Please join us for the much anticipated release of the anthology Queering Sexual Violence: Radical Voices from Within the Anti-Violence Movement. 

There will be a reading with contributors Darnell L. Moore, Nitika Raj, Ida Hammer, Samantha Barrick, Aishah Shahidah Simmons, foreword writer and contributor Reina Gossett and editor and contributor Jennifer Patterson. There will also be some time for a discussion.

About the Anthology:
Often pushed to the margins, queer, transgender and gender non-conforming survivors have been organizing in anti-violence work since the birth of the movement. Queering Sexual Violence: Radical Voices from Within the Anti-Violence Movement locates them at the center of the anti-violence movement and creates a space for their voices to be heard. Moving beyond dominant narratives and the traditional “violence against women” framework, the book is multi-gendered, multi-racial and multi-layered. 

This collection disrupts the mainstream conversations about sexual violence and connects them to disability justice, sex worker rights, healing justice, racial justice, gender self-determination, queer & trans liberation and prison industrial complex abolition through reflections, personal narrative, and strategies for resistance and healing. The contributors to this book are a feral and wildly compassionate collection of writers, bartenders, professors, therapists, sex workers, healers, sex positive educators, organizers, musicians, bloggers, non-profit workers, filmmakers and rabble rousers. Where systems, institutions, families, communities and partners have failed them, this collection lifts them up, honors a multitude of lived experiences and shares the radical work that is being done outside mainstream anti-violence and the non-profit industrial complex.

Accessibility Info from Bluestockings:
Bluestockings is wheelchair accessible, with no steps or platforms, and wide aisles between shelves. Our bathroom is not wheelchair accessible. There is a Starbucks two short blocks down the street with an accessible bathroom (at Allen and Delancey). Metered street parking is readily available in the blocks surrounding Bluestockings. Bluestockings is not a scent-free space, but we encourage visitors to please refrain from wearing perfumes, colognes or other scented products (including essential oils) and smoke far away from the entrance to the space.

Safer Space Guidelines from Bluestockings:
Bluestockings Bookstore’s safer space policy is intended to help Bluestockings be a supportive, nonthreatening environment for all who participate. We want this place to be welcoming and engaging, and we encourage everyone – visitors, events presenters, volunteers and collective members – to be proactive in creating an atmosphere where the safety of others is validated. In this spirit, we are survivor centric and survivor oriented, and violence, abuse, sexual assault and discrimination will not be tolerated.

Everyone entering Bluestockings Bookstore is asked to be aware of their language and behavior, and to think about whether it might be harmful to others. We define oppressive behavior as any conduct that demeans, marginalizes, rejects, threatens or harms anyone on the basis of ability, activist experience, age, cultural background, education, ethnicity, gender, immigration status, language, nationality, physical appearance, race, religion, self-expression, sexual orientation, species, status as a parent or other such factors.

By entering Bluestockings Bookstore, and/or participating in Bluestockings events and activities, you agree to abide by the following guidelines:

*Respect peoples’ opinions, beliefs, experiences and differing points of view.

*Respect everyone’s identity and background, including pronouns and names. Do not assume anyone’s gender identity, sexual preference, survivor status, economic status, background, health, etc.

*Respect everyone’s physical and emotional boundaries. Check in in before discussing topics that may be triggering (e.g. sexual abuse, physical violence or encounters with police), and use trigger warning during presentations and events. Physical and/or verbal threats will not be tolerated at Bluestockings under any circumstances. Disruptive individuals may be asked to leave the space.

*Be responsible for your own actions; be aware that your actions have an effect on others, despite what your intentions may be. 

*Listen and change your behavior if someone tells you that you are making them uncomfortable.

*Be aware of your prejudices and privileges and the space you take up at Bluestockings.

*Alcohol is permitted only during pre approved special events, and we request that it be used with moderation at those times.

The collective members and staffers at Bluestockings are empowered to enforce these rules. If you cannot abide by the guidelines mentioned above, Bluestockings reserves the right to ask you to leave. 

If you experience harassment, abuse, or sexual assault, or if a perpetrator of sexual violence is interfering with your participation or presence at an event or in a space, please approach a Bluestockings collective member orstaffer whom you feel comfortable talking to in person or via email. They are here to help with any conflicts arising from the violation of our policies.