By Peighton Taylor
When rainbow flags and colorful parades descend in June, it’s easy to think the fight has already been won. In truth, however, the lived experience of queer and trans people, especially in and around Cleveland, is at times, a heavy one. As Eliana Turan of the LGBT Center of Greater Cleveland writes, “Cleveland is an epicenter for the transgender murder crisis. … Following a careful analysis of the In Memoriam site, Cleveland has more known references of transphobic killing than any other city in the U.S. since record keeping began, followed by seven in Philadelphia, and six in both Baltimore and Dallas.” In our world, in our nation, and in our city, sometimes being yourself has a high cost.
However, Pride month is more than store campaigns and rainbow pins. It’s radical self-acceptance in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenge. It’s holding grief in one hand and joy in the other. It’s all the ways you offer allowance and acceptance to yourself and your community. Breaking the Silence: Queer Self, Life, and Love in Northeast Ohio, an anthology created by Literary Cleveland, beautifully captures this sentiment.
This anthology features the stories, essays and poems of 14 local writers throughout Greater Cleveland. It weaves together themes of grief, fear, acceptance, and love. Amidst the constant threats to the LGBTQ+ community both in Northeast Ohio and nationwide, this anthology thoughtfully illuminates the complicated, yet earnest lived experience of the queer and trans community.
Franqui achieves the mission of empowering, uplifting, and celebrating communities by giving them the platform to tell their own stories on their own terms offered through Literary Cleveland’s new Amplify Projects series. Franqui’s anthology reminds us that we are more than the violence we may experience and that we, too, deserve life, love, and belonging. As Dana Kiefer simply captures, “The littlest things have become the boldest. We intend to laugh, and eat, and drink the dew off the cool, shaded grass.”
Check out the anthology here.
