Rally for Disability Justice: This Friday, Jan. 20, the Oregon State University Disabled Students Union (DSU) is hosting their second annual Disability Justice Rally, and all are welcome to attend, participate, show their support, and learn about an important cause.
There will be picketing, free pizza provided by American Dream, and a free punk show with performances by three Corvallis-based bands: queercore/art punk/emo band Polypore, Y’allternative queer punk band Jay & Hex, and folk punk band Reptile Lovechild.
The rally will take place at the OSU Student Experience Center (SEC) Plaza, located at 2501 SW Jefferson Way, from 3 – 7 p.m.; the concert will start at 5:30 p.m. All supplies and assistance will be provided. For questions and/or accommodation requests, send an email to disabledstudentsunion@oregonstate.edu.
Stop the Sweeps Benefit Show: Also on Friday, Bitter Half Booking, a radical queer and punk duo of show organizers in the Corvallis DIY scene committed to building safer, accessible show spaces for folks who have been historically marginalized and excluded from mainstream music scenes, is kicking off 2023 with a benefit show for Stop the Sweeps Corvallis, a local mutual aid network committed to providing direct care, support, and advocacy for unhoused neighbors who are impacted and displaced by camp sweeps. The line-up features heavy Corvallis post-punk band Flexing, local political punk legends The Wobblies, high-energy Eugene pop-punk band Left on Read, and jangly Corvallis slacker rock band West.
For Bitter Half organizers Caitlin Garets and Indiana Laub, the show is partially an opportunity to bring The Wobblies back to town.
“Their first album, Undesirable Citizens, came out when I was in high school, and it was really cool to have a local punk band that was so unapologetically political,” said Garets. “They haven’t played here since before the pandemic, so this will probably be a lot of folks’ first time seeing them, and they put on a killer show so I’m really looking forward to it.”
Garets added that another cool thing about this particular show is how age-diverse it is, with a lineup spanning three generations of Corvallis DIY.
“We’ve always been really strong proponents of intergenerational community, because that’s how subcultures are sustained,” she said. “You learn the ropes from the people older than you and then pass that knowledge on to the next generation. Some band members at this show are 15-16 and some are in their 40s, so it’s cool to see that in practice. Sometimes people assume that when we say our shows are all ages, that means they’re just for kids, but it’s not uncommon for there to be young kids with their parents and folks in their 60s enjoying the same bands.”
And of course, Bitter Half is excited to be partnering with Stop the Sweeps to celebrate, support, and help raise awareness the important work they do.
“Stop the Sweeps has been on our short list for a benefit for a while because of the direct, immediate impact their work has on our community,” said Garets. “I’d recommend checking out their zine to learn more about sweeps and what kind of tactics they use to support unhoused people.”
The show will take place at Westminster House (WestM), located at 101 NW 23rd St. Doors open at 7 p.m., music starts at 7:30. $7-10 donations are encouraged, but as with all Bitter Half shows, it is a NOTAFLOF (No One Turned Away For Lack Of Funds) event.
Call for Submissions on Trans Mothering: Niamh Timmons, a disabled, queer, nonbinary trans woman who recently received their PhD in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) from OSU, is seeking submissions for a book anthology they’re editing on the struggles, joys, and more experiences of trans mothering. Personal narratives, comics, essays, poems, manifestos, and other creative, non-academic genres are welcome.
“Too often trans mothers are either ignored or relegated to the fringes in conversations on who is or can be mothers,” reads the description on Timmons’ website. “Trans mothers exist in many different ways: from having kids before transitioning, after medical transitioning, adoption, foster care, and through community mothering. In this anthology, we want to share all these experiences and of those who wish to become mothers.”
Given that this collection is being developed at a time of increased right-wing legislation targeting trans youth and adults and their access to lifesaving, gender-affirming care, it can serve as an outlet to “recognize and bear witness to that violence”, but also to share the unique joys that come with trans mothering. This project is inspired by other edited collections such as Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Front Lines, an anthology inspired by the queer and Black feminists of the 1970s and ‘80s that centers the voices and visions of marginalized mothers of color, and Trust Kids!: Stories on Youth Autonomy and Confronting Adult Supremacy, a weaving of essays, poems, artwork, and interviews exploring the social and historical roots behind oppressive attitudes toward children, and various different ways they can be cared for, loved, and included in more just, nurturing, and egalitarian ways.
“We want to hear from trans women, trans feminine non-binary people, trans feminine Two-Spirit people, trans feminine khawaja sira and hijra people, and others who self-identify with trans femininity. Submissions from Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color will be given preference.”
Submissions may include topics related, but not limited to, the policing of motherhood, reproductive justice and how it intersects with trans mothering, experiences as a trans mother and/or with raising trans children, making space for trans mothers and trans children, community mothering, experiences with foster care and adoption, and desires to become mothers. Authors will be paid $100 per submission, in addition to whatever funds come from publication. Submissions or questions can be emailed to transmotheringbook@gmail.com.
Timmons’ academic and creative work focuses on trans feminine arts, disability, survivor experiences, and organizing. They have two chapters published in Disabled Voices, a first-of-its-kind international anthology of a wide variety of genres written and illustrated by the disabled community about the disabled community. She is also a prolific zinester, with a mini-zine, “All by Myself”, about what happens when there is no community to bring about communal care; an ongoing perzine (personal zine) serial about the confluences of transness, disability, mental health, and survivorhood; a series of mini-comic anecdotes about being disabled; and more.
Safer Sacks: The OSU Pride Center just launched a new program, “Safer Sacks”, whereby folks can come by each week to pick up free safer sex supplies, including condoms, lube, and other resources.
Supplies can be picked up at the SEC Plaza every Friday from 12 – 3 p.m., but in case there are any folks who aren’t able to make it then, the Pride Center, temporarily located in Room 112 of the SEC, will have them available throughout the week. Additionally, NARCAN and at-home HIV kits will be available by request.
The Pride Center is open from 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays. Accommodation requests related to disability can be made by sending an email to Pride.Center@oregonstate.edu.
By Emilie Ratcliff
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