We’re Hir We’re Queer (WHWQ) is a small collectively-run pamphlet and zine distro based in Brooklyn and Rio de Janiero. The project has existed since 2011 in many forms, first as a community study group, then a blog and electronic resource/archive, and now currently as a zine distributor. Anyone who is not a white, heterosexual cisman, and is interested in engaging critically with theory, philosophy and politics will not be taken seriously, will be given less resources, and will even be straight up discouraged or actively prevented from pursuing those interests by sexist academia, machismo teachers and chauvinistic comrades on the left. WHWQ was born out of an attempt to disrupt that norm, to take the power of access to these texts out of the universities and give them back to the community from which their analysis is pulled.
WHWQ focuses on the importance of encouraging non-men, queers, and transgender folks, especially those who are people of color, to write, read, and engage with political theory. We see this project as intimately connected to practical, on the ground struggle—we are committed to circulating the writings that have informed us as organizers and as militants. More specifically, the WHWQ distro focuses on revolutionary and radical political theory about queers, written by queers, and in the interest in the fight for the liberation of queers. Oftentimes this means our content does not directly mention anything about LGBTQ people. This is because we recognize that many queers want to read or write about gentrification, white supremacy, immigration, etc. All these fights are deeply and necessarily related to the fight for queer liberation and are therefore deeply necessary for our work as a distributor.
WHWQ publishes texts written by members of the collective, pamphletizes important theoretically texts only available online or in academic journals, and publishes and distributes texts for political organizations that may not have a capacity to do so. Currently, we are working to widen our reach by attending zine and book fairs and the recent addition of our online store. In the near future, we will publish a zine series that breaks down popular theoretical texts in the same vein as Cliff's Notes, and a submission system for those who see their work as fitting within the scope of our project and would like us to distribute their writing.
Check out WHWQ booth at the next upcoming event :
NYC Anarchist Book Fair 2017 on Saturday, May 13 at Judson Memorial - Church (55 Washington Square South, New York, NY 10012)
Some of their latest zines:
No Lamps, No Candles, No More Light: Patriarchy on the Left Part I of IV
No Lamps, No Candles, No More Light: Patriarchy on the Left Part I of IV: written by Jocelyn Cohn & Eve Mitchell- cover art by Lita Box
Part I solidifies the terms and relationships between concepts like "gender," "patriarchy," and "sexism." This pamphlet works great either as a standalone guide to the big questions or in tandem with part II which describes our experiences with patriarchy on the left.
No Safehouse: Patriarchy on the Left Part II of IV
No Safehouse: Patriarchy on the Left Part II of IV: written by Jocelyn Cohn & Eve Mitchell - cover art by Minhee Bae
Part 2 looks at the ways sexism affects activists and organizers on the left. It looks at the relationship of this sexism to the gendered oppression and violence in the world around our milieus. This zine raises some chalenges for dealing with patriarchy on the left.
Follow WHWQ at: www.werehirwerequeer.com
Warning Signs of abuse -sticker
Never Stop Fighting die-cut sticker
Capitalism and Gay Identity -by John D'Emilio