Aspects of Uranus - a queer astrology zine

Aspects of Uranus - a queer astrology zine

Compiled by Jade Mars

A5, 36 pages, colour cover. 

£3

“The stars aren’t astrology until people start telling stories about them”, write syr and an in their piece how to tell stories with our birth charts. The problem is, as Jade Mars outlines in the introduction: 

“binarist, sexist, and heteronormative ideas…plague Western astrology (and y'know, pretty much everything in our society)"

This zine was created as a response to the lack of information and advice around queer astrology. The range of contributions is varied, considered and engaging. It includes poetry from Chani Nicholas, Soof Andry, and Liza Lauper. Features are from Ludovic Foster – Boi Becomes Hare, Astrology as a way to subvert the “Trans Narrative”; Jade Mars writes In Praise of Virgos, a defence of undervalued traits defined as ‘women’s work’ by astrological orthodoxy, and offers a reading of Foucault’s birth chart relating to his work as a left-wing queer theorist. syr and an’s piece, as mentioned above, offers a great set of points to consider when creating an astrological reading with someone, and anna tackles tradition in Queerness, Disability and being a Capricorn. 

Aspects of Uranus is a thoughtful and thought-provoking zine that opens doors to better ways of engaging with traditionally excluding sets of symbols and practices. To quote from Chani Nicholas’ poem:

“Why do queers love astrology? 

Maybe it’s because we understand that our identities come in as many variations as there are stars in the sky.  

Maybe it’s because we see gender as a vast cosmology of options, not a system with two measly choices”

Buy a copy via Etsy: etsy.com/uk/listing/479023664/aspects-of-uranus-a-queer-astrology-zine

(Shhh....I shouldn't say this on a site devoted to reviewing paper and ink zines, but Aspects of Uranus is also available as a pdf: etsy.com/uk/listing/492567485/aspects-of-uranus-a-queer-astrology-zine)


Review by Nathan Penlington

Out of Order, Queer and Trans Youth Resistance

Out of Order, Queer and Trans Youth Resistance

36 pages, digest, photocopied black and white

$2.50 (?)

This appears to be the first issue, written primarily by LGBT adults for LGBT youth. It has great potential.

In addition to personal experiences, there's a list of terminology, and also a list of resources, (mainly around Montreal, where this zine comes from.)

Except for the front and back covers it is all text, so there's a lot to read. The content is not great. There's not a lot of super interesting stuff considering the broad, rich topic.

However, it hits the mark in sending up a signal flare and reaching out to LGBT youth. If I were a queer or trans young person I'd be excited and grateful to find kindred voices, especially if I wasn't lucky enough to come from a particularly hip or progressive school system.

[I have a young trans second cousin who's high school refused to let him graduate with his trans name on his diploma. The students rallied around him and eventually the principal was compelled to back down. While this is a great example of how the up and coming generation is way less prejudice than previous generations, this type of support is still not the norm. there's still a long way to go and LGBT youth need these kinds of resources.]

What I would like to see, in addition to some better edited content, is contributions from the youth themselves. Offering them wisdom and support from experience is great, but giving them a voice is important too.

I picked this up at the Fluxxii distro table at the Scranton zine fest, but the site is down. You can also get it from Quimbys or contact the maker directly...

Quimby's

http://www.quimbys.com/store/5146

Fluxxii

http://www.fluxxiidistro.com/

queertransyouthzine at gmail

(spelling corrected)

ACE ZINE ARCHIVE

The folks at the Asexual Visibility and Education Network have started a zine archive.

The cataloging of zines is well organized, but the overall site/s is a bit confusing. They have both wordpress and tumblr pages and I went back and forth looking for the info I wanted.

Also, it appears the archive is simply a list of publications, not an actual collection of zines. The zines are not available to read on line, and there is no contact info given for ordering.

Still, it seems like a worthwhile project. I'm listing it in the Resources section.


http://www.asexuality.org/en/
https://acezinearchive.wordpress.com/
http://acezinearchive.tumblr.com/

ace.zine.archive / gmail.com