why i’m publishing a second zine.
It turned out I had much more to say.
Queering the Burbs is a distillation of pop culture, politics and queerness published twice weekly by Joe Erbentraut. If you like what you see, please consider subscribing (many posts are free!), liking or sharing this piece, checking out Joe’s new zine, or buying Joe a coffee.
When I went about publishing my first Queering the Burbs zine last fall, I was very much convinced the project would be a one-and-done sort of thing. I’d spent four years building and finessing this newsletter and wanted a physical, tangible item to mark that milestone and collect some of my favorite work from that time period. In many ways, it was meant to be something of a swan song (or, perhaps more accurately due to the cover design, a goose song). I certainly wasn’t trying to start some kind of zine mini-empire.
But when my husband assembled the zine’s cover, he added a sly little “#01” in the upper-right hand corner. I remember asking him why he did that, and he replied something along the lines of “You know you’re going to have to write another one.” At that time, my response was an extremely non-committal “yeah, yeah, sure.”
Then, the zine went out into the world. I set up shop at Annie Hex’s Queer Prom last October and found myself immediately regretting everything. I wondered why anyone would want to pay real, actual money just for a bunch of pieces of paper with my words scrawled all over them. I imagined everyone walking by feeling secondhand embarrassment for my audacity: “Really? A zine? Groundbreaking,” I thought I could somehow hear them thinking.
But then people started stopping by to look at the zine — no doubt pulled in by Jaime Toraco’s brilliant murder goose illustration — and a bunch of folks bought a copy. Maybe this whole thing wasn’t so crazy after all.
As the weeks went on, the orders came in. So many wonderful folks were buying copies—old friends, new friends, former teachers, complete strangers from all across the country. Almost every local business I reached out to about carrying the zine agreed to put it on their shelves. I sold copies at Belong: Fox Valley’s cozy Cheers, Queers! events and Sturdy Shelter and Hearth & Hammer’s incredible book fair for adults. I watched as more folks I’d never met before picked up copies at Ramshackle Farm’s Trans-farm-ation.
Frankly, it’s all felt a bit surreal. Sure, we’re not talking New York Times bestseller numbers here, but that’s never been my goal. I was witnessing in real time how so many folks were seeing a part of themselves in what I had put into the world.
I’ve heard countless stories about how the zine reached people in a way that this newsletter never could. Folks encountering it out of the corner of their eye at New Moon Vegan, while waiting for their manicure appointment at On Point Nails, or on a friend’s coffee table have all shared how pleasantly surprised they felt seeing that my zine existed. They’ve shared how the zine made them feel more proud of the suburban community they call home. They’ve even shared how the zine made them feel more proud to be themselves.
When the Orange One was reelected last November, I didn’t know how to react at first. I felt deeply disassociated from reality with the way that I had miscalculated what I thought would happen in that election, what I thought my fellow Americans stood for and stood against. Then I lost my job and everything in my world, in both a micro and macro sense, felt all the more uncertain. I was at a crossroads.
At the beginning of this year, I recommitted to my writing practice. I began writing with more discipline for this newsletter and offered paid subscription tiers for the first time. I did this not only to pursue an additional revenue stream at a time when digital media layoffs are becoming ever-increasingly common, but also to motivate myself to pursue different styles of writing in this space and to become more closely connected with all of you, my readers.
Through that process, it became very obvious that a second edition of the zine had to happen. Of course, it didn’t hurt that so many people were asking about it as soon as they set eyes on the first edition. But the timing for this new zine feels correct in so many ways.
Last night at the Batavia City Council meeting prior to the city raising the Pride flag in honor of Pride Month, a group of four community members affiliated with a local Catholic congregation spoke out against the Pride Month proclamation and the raising of the flag. One speaker held up a side reading “PRIDEMONTH” and another cited the heightened risk of suicide among queer youth as a reason against the Pride flag’s raising. It was a genuine circus.
The Pride Month proclamation was still overwhelmingly approved (11 votes in favor and two—Tim Lanci and Matthew Anderson, both of the sixth ward—opposed) and the Pride flag was raised following lovely comments by Pastor Paige Wolfanger of the Congregational Church of Batavia. And even though the opponents of the Pride flag were pretty much the same few people who turn out every year to say pretty much the same thing, their message felt even more brazen and hateful this year.
This is what we’re up against and what is being emboldened this Pride Month. But the response from queer and trans folks and their many allies last night felt just as emboldened. As the Pride flag was risen against the backdrop of a sky still glowing from wildfire smoke with help from all the kids in the audience, the crowd of about 100 supporters burst into applause. We had won again, as we will continue to do.
I’m so proud of Queering the Burbs #02. This edition again includes a selection of some of my favorite essays and interviews that have appeared in this space and it is no accident that all three of the individuals interviewed this time around—with Martin Beirne, Rhiannon Hammer, and Beverly Trafton—identify as trans or nonbinary. We find ourselves in a moment of emergency for trans and nonbinary people in this country, and I felt it was crucial to lift up these perspectives in this terrifying time.
The zine also includes a series of brand new essays that have not appeared in this space. In many ways, they are more vulnerable than I typically would prefer to be in a Google-friendly format easily accessible via a quick search on any smartphone. They dive into the queer roots of Charli XCX’s Brat era and my love for finding suburban third places in the most unexpected of spots. They explore my state of mind living under the first four months of this fascist administration, in addition to looking back to my childhood as well as looking forward to our queer and trans futures.
The new zine is available for online pre-orders right now and these orders will begin to ship starting next week. Very soon, I will also have copies available for purchase at many of the same IRL stockists that carried the first issue. Additionally, I will be popping up at a series of IRL events in and near my hometown where you can pick up a copy. These events include:
Sunday, June 8 (12 p.m.): Pride Extra-vaganza @ Hoof + Horn in Aurora
Friday, June 13 (7 p.m.): Annie Hex’s Queer Prom @ Sidecar Supper Club in Batavia
Friday, June 20 (7 p.m.): Summer Solstice Zine Release Party @ New Moon Vegan in Batavia
I am so appreciative to everyone who has helped make these zines into a reality, and there are so many people who have played a part in this. Thank you to anyone who’s supported this newsletter and zine project. I know that these are lean times for so many folks and it makes the decision of where to direct every dollar that comes in more difficult, so I’m deeply honored that so many of you have chosen to support my queer little words. I truly believe it is helping to make a big difference for folks out here in the western Chicago suburbs.
I also hope to see you out and about this Pride Month, at the above events and beyond! As much as this administration and its supporters want to see us cower in the shadows, I know we’re not going to give them that satisfaction. I feel that my words from last June’s Batavia flag raising ceremony hold even more true today:
“We are out here. We’re your children and grandchildren, your neighbors and your friends, your constituents and your teachers, your firefighters and your elected leaders, your students and your customers, your tarot readers and your tattoo artists. We are your future. And we. Are not. Going. Anywhere.”
You can now order a copy of Queering the Burbs #02 right here. Follow me on IG for updates on zine events and stockists! Happy Pride Month, all!
SONG OF THE RIGHT-NOW
To be honest, I’ve never properly explored the City Pop genre of glorious J-Pop. I’d heard of a few artists but never really dug into any particular discographies. I’ve got to change that. I just stumbled upon Anri’s 1983 bop “Windy Summer” and I can’t stop listening to it. It’s just pure joy and excess. That’s what I’m really trying to channel this summer. If you’re a City Pop girlie, please let me know in the comments which J-Pop tracks I should seek out next.