Aug 14th, 2006
Wikipolitics and Extinction
Now the link for “queerspawn” at Wikipedia does not exist.
For queerspawn who are well versed in Wiki-speak and and wiki-process, maybe you’ll find the time and energy to give it another go in the future. Just so you don’t have to start from scratch, (unless you want to) I am posting what was listed under “queerspawn” on Wikipedia as of August 11, 2006. You know: before Wiki-heads got in line behind countless LGBT groups, advisory committees, planning committees, conferences, etc, etc, to declare the movement of kids-of-queers too insignificant to acknowledge.
Queerspawn is a term adopted by some people who have one or more lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender parent. The term was proposed in 1995 by Stefan Lynch, the first director of COLAGE (Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere) for use as the title of a zine, but was considered too controversial by other COLAGE leaders at the time. For years Lynch maintained his personal website under the URL http://www.queerspawn.com, and in November 2005, Kate Ranson-Walsh launched Queerspawn.community using Lynch’s URL.
An intentionally provocative term to challenge traditional notions of identity and queer pride, “queerspawn” offers kids of queers a direct connection to queer community instead of “through” the identity of their parent/s. The term is gaining in popularity and acceptance, but is not yet common enough to be considered a mainstream word.
Documented use of the word
Lynch’s website, http://www.queerspawn.com (circa 1997)
Explanation of the word published in San Francisco Frontiers, “Queered by Family, Queerspawn by Choice ” November 2001 (link: http://www.familieslikemine.com/insight/queerspawn.html)
T-shirts first created and sold by COLAGE with the word “Queerspawn” on the front and COLAGE logo on back, Summer 2003.
In 2004, COLAGE publishes a zine called “Focus on MY Family: A Queerspawn Anthology”
Students with queer parents at Brown University found a group and call it “Queerspawn,” 2002
A radio project documenting kids with queer parents is named “Queerspawn Diaries,” 2003 (http://www.queerspawn.org)
First known use of the word in a published book: “Families Like Mine: Children of Gay Parents Tell It Like It Is” by Abigail Garner (p. 11), 2004
Articles: Newsweek, October 18, 2004, “At Home in Two Worlds” (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6214023/site/newsweek)
The New York Times Magazine, October 24, 2004 “Growing Up with Mom and Mom”
Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide. December 2005: “Meet the Queerspawn” by Melissa Hart http://glreview.com/issues/12.6/12.6-hart.php
Documentary by New York University (NYU) grad student Anna Boluda is screened with the title “Queer Spawn,” 2006
External links
COLAGE.ORG Children of Lesbians And Gays Everywhere
Queerspawn Diaries
Queerspawn.Community
Blogging queerspawn
Families Like Mine
Documentary Queer Spawn
Thanks to Tobi who reponded to my previous post and jumped right into the pool of deletion recommendations to counter the building “consensus” that the “queerspawn” entry was not worthy of remaining on Wikipedia. But apparently it was too late to turn the tide.
I think a lot of their arguments actually made sense, unfortunately. But that was about the article, not the term. Basically, words that are recently created — even if widely used — are considered suspect for wiki articles. If the article had been more about issues relating to queerspawn instead of documenting the growth of the word, it probably would have been accepted. I’m definitively thinking about re-creating it in that image, but I don’t know the wiki policies about that.