My Gender is Indigenous

By Ryan Young (Ojibwe)

As I grew into my queer identity, I recognized that there was a huge disconnect between my gender/sexual identity and my cultural identity. Experiences with homophobia limited my access to certain cultural spaces and it affected my relationship with my culture. It was not until college that I learned about the term Two Spirit, their historical recognition of different gender identities and sexualities in many Indigenous cultures, particularly in Ojibwe culture. That moment was really empowering for me because it introduced me to a term that recognized my queerness through a cultural context, and it was also the first step I took into looking for and eventually finding my Two Spirit community.

I wanted to recreate that experience through my artwork. When creating “My Gender is Indigenous”, it reflected my personal journey to find the language to articulate the intersections of my identity. The phrase itself is meant to empower my Queer Indigenous audience, and to hopefully spark conversations around gender and sexuality through the specific cultural lenses of the viewer.

“I look queer and Indigenous because I am queer and Indigenous, and thus, the definition of what is queer and Indigenous-looking, is defined by my existence, not the other way around.”

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T.L. Luke

T.L. Luke (she/they) is a professional illustrator and muralist based in Madison, WI. She started her freelance career in late 2018 and has since completed over 150 commissions for both individuals and businesses around the world, illustrated a YA children's book, organized several community projects including the #weareseedshunt in Madison, continues to participate in local markets selling original prints, apparel, and accessories, and teaches workshops for other creatives about being a creative entrepreneur. Their personal work has been described as 'playfully optimistic with a bit of menace around the edges' and 'dark whimsy,' and can be purchased at T.L. Luke's website

T.L. Luke's Portfolio

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We Stand United

Cat Parra

Cat Parra is a Madison based comic artist and illustrator. Cat is a participant in the Wisconsin Historical Society COVID-19 Poster Project, the poster featured here is her contribution!

Her work primarily explores themes of adventure and self discovery through the lens of historical fiction. In 2015 she and her good friend Zora Gilbert, who she met at a Madison high school, founded Margins Publishing, a small press publisher focused on producing work by and about people of marginalized identities.

Margins’ flagship publication is Dates! which collects short comics, prose, and illustrations assembled with the goal of showcasing tragedy-free historical queerness. They’ve published three volumes so far, the most recent of which features nearly 50 talented artists and writers from across the queer continuum and the world.

Other recent publications from Margins include A Survey of Queer Looks, an illustration zine of historical queer aesthetics and signifiers, and The Elusive Mr Vanderbridge, a sapphic jazz age mystery about two reporters on the gossip beat.

Margins Publishing

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Vaccinations

Jera 'Jay' Ramirez

“It’s kind of comical how people treat some life threatening scenarios as if they were a game, like nothing is at stake and at the rate we’re going we’re not even aiming to win...

The goal in our particular point in time should be to win this battle, but to do so we have got to level up!!!"

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Kierranna Rought

"To me this is a very personal project, there are still a lot of people who don't follow the safety precautions. Art can be a huge form of a call to action, illustration and cartoons if done right can really persuade a person into feeling/being able to put themselves into that character's shoes. COVID is a very real thing, but a lot of people tend to find themselves in a very harmful mindset of "well, if no one around me/no one close to me has COVID why should I have to worry? why should I have to wear a mask?" without even realizing that this could 100% harm them and the people around them as well. It's easy for us humans to think that way, and I as an artist use my art and my platform to not only entertain but as well as educate; and I want to step up and do my part to follow COVID precautions but also try my hand at educating others on doing the same to help end/slow down the spread of the virus."

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