a-qrc

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Some of our collective members & allies have been involved in this exciting new project- a quarterly queer&trans oriented smut zine for the incarcerated members of our community! The first issue of WANTED zine is out & available, & submissions are currently being accepted for issue 2. If yr interested in contributing a story or art (or $ or stamps!) please email or mail it to the WANTED collective by NOVEMBER 31st, 2013. The above flyer contains contact info & submission guidelines.

Stay tuff, stay gay-

AQRC & WANTED zine.

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wow, lots of new followers! thanks to everyone who came out to the runaway circus last friday to support us, and thanks to toy boat!! we have been getting ready for our open meeting this saturday (3pm at the aston park gazebo), looking forward to seeing everyone there! next steps: raising more funds, finding a space, etc. (-sam)

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flyer for our next open community meeting! saturday, september 28th, 3pm at the gazebo in aston park

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Come out to the circus! On Saturday, September 21st UPDATE: actually Friday, September 20th! a quarter of proceeds goes to A-QRC!

See ya there!

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notes from a-qrc's first open meeting, saturday, august 24th

hey y'all! here are some notes from our first open meeting, which we hosted in aston park a week and a half ago:

we started by sharing some general thoughts about our desires for a queer space in asheville. the overall desire was to have a safer space by and for queer and trans folx in town. we then discussed a few questions:

what do folx feel good about in the asheville queer community?

so many non-binary folks

lots of good listeners

dance parties

queer familes

lots of queer/trans organizations

desire to bring about change

relatively political community

queer mutual aid

what do folx feel negative about?

too white, not much queer people of color visibility / not super inclusive for qpoc

spread out, geographically

weird insularity around neighborhoods

hard to meet queer/trans folx or break into clique-y communities/circles

not enough transfeminine/trans women support or visibility (especially for non-assimilationist/binary folks)

intense divisions along age lines

how do people feel about police in our communities?

harassment around homeless/perceived homeless folks, sex workers/perceived sex workers

people of color aren't safe around cops, so our space should not be inclusive of police (even queer cops)

asheville police are typically respectful of white queer folks and sometimes trans folks, especially if they are perceivably upper/middle class or upwardly mobile (wonder what their "sensitivity training" is like?)

world outside is made unsafe by cops, why allow them into our intended safer space?

what are our ideas / goals for the space?

community space can help create/foster community

neutral hangout space, no queer hierarchy

folks seem stoked on lending/zine library

free box, makeup, clothes

queer free skool

potential of using toy boat as a temporary space—need to meet with them to discuss

potential of advertising on public buses—what's the cost?

we will be having another open meeting in late september, hopefully with some more specifics figured out in terms of our space, our timeline, etc. email a-qrc@riseup.net with any questions or to get involved or you can call our google voice number, it's listed on this page!

(-sam)

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note from western north carolina community health center:

WNCCHS is sponsoring an event on Thursday, October 3rd, 6:30pm at Loretta’s Café.  Victoria, the winner of last year’s Miss Gay Latina pageant, will be speaking about her experiences as a transgender woman in Cuba as well as her life as a performer. You are all invited to attend and the timing is perfect because we don’t have group that night.  Please RSVP if you plan to attend since there will be food provided and I need to get a head count to give the restaurant.

the email to rsvp is astyan@wncchs.org

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hey y'all! come to our open meetingggg

it's on fb too

-sam

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trawlin' qzap lookin for relevant queer space-making titles, anyone know any? (-sam)

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click thru for a super interesting paper about the exact thing that we are trying to do!! (disclaimer: haven't finished reading it yet)

-sam

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Fleetwood, NC

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