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Consumption and Creation of Utopian Spaces

Then as in now, communities and spaces remain unsafe for trans and gender variant folks. To that end, the creation of temporary of utopian spaces, of spaces in which gender variance was not fought or bitterly tolerated but instead celebrated. Principally, conferences, workshops, and seminars acted as such locations. Typically held to include a weekend, these conferences dotted the United States to provide such a venue. There is a clear emphasis on the transnational, and delocalized nature of trans community apparent in the literature surrounding conferences, the Fantasia Fair was much like other conferences in clear emphasis on the ease in which one could reach the festivities, speaking to the variety of airports located near it. (1)

            In addition to ease of access, safety remained a top priority. The Fanfare festival, held in Provincetown made sure to emphasize that the location as one with a welcoming and open atmosphere. (2) In addition, many of the social events which occurred nightly at festivals oftentimes occurred at closed venues. Southern Comfort’s emphasis on shuttles to nightclubs and tours to explore the town and nightlife can cynically be an example of, ‘safety in numbers.’ (3) With safety, one can look beyond the confines of the conference themselves to the lives one returned to. With the 11th Be All conference acting like many others in having a workshop on transitioning and leaving one’s job, remaining closeted was a common, though naturally not universal, a value held by these communities. To that end, policies on photography and recording remained understandably severe, with Fantasia Fair an explicit prohibition on video cameras in addition to other regulations against photography. (5)

With the lack of scrutiny, one can see a desire for the confines of space to be valued and not violated. The 11th Annual Be All Weekend emphasized in its brochure that the staff at the hotel which the conference occurred at. “The hotel and its staff have served us before and know and understand our needs and desires.” (6) Additionally, the aforementioned Fantasia Fair mentions that the choice to host it in Late Fall was done so not to conflict with tourist season. (7) Unique among conferences, Fantasia Fair appeared to take the broader scope of the town, with events and vendors speaking to a community at large that accepted a trans community. Thus, the emphasis on a lack of tourists speaks to a community that will allow for a discrete place for gender expression that is unlikely to overwhelm one either through large crowd sizes or rude interactions. The temporal element of these spaces was clear given an article by crossdresser Roger E. Peo on a Tiffany club event at the same locale of Provincetown that happened to occur during tourist season. The author laments the harassment faced by participants from tourists. (8) Contrasting with Fantasia fair is the insular aspect of many other festivals. While the choice of one central venue can, of course, be explained as due to financial and logistical ease, many venues nightly social events also occurred in closed venues. Of course, exceptions exist, like the Southern Comfort Conference’s much-vaunted exploration of Atlanta nightlife. However, whether this exploration extended to only queer nightclubs is unknown.

 

Bibliography

  1. Fantasia Fair. “Cape Air.” Fantasia Fair. October, 1998, 32. Accessed March 30, 2017. https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/9880vq990.
  2. Kane, Ariadne. “A message from Ariadne Kane, exec. Director, OIGS.” Fantasia Fair. October, 1997, 4. Accessed March 30, 2017. https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/08612n56f.
  3. Southern Comfort Conference. “Seminars and Activities.” Southern Comfort Conference. October 1999, 2. Accessed May 3, 2017. https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/sf2685161.
  4. Be All You Want to Be Weekend. “Joint Session: Male to Female, Female to Male.” Be All You Want to Be Weekend. June, 1993, 2. Accessed April 11, 2017. https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/7s75dc44n.
  5. Fantasia Fair. “Fanfare Photo Policy.” Fantasia Fair. October, 1997, 13. Accessed March 30, 2017. https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/08612n56f.
  6. Be All You Want to Be Weekend. “Joint Session: Male to Female, Female to Male.” Be All You Want to Be Weekend. June, 1993, 2. Accessed April 11, 2017. https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/7s75dc44n.
  7. Fantasia Fair. “About Fantasia Fair.” Fantasia Fair. October, 1978, 2. Accessed March 30, 2017. https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/jm214p149.
  8. Peo, Roger E. “Perspectives on Provincetown.” Tapestry. 1985, 46-48. Accessed April 17, 2017. https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/ft848q715. 
Consumption and Creation of Utopian Spaces