WE WANT QUEER JOY!
This dream team on the cover of our Pride fanzine represents a new generation of queer voices on TikTok who, video after video, shed light on a reality, ideals, and dreams made real... and above all, lots and lots of love.
ALICE PFEIFFER / JUNE 25, 2022
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Through highly followed, viral content, they embody a new kind of visibility, and work towards building a safe space where visibility and communication are key. NYLON France shot, listened to, and celebrated them. Them, and the entire community that identifies with them, and who has thus been able to move forward, assert themselves, understand themselves. A story of a generation that expresses itself on TikTok, proud, luminous, uncompromising.
What was your first moment, your first statement that you consciously recognized as “queer”?
@ilya.lobacheva : My first TikTok went viral and I didn’t see it coming. I was doing a "Get ready with me", I was wearing a shirt, boots, everything matched masculine codes, except for my skirt. And it was that skirt that made the TikTok take off. People didn't understand that there were masculine elements, feminine elements, and I realized that we were definitely in a queer debate!
@zeliahxo : There were people saying transphobic things on TikTok, so I did a duet and responded. I got a monumental backlash on social media, I was exposed, insulted for weeks. And I didn't stop: I say what I think, and if I think something isn't right, I speak up.
@debbielabruja : My first TikTok that went viral exposed the everyday things we experience as women, pointing nipples, things we supposedly can or can't wear. I took a stand against existing heteronormative and patriarchal codes. When I realized there was a way to speak up, that we could be heard, I wanted to go all in to spread messages of tolerance and empower other people.
@hanabithek : I showed myself with an LGBT flag, I showed myself on a runway and I received a lot of insults but I moved on. And then, being Muslim from a practicing family, I was afraid to come out, but I overcame that hurdle thanks to my friends who told me "Go ahead, you can move forward." With time, it came, it took me five years.
@iambilalhassani : There are also worries that we have alone before getting our families' reactions. I also come from a Muslim family and I was afraid of God when I was little; I had this personal and direct relationship with my faith. I was also terrified of what I heard my classmates say, I had awful expectations about what my coming out might be like. What hurts young people the most are the horrors that seep indirectly into their brains.
What did you have to deconstruct?
@iambilalhassani : As a child, gender codes were very precise for me, because they are always more so when you are the slightly “weird” child. The rules are applied to us even more strictly; they would emphasize blue, shirts, cargo pants even more… The relationship to these rules is reinforced in young queers. That was the biggest thing to deconstruct in me before reaching the stage where I didn't care. Just because departments exist doesn't mean I have to choose this or that; I started by picking from so-called "girls’" wardrobes, I went through a period of hyper-feminization; then I managed to deconstruct the preconceptions and was able to go back to men's clothes, mix everything. Today, I find masculinity in femininity and vice versa – it no longer means anything.
@zeliahxo : I'm in the same boat, I had facial feminization surgery and removed my entire jaw, because for me, jaw equaled masculinity, and now that I finally feel good, I've decided to get injections to get some jaw back. Now, I don't care!
@debbielabruja : Regarding being a woman, I was always out of line since childhood and had trouble understanding why it was a problem for others. I never imposed anything on anyone: if the person thrives that way, all the better. I experienced harassment, I was out of line, they didn't know if I liked guys or girls, they told me to choose a side. I had to get over what people said, I went my own way and left them behind. And then, gender-wise, like many women, I felt patriarchal codes, I had trouble dressing in loose clothing, I felt like I was losing a part of my femininity. Today, I don't care, I wear what I want, we have a lot more fun with queer codes than with heteronormative codes!
@hanabithek : I had to deconstruct a double personality, I had to play a role in the city I came from, and in Paris, I could finally be the person I was. I was finally able to abandon this double role, which was a long journey, especially with my family.
@iambilalhassani : Things move fast... I came out during Pride month in 2017 with the song "Hold My Hand", which was about wanting to hold a boy's hand. It was a very powerful moment, received with a lot of positivity. Between 2017 and 2019, many young queers spoke out and talked freely about identity. The flip side of that moment has been what's happening on social media: we've given a platform to this minority, so be careful not to give them too much power, too much visibility! When a queer person speaks out, it's immediately seen as something demanding, political. So, if our presence is political, not everything we express has to be.
@debbielabruja : It's true, I've seen this limited space in music especially – as an unconventional queer woman, you get "She's too hardcore for a woman," when in reality, it's just my everyday life! Am I supposed to lie about what I experience, just because you don't? Today, it's trendy to be inclusive, but they don't let us live enough.
"TODAY, I DON'T CARE, I WEAR WHAT I WANT, WE HAVE A LOT MORE FUN WITH QUEER CODES THAN WITH HETERONORMATIVE CODES!"
What sense of responsibility do you feel?
@iambilalhassani : When I started putting myself out there on social media, I had very young fans, not yet very educated on questions of identity, gender, sexuality, and I spent a lot of time explaining certain things to my community. Today, my audience is growing, evolving, and I learn from them! Queer youth are writing the codes of tomorrow, it shakes up our habits: we complain about having a new term every day, but in reality, we enrich ourselves every day with new communities, thanks to fans who are coming of age and helping me grow!
@hanabithek : We must educate people!
@ilya.lobacheva : There's something quite time-consuming about having to educate people who are confined to a family or school context. We're always explaining the same things, and yet, we have empathy, so it's really an in-between feeling.
@zeliahxo : It's true, the same comments always come back, and you always have to take the time to re-explain. I myself have grown and learned terms I didn't know. It can take time to do this work, but it's worth it.
@iambilalhassani : You have so much patience! I find you incredibly brave in your way of exposing the question of dysphoria; it's already a battle with yourself that you openly share, and on top of that, you answer all the questions.
@debbielabruja : All of this provides a sense of belonging that gives us terminology which is very important because it allows us to define ourselves.
@iambilalhassani : This sense of belonging is so important because we are mostly many lost children, we feel like we are too much of this or not enough of that. We have boxes made by ourselves that we inhabit as a shelter, and I hope that one day, in a future generation, we can say "OK, we all love each other."
@debbielabruja : Because basically, if there wasn't a problem, there wouldn't be a need. We could love or be freely, but since society has gendered everything, we are forced to go through this, to deconstruct ourselves.
@ilya.lobacheva : We play with the codes that society has put in place, we have fun with them to better free ourselves from them!
What fundamental values do you uphold?
@hanabithek : Freedom and freedom of expression.
@debbielabruja : Equality and respect.
@ilya.lobacheva : Respect! Okay, you want to dress like that, but why generate violence in the face of someone else's feelings, even if you don't share them? You can disagree, but the basic principle should be to respect a feeling you don't understand.
@zeliahxo : And keep your opinions to yourself if they are hurtful.
What was the first safe space you found?
@hanabithek : My first safe space was in voguing, the ballroom scene, where I met the first people who were like me, where I felt safe, and where I could flourish. Without that, I would never have been able to be myself as I am today.
@iambilalhassani : I was lucky enough to have a very open-minded mom who used to host discussions with my older brother. We started when I was 5, we would sit down every Sunday and ask her all the questions we wanted. My brother is highly emotionally sensitive, he's hypersensitive, I was an entertainer, we were balls of energy, and she wanted to create a safe space. That's where I could ask her why it bothers boys when I don't want to play soccer, why, when I told my girlfriend I liked a boy, she found it strange. All of this led to very early conversations about my homosexuality, moments I've forgotten but which also prepared me when I had my "proper coming out." I lost everything at school. The safe space was home, and not everyone has that. So since I've been exposed nationally, at signings, concerts, meet & greets, many parents accompany the little ones who come, and my mom stays and talks to them. This relationship between parents proves that they are sometimes just a little overwhelmed, that they don't know how to approach things, don't know what to say or do, so sometimes they need another parent to say "Be there for your child." Communication remains key.
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@ilya.lobacheva : The most complicated part remains with family. We communicate differently with our family members, who immediately feel that we are against them, that we are attacking them, when we just want to talk about a feeling.
@debbielabruja : For my part, when I wanted to announce my bisexuality in high school, the first reaction I got was that it was probably just a phase, it was seen as a trend. My father told me that sometimes, you can be very good friends, that it's not love... But thank you, I can still tell the difference!
@iambilalhassani : Representation is good! The louder we exist, the more we allow for positive queer representation. These are stories we need to highlight to allow these images to exist, because we cannot put this burden on a child's shoulders to educate their family, and then be educated themselves. When we ask for a gay prince in a Disney movie, it's for all the strength it can bring. Let's remember how powerful and important Princess Tiana, Disney's first Black princess, was.
@debbielabruja : Without representation, we build ourselves alone, in blind internet searches. We see straight couples everywhere, in TV shows, in movies, they are omnipresent. And we are not asking to erase straight people, just to have a faithful representation of the world around us.
And heading in a more positive direction?
@hanabithek : When Bilal reposted my first clip, it gave me so much strength that I made the second one!
@iambilalhassani : It's important for us to tell each other, to send good vibes.
@debbielabruja : We all know each other from afar, it's so important to hype each other up, to show solidarity.
@zeliahxo : When I see content I like appear on my TikTok For You page, I take the time to comment, to give encouragement, I try to have interactions, people respond to me, we share good vibes.
@iambilalhassani : That's the key to the queer future: the space must be more positive, we must raise awareness and remain politicized of course, but we also deserve beautiful stories, happy endings, color! That's why I make fun dances, fun songs. Today, we hear so much about tragic, horrible destinies, which are already realities we live in life, we also want joy!
Source: https://www.nylon.fr/paola-locatteli-reine-des-coeurs/
Credits:
Journalist: Alice Pfeiffer
Photographer: Marivan Martins
Stylist: Charline Prat
Hairdresser: Maëva Gomes
Makeup Artist: Orystella Viti
Manicurist: Fiona & Purple at 11th Spot
Set Design: Antoine Meffrechol & Léna Moreau
Assistant photographe : Maxime Sicard
Assistants styliste : Nejma Musset & Robine Mukendi
Assistante coiffeuse : Jason Thomas
Assistants maquilleuse : Justine Kaponz & Michelle Fanfant