“The truth is, you and I are the stuff that great leaders are made of. We don’t have to wait for a distinguished white man on a horse or a politician wealthy enough to win office in a multimillion dollar campaign to usher in justice and equality. The ranks of rebellions and revolutions that have shaped human history have been made up of people like you and me. (…) The people who make a difference are those who fight for freedom – not because they’re guranteed to succeed – but because it’s the right thing to do. And that’s the kind of fighters that history demands today. Not those who worship the accomplished fact. Not those who can only believe in what is visible today. But instead, people of conscience who dedicate their lives to what needs to be won and what can be won.”
- Leslie Feinberg, Trans Liberation 1998

The above quote and artwork are to be credited to Grrrl Zine Network

Very simply put, Grrrl Zine Network is a huge (and constantly growing) directory of grrrl, lady, feminist, queer, and transgendered zines (and not just from the U.S.), zine distros and archives, art, music, resource centers (for kids too!); plus, there are many fascinating interviews with zine makers, which has helped me with putting out my own zine (my favorite so far is the one done with Hermitt, a transgender hip-hop, spoken word artist, and MC who puts out the zine Urban Hermitt). This site gears itself towards an audience of feminist zine creators and readers. In other words, as creator Elke Zobl puts it,

"With "grrrl and ladies" I think of rebellious, resistant "girls" (which does not mean you have to be born a woman!) who are not afraid to call themselves feminists! The term also refers to the riot grrrl movement and builds up on one of its many accomplishments - zines! The terms "grrrl" and "lady" are not meant to be exclusive, this project is definitely boy-friendly and open to all non-sexist, non-discriminatory, anti-racist/homophobic contributions and includes transgender issues, (indicated in queer and trans zines).

What really drew me to this site was how community and D.I.Y. oriented this site is. It promotes and fervently reveres the expression of other voices that remain so dangerously repressed by mainstream society and media. The infinite mixtures of queer voices and creativity are an invaluable resource not only to other like-minded artists, but also to teachers, parents, kids (so many positive role models to choose from on this site!), and anyone seeking out intelligent, progressive writing, thinking, and art (which should be everyone!).

It was really cool to see my friend Jackie Joice (creator of Punk Pretty and her zine, Yellow Three) represented on this site. Yeah Jackie!!! Aside from her above mentioned projects, she's a fantastic and extremely moving writer of fiction and poetry. In fact, you can check out her work in my magazine, Digress.

Finally, you have to visit the page on this site that features Clit Rocket because it is put out by a gal who can mastermind tales of queercore to Pride to Stone Butch Blues via the Italy zine scene. For this reason, I'm dedicating a whole other page to the mistress of in-your-face media, Ms. Veruska (who I met through Jackie Joice :)