Hi Bay Area Friends! Bay Area Queer Zine Fest is happening on Sunday, January 12th, 2020! The event kicks off at 11 AM and will carry on until 5PM. It’s happening at Humanist Hall located at 390 27th Street in Oakland, California. The event is wheelchair accessible and the admission is free! You can find out more on BAQZF. Bay Area local and incredible Zine creator, Jackson Stoner (Ze/hir He/him), will be at the event and had a lot of great words to share below! Jackson Stoner creates beautiful zine’s that are both fun and educational. Ze is a Trans and Jewish Educator and creates a Zine called Transvestia!. Find out more about Jackson Stoner here.
“The Bay Area Queer Zine Fest (BAQZF) has been running for only 3 years now, January 12th 2020 being its third event. It’s grown significantly in size from when it started, with 40 tablers every year but a large increase in applications and attendees. This zine fest is specifically by and for queer zinesters to be able to exist and share their work in a safe, community-oriented space with a strong emphasis on queer content. The organisers have been in the zine community for a long time, and thought it was important to have a queer-specific zine fest since zines are gaining in popularity, especially among those who are disenfranchised from mainstream media.
It’s always so cool to see all the interesting and niche subjects that are covered by these queer zinesters, ranging from the history of nonbinary identities to sex life as an intersex person to personal struggles with finding the right queer community to favourite queer flags. The content can go all over the place and be so fun, so educational, and always so intriguing. There’s so much variety at every zine fest, and even at a zine fest that narrows its zinesters by identity, there is just as much variety in subject and aesthetic of all the zines.
BAQZF works really hard to make sure that they are creating a welcoming and safe space for all the people tabling and attending, and also make sure that their locations are wheelchair accessible with accommodations for those who need them. The organisers are really sweet and understanding of all financial backgrounds as well and work hard to make the event free to all.
I, personally, am so incredibly excited to be tabling at this fest as it will be my second zine fest ever, and my first queer zine fest. I love making friends in the zine community and seeing all of the creativity and love flowing in the space. I’ve always admired queer zinesters and the courage and labour it takes to make a lot of these zines, and now I finally get to participate in this labour of love. Additionally, many of my zines are about queer topics, and I feel that I’ll fit in a little better and be more at home at the BAQZF.”
– Jackson Stoner
Intro Written by Ryan Cassata, Everything Else by Jackson Stoner!