The Queer Gayze = YouTube Playlist

Focusing On Things That Matter & Things That Work

Mar 23, 2024

When life gave Beyonce lemons, she made an album/film called Lemonade.
When life gave us lemons, we made a series of slideshows called The Queer Gayze.

Queen Bee’s recipe may have been far more complex (and financially successful), but the urge and need to share some of our heartache, longing, and pain through art is just the same: bittersweet and nostalgic.

That’s as simple an explanation as why me and the Collide Press Crew have spent so much time this past week making new DIY compilation videos as I have.

Even though we don’t have Beyonce’s budget, collaborators, or talent.
Even though our YouTube channel isn’t monetized (and may never be).

We are doing our very best to develop our own, oh-so-personal LGBTQ+ lemonade recipe. One that works for us and is enjoyed by other LGBTQ+ folks too.

While the videos may not be directly helping our bottom line, they are feeding our souls and refilling our creative wells. They are also connecting us with audiences we likely would have never reached otherwise.

So many of the comments are lovely. Truly. Madly. Deeply.

And the comments/commenters that aren’t? Those get removed and/or reported.
Fuck Bible Thumpers and Trumpers. And I just say nay to negative gays/theys too.

Becoming amateur (for the love of it) YouTubers IS helping us indirectly though, with:

Increased enthusiasm and excitement about our work
Increased experience and opportunities to experiment
Increased sales, shop traffic, and support

We can’t control much in this thing called life, so might as well go (a little) crazy, right?
Or listen to Prince sing about it while making another video.

Try not to go completely crazy. Try to look for things you can do to brighten your day. And maybe try to brighten the days of other people too. Including other gays/theys.

Thanks for reading!
Clint