Oakley, Be: As Glamorous as a Rotting Animal: Queerness and Mental Health

As Glamorous as a Rotting Animal: Queerness and Mental Health looks to the often unknowable strength that mental health has on our queer and trans identity. This book is a symbol of solidarity for sick, disabled and mentally ill queer, trans and non-binary people that often don't feel seen in ableist queer spaces.

This analysis is not based on a glamorous or ableist romanticization of queerness; rather it looks to reclaim and reinterpret mental health as an unexpected source of strength. Depending on one’s privileges, be they white, economic, able or cisgender, one experiences mental health issues in different ways. These feelings of generalized anxiety, panic attacks, agoraphobia, depression and others are tangible bodily experiences that define my experiences of the world and my relations within it. Although these experiences are often horrifying, they can be a part of an unexpectedly empowering experience of being queer in the world, one that is often harder for us that are non-binary and trans.

Risograph (Blue and Flat Gold)

66 pages

Edition of 250

November 2022