Archives, HIV Activism, & Sasha Velour by Eden Conrad
As we descend into the New York City subway stations, the air is suffocatingly hot and humid, and I find that the folding fan I got for the trip, though very pretty and dear to me, barely produces enough air current to cool me off. I eye Lowell and a few others much larger fans, and decide that, someday, I must own one. Besides, those ones can make such a satisfying “clack”, whereas mine produces a subtler “rip”, and while it suits me, sometimes a girl just wants to make a little more noise.
We ride the subway into Brooklyn, to see the Lesbian Herstory Archive, and to be given a tour by one of the founders, Deb Edel. The archive was formed in 1974, and dedicated to storing the history, papers, books, recordings, photographs, and ephemera of all kinds of lesbians.
And all kinds means all kinds; the archive does not impose their own definition of lesbian, and instead allows for people to send in their own material that they think matters to lesbian history. As such, many different kinds of lesbians have their history in the archives; trans lesbians, political lesbians, former lesbians, other queer women, etc. This even includes lesbians who may not have always been nice people, and this makes a very important point; no group of people is immune to having unpleasant, unethical, or immoral people within it, and marginalized communities are no exception. Though these people may have done horrible things, or espoused views directly harmful to other marginalized groups, they are still a part of our past, and must be remembered, so that we may learn and grow. The physical archive itself is a beautiful place, books line the walls, massive file cabinets stand proudly, and a delightful little stamp rests in the corner, to officially make whatever cash (or indeed, any paper) on you at the time official lesbian currency.
However, these materials are all accessible, the archive not believing in the stuffiness of traditional archives, described vividly as going just short of forcing visitors to wear hazmat suits. Instead, the Lesbian Herstory Archive allows visitors to carefully hold all these pieces of history in their hands, understanding the pure significance that holding a piece of history can be to someone who so rarely gets to see themselves in the past. As we finish up in the archive, new cabinets arrive, bringing with them an exciting opportunity for our group; as some of us helped bring in and assemble the cabinets, they were permitted to sign the inside of the cabinets, inscribing themselves into the records of herstory with a black sharpie. We get food, and reconvene to meet up yet again with ACT UP, participating in an actual meeting of the organization. We settle into the New York LGBTQ Center, and the meeting starts. With members both new and old, people introduce themselves, the agenda is discussed, and we split off into groups to focus on specific topics. In my group, we brainstormed various protest slogans and signs, which was a great deal of fun! There were several chants developed, and we even tried some out at the end of the meeting. As the meeting came to a close, we were given an offer for a heavy discount on ACT UP denim vests, with pre-sewn patches, and a traditional slogan on the back in dark font, “Silence = Death”. The night comes to a close, and we rest for the next day.
***** WE WILL ADD A PIC OF THE ACT UP VEST SOON! *****
On Tuesday, many of us wake up relatively early to get laundry done, as the next day we will be flying across the Atlantic into Paris, where we will have a long day spent staving off jet lag via a tour of the city. I grab a tasty lamb gyro (which is quite swiftly becoming one of my all-time favorite foods) for brunch afterwards. We depart to meet with Terri Wilder, with whom we discuss the medical side of HIV treatment. We talk about the history of HIV treatments, and how far they have progressed, including the very important fact that undetectable equals untransmittable, or U=U for short. What this means is that when a person living with HIV’s viral load, or how much of the virus is in their body, is low enough that it is not picked up on commercial testing, they cannot transmit the virus through condomless sex. We also discussed PrEP and PEP (short for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis and Post-Exposure Prophylaxis, respectively).
PrEP is used by people who are under risk of contracting HIV, and PEP is used by people who believe that they have come into contact with the virus. Both of these medications greatly reduce the risk of infection. However, work still needs to be done, with some people not having the money or proper access for these medications and other HIV medications, whether by class or geographical location, or both.
Finally, we have an event that wasn’t on the itinerary. We head back down to Brooklyn (subways as dank and stagnant as ever) and arrive at National Sawdust. We’re seeing Nightgowns, a production of Brooklyn style drag produced and starring Sasha Velour.
Words do not describe how amazing the experience was for me. This is the first professional drag show I have attended, and it completely blew me away. I‘ve never seen so much queer energy all in one place, all at once. I felt so strongly alive, I’m here, I’m queer, and I’m having the time of my life. This production has genuinely changed what drag means to me. I had never been particularly interested in drag before. Of course, I have always had respect for the art form, and deeper respect for its history, but the word drag always brought to mind cisgender gay men for me, it made me think of drag race, and the recent controversy of RuPaul’s transphobic commentary and extremely weak apology. But these are no longer what I think about. Right off the bat the very first performance by Daphne Always highlights the complicated relationship trans women have with surgery, and the often impossible and cruel standards placed on appearance. This performance was profoundly powerful and spoke to me like I never thought drag ever could. After every performance, I’d think to myself that nothing can top it, and yet sure enough the next performance was just as powerful. I found myself taken away by it all, captivated, enthralled, whisked away like a mortal in a faery ring, to dance the night away. This drag show will always be present in my mind, and it will forever be one of my most treasured memories.