An American “outlaw artist and academic” from the Against Equality group is hosting two events in Dunedin, on the back of a talk in Wellington at the weekend. Against Equality describes itself as an online archive, publishing, and arts collective focused on critiquing mainstream gay and lesbian politics. “As queer thinkers, writers and artists, we are committed to dislodging the centrality of equality rhetoric and challenging the demand for inclusion in the institution of marriage, the US military, and the prison industrial complex via hate crimes legislation.” Ryan Conrad Co-founder Ryan Conrad spoke at a gathering in Wellington on Sunday and will front a get together in Dunedin tonight, titled "queer revolution, not mere inclusion". He will examine “how mobilisation around rights-based discourse collapses the queer political imagination into the narrow confines of contemporary gay pragmatism as espoused by gay and lesbian neoconservatives and so-called progressives alike”. The talk is designed to break “the supposed queer consensus on marriage, military, and prisons as priorities amongst various gay and lesbian communities and seeks to build connections with other queer movements across the globe for a truly radical social and economic justice movement”. Tonight’s talk is at Black Star Books on Upper Moray Place from 6pm. Tomorrow Conrad will host a discussion for queer and questioning uni and polytech students. PrideNZ.com recorded the Wellington talk, which you can find here
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 4th March 2015 - 2:22pm