate that working across racial and gender divides in these spaces is possible but only if we understand that solidarity is processual and relational but also, quite simply, hard work. This labor requires acknowledging that failures are an integral part of the praxis of forging alliances. By failures, I am primarily referring to moments of insensitivity, casual macroaggressions, lack of deep listening, and other common occurrences of harm. Ultimately, I argue that solidarity is a journey not an end point and that a crucial aspect of the journey is grappling with collective and personal failures along the way.

Comments

E. Currans is a faculty member in EMU's Department of Women's and Gender Studies.

Link to Published Version

DOI: 10.1080/10894160.2023.2187160

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