A crisis is what it takes to re-inscribe gender onto ourselves (cf Butler). Whether it is the one fine morning I look into the mirror and realize that my hair, when left untied, fucks with my tried masculine presentation, or the time when I decide to take off the black dress I was wearing just to go to the dining hall for a bagel, it takes that moment of risque uncertainty, that gender can partake in surrealism (over and on the real) as re-inscription. But at both these times, I decided that a normative gender should re-inscribe itself unto me. I tie up my hair. I take off the dress. But a crisis can not only fuck gender, it fucks with your methodology – your way of thought. It leaves it dangling precariously and in danger of crashing to the floor. And when it shatters onto the ground, you kneel to pick up the broken pieces.

I want to examine the moment between its precarious dangling and the moment of shattering on the ground. The moment where height is translated into speed towards the inevitability of a disorder. Coming off a praxis where the body takes central stage in the studies of gender and sexuality, I am always left confronting my own naked body, in all its erotic and insecure dimensions. Whose bodies can we talk about? Through whose bodies can we talk about other bodies? How far out should I distend my body and embodiment to look at the multiplicities of Other bodies, bodies that stand on the crossroads of multiple variables? In other words, can I embody Other bodies without consent? And what does consent mean and how do I get it?

Bringing it back to the bodily, my crisis begins where people in groups share a sexual act. Speaking of the particularity of the bodies, where can we place these bodies to set the scene? Friends, each with partners who are not present. In a profuse overflow of spontaneous lust, they begin groping and exchanging saliva, beating the mixture of saliva and dinner’s grease with the tongue. Smells. Limbs here, there. And then they stop. It was all play. A play in desire, a play of pleasure. And through this sharing of an intimate experience, the boundaries between the bodies are blurred, rendered ambiguous, liminal and full of potential for queering. And as this project takes form, a relieved sigh, shared secrets and skins, they go home. The project is for now stalled, and the partners and their bodies were not told of their shared project within that liminality. Partners on the margins, the liminal becomes the conspired center of shared sensuality.

This is where methodology gives in and falls into the threshold of gravity’s pull. The thin thread breaks and it falls to the ground. What was once praxis for a theory of the body from the margins, a theory of the embodied in all its crummy sexual and gendered nakedness, is about to shatter onto the ground. Without consent, gender and sexuality theory becomes another branch of the hegemonic heteropatriarchy it seeks to disable. Bodies are snatched, abandoned without consent. There are now bodies that kiss and caress in a room and bodies that are exlcuded beyond.

Nakedness. This is my crisis of queer methodology at stake: in a body of knowledge and practice that puts the sensual, the sexual, and the sensuous as its departing point for activism and critique, I worry that we leave behind non-consenting bodies. Sex is all good and merry as an act of inclusion, a spiritual and bodily exchange across boundaries. Notwithstanding that desires are specific to particular bodies, the fucking that excludes without consent endangers praxis. Not only are bodies not given the space to be informed and included, but that these bodies are silenced and not allowed to signify. Fucking can be a source of political activism only if it is without the enforced boundaries of exclusion and with the reciprocity of enthusiastic consent.

Or it will only shatter on the floor so that we can begin blaming conservative values, morality, and judgementalism for it all. But it has yet to fall. We are in a crisis. What should we re-inscribe? And how?

Dust off those schedules, people, Seksualiti Merdeka is coming your way! The theme for the second year is “Our Bodies, Our Rights”.

Do we have the right to privacy? Do we have the right to our own bodies? Do we all deserve to be treated equally regardless of our sexuality?

Yes, yes and yes.

It should not matter if you are single, married or divorced, straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual, transvestite, intersexed or asexual, everyone has these rights. But are these rights recognised in Malaysia? Should they be? And what can we do about it?

This year, Seksualiti Merdeka calls for everyone to stand together to claim our rights.

Here’s a list of the events that will be happening, take a peek, it looks like a wonderful programme and I personally find that many of these promise to be very entertaining. This is a personal bias, but I want to attend everything under the “Arts” section! Bring your cameras if you do go, people, this will be good.

And I know this website caters to a largely queer audience, but please, bring your friends along; queer or otherwise.

SCHEDULE

Wed 12/8

8.30pm: Talkshow: ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE

Thu 13/8

12pm: Documentary: CELLULOID CLOSET

2pm: Documentary: BUKAK API

4pm: Documentary: BEFORE STONEWALL

8.30pm: Theatre: THAT’S THE WAY I LIKE IT

8.30pm: Workshop: KAFE BISIKAN SEKS & SEKSUALITI

Fri 14/8

12pm: Documentary: SOUTHERN COMFORT

2pm: Documentary: PECAH LOBANG + SHE’S MY SON

4pm: Documentary: THE TIMES OF HARVEY MILK

8.30pm: Theatre: THAT’S THE WAY I LIKE IT

8.30pm: Workshop: KAFE BISIKAN SEKS & SEKSUALITI

Sat 15/8

12pm: SEKSUALITI MERDEKA LAUNCH

2pm: Debate: MORAL POLICING – IS IT JUSTIFIED?

4pm: Book Launch: BODY 2 BODY: A MALAYSIAN QUEER ANTHOLOGY

6pm: Forum: THE LAW & OUR BODIES

8.30pm: Concert: RAINBOW MASSACRE

Sun 16/8

12pm: Tutorial: IT’S A QUEER WORLD – QUEER THEORY 101

12pm: Workshop: THE SEX TALK SHOW

2pm: Talk: Screwed – THE STATE OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN MALAYSIA

2pm: Forum: WHO’S AFRAID OF SEX?

4pm: Talk: LEGALISING NATURE: HONG KONG, INDIA & SINGAPORE

4pm: Workshop: POLICE POWER

6pm: Discussion: STEP BY STEP

8.30pm: Concert: RAINBOW MASSACRE

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FEATURES

SEKSUALITI MERDEKA LAUNCH

Officiated by Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir. Come celebrate our official launch and meet all the sweaty organisers and cute volunteers of Seksualiti Merdeka. The launch will also feature a song by V-Mix and a performance by young sexuality rights defenders. Refreshments sponsored by twenty.one kitchen+bar.

Sat 15 Aug, 12pm, Gallery 3

Debate: MORAL POLICING – IS IT JUSTIFIED?

Should we allow the State’s “moral police” to dictate how we should behave? This friendly debate revolves around the role of the State and “moral police” in legislating morality, religious convictions and public law. Debaters include representatives from the Bar Council Human Rights Committee and Centre for Independent Journalism – Fahri Azzat, Adiba Shareen Al’Ayubi, Khaizan Sharizad, Gayathry Venkiteswaran and Shanon Shah. It will be moderated by Simranjit Kaur Gill.

Sat 15 Aug, 2pm, Gallery 3

Book Launch: BODY 2 BODY: A MALAYSIAN QUEER ANTHOLOGY

The first of its kind in Malaysia, Body 2 Body: A Malaysian Queer Anthology features 23 original pieces of fiction and non-fiction in English selected by editors Jerome Kugan & Pang Khee Teik. There are cheers and tears, raunch and kink, polemics and politics: a versatile tribute to the rainbow diversity of Malaysia. The launch will have short readings by Shanon Shah, Cheryl Leong, Brian Gomez, Faizad Nik Abdul Aziz, Paul GnanaSelvam dan Maya Tan Abdullah. The book will available for purchase at RM30 each.

Sat 15 Aug, 4pm, Gallery 1

Forum: THE LAW & OUR BODIES

Do the laws that govern sexual practices and sexuality in our country protect our rights? Or do they infringe upon them? Panel speakers from the Bar Council Human Rights Committee including Saha Deva A/L A. Arunasalam, Simranjit Kaur Gill, Lim Kar Mern and Aston Philip Paiva take a close look at the law and discuss just how restrictive they really are.

Sat 15 Aug, 6pm, Gallery 1

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ARTS

Art Installation: TEMBOK MERDEKA

A collective of artists will create an art installation inspired by the 29 Yogyakarta Principles, as well as two interactive walls upon which visitors can record their experiences of discrimination and acceptance. The installation will last throughout the festival. Strike a pose or become a part of the wall!

Talk Show: ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE

With dance doyen Datin Marion D’Cruz, TV & Radio host Will Quah, actor Mano Maniam, transsexual writer Julya Oui, and Irene Leong, mother of a happily gay daughter. Sharing tales about their lives, passion and relationships, these straight and queer individuals will show how diversity, understanding and love are important foundations for a more accepting society.

Wed 12 Aug, 8.30pm, Gallery 3

Theatre: THAT’S THE WAY I LIKE IT – 3 SHORT PLAYS ABOUT SEXUALITY

In “XX, XY or X?”, Low Ngai Yuen directs Carmen Soo & KK Wong who play a brokenhearted and unfulfilled couple searching for answers from an X-rated video. Meanwhile, in “Bed”, directed by Kwan Chan Fong, a woman (Chin Lee Ling) and a man (Lim Chung Wei) confront the secret life of their dead housemate. Finally, one woman’s driving lessons take her down the road of sexual awakening in “Drive”, directed by Hariati Azizan, performed by Ruza Jajuli and Renita Che Wan. The plays contain mature themes. In English, Malay, Mandarin & Cantonese. Admission by donation: RM25 at the door; RM20 presale passes available at http://www.applause.org.my

Thu 13 & Fri 14 Aug, 8.30pm, Gallery 1

Music: RAINBOW MASSACRE

From “I Will Survive” to “YMCA” to “Bukan Cinta Biasa”, queer anthems teach us to dance, fight, and unleash our inner Dorothy – uniting us in a celebration of the outrageous, tragic, campy and bitchy. Rainbow Massacre presents two nights of queer anthems and comedy featuring some of KL’s best entertainers: Joanne Kam, Jit Murad, Mia Palencia, Shanon Shah, Zalina Lee, Fang Chyi, Maya Tan, Melvin Ho & Friends, with emcees Edwin Sumun & Fahmi Fadzil. Admission by donation RM30 adult; RM25 for students. Passes available at http://www.applause.org.my

Sat 15 & Sun 16 Aug, 8.30pm, Gallery 3

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DOCUMENTARIES

Documentary: THE CELLULOID CLOSET

The Celluloid Closet (1995) is a documentary film about the the Hollywood film industry and its cast of LGBT characters both on- and off-screen, censorship and stereotypes.

Thu 13 Aug, 12pm, Gallery 1

Documentary: BUKAK API

The groundbreaking semi-documentary about the lives of transsexuals on Chow Kit Road, directed by Osman Ali.

Thu 13 Aug, 2pm, Gallery 1

Documentary: BEFORE STONEWALL

This historical documentary is about the LGBT community prior to the 1969 Stonewall riots.

Thu 13 Aug, 4pm, Gallery 1

Documentary: SOUTHERN COMFORT

Southern Comfort is an emotionally touching documentary about the last year in the life of Robert Eads, a 52-year-old female-to-male American transsexual who died of ovarian cancer.

Fri 14 Aug, 12pm, Gallery 1

Documentary: PECAH LOBANG + SHE’S MY SON

Two award-winning Malaysian documentaries (Freedom Film Fest) about two different transgender experiences: one from sex workers’ perspective and one from the mother of a transsexual.

Fri 14 Aug, 2pm, Gallery 1

Documentary: THE TIMES OF HARVEY MILK

Before Milk, there was this documentary of the charismatic gay activist, who became the first openly homosexual person to be elected to public office in America. Featuring real footage of Harvey Milk and his friends.

Fri 14 Aug, 4pm, Gallery 1

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EMPOWERMENT

(The following sessions require registration. Please email your name and the names of the session to: seksualitimerdeka2009@gmail.com)

Workshop: KAFE BISIKAN SEKS & SEKSUALITI

What is the difference between sex and sexuality? And why is sexuality such an issue for control, discrimination and persecution? This introductory workshop to sexuality and sexual rights is presented by KRYSS (Knowledge and Rights for Young people through Safer Spaces). Discuss your views and gain a better understanding of sexuality rights and how they relate to our human rights.

Thu 13 & Fri 14 Aug, 8.30pm, Gallery 3

Workshop: THE SEX TALK SHOW

Are you ready to add sizzle to your sex life? PT Foundation presents a talk show with a panel of sexperts on how to make sex safe, adventurous and fun. Additionally, in a separate private room, trained counselors are available to conduct anonymous HIV screenings with counseling.

Sun 16 Aug, 12pm, Gallery 3

Forum: WHO’S AFRAID OF SEX?

Do you think sex is dirty and shameful? Or beautiful and affirming? What influences your attitudes toward sex? What prevents you from having healthy sex? PT Foundation puts together a panel of experts to help you develop positive thinking about sex.

Sun 16 Aug, 2pm, Gallery 3

Workshop: POLICE POWER

Many of us have fantasies about uniformed hotties, but what happens when you’re actually confronted by the real thing? What to do when the cops stop you for holding hands, raid the disco you’re in or detain you for cross-dressing? SUARAM leads a practical workshop on what is the police’s power and what are your rights when you are stopped, fined, detained or harrassed by them.

Sun 16 Aug, 4pm, Gallery 3

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ACTIVISM

(The following sessions require registration. Please email your name and the session names to: seksualitimerdeka2009@gmail.com)

Tutorial: IT’S A QUEER WORLD – QUEER THEORY 101

Benjamin McKay, Film Studies lecturer at Monash University Sunway campus, introduces us to the joys of Queer Theory; after all, there is no norm, everything and everyone is queer! With film clips from Francois Ozon, Amir Muhammad’s Susuk and Douglas Sirk’s Magnificent Obsession. Now, you too can apply Queer Theory in your daily life!

Sun 16 Aug, 12pm, Gallery 1

Talk: SCREWED – THE STATE OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN MALAYSIA

Not only LGBT folks get bullied in Malaysia. SUARAM presents a crash-course into the overall human rights record of Malaysia, with an overview of the NGOs working in Malaysia. Know your basic human rights, learn about the abuses, and be outraged. Yes, we are all majorly screwed! Let’s all come together for a better future.

Sun 16 Aug, 2pm, Gallery 1

Talk: LEGALISING NATURE: HONG KONG, INDIA & SINGAPORE

Singapore gay equality activist Alex Au discusses recent court cases in Hong Kong and India regarding the repeal of the sodomy law. He also updates participants about the legal situation in Singapore and shares his thoughts about activist strategies for Malaysia.

Sun 16 Aug, 4pm, Gallery 1

Discussion: STEP BY STEP

Movies, massacres and moral policing? What does it all mean? This session is tailored for those who are all fired up and asking, “What next?” Find out how you can transform what you’ve learnt into meaningful action, and how your actions can translate into meaningful change.

Sun 16 Aug, 6pm, Gallery 1

Enquiries:

Please email seksualitimerdeka2009@gmail.com

Or call: 03 2070 1137

www.annexegallery.com

The Annexe Gallery, 2^nd Floor, Central Market Annexe, Kuala Lumpur.

You’re welcome to mail this to your friends, but please do not repost this on your blog or publicise this event in the media without permission from the organisers. If you are interested, please email: worldwithoutpangs@gmail.com.

For the full programme, and more information on the event, visit Seksualiti Merdeka: the official blog.

And just for old time’s sake, here we were, one year ago, painting the mural for Seksualiti Merdeka last year:

If you’re so inclined, view pictures from a day at Seksualiti Merdeka, 2008 (by Tilted World).

You should go for this — it’ll be the biggest all-inclusive, queer-friendly event in KL all year.

One last link: Facebook event page

Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, a prominent theorist who is often cited as one of the founders of queer theory, died on April 12. She was 58.

Sedgwick was reportedly diagnosed with breast cancer in 1991, prompting her book A Dialogue on Love. Sedgwick taught English at several institutions including Boston University; the University of California, Berkeley; and Duke University, where she was a Newman Ivey White Professor of English.

According to friend Cathy Davidson, who wrote about Sedgwick’s death on Monday, she died by her partner Hal’s side.

“Eve was a practicing Buddhist and blessings were said in Tibetan Buddhist ceremonies all over the world to help with her passage to the next life, a passage that, I know, brings the loving connections she made to the next life,” Davidson wrote. “She leaves those connections behind, to those of us fortunate to have known her or been touched by her writings. We love you, Eve.”

Sedgwick has written many books on gender and sexual orientation, including Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire; Epistemology of the Closet; and Tendencies.