Ryann Holmes | |
---|---|
Born | Ryann Makenzi Holmes 1984 (age 39–40) Washington, D.C. |
Nationality | American |
Education | Baruch College (MBA) |
Years active | 2009-present |
Known for | bklyn boihood co-founder |
Ryann Holmes (born 1984) is an American consultant and the co-founder of bklyn boihood, a collective that empowers "masculine of center bois, lesbians, queers, trans-identified studs, doms, butches and AGs of color." Holmes' work has been recognized by Brooklyn Magazine , the Brooklyn Community Pride Center, and in a short documentary film, Portrait of Ryann Holmes. [1] [2]
Holmes was born in Washington, D.C. in 1984 and raised in Maryland. [3] They stated in an interview that growing up, they experienced rigid standards surrounding gender presentation that did not allow room for fluidity. [4] They are non-binary and use they/them pronouns. [3] Holmes moved to Brooklyn in 2006. [5] They hold an MBA in social entrepreneurship from Baruch College.
Holmes worked as the director of community programs at the MoCADA from 2012–2015. [6] In 2016, Holmes was featured in a short film called Portrait of Ryann Holmes, produced by Chanelle Aponte Pearson. [7] [8]
Holmes founded bklyn boihood in 2009 with close friend Genesis Tremaine after a conversation on the lack of masculine of center representation in queer and organizing spaces and media. [9] [10] The collective developed a 2010-2011 calendar with pictures of masculine of center bois of color and has since been produced annually. [11] bklyn boihood regularly hosts queer-centered parties, and holds workshops on developing healthy masculinity, accountability, and femmephobia. [4] [9] In 2015, the collective released an anthology series called Outside the XY: Brown Queer Masculinity, written by masculine of center queer people and transgender men of color. [11]
Queer is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or are not cisgender. Originally meaning 'strange' or 'peculiar', queer came to be used pejoratively against LGBT people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to reclaim the word as a neutral or positive self-description.
Drag kings have historically been mostly female performance artists who dress in masculine drag and personify male gender stereotypes as part of an individual or group routine. As documented in the 2003 Journal of Homosexuality, in more recent years the world of drag kings has broadened to include performers of all gender expressions. A typical drag show may incorporate dancing, acting, stand-up comedy and singing, either live or lip-synching to pre-recorded tracks. Drag kings often perform as exaggeratedly macho male characters, portray characters such as construction workers and rappers, or impersonate male celebrities like Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and Tim McGraw. Drag kings may also perform as personas that do not clearly align with the gender binary. Drag personas that combine both stereotypically masculine and feminine traits are common in modern drag king shows.
Butch and femme are masculine (butch) or feminine (femme) identities in the lesbian subculture that have associated traits, behaviors, styles, self-perception, and so on. This concept has been called a "way to organize sexual relationships and gender and sexual identity". Butch–femme culture is not the sole form of a lesbian dyadic system, as there are many women in butch–butch and femme–femme relationships.
Masculinity is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some behaviors considered masculine are influenced by both cultural factors and biological factors. To what extent masculinity is biologically or socially influenced is subject to debate. It is distinct from the definition of the biological male sex, as anyone can exhibit masculine traits. Standards of masculinity vary across different cultures and historical periods. It is sometimes contrasted to femininity.
Lesbian feminism is a cultural movement and critical perspective that encourages women to focus their efforts, attentions, relationships, and activities towards their fellow women rather than men, and often advocates lesbianism as the logical result of feminism. Lesbian feminism was most influential in the 1970s and early 1980s, primarily in North America and Western Europe, but began in the late 1960s and arose out of dissatisfaction with the New Left, the Campaign for Homosexual Equality, sexism within the gay liberation movement, and homophobia within popular women's movements at the time. Many of the supporters of Lesbianism were actually women involved in gay liberation who were tired of the sexism and centering of gay men within the community and lesbian women in the mainstream women's movement who were tired of the homophobia involved in it.
DUMBA was a collective living space and anarchist, queer, all-ages community center and venue in Brooklyn, New York.
Metrosexual is a term describing a man living in an urban culture who is especially meticulous and scrupulous about his personal style, grooming and appearance. It is often used to refer to heterosexual men who are perceived to be effeminate rather than strictly adhering to stereotypical masculinity standards. Nevertheless, the term is generally ambiguous on the gender and sexual orientation of a man as it can apply to cisgender, transgender, heterosexual, gay or bisexual men.
LGBT representation in hip hop music have existed since the birth of the genre even while enduring blatant discrimination. Due to its adjacency to disco, the earliest days of hip hop had a close relation to LGBT subcultures, and multiple LGBT DJs have played a role in popularizing hip hop. Despite this early involvement, hip hop has long been portrayed as one of the least LGBT-friendly genres of music, with a significant body of the genre containing homophobic views and anti-gay lyrics, with mainstream artists such as Eminem and Tyler, the Creator having used casual homophobia in their lyrics, including usages of the word faggot. Attitudes towards homosexuality in hip hop culture have historically been negative, with slang that uses homosexuality as a punchline such as "sus", "no homo", and "pause" being heard in hip hop lyrics from some of the industry's biggest artists. Since the early 2000s there has been a flourishing community of LGBTQ+ hip hop artists, activists, and performers breaking barriers in the mainstream music industry.
Jessica Yatrofsky is an American artist, a photographer and a filmmaker living in Brooklyn, New York.
Lyle Ashton Harris is an American artist who has cultivated a diverse artistic practice ranging from photographic media, collage, installation art and performance art. Harris uses his works to comment on societal constructs of sexuality and race, while exploring his own identity as a queer, black man.
India has a long and ancient tradition of culture associated with the LGBTQ community, with many aspects that differ markedly from modern liberal western culture.
Transmisogyny, otherwise known as trans-misogyny and transphobic misogyny, is the intersection of transphobia and misogyny as experienced by trans women and transfeminine people. The term was coined by Julia Serano in her 2007 book Whipping Girl to describe a particular form of oppression experienced by trans women. In a 2017 interview with The New York Times, Serano explores the roots of transmisogyny as a critique of feminine gender expressions which are "ridiculed in comparison to masculine interests and gender expression."
Orinam is a non-funded, social, and activist collective that works to enhance understanding of alternate sexualities and gender identities among families, communities and society. It was founded in 2003 in Chennai under the name MovenPick and is one of the oldest collective of its kind in India. People affiliated with Orinam are from or trace their ancestry to the following geo-cultural: People of Tamil Origin from Tamil Nadu, India. Orinam provides a platform for creative expression, personal and social commentary by Queer people of Tamil Origin and of Indian Origin primarily. Orinam also acts as a local support group in Chennai for the queer community. Orinam also partners with the city-, state- and national initiatives around decriminalisation of homosexuality by amending Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code and LGBTQ rights.
Lola Flash is an American photographer whose work has often focused on social, LGBT and feminist issues. An active participant in ACT UP during the time of the AIDS epidemic in New York City, Flash was notably featured in the 1989 "Kissing Doesn't Kill" poster.
Butch is Not a Dirty Word (BINADW) is an Australian biannual magazine for butch lesbians and their supporters, the only magazine in the world specifically dedicated to gender nonconforming women. The magazine's motto is "A queer magazine for butch dykes, butch lesbians, butch women, trans butches, non-binary butches & all those who love them."
LGBT culture in Baltimore, Maryland is an important part of the culture of Baltimore, as well as being a focal point for the wider LGBT community in the Baltimore metropolitan area. Mount Vernon, known as Baltimore's gay village, is the central hub of the city's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities.
Sharpe Suiting is an American designer, producer and manufacturer of garments based in Los Angeles, California. The company was founded in 2013, in Los Angeles, by Leon Elias Wu, who is the current CEO of the company. Sharpe suiting is a public-benefit corporation recognized for gender neutral clothing and genderqueer fashion.
Jess T. Dugan is an American portrait photographer and educator, living in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently the 2020–2021 Henry L. and Natalie E. Freund Teaching Fellow at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, Washington University in St. Louis.
Chad States is an American photographer and artist, living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His photographic series include Cruising and Masculinities.
Masculine of center is a broad gender expression term used to describe a person who identifies or presents as being more masculine than feminine. It is most frequently used by lesbian, queer or non-binary individuals – generally those assigned female at birth. The term was coined by B. Cole as an umbrella term to encompass several labels used by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people of color while describing their more-masculine gender identity. Masculine of center is most often used in communities of color, and has implicit sociocultural connotations to both gender equality and racial justice.