About this Event
As more queer people enter the institution of legal marriage, far less attention has been paid to what happens after marriage ends. The scholarship on queer divorce is woefully underdeveloped. Moving from the relative recognition of gay marriage to the unfamiliar terrain of divorce is quite a shock to the system, with many queer people feeling fear, anxiety and shame.
The family court system in the US has not made room for queer families. In fact, the family court system in the US is as mired in material and social control, protecting capital, bloodline and property as it ever was. Many queer people quickly realize there is no "queering divorce" under these circumstances, so divorce becomes a very challenging cis-het-felt experience.
Divorce is often described as a legal procedure for dividing property, determining financial obligations, and establishing parenting arrangements. For queer people, these decisions can intersect with questions of gender identity, chosen family, parental recognition, reproductive history, housing, employment, and community support in ways that are hidden from conventional understandings of divorce.
We are asking queer communities to reconsider what happens after marriage equality. What does it mean for queer people to have access to marriage if they are not equally prepared for what happens when that marriage ends?
Copies of the book will be available for purchase. There will be a signing after the event.
Max Château (she/her) (writing in the anthology as Jálynn T. Castleman) is a Brooklyn-based writer, creative, and professional organizer of thoughts, ideas, and projects of all kinds. She writes about queer life, mental health, motherhood, divorce, and the strange, difficult work of becoming yourself on purpose. Her work has appeared in Autostraddle, LGBTQ Nation, and she is a contributing author in To the End: Queer Writers on Divorce and Liberation (North Atlantic Books). She is currently working on her first book. Follow her on Instagram at @maxtchateau.
Nailah Rose is a Black transfemme artist, facilitator, and echo of something ancient yet familiar. Through mediums of creative writing, movement, and ritual, she seeks to open portals to Black queer and trans divinity and reckons with the insatiable urge to just become the earth. She’s currently a TapRoots Artist in Residence with the North Carolina Climate Justice Collective.
Arianna Martinez is a Professor at LaGuardia Community College, City University of New York. She received her PhD from Rutgers University in urban planning and geography. Her scholarship has analyzed; the criminalization of Latino communities, and LGBTQ+ immigrant enclaves. Dr. Martinez’s current work centers her organizing with Queens Neighborhoods United. She is a proud mama, and happy to call Jackson Heights, Queens her home.
Morty Diamond is a trans/queer therapist, divorce coach, artist, and writer living in California. Morty experienced his own divorce in 2020 and has since been interested in bringing more clarity and insight into the social and emotional aspects of divorce for LGBTQ+ people. His current book To the End Queer Writers on Divorce and Liberation (North Atlantic Press) will be out November 10th. He has published two other anthologies, Trans/Love and From the Inside Out FTM and Beyond, both by Manic D Press. His movie Trans Entities (2008) was shown in over 20 film festivals. Morty holds a Masters in Social Work from San Francisco State University. He is a lecturer at San Francisco State University in the School of Social Work and also runs his own private practice and coaching business. https://www.totheendproject.com /
The Bureau of General Services—Queer Division is Manhattan’s only queer bookstore, located on the second floor of the LGBT Center. We’re open Tuesday-Sunday from 1-7pm and accessible by the 6th Ave 1 2 3 L trains and 8th Ave A C E trains. Our cafe, The Bureau Cafe, is open Tuesday-Sunday from 9am-7pm.
Event venue & nearby stays
Bureau of General Services — Queer Division, 208 W 13th St, New York, United States
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