*image taken from Pinterest. Contact us for credit/removal.
For the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, the Heartbroken Zine team decided to contact local LGBTQ+ artists from their respective countries and interview them! They were kind enough to share their stories and their multiple accounts of discrimination based on their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
Below is a series of interviews, the first being of Cédryk Brassard, a 19 year old writer from Gatineau, Quebec.
Artist: Cédryk Brassard - @mdmced @a.fleur.de.peau_
What are your pronouns?
He/him.
What is your sexual orientation/sexual identity?
Gay, but I keep it fluent. I can change whenever :)
Where are you from/based?
Gatineau, Quebec, Canada.
Have you personally been discriminated against for your sexual orientation or gender identity? If so, how?
Yes, back in elementary and high school! I’ve been bullied many times by some people I didn’t even know just because I was hanging out with girls instead of boys. They were mocking me a lot, I’ve been harassed twice back when I was about eleven, and I’ve received multiple insults like “oh you’re a f*g, being gay isn’t normal, c*ck sucker” and many more.
How did you deal with it?
Honestly it was hard to deal with at the very beginning but when I started high school, I kind of managed to create some sort of a “shell” to protect myself! I started not to care about what others had to say about me and throughout the years, their negativity didn’t bother me anymore. I was mature enough and strong enough to just let their comments pass by and then I really started living for my own self.
Do you think there’s a culture of homophobia/transphobia/biphobia in the city/country you live in?
Well I think it’s getting better, but of course I can still see a lot of homophobia. When I go to the club, for example! And at first I thought it was a religious thing, that it was just people with different religions that were homophobes, but then I realized that even people that are native from Quebec and not religious were showing some traits of homophobia and transphobia... it’s sad but it’s getting a bit better!
Do you think your local art/music scene is LGBTQ+ friendly?
Honestly, artists in my town are, in my opinion, the most open minded people! They really don’t care about your background, your sexuality, etc..! They really care about who you are right now and how they met you! It’s nice and it gives a little hope.
What does a safe space mean to you and is that something that you try to create for your audience?
My safe place is my mind (sometimes) and my friends. It's where I can really be myself without being scared. And for my audience, I try to be their safe place. Where they can say what they want to say, without judgment. I always try to be here for them. If I can help ten or fifty or even a thousand people, it makes me happy. It's my main purpose in life.
How do you think gender roles and constructs influence modern music/art?
Well I think modern art and music are surrounded by all of these new LGBT aspects that weren’t really there before, and since then we can really see a huge upgrade in the art world. It's getting more open, and more “avant-garde” and it's beautiful to see more of LGBT links in art.
Who/what inspires you? Who are some LGBTQ+ icons/trail blazers that have influenced or inspired you?
My inspiration is definitely Mari Mai! She has been a role model for me since my young age! And I'm glad to consider her as a friend now, since we know each other and we communicate really often! Another role model, I would say is Tyler The Creator! It’s beautiful to see a person of colour coming out in the music industry!
How does your queer identity influence your political views? Is that something of importance to you?
Honestly I don’t really follow politics very much, it's discouraging.
Finally, what is something you wish to say to someone who might be struggling with feeling comfortable with who they are?
Take your time! Good things take time and there’s no reason to rush things! Try to talk about it to someone you can fully trust or even with people like you online! Accepting yourself is the most important thing. It goes in front of everything else! And if they have any questions they can always DM me! I answer everyone!
Artist: Annika Gavlak @annikasaige
What are your pronouns?
My pronouns are she/her/hers.
What is your sexual orientation/gender identity?
I identify as female as well as pansexual, queer, and just generally not straight. :)
Where are you from/based?
I’m from a suburb in the Los Angeles area. I like to say I’m L.A. based, but I’m really a smaller town girl.
Have you personally been discriminated against for your sexual orientation or gender identity? If so, how?
I haven’t been discriminated against for my sexual identity in a workplace or in public or anything like that because it isn’t something people would know about me if I didn’t tell them, and often I have stopped feeling the need to come out because it just isn’t essential to me. Although I have had people, even people in the LGBTQ community, argue with me about the label of my sexual orientation. They have argued that pansexuals shouldn’t exist or that the fact that I’ve chosen that label is biphobic or implies that trans men and women aren’t “real” men and women, and thus is transphobic. That isn’t the definition of pansexuality to me and certainly isn’t what I believe in or am trying to display by identifying with that label.
Do you think there’s a culture of homophobia/transphobia/biphobia in the city/country you live in?
Yes, absolutely. I do live in a suburban area, so there are some people with conservative beliefs and people whose parents are very disapproving of the LGBTQ community. There is also a generally good sized community of people who are older and retired as well as quite a few churches in the area, so I definitely think generally queerphobia exists locally.
Do you think your local art/music scene is LGBTQ+ friendly?
In the town I live in, the scene is pretty accepting, but I wouldn’t say that they’d ever hold pride events or necessarily celebrate LGBT identities and people due to the conservative population and the amount of churches in the area.
What does the word discrimination mean to you?
Discrimination is the unfair treatment, mistreatment, or intentionally altered treatment of people based on a category they fit into or something that they cannot change or “fix” in a short period of time, such as socioeconomic status, race, gender identity or sexual orientation… and it is an ugly thing.
What does a safe space mean to you and is that something that you try to create for your audience?
A safe space is something that hasn’t necessarily existed in my life outside of internet communities but thankfully I have been developing safe spaces within certain recent relationships in my life and I do know that for me it consists of feeling supported, cared for, not judged, and unapologetically myself. It does not have to exist physically, but it is a presence of a neutral and tensionless space that exists between two or more people and I am so lucky to have found them in people.
How does your queer identity influence your work?
So far, I haven’t really delved into my queer identity in any of my artistic expression because I am still living and creating in my parent’s home, and I don’t always feel as though I can explore that freely or dwell on it too much in a space that hasn’t been very accepting or understanding of my identity.
How do you think gender roles and constructs influence modern music/art?
I think they have the influence of modern artists acknowledging the existence and previously polarizing influences of constructs and then going on to do their best to break them down and turn those concepts on their heads.The challenging and twisting of polarizing constructs is such a beautiful thing when executed well.
Who/what inspires you? Who are some LGBTQ+ icons/trail blazers that have influenced or inspired you?
I never really had any LGBTQ+ icons growing up, but the first person I was ever inspired by or related to was Hayley Kiyoko. I remember watching the music video for Girls Like Girls when I was in middle school and finding out who Hayley was (no, I didn’t watch Lemonade Mouth as a kid, I’m sorry!). She was an openly, proudly queer asian woman in the music industry who had amassed enough fame for me to find her, and now, as a queer asian woman with a passion for the arts, I am extremely grateful to have had that introduction to all my identities in someone who is succeeding in the world.
How does your queer identity influence your political views? Is that something of importance to you?
It absolutely is important to me. Queer rights are something that I will always advocate for and a big enough issue for some politicians to have changed their minds about partway through their career in order to earn popularity, so I always want to be supporting people and political changes that favor the acceptance and equality of the LGBTQ+ community. A lot of this country has the policy of allowing to discriminate against or deny queer people services, and that is something I wish would change.
Finally, what is something you wish to say to someone who might be struggling with feeling comfortable with who they are?
I’d wish to tell them that first and foremost, do not feel pressure to fit under a label or a specific category. Do not fear that you don’t “fit” certain “requirements” to an orientation or identity. Everyone is a unique individual and your experience in life is your own. You might hear this all the time and you might’ve never heard this before, but I absolutely mean this: you are valid. You deserve love. You deserve to be and feel absolutely, positively comfortable in yourself, but struggling is natural and real.
Artist: Franco Garvich - @francogarvich
What are your pronouns?
They/them.
What is your sexual orientation/sexual identity?
Non-binary.
Where are you from/based?
Lima, Peru.
Have you personally been discriminated against for your sexual orientation or gender identity? If so, how?
Yes, many times. It doesn't happen as much as before, but it did when I was at school. It has happened to me in the streets: people shouted at me from cars, taxis ... They have pushed me at parties, and I also received discriminatory comments on social media.
Do you think there’s a culture of homophobia/transphobia/biphobia in the city/country you live in?
Totally. It is completely normalized to go against a group of people. It is normalized to be misogynistic, racist, classist, homophobic, … Recently, it is starting to be dismantled, and I think that is why so much controversy is emerging.
Do you think your local art/music scene is LGBTQ+ friendly?
Yes. I'm going to say yes because I found a scene where one is much more accepted. However, if you see this from a much more mainstream point of view, whether it’s in the cinema, TV or the theater, it is completely different. Unfortunately, the most popular scene is the most retrograde one. Still, there is always a friendly group.
What does the word “discrimination” mean to you?
A way to silence/try to segregate a group of people. Historically, they have always been minorities. A person who exerts power over another because they believe they are not on the same level.
What does a safe space mean to you and is that something that you try to create for your audience?
A safe space is where you can be sure you can be yourself.
Do you think your queer identity influences your work? If so, how?
Yes. Whether it is when I make paintings, Photoshop edits or even TikTok videos, everything can be traced by someone who has experienced something similar. It has been part of my culture while growing up. Many queer teenagers find their safe spaces online because they can't find them in real life. You meet people and discover subcultures online. It is a shelter. When you grow up, you start to meet more people from your hometown, and you realize that there is a place for everyone. I think there should be more safe spaces in the community.
How do you think gender roles have an impact on the current artistic/musical scene?
I personally think gender, like anything else, is something made up. Gender does not exist, but unfortunately it is already in our heads. A division between what it is to be a man and what it is to be a woman. We continue to see gender very traditionally. People stay in first grade biology. Gender is a concept created by us, and biology is something completely different.
Who/what inspires you? Who are some LGBTQ+ icons/trail blazers that have influenced or inspired you?
Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. They had a lot of influence on LGBTQ culture all around the world. Everything they did and all they lost for a group of people gave me a lot of courage. In Lima, Gahela Cari. I love the conversations she starts. She was the first transgender candidate in Peru. I was lucky to meet her and she is very nice and humble. Other—perhaps better-known—icons that inspire me are Troye Sivan, Kevin Abstract, Madonna and Lady Gaga. One group that I also really admire is Voices 4.
How does your queer identity influence your political views? Is that something of importance to you?
Totally! People who are part of minorities have a different concept of our reality and the meaning of empathy. Historically, minorities have been aware of their reality, since they have experienced it directly. They don't want bad things happen again, or to others.
Finally, what is something you wish to say to someone who might be struggling with feeling comfortable with who they are?
This goes especially to younger people, something that I would say to myself from a long time ago: there are people who are denying who they are, and that's why they end up hating themselves. This idea must be dismantled. The problem is not what’s inside, but what’s outside. It is not you, it is the perception of others. I would tell them to explore the reason why they feel this way. Why do you feel it is a problem? Deconstruct it. You are not the problem, the problem comes from how people react to you being yourself. It is the perception of others that is making you hate something that you should not be hating.
Remember that there is always a place for you. Maybe you currently are in a not-very-friendly environment. But once you grow up and get out of there, you're going to find a group of people that accept you. There will always be someone. In the end, all these experiences help you shape your own persona.
Special thanks to the three artists for participating! In the next few days we will be posting the second part of this series of interviews so stay tuned!
Comments