Kate Bornstein's Blog for Teens, Freaks and Other Outlaws

Text of Keynote Address to Western Regional Queer Conference, '08

Hey there. Long time, no write.

I've just returned home from tour. I've been either on the road or in the hospital (woo-hoo!) from September up to now. Touring and writing are activities that demand all of me, so I don't do both at the same time. So, I'm back. To everything, there is a season. This seems to be the season for writing.

While I was on the road this year, I either performed my solo show, "On Men, Women, and The Rest of Us," or I delivered some sort of keynote address. The show is a cut-n-paste piece—drawn from all my favorite words to read/perform at that moment.

The keynote address is something that evolves over the course of months, even years. I spoke the latest version of something I'm working on at the 2008 Western Regional Queer Conference, hosted by UCLA. So, I'm including the text here because this is as far as I've gotten with it. The conference theme was "Viva the Queervolution!" Some conference attendees asked me to make my keynote text available, so here it is.

My Grrlfriend's Book Is A Big Hit!!!!

Oh lookee, lookee!!! Urban Tantra: Sacred Sex for the Twenty-First Century. It's an amazing book. Don't take my word for it... lookit the great review she got in Publishers Weekly!!

"This handy how-to promises mind-blowing, toe-curling, highly spiritual sex for humble beginners, BDSM aficionados and everyone in between. Sex educator Carrellas is on a mission to bring Tantra-the ancient practice of sacred sex, in which interpersonal connection and transformative ecstasy are the norm-to the modern world, to reclaim sex from "messed-up, sexually-dysfunctional, judgmental, and ignorant culture," and to shift the urban sex paradigm from recreational activity to a sumptuous, impassioned way of life. Not that one necessarily needs that kind of ambition: Carrellas offers ways to enhance any old sexual encounter (with techniques like breathing, stroking, prodding and piercing), techniques for solo play and countless uses for a trunk full of toys. Same sex, transgender, and multi-partner play is encouraged (if not highly recommended), and the text is peppered with illuminating, try-this-at-home anecdotes. Pictures and diagrams are whimsical but instructive, making Carrellas's cheerful descriptions of unusual concepts-"gigglegasms," "rainbow rubs" and "the mushy puss" among them-easy to grasp. A final chapter, on "Sex Magic," examines the power of Tantra to achieve a number of effects, from backpain relief to a happier office to world peace; however far you'd like to take your sex life, this friendly guide will likely show the way."

C'mon, is that great or what? Yay, Barbara!

Yes, Santa Claus, there is a Virginia.

Virginia Ramey Mollenkott celebrated her 75th birthday a few days ago. You may or may not know Virginia, but the odds are if you're reading this blog, your life has been touched by her work.
In 1978, Virginia Mollenkott co-authored (with Letha Dawson Scanzoni) the book Is         the Homosexual My Neighbor? A Postive Christisan Response. God alone knows how many queer lives she saved with that book, which is still on the shelves, revised and re-isued, after 19 years. Yow!
I first ran into this handsome butch spiritual lesbian about ten years ago when we met at the now defunct A Different Light LGBT bookstore in New York City. Virginia has written 13 books, but my favorite remains Omnigender: A Trans-Religious Approach, in which she debunks the myth of religious "truth" of two and two only genders, and she does this religion by religion. It's amazing work.

Got Hooked?

There’s a Tibetan Buddhist concept known as “shenpa”, which loosely translates into “how we get hooked.” Everyone goes through this syndrome. One moment, we’re doing just fine and dandy, and the next moment we’re on the edge of rage or despair or some other negative emotion. I can tell you where I’ve always tended to get hooked: when I’m in the presence of some jerk who... whoops...