Inspiration and Research for the Lavender Movement
Inspiration
My freshman year in college I was able to take a course called LGBTQIA+ Literature. In the course I was introduced to a number of novels, plays, poems, and short stories about LGBT+ people across history that I would have never known existed. For me, this posed the question, would I have come across these works on my own if I had looked for it? The short answer is no, not to worry, the long answer is below. My sophomore year, I went to the public library to drop off some books and while I was there I hoped onto their catalog to see if I could get a novel for an upcoming trip, I was hoping for something on the LGBT end of things. In the entirety of the county’s catalog, there were two novels that were in the realm of LGBT+ Literature. It was frustrating and it got me thinking.
My Junior year I had the opportunity to work on a typographic journal, which you can look at here. I chose the theme of LGBT literature for the journal. It was shortly after that project that I decided that I wanted to carry this theme into my senior capstone project.
Research Question
How can Members of the LGBT+ Community learn more about other members of the LGBT+ community through literature in order to become more educated about other members of the community and the history of the community as a whole?
Interview Potential User
I reached out to a friend of mine to interview. I chose this person in particular because they have a vested interest in the LGBT+ Community, and they are well spoken and knowledgeable about the community as a whole. They also love reading and learning more about the LGBT+ Community, I thought they would be a perfect person to interview for their insights.
I found out that they had the same frustrations looking for LGBT+ Literature and history. They said that most of their luck finding books had been in either online or in novelty bookshops. They also observed that it would be a huge help to just know who some queer authors were, so that they knew who to keep their eyes open for.
Over the course of our conversation, an area of discourse in the LGBT+ Community came up. At the moment, some individuals are calling for non-binary people to not be included in the term “transgender.” They said that the argument is that Non-Binary people don’t experience gender dysphoria. They are non-binary and use he/they pronouns and has had to argue their stance several times, that non-binary definitely belongs under the umbrella of transgender. A point that came up was that I had no idea this was happening. I’m a cisgender woman, I didn’t know because I wasn’t plugged into this part of the community and I would have gone on not knowing if we hadn’t had a conversation about it. It can be easy for LGBT+ people to stick in their bubble of people like them, queer, cis men hanging out with queer, cis men, and so on, but we need to be aware of what’s going on across the community.
This talk about gender dysphoria also brought up how body dysphoria can affect some individuals and how it can be hard to feel connected when someone doesn’t see themselves represented in media. Not everyone can transition immediately, often times it can take several years for trans people to transition. And some people chose to not go through the “entire” process of transitioning. Those times in between can be very difficult for trans people who don’t pass. This was something that stuck with me as I developed branding for The Lavender Movement.
“I feel like a lot of people should understand that we face enough discrimination outside of the community, that we shouldn’t have it inside the community.”
“I’ve noticed there’s a lot of LGBTQ resources are mostly focused towards lesbians and gays and I would like to see more trans resources.”
As-Is Map
This is what looking for LGBT+ Literature looks like right now. It’s a bit depressing, but if you don’t have access to a university’s library or a similar system, it can be extremely difficult to find LGBT+ Literature.
Okay, but there has to be something out there.
You’d be right. There are plenty of magazines, journals, and websites for the LGBT+ community. That being said, a lot of these resources focus on current events, which is no surprise, there are plenty of things going on in right now in the world that affect the LGBT+ community. The ones that don’t focus on current events cater to very specific audiences. Mostly the gay male or lesbian communities, and those are very white washed and feature cisgender individuals. There is virtually nothing for transpeople and because these sources are so segmented, it doesn’t encourage people to learn more about others in the community.
Proposed Solution- The Lavender Movement
The Lavender Movement provides members of the LGBT+ community with literature and history about the community. At the moment, there are not any platforms that have these resources available. Most resources focus on current events, which are important, but the past of the community and its members should be honored. Additionally, there is a shortage of LGBT+ Literature. What does exist is hard to find and even harder to access. The Lavender Movement provides a safe, anonymous space for members of the LGBT+ community to share their story, learn more about their community’s past, and the experiences of others.
The Lavender Movement is an organized collection of articles, short stories, poetry, and personal stories by and for members of the LGBT+ Community. Works are submitted by members and approved by a team of editors who properly categorize the work into The Movement’s extensive catalog. These editors also compile the articles and fiction pieces that will be published in each seasonal issue of The Lavender Movement’s seasonal publication. The seasonal publication is executed by a team of designers, who also keep other visual collateral on brand. A team of curators work to include pieces published by other sources, in the catalog -so they become easily available to users.
The Lavender Movement is here to close the gap between readers and content.
Personas
Maxx Warner- The Ideal User
Maxx is a non-binary person who lives outside of Seattle. They found out about The Lavender Movement a few months ago, and they love it. They use the site almost every day to either read new material or submit their short stories for review. They also subscribe to the publication and has purchased a few items from the online site. Lets see how Maxx interacts with The Lavender Movement throughout their day.
Lawrence Ray- The Researcher
Lawrence is a college student who loves to research and learn. He accesses The Lavender Movement through his school’s library system.