The third edition of Queer Press is here.
HU Queer Press is a collaborative project created by LGBT students at Harding University. Consisting of essays, art pieces, and poetry, the 'zine is designed to draw attention to the queer people at Harding who are repeatedly subjugated and ignored by the administration.
Since 2011, Queer Press has played an important role in pressuring the Harding community to talk about queer issues. With this third edition, we hope to reignite that discussion on campus. We demand that Harding University fully acknowledge, affirm, and protect its LGBT students.
Queer Press: Past and Present
Sample art by Queer Press contributors. Both prints are available for purchase.
About
The first edition of Queer Press, titled State of the Gay, was published by queer Harding students in 2011. The 'zine attracted both both controversy and praise, making national headlines after Harding blocked the website on its servers. State of the Gay was a raw and intimate collection of art and literature that represented one of the first major acts of gay resistance on Harding's campus.
In 2018, Queer Press re-entered the conversation. Queer Press 2.0, titled Hear Queer Voices, was released by a new group of students for a new audience. This time, not only did the Press showcase the creative expression of queer Harding students, it represented an appeal to the University administration, asking for change in both culture and policy.
In the third edition of Queer Press, requests have become demands. We titled it Look Around to both acknowledge the existence of queer people throughout the Harding community and point out the increasingly-absurd conditions here. What was radical in 2011 is mainstream today; Harding's fundamentalism appears more blatant and inexcusable than ever. It is an embarrassment to watch the University cling to its vintage prejudices and attempt to enforce divisive, hateful beliefs onto a generation that largely knows better. We hope that Queer Press 3.0 extends the legacies of the first two editions as a timely expression of both queer identity and queer resistance.