Sam Orchard with a sample of his 'transguy' art
Attendees can expect to see a mix of goods which would usually
grace the tables of a Kraftbomb or Zinefest event including jewellery, leather
products, household linen, cards, soaps, comics and zines (small self-published
magazines) but with items reflecting the diverse sexuality and gender identity
of their creators, says organiser Sam Orchard.
The personal comic strip he will be exhibiting for sale, for
example, follows his four-year journey transitioning from a female to a male
identity. Adopting the medium of a comic
strip to tell his story has enabled him to explore the lighter side of the
experience of being gender different.
This is in contrast to how he believes mainstream media would have
approached his story, with the emphasis there, he speculates, more likely to
have been on the potentially devastating emotional effects of switching gender.
Rooster Tails, as his comic is titled, ‘is a place where I
can explore what is actually the cool stuff about being queer and
transgender.’ For instance, ‘the
funniness of going out with someone where the world thought we were both girls
together. And we’re, like, no, actually
we’re still gay but we’re boys together.’
His vision for
Everything and Everyone is for it to be a focal point for expression of all the
identities our community embodies and an opportunity to celebrate and embrace them
without bias. The event will run from
4-7pm in St Kevin’s Arcade on Saturday 15 February and will be followed by Mixtape Sessions – a live music event run by Romp Project also aimed at
Auckland’s rainbow community.
