What's Geeks OUT About?
FLAME ON!
Geeks OUT began in October of 2010 with a singular if ambitious goal: To establish a booth at the 2011 New York Comic-Con where queer geeks could belong. We didn't want LGBT fans to be an invisible element at the Con. We wanted to raise the visibility of both our local community and the larger presence of queer fandom. In the wake of the It Gets Better Movement, we were inspired to imagine a queer-positive zone where our people and allies would be represented, where it was cool to be a queer geek even if the rest of geek culture was still catching up.
We accomplished this goal. With the amazing help of organizations like Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS and Prism Comics, generous donors, and legions of new members, Geeks OUT not only had the sickest booth at the 2011 Con (Did you see our banner or our capes? I mean, come on.), but we presented a standing-room-only panel, “It Gets Better (with Comics)!,” with a special shout-out from The New York Times. Check out the incredible video we recorded in the booth!
GEEKS ASSEMBLE!
A long time ago, we needed to raise money for a booth at the con. So, we threw some parties. We recognized right away the desire to come together and have a good time as a community that exists amongst queer geeks. It just seemed like this big, untapped social energy source. We seized on the idea of rallying this subculture and over the course of a year hosted a number of fun events to meet new members, raise funds for our booth, establish Geeks OUT as an organization with a purpose, and increase the communication between the geek and queer worlds.
Geeks OUT events also always think beyond the party to the larger cause. Every mixer, meet-up, drawing class, quiz night, museum trip, and movie screening enables us to move forward empowering queer geeks, strengthens our community, and increases our visibility. This in turn helps to establish and maintain a queer presence at events like Comic-Con, ensuring that our voice remains part of the larger conversation. We're going to do more. We love to dance! We're gonna need money again soon!
DID YOU SEE WHAT WONDER WOMAN IS WEARING NOW?!?
The heart of our mission remains to raise the visibility of queer geeks. Geeks OUT is here to make sure that queer geeks everywhere know that there is an active, vibrant, and welcoming community of people like themselves. We want the comics community, too, to have absolutely no doubt that a significant and loud section of the geek demographic is queer. And awesome.
Geeks OUT remains committed to building on this mission. We want to connect different facets of the queer and geek worlds. Going forward, we hope to harness the incredible energy we're witnessing within our community as a force for greater change, to try out new ideas for social events, and to build our group by keeping it fun, engaged, and inclusive.
TO ME, MY GEEKS!
What can you do? Join the fight! Sign up on geeksout.org so you can comment on blogs and articles, post original content, create and publicize queer geek events, and interact with the community! Check back often for events, news, and updates. Got a few bucks burnin’ a hole in your pocket? Donate to our cause (we’re nonprofit!). Browse our ebay auctions for awesome collectibles, original art, autographed books, and more. Something in your size, madame? Go nuts over our fabulous branded merch, including prints, buttons, stickers, and t-shirts! Did we mention we’re nonprofit?
