All things end. And on July 11th, KRCL’s Now Queer This will be wrapping up its frenetic, over-the-top run. We’ve had an absolute blast. Over the past 16 months our all-volunteer team of djs, punks, activists and actors have introduced Utah to the world of tranny slam poets, cutting-edge queer theorists and gay zombie porn. We’ve explored the anti-assimilationist rants of radical “political queers” as well as the deviant queercore music scene. We’ve satirized the consumer-obsessed culture of the Vapid Lovelies and also launched the career of Sister Dottie S Dixon, the past president of the Spanish Fork PFLAG (and the proud Mormon mother of her gay son). People have been asking why the series is concluding after building so much momentum. The simple reason is that I’m moving on to new projects. Frank Feldman and I are now finishing post-production on our documentary, Natural Family Values, which highlights the battle over Kanab’s anti-gay family resolution. The film demands all of our attention as we prepare for future screenings and festivals. The time to wrap NQT now feels right.
But what about Radio Queer Utah? KRCL’s support of the LGBT community remains solid. Concerning Gays and Lesbians aired for over 20 years, back when producing a gay radio show in Utah really took guts! Long before Bravo or Logo (and every other network wanting to cash in on the gay demographic), KRCL led the way with fearless LGBT programming. That’s significant when you consider that Logo is owned by Viacom, who in the 2004 elections, gave the majority of their political donations to Republican candidates. Yes, when you financially support gay programming on Logo and MTV you are also funding anti-gay Republicans. Isn’t that great? Viacom commodifies our culture and then markets it back to us — after which they hand over their profits to men who work to restrict our civil liberties. You gotta love capitialism! It is important to have an independent media that doesn’t just view gays as a market to be exploited.
In 2004 I was hired to produce KRCL’s RadioActive. We had the ambitious goal of weaving progressive social justice issues together into one program. The driving philosophy behind RadioActive, then and now, is to transcend identity politics and recognize the inter-connectedness of all our diverse causes. Queer topics take their place along with race, class, gender and environmental issues. Listeners who tune in to talk about the Iraq war one day, might find themselves calling to talk about transgender politics the next. We bring visionary activists, artists and academics daily to the Utah airwaves to discuss how we build a more inclusive, just and sustainable world. It’s a great gig and the most fulfilling work I’ve ever done. And I plan to stick around as long as they’ll have me.
In 2006, NQT was really born out of my queer existential crisis. I wanted to better understand what being queer meant to me – what the limits of gay identity was – and what the untapped potential of our community could be. I was fascinated by the divide between assimilationist gays and the more radicalized elements of political genderqueers. So I pitched Now Queer This to KRCL and was given the green light.
Our creative team was interested in playing with gay discourse. We particularly wanted to dislodge the prevailing victim meta-narrative that seemed embedded in gay identity. LGBT themed films too often have the obligatory gay bashing or suicide attempt – it’s become cliché and in many instances, kitsch. If group narratives provide a template through which we construct our personal identity, then what kind of people are we becoming? Consider the message of Brokeback Mountain: American culture is so cruel that if you are gay you will either be killed or live alone without love in a trailer shack. Depressing, right? If a queer emo-kid is contemplating suicide, that’s a pretty dark message to throw at her. While I do believe there is great value in aesthetically exploring themes of oppression and violence, I also believe there has been a huge imbalance in our stories. Queer-positive narratives are also needed to help foster a healthy self-image. Yes, there is vicious bigotry in our culture, but there is also a tremendous amount of beauty, acceptance and possibility. Internalized victim narratives won’t win our social acceptance. But owning and recognizing our worth? That will cause a revolution. And hence the need to create queer-positive art and media.
For me, being queer is about co-creating a new world. It’s about defying the status quo and establishing a critical resistance that will recognize marginalized voices. It’s about placing our dissent in the very center of public debate. It’s about raising one helluva ruckus. NQT helped me develop a solid understanding of my identity as a gay activist. And now I’m ready to move on.
Some have expressed concern over the fate of Sister Dottie S. Dixon – whose regular social commentaries (and cookie salad recipe) has become a beloved part of NQT. I’m pleased to announce that she will remain a regular on KRCL with her very own weekly short feature. Dottie will also soon have her own blog here on Queergnosis. Keep checking for more details. We will also be moving all NQT podcasts, transcripts here to Queergnosis. And remember that queer and LGBT issues will always remain an integral part of RadioActive (M-F, noon to 1pm, 90.9 FM or krcl.org).
I want to thank KRCL for their unyielding support of our community. I’d also like to thank our regular contributors, Frank Feldman, Justin Strange, Charles Lynn Frost, Chris Howard, James Lancaster, Brikena Ribaj, Josh Moon, Marina Gomberg, Nick James, Aaron Cloward, David Luna, Chris Lemon, and Dan Tham. And a gracious thanks to Senator Chris Buttars, whose hysterical anti-gay tirade kicked off every episode. And finally, thanks to all of you who listened, engaged and shared your support. My best is yet to come.
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