The Internet has been a powerful, if not essential, medium for the queer voice, especially in terms of expression. For the last 10 months, a group of current and former DePaul students has begun to harness that voice in and for Chicago.
In Our Words is a self-described "queer activist and literary salon" co-created by Nico Lang and Patrick Gill. Since launching in October 2011, the site—www.inourwordsblog.com—has accumulated a list of more than 200 writers, of which approximately 70 contribute on a consistent basis, all of whom contribute mostly personal essays or editorials that reflect on socially relevant and sometimes deeply personal issues.
"We want to get different types of expression," Gill said, "and I think one of things we've really honed in on is taking issues that are larger and how they're clarified through a personal lens, how they're experienced by a particular people."
At the same time, to try and frame the writing that can be found on In Our Words would be to defeat its entire purpose. Pieces range from pop-culture editorials to deep reflections on the relationship between religion and being queer to dating advice and light-hearted collections of quips such as "12 Presidents That Would Make Great Strippers" or even Lang's own "Hello Kitty" feminist poetry.
"We liked the idea of being a community register that accepts all voices; we don't turn anyone away," Lang said. "We feature pretty much everything that comes our way. We like that; we don't want to change that, ever."
Lang and Gill work with writers of all experience levels, beliefs, identities and orientations, and say they make it a point to avoid exclusivity and seek the highest level of diversity in the writers they recruit and the pieces they publish.
"We are very intentional about reaching out to a lot of different types of people," Gill said. "We don't want to pretend we're the representation for the queer community, we focus on being a space for the queer community to represent itself."
In fact, often times they will run pieces they don't agree with. Lang once wrote a piece on sexual assault and a friend left a comment on it in which he referred to himself as an "MRA," or a men's rights activist. Although initially perplexed at the concept, Lang contacted him and asked if he would write something for In Our Words. He agreed, and despite finding much of it contentious, Lang ran the piece.
"I was glad that he wrote it," Lang said. "I was glad that we could have this kind of discussion, because there are difficult discussions that I feel like people usually don't have, that we don't have a dialogue about. It led to a lot of shouting on message board, but sometimes I feel like we need that, we need to hear perspectives that are outside of our own to remember those exist."
Lang said they will draw the line at pieces that are over-the-line offensive, overtly racist or advocate violence.
"In general, we're interested in creating this environment, a welcoming space for anyone in the community who's interested in writing, who's interested in sharing their thoughts," said Mark Nott, In Our Words' community outreach coordinator.
Nott is a longtime friend of Lang and Gill whom they approached about becoming involved, as is the case with much of the In Our Words team.
Lang and Gill worked together on a number of projects at DePaul, and started In Our Words (which they wanted to call "The Muffington Post," except it had already been claimed by a lesbian blogger) with some encouragement and help from The Civil Rights Agenda, LGBT Change and Queer Intercollegiate Alliance. They began to reach out to their combined vast network of writers, and it took off from there. Just a few weeks ago, they signed a contract to become a project of SocialScope Productions, the local non-profit production company behind the 50Faggots web series.
"I feel like they (SocialScope) jive with us really well," Gill said. "A lot of their focus is on queer identities and doing oral history and documentary and visual whereas we do a lot of written and personal narrative, so it makes sense to team up business-wise."
Moving forward, In Our Words is focused on finding ways to expand beyond the Internet and social media word-of-mouth and into Chicago and the Midwest.
"We are interested in being able to have physical space for our writers to come and engage in," Nott said.
In Our Words is already involved with Chicago's fast-growing live lit scene, putting on "Word is Out," a monthly live reading event at Town Hall Pub, with OutLoud Chicago. Lang also records "Broad Shoulders," a podcast available on the In Our Words website that features readers from live lit events throughout the North Side.
Lang says he also hopes to make T-shirts and stickers as well as utilize other means of do-it-yourself advertising.
"Making more of a mark to claim Chicago as a queer space is important," he said.
In Our Words has grown so much in a short time that Lang, Gill and Nott all say they've been caught off guard by it. Despite having paying jobs or being full-time students, they all remain dedicated to their mission and the impact they believe it can have on the community.
"When we first started out somebody called us a community therapy resource," Lang said. "I know this has been that for a lot of people, for our readers and the people who write for us. Maybe it hasn't been for everyone, but I hope everyone who reads it can find a measure of solace somewhere."
In Our Words accepts submissions from writers of all experiences, lifestyles and backgrounds. To enquire about contributing, email inourwordsblog@gmail.com .
