Profile in XTra: Queer About Town

[danaeris]

The day after coming out day, I'm facing a dilemma.

I just received the following email:

Hi Danae & P,

Would either of you be interested in being featured in an upcoming installment of Xtra's Queers About Town spot? It might be a good way to get the word out about the new weekly poly social.

In case you're not familiar with it, Queers About Town is an ongoing series of mini-profiles of some of the fabulous people that make up our community, and includes a photo, some fast facts and a quote. If you¹d like to see what it looks like you can find it on Xtra¹s letters page (page 23 in the current
issue).

I've attached the Queer About Town questionnaire for you to have a look at. Let me know if either of you are interested.

All the best,

Editor Lady

***
XTRA
Associate Editor
News+Views

Now, P is not comfortable being out, so he will say no. That leaves me.

Concerns:
-My parents don't know I'm poly, or kinky. Are they likely to see this article? Nope. Is it a risk? Yup.
-My coworkers don't even know I'm queer, although some may suspect something. And one of my coworkers is gay, so he might read XTRA.
-I'm a writer. This is an excellent networking opportunity. I eventually wanted to be out under my given name, in my freelance work, but I didn't plan on doing it this soon. As a corrollary, I'm not clear on how being out as queer tends to affect ones ability to write articles related to queer stuff.
-This would be a great opportunity to get publicity not only for myself and the poly social, but also for 9icb and gaylaxicon

I could not do it. I could do it with a picture and my chosen name, Danaeris. I could do it with a picture and my business name.

I don't know.

Coming out-related decisions are always tough. Bah humbug!

Advice and/or opinion IS welcome, btw.

Comments

[northbard.livejournal.com]

Yah...one thing to keep in mind with Xtra is that the article will also be on the web, which is searchable. So any time in the future that someone searches on your real name, the article will come up.

This proved to be a major issue for R at one point because they will not remove or edit information.

Not saying you should or shouldn't...just wanting you to know that it will be a searchable and indexed fact of your life afterwards.

[danaeris.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I tried to search google, even by a direct search of their website, for this particular section. I even went to their website and tried to find it. No luck. I was wondering if maybe the Queer About Town part of the paper is not included on the website.

Was it the same section R was profiled in?

[northbard.livejournal.com]

huh..looks like it's gone. How 'bout that?

[jackspryte.livejournal.com]

In the past I would have said " Of course you have to! It's about politics etc." However seeing how my own "out-nesses" have cause friction and probelms in my own career and life. Also considering you are a professional writer I would have to say no.

I think the world is just not mature enough and I have no faith in mankind anymore...whatsoever.

[ubbaken.livejournal.com]

This is a tough one, indeed.

Using a pseudonym would make it more plausible I think.

I'm not sure of how the freelance or contracted journalism world works exactly, what their professional attitude is, etc. It may open up opportunities for you, while simultaneously restricting them (you may only be accepted to write about queer issues?).

If you did not do it now, would it be something you'd do sometime in the near/far future?

These are things I really haven't dealt with, or had to deal with, yet, so I don't know what would be the best action to take. With the status of the publication, and my personal nature, I would do it - somewhat hoping these issues would then be brought forward.

[metalana.livejournal.com]

Happy coming out day. Not as easy when it's coming out as multiple things that aren't ordinary, eh?

I'd say that bi stuff (9icb) is within the normal range for xtra, and SF is a cute & easily understood subculture. Poly is not well-understood yet (gay guys do open relationships differently) so I wouldn't want to be professionally identified with it yet. Mentioning kink might make some people think that all poly, bi and fannish people are into that sicko stuff.

Linking your business identity (via your photo) with your social identity ... messy. That's why I switched journals to something I could discuss at work. Mentioning all your non-mainstream interests together in public... zowie. If only people knew that there are thousands of polybikinkyfans, bipaganfanscadians, or polygamerscubadivers, and other such overlapping combos.

As for the writing career, Gerald Hannon still gets freelance gigs to interview famous people for Toronto Life and maybe other magazines. Since you've been out of town, I'll remind you that Ryerson J-school fired him for something related to his publicly-known prostitution career (or maybe it was being too liberal about age differences in gay relationships).

Maybe you could do the profile but only mention some of the stuff? Follow your gut, I suppose.

[locus-ofcontrol.livejournal.com]

Interesting dilemma...

Best of luck with it. I don't know what I would do in your place...

A shameless plug

[tafkats.livejournal.com]

After skimming the first page of your journal, I think you would get along very well with my friend cabell. Who -- here is the shameless plug part -- runs her own BBS and is always looking for new folks to hang out and post there.

Here's a link (http://www.poisonsoda.org/phpBB2/), and here's a helpful note from the FAQ (http://poisonsoda.org/phpBB2/faq.php):

What is the purpose of these boards?

Aside from serving as my own extremely loose bid for the position of supreme ruler when we all eschew our physical bodies and become energy beings, the boards are mostly just a place for a group of people with some similar interests to hang out.

Some of us, though hardly all, know each other offline (two of us are actually related). As an entire category of forums might suggest, most of us are creatively inclined in one way or another. Politically, we're a fairly left-leaning crowd; in extreme cases, we may be Canadian.

Sometimes we discuss serious issues. Sometimes we polish our art. Sometimes we post lists of random facts about ourselves and vote on the best mode of apocalypse: zombie plague or traditional plague?

End of shameless plug!

[jackspryte.livejournal.com]

I'm actually gald you are going through it. I do like the idea of using an online/alias name. You don't want to jeopordize your carreer .

I think you are very brave and excellent.