An online writing campaign that explores the diversity of the human experience wants your submissions.
Dyke, pansexual, genderqueer, bi, trans*, grandma, mother, asian, black, white, hispanic, bipolar disorder, eating disorder, freelance writer, filmmaker, fat, introvert, beautiful, ugly — labels, we're assigned them at birth, some we claim for our own and others society propels on us. These labels, whether we welcome them or not, impact our human experience.
The Human Experience (T.H.E.), a new online queer publication, is launching a writing campaign to showcase the diversity of the human experience.
If 100 lesbians were to submit a human experience piece, we'd see that each one would be unique, and each one would be equally valid.
If a lesbian sleeps with a man, does that revoke her lesbian status? If a bisexual woman is dating a man, does that make her straight? If she's dating a woman, does that make her a lesbian? Can we change someone's identity by imposing labels on them?
Sexual and gender identity exist along a spectrum. There are categories that people are grouped into, like lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, trans*, and these categories fit for some people and they don't fit for others. Everybody's sexual and gender identity is unique to them and valid.
It's not our place to impose labels and take away labels from other people. Each person has their own identity, and it's their identity. We can attempt to revoke someone's identity with our words, but that doesn't change who they are, it just shows a lack of acceptance for or understanding of who they are.
This is what T.H.E. believes, and they want to showcase the diversity of the human experience by having you submit yours. They want you to write about who you are beyond your labels, and they want to know what your labels mean to you? How do they accurately describe you and how do they fail to describe you? What is your human experience?
Through these submissions, and through showcasing the diversity of the human experience and the diversity of queer identity, T.H.E. aims to expose the queer community to different subcultures within the queer community. Through this exposure, they hope to lessen the bigotry within the queer community by putting faces and stories to the labels that we claim for ourselves and impose upon others.
By submitting your human experience, you will be entered into a raffle to win 1 of 6 prizes.
2 VIP tickets to Club Skirts Dinah Shore Weekend in Palm Springs, CA (April 2-6)
What do the VIP tickets include?
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The VIP tickets include entry into all of the dance and pool parties, Thursday comedy night, Friday Dinah Film Festival and the Tegan and Sara concert. Also, throughout the parties, Hunter Valentine, Mary Lambert, Iggy Azalea, Eve, Thea Austin and Evelyn Champagne King will be performing.
If you'd like to learn more about The Dinah experience, read our Curve article about last year's Dinah and what you have to look forward to. Click here to read the article.
What are the other prizes?
T.H.E. is also giving away 5 DVD sets, Joss Whedon and lesbian themed. To learn more about T.H.E. writing campaign, click here, and to learn how to submit your human experience and enter the giveaway, join the I Am The Human Experience Facebook event (click here to join).