maybe i love u too in a post

3$
in a
maybe i love u too wa
y
post-spider kind of
special eng
lish edition
of
“IT’S RAININ the queer comic zine
G DYKES”
by lolagouine
www.lolagouine.org
ilpleutdesgouines.blogspot.com
[email protected]
so that’s it,
a special edition of the wonderful queer comix zine
“It’s raining dykes” is in your hands/legs/lips/etc.
start
er comix zine about? Ok, let’s
que
this
is
at
wh
ut
abo
a
ide
any
dykes”):
But maybe you don’t have
if you’re a fan of “It’s raining
this
skip
y
ma
u
(yo
ing
inn
beg
at the
it mone since 2004, i decided to do sent for
zin
this
ng
doi
n
bee
i’ve
and
e a wonderful pre
1- my name is lolagouine
ntreal, and that’s how it becamgraphist designer and i do
Mo
in
ime
tert
win
ing
dur
6
200
and
thly in
for me. I’m a queer illustrator
friends and a terrible nightmare e.
many other things appart this zin
nces.
s, couch surfing and diy experie .
den
gar
nity
mu
com
es,
bik
ss,
pre
ake
are alive and aw
2- i believe in zines, small
think about: that’s the proof we
to
gs
thin
ny
ma
e
hav
still
we
I think
only in
lish, but i’ve made this edition oever
eng
and
ch
fren
i.e.
e,
zin
l
gua
time, i try to reach wh
2- originally, this is a bilin
people speak English and, this speaking countries where i
the
of
st
mo
e
aus
Bec
y?
Wh
.
glish
English
l
In the US, but also in non-en
wants to read riot dyke comix. ause i believe zines and independent press are a powerful tooBec
com
.
l
ue so every cultura
meet people through english
doing zines in their mother-tongnot my mother tongue (it’s
ple
peo
t
por
sup
i
n,
atio
nic
mu
is
of com
ne. As you’ve guessed, english
munity may build their zine sceinded about grammar and spelling mistakes in this comic..
not french either), be open-m
racist,
d it if you are a queerphobic, prorea
not
ter
bet
’d
you
e:
zin
er
endment, pro-life and
3- this is an activist que
gious fundamentalist, pro 2nd-amare everywhere, we smarter
reli
ist,
ital
cap
list,
eria
imp
t,
inis
we
mysog
e for consequences if you do,
war bushit form of life. Be prepar
and much funnier than you.
40
www.lolagouine.net
ilpleutdesgouines.blogspot.com
[email protected]
and my g
cío, javier
rand-pare
nts.
ro , ro
l crews.
sis , little b
d montrea
n
le
a
tt
li
in
,
rl
d
e
a
b
d
,
,
ulouse
e to mum
pepes., to
d lover.
rs
rl
o
o
special lov
b
w
h
e
ig
e
th
n
around
franson,
To my all
to leanne
u
k
n
a
th
big
And a big
the end
1
2
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Our western societies (much influenced by christianism) have transformed love
in an all-life comitment with your other half (might it be the blue prince or the
pink princess, never both and never the one of the same sex as you): we have
been taught that it just happens one sunny day and that you just find the perfect one whose eyes are
gonna light your way forever and ever. Happy end. Luckily for us, it’s much funnier than just falling in
love for somebody: you’d better stand up because building relationships from the floor is really a fucking
mess.
Knitting links with “special” people (lovers, friends, family) implies thinking and questionning one’s position face to the other. Equality, respect
of the other and respect of oneself (don’t feeling “we have to”), being
aware that we don’t have a relationship, we build one. That the
“special one” is not special: she/
he is an alive, complex person, not
a hollywood dream. And, because we are not a hollywood dream
either, we have the right to get
angry, be afraid and do mistakes.
The best you know yourself
the most honest you can
be with other people,
and the easiest will be
to put your limits.
Relationships start
here, now, with
your “special”
you. Fucking
mess, i’m
telling you.
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May i say
t
No not ye hat’s all folks?
t, i leave
y
ries, que
stions an ou with post-spi
d
d nonPCspeaking er stoon sex.
Some peo
p
spider is le have told me
t
well wel the best charact hat this postl, i feel
er of my
i little
Mostly be
comics,
bi
c
But i ass ause i’m fucking t dissapointed.
u
je
ders sayi me it’s true, ever alous.
n
y
hater-lo g big, evident tru body likes spiver. Scre
th to the
i
a
got a pro
blem cum ming “hey darlin r queer
g
min’ or w
to be hea
hat?” lou you’ve
r
d enough
Everybod d by neighbors.
y
puritan s loves spiders s
peaking
ociety. In
sm to a
Voilà, vo
ilà, some the face.
s
sexy legs
. More cu trip taste of post
mmin’ ve
ry very s -spider
oon.
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mix of modernity and tradition, fire, sea and tourism further (African photography and
corruption.Sometime it gets a nice sour-sweet taste, cinema, for example).
sometimes it stinks, sometimes you may be surprised of “I want to be a butch” is the
title of a song by Les reines
the richness you may discover.
As many spanish people already born during the democra- Prochaines, an all-female group
cy (from 1978 on), i was brought up with Stars Wars and where Pipilotti Rist (the great
went rebel with Nirvana. I started learning english at swiss artist) and her sisters
8 and went on my own to the UK at 15.I’ve seen more US used to play. Because i love this
films than european ones (even if i prefer independent song and i love Rist’s videos
european cinema),i know better New York city neigh- and writings, i thought that was
bourhood names than Madrid ones, and my visual cul- the best possible title for the
ture has been nourrished by the US: painting, comics, comic book. Also because the fact
photography, cinema, tv series. As i was also quite of being a title in english works
punk, lived in squats and learnt women self-defense, as a is an introduction to the US
i got to discover riot grrrl and queercore thinking influence conflict of the main
and art.There has never been something like this in character.
spain, there’ve been many other amazing things (“la
movida” in the early 80s) but because of my influence Well, you’re right, it may be
background,i recognize that i was more receptive for quite autobiographical, but not
completely. Writing a queer story
any form of revolution coming from North America.
But not everything is love. This is not a love song for implies some autobiographical
the US: it is a recognition of its powerful influence contents, some “it happened to
in some young european creators, due to the economic me” experience, but there are
also some beautiful stories from
imperialism that the US imposes on the whole earth.
But there are other artistic influences coming from friends and from places i’ve nedifferent parts of the world: Japanese graphic arts ver been to.
(manga, anime, video games, graphic design), Latin But anyway, everything is real,
American literature and painting, and East Europe aes- true. Reality surprises imaginathetics (Berlin architecture, polish design, ex-yugos- tion quite often.
lavia cartoons). And of course there will be more and
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12
how to be a radikal queer
in mediterranean spain?
I promise you it’s true. Everything.
Everything you can read in my new queer
comic is absolutely true. Even this
beginning with the lesbian orgy during
Le Tigre last concert in Barcelona
(2005). I was there and i got to speak
to Kathleen Hanna, Johanna Fateman and
JD Samson at the end of the concert:
“i’ve never seen anything like that
before, not even in New York city”.
Neither have i. And that’s why i think
it worths a comic book: because mediterranean coast is one of the maddest
places in western culture, and when you
add it the spectacular world of spanish
tradition and the cosmopolitan taste
of big cities you only can have something too mad. Mad enough to be in an
Almodovar’s film and still be true.
Independent and queer comics are living
a revolution in spain since publishers
like La Cúpula, De facto and Sins entido are translating Alison Bechdel and
Ralf Köning into spanish and promoting queer
and social activist cartoonists. That’s just
one consequence of the big revolution spanish
society is living. I’m not into capitalist gay
culture.I believe in diy, underground, anticapitalist queer culture, but i’m not against laws
reclaiming human rights for everyone. Same sex
marriages, pre-op trans sex changes in identity
papers and artificial insemination are now supported by law, which is something not happening
in many other countries of the European Union
(my favourite examples are France, Ireland and
Poland...). It doesn’t mean we have to stop:
sex workers, inmigrants and many others are still lacking basic human rights, but it’s not a
bad beginning.
Wanting to be a radikal queer in mediterranean
spain is also to be confronted to the adaptation
of American culture influence (riot grrrl music,
indie art, underground comix, queer theory) into
every day spanish life. Thinking anglo-saxon
cultural models and people in a place whith mediterranean way of communicating, and a chaotic
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i do com ics be cau se i do n’t kn ow
ho w to pla y gu ita r
i’ve always wanted to be a punk-rock music star. Sweating in my t-shirt and making people scream with my words. Jumping around the scene.
But i’ve never been patient enough to learn more than 3 notes in a guitar. Even
if there’re some people making music with just 3 notes, i felt it was not enough
for me. What makes me also quit the idea of becoming a rock star, was the fact
that i was not good at writing. I like punk rock music with smart lyrics. I’m
one of those who listen to words and sentence rythm, who thrills with the accurateness of an expression or of a message. Let’s give an example: when i think
“Björk” what comes into my mind is the simplest line of words “how scandinavian
of me” (this makes my heart beat to highway speed without any reason). I imagine
Björk voice has something to do with it.
I came to drawing because i wanted to express myself. I found out that drawing
was the best way for me to say how i felt and what i thought. And comics added to
drawings the possibility of narration and/or developpement of an idea in succesive steps (= cases). It came to me that drawing comics was the closest way of
expression to the music i like, because verbal narration and ideas developpement
are an important part of them both.
I also came to drawing because i was not patient to learn how to play guitar but
i was able to stay quiet for hours drawing. It never happens to me to get angry
because i’m not able to get a good drawing, i just go out for a walk, come back
and look for a new sheet of paper. I’m sure i’d have smashed the guitar against
the wall a thousand times before learning how to make a D. I’m not at all a patient person except if i’ve got a pen and some paper.
Everybody has a different way of expression, what it’s important is to find it.
I’ve always wanted to be a punk-rock music star, and even if i don’t jump around
a scene, i feel making independent comics is very close to my childhood dream.
Who needs a mike with a bunch of pens in the hand?
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power: treating suicide, drugs addiction
and homosexuality as genetical illenesses. Saying that poor people are poor
because they don’t work enough, reducing taxes fron rich people, creating
a ministery of national identity. Someone
who says that “working makes you free”
is repeating, word by word, the sign at
the entrance of Auschwitz extermination
camp.
And now what? I decide to go to the
main square of the city: i should meet
somebody, people enraged, sad, mad
of frustration. The square is far away. I do
hitch-hiking and a red car stops. The two
black guys ask me where i go, i tell them,
they smile, they’d love to go but cars are
already burning on the outskirts where
they live. “It’s gonna be a very dangerous
night to stay out, be careful, we are with
you”.
In the square, 200 people are waiting for
something to happen, for more enraged
people to come. There are some old
spanish refugees, they cry: “we’ve spent
our lifes fighting for freedom and rights for
everyone, and look what they’re gonna
do now”.
We start walking to the UMP center
(the right-from-the-right party that won
elections), some people have climbed
the city halll and burnt the french flags
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No policemen.
We are 50 m. from the UMP main door and then we
hear it. Policemen arriving from all the narrow streets
around. Tear gas raining on us.
We run, we cough, we cry. Tear gas follows us and
enters our noses and our lungs. We are mice is the
old town. There’s no escape, policemen are waiting
at every corner and we hear and breath more and
more tear gas.
To defend us, we build a wall of rubbish bins and we
burn them. Some people are bleeding. Police start
firing fake bullets against us.
You don’t die but they fucking hurt.
(Once i heard about a child who died from a fake
bullet during a demonstration)
We run everywhere, in small affinity groups so that
nobody’s left behind. But it’s a blind running because
there’s no way to know if policemen are hiding next
corner.
People at the windows shout “fascist!” to us. It’s hard
for to believe what we hear. We are fascist because
we don’t respect people’s decision of putting a rightfrom-the-right guy in the power. It’s like they have forgotten who are firing against who. But they haven’t:
they are happy to see their french policemen firing
against leftists vandals.
Luckily for us, not all people living around are the
same. Some help us to choose the good street from
their windows. Some ride their bikes to tell us where to
hide. Some open us their houses to give us a rest, a
glass of water, a bed for the wounded.
It’s 2 a.m. when i decide to go back home. It’s not
worthy to get arrested tonight. We need to
be in the streets tomorrow and for the next
5 long years. As i walk in the dark i see an injured city . No lights in the street, burned cars
and bins, glasses on the sidewalks, blood, pieces of wood, plastic.
I hear police cars, guns firing far away.
Above the city, threating us not to forget
who has the power here, 5 army helicopters
search for hiding leftist terrorists, as newspapers call
us tomorrow
morning.
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bombes lacrimo/tear gas
Just one minute to know the new French president. I’m waiting in front of the tv at my
friend Sonia’s house in Toulouse (southern france). She isnt here, i’m on my own with
the two cats, the eyes fixed on the old tv screen. I moved from spain to france 8 years
ago, thinking that this country was more open-minded and more socially concern. I was
right then, now i’m wrong.
France is not the country of human rights even if they, hypocritically, insist on it. Institutional discrimination, policemen and laws approved by the old home secretary (what
a surprise, he’s the one who’s gonna be elected new french president!!!) are responsible for children being taken away from public school to their “original country”
(children born in france whose parents are “illegal” inmigrants), sex workers suffering from more and louder violence from the state and state representants
(protitution is not forbidden in france but the fact of attiring the attention of
someone to exchange sex for money is...), racial and social segregation
against people living in poor outskirts which
ended in street riots in 2006. I still have
many examples to give if you need
more.
Nicolas Sarkozy is the new president, as everyone in france has
guessed:
that’s
how a fascisteuro guy
gets the
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