A Queer Rebirth Has Come to Vocal
Our collective goal and responsibility to build up Pride
The past few months have really been about rebirth for me. There have been many firsts which hasn’t been easy, and it has been more than I would have expected for someone in their late twenties. But along with these first, I’ve been rediscovering and reclaiming my identity. And along with that, I’ve also been given opportunities to advocate and empower others. From my job as a teacher, to my own inner child work, there have been so many grateful opportunities for queer voices and stories to emerge.
Two wonderful queer Vocal creators and I have been talking a lot about representation and queer pride lately. As queer diverse folx, we have noticed that on Vocal there aren’t as many stories published in the Pride community as we expected. Currently, there are only 1,045 creators who have published in Pride, and only 1,531 stories shared. In Humans there are over 63,000 stories, and in Poets more than double that number! Imagine how many of those poems might be queer? But the creator opted to publish elsewhere because of word count restrictions, or just the fact that people read more from the Poets section. (Not to mention that Top Stories are usually from the Poets community as well)
In further conversation, we ourselves even spoke about how we don’t publish in Pride as often either. Our work tends to file away into other communities more. But why? And where are all the beautiful queer stories?
This is where Queer Vocal Voices comes in.
Jim, River, and myself have agreed on one main thing. We need more queer representation on Vocal, and we want to make it happen. Together, we have created (we believe) the first Vocal group on Facebook geared specifically for queer writers and stories. We’re super excited.
The goal of this group is to elevate and empower queer voices and queer stories with Pride in our identities. We are currently a 2SLGBTQIA+ community group only. We are not open to allies joining at this time in order to prioritize queer voices, but will be in the future.
We want to create a plethora of diverse queer literature, showcase the many facets of queer community and identity. We dream of this group becoming a hive of queer experiences and narratives, and a space where we don’t have to limit ourselves for the heteronormative and/or cisgender society. We want to skyrocket those Pride community numbers and say: we are queer and we are here.
Our stories matter, our queer elders’ stories matter, and our future queer stories matter.
I think about my younger self discovering my identity and the lack of resources out there. But more than that, there was a lack of stories. It’s not just about coming out. Being queer is so much more. It’s about love, and acceptance, and trauma, and navigating spaces. It’s about race, ability, culture, religion. It’s about walking your dog, it’s about cooking with your partner, it’s about advocacy. It’s about solidarity and creating safe spaces. It’s about abuse, shame, and discrimination. It’s about buying a sofa together with your partner, about opening joint bank accounts, about feeling safe in your own skin. It’s about being kinky, it’s about being corny, it’s about platonic love and care. It’s about body image, and mental health, and joy. It’s about knowing you are not alone and that your story matters and is valid.
Our queerness is unique and special and flat out marvelous.
So this is both a call-out and a welcome to all our wonderful queer community here on Vocal Media. We hope you will join us on this empowering journey so that we may uplift each other and celebrate our diversity.
About the Creator
Oneg In The Arctic
A storyteller and poet of arctic adventures, good food, identity, mental health, and more.
Co-founder of Queer Vocal Voices
Some other rad writers to check out:
James ❄️ TheDaniWriter ❄️ Melissa
RiverJoy ❄️ J. Delaney-Howe ❄️
Water is Life ✊
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More stories from Oneg In The Arctic and writers in Pride and other communities.
LGBTQ.A.I.? Venus Valley gets conspiratorial!
Have a seat and a snack, Gentles and Lady-Men: This one’s a LONG READ, as it’s somewhere I’ve been leading up to, so it’s full of sum-ups of where we’ve come from to get here! If you’ve not been with me on the journey, let me catch you up: You’re at the tail end of a chapter-by-chapter release of the first draft of my LGBTQIA-centric philosophy-exploring book-in-progress - in which you’re invited to debate, discuss, question, contribute, and your inputs become my edits, so the finished book will speak for more people than just me. Welcome for almost the last time, queerly beloveds, to VENUS VALLEY: Queer Philosophers’ Forum!
By Mx. Stevie (or Stephen) Cole43 minutes ago in Pride
Perfect Little Pirate
The rough, sodden rope bit into her fingers as she swung over the roiling water far below. Reaching out with the toe of her boot, she managed to catch hold of the rain-soaked railing of the ship- and promptly slipped. Throwing herself forward, she landed hard on the deck, slamming her elbows against the wood planks. The sharp yelp of pain quickly bubbled into a laugh, and she rolled onto her back, laughing up at the gray sky as a torrent of rain washed away the soot covering her skin.
By M. A. Mehan 7 days ago in Fiction
Comments (39)
Congrats on Top Story!🥳
Queer voices deserve to be heard. As an outsider to the queer community, and a proud father of a member. I have written a couple pieces a poem about the phone call at one am when he told me and another about the struggles he went through as a teenager. When I published I didn't think about posting them in the queer community even though I should have. Glad you're putting a spotlight on this.
Nice article
Nice article, Oneg. I'm just curious about one thing. Is everything in the LGBTQ+ community considered to be Queer? Please pardon me for being ignorant, but I thought Queer was just 'questioning' in the journey of self-discovery. Not that Queer can't be it's own thing (and that queer is more than just a period of exploration, it is actually an identity), but it seems that within the entire community whether somebody is L, G, B, T, I, or A, that Q is part of all of them? I can understand identifying with more than one aspect of the community, but does the Queer aspect sort of serve as an umbrella for all the parts of the LGBTQIAN (is there an N for non-binary?)? I would like to hear about more pride voices from people that are in the pride community. I'm all for diversity. Though, sometimes I do think I'm trying to understand too much and just need to accept things as they are, especially when concerning people. Yet, I've come to learn about the communities within communities, but what are the differences within the communities if they're all the same? There's bound to be similarities amongst individuals and amongst communities, yet if there's so many similarities where's the space for unique differences and the acceptance for those differences (including acceptance for, not separation, but individuation)? Apologies for not being as well informed/versed about these topics as You are. Definitively I am a cis-gendered male who is heterosexual. Our lives will always be different, but I do think that we are more similar than what meets the eye.
Congrats on your top story and on your new group!
But what should be the content for it? A creation with an LGBTQIA+ topic or simply everything what a member of them is writing? For me personally, the content of the creation has to be LGBTQIA+ and then I will post it in there. Most of what I write has nothing to do with it, so I think it should not be posted in it.
Excellent work Oneg! ☺️👍
This is amazing ! I wondered if you had a plan for a group for Vocal. I wish the three of you success in the endeavor. You’re doing something really good for the community that is active on Vocal! Great Job Oneg!
I'm not queer but I'm an ally! I sometimes question myself if I'm asexual. The uncertainty is because while I have no sexual desire whatsoever, I still like checking out guys, lol. Maybe I'm somewhere on the asexual spectrum. Anyway, soooo happy that you, Jim and River came together to form this group! Congratulations on your Top Story!
I remember posting in the Pride community, and wondering why there were so few stories there
Congratulations 🥰🥳Supporting your community is a great empowerment for oneself and strengthening the community.
Awesome 2 hear! Congrats! :)
Your dedication shows in your work—keep it going, congratulations!
Good luck with this!
You, River, and Jim have already made awareness and change- not merely talking, but doing. Congratulations on the Top Story recognition, and also influencing the change to word counts in Pride!
What a worthwhile path you all are creating, and these stories need to be heard and shared. Very excited for this community to grow, and for all of us to grow along. I'm not on Facebook, but am here as an enthusiastic listener and supporter of all of the queer Voices on Vocal! Thanks for your community building :)
Well said, I like that you wish to support each other and begin to expand the community. congratulations
Bravo indeed! Allies are here behind you and to support you as and when you are ready. Love and best wishes and congrats on the TS.
Bravo! And congrats on TS - well deserved!
Yessssss, congratulations on Top Story!!!
I applaud you for this initiative & pray your abundant success in producing these stories we all need to hear.
Congrats on the excellent top story and I hope this brings much more visibility for your new fb group!! 🥰
Yay!! I'm so proud of you guys <3 Hugs. I'm always here if you need me. <3
I hadn't noticed but now that you mention it, yeah there does seem to be a gulf of queerness on Vocal. I'm not in the rainbow but you all have my utmost acceptance. No one should ever feel shame in who they are, except for the N**is. They should feel shame. I see Vocal Team even made changes to the Pride Community to better facilitate what you're trying to do. Congratulations for that :) Also, congrats on a well-deserved Top Story!
You have my support!! Can't wait to see where these leads. Congrats on the top story and YAY for speaking up