Ocean Dreamer

For the past few years, I have been working with Push magazine, an all-volunteer run queer feminist magazine that is based here in Seattle. We put out one (sometimes two) issues a year, on topics such as class, sex and gender, and food. Each issue included essays, interviews, poetry, and artwork from queer and trans folks, many of whom had never been published before. I dedicated every other Tuesday night – and many additional hours – to working on editing, layout, working with authors, debating issue topics, running auctions, etc.: all the fun things that go into creating a magazine designed to create space for alternative voices.

We recently published our eleventh, and final, issue: Push: A Retrospective. This evening we had a party to celebrate the release of the issue and all that Push has done over the years. Several folks who had been published in Push talked about what it meant to them and read a piece or two. The folks who founded the magazine talked about how it started nine years ago. The five current members, as well as several past members, shared Push-themed haiku and limericks. It was wonderful to hear how much Push had meant to so many different people over the years.

And now, I bring you the lovely limerick my friend Emily and I wrote and performed this evening in honor of Push:

There once was a great group of queers,

Who did love the cool words of their peers.

So they talked and they talked,

And the drag kings they walked,

And they made this great zine for you dears.

And so I say good-bye to Push with this blog post. Working on Push helped me continue to understand my queer identity and, as a result, I gained not only academic and professional skills, but also grew deeply as a person. In a way, over the years, Push became almost like a good friend – on days when I just really needed to know I wasn’t the only progressive queer in the world, I could pull out an issue and know I wasn’t alone. And so, Push – and Push members current and past – thank you.

At the end of each Push meeting, we had a check-out, where we shared what had been going on in our lives. At a recent meeting, it was clear that we were each moving on to other things, each of us following our own path, whether that be starting a business or starting a family. The part of our paths that included Push was coming to an end, and yet, seeing that we each were continuing our journeys in ways that were true to who we were, it felt right to say good-bye to Push.

And should any of y’all out in blogland want a copy of our current issue, email me your address and I’ll do my best to send one on to you. And, if you’re in the Seattle area, copies will be available soon at coffee shops and other venues around the city.

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