what does it mean to be SEEN?
??
??????

we REJECT
the standardized SYSTEM of IMAGES
the pacification of the marginalized through the notion of REPRESENTATION as path to LIBERATION
the EXPLOITATION of makers through PAYWALLS, REGULATIONS, and CONFORMITY
and the CENSORSHIP of QUEERNESS and SEXuality

we WELCOME the rise of the cinematic GAZE GAYZ through SELF DEFINED spaces
we are not MONOLITHS
we are not COMPARTMENTALIZED
we are not clear cut NARRATIVES
we do not have to EXPLAIN ourselves to fit within the LENS of cishet white supremacist patriarchal STRUCTURES nor do we need VALIDATION from them for the ways we choose to DEFINE ourselves

we CHALLENGE the passivity of SPECTATORSHIP
we have been taught how to VIEW but we ask you to SEE

we RECOGNIZE moving image as a new VERNACULAR full of SYMBOLS and CODE, intonations through many LENSES

we PROJECT the light of QUEER DISCOVERY so that we may ABSORB the refractions of knowledge from those before us and ILLUMINATE the path for those to come

we are not just an EVENT
nor are we FETISHES, TOKENS, or SPECTACLES
we are a COALITION to build the foundation for
THE RISE OF THE CINEMATIC GAZE GAYZ