In this Fictional conversation, “Y” stands for a some one from the younger generation, “E” stands for some one from the elder generation. Please remember that fiction means the story is created from the mind, it does not mean the story is false. The meaning that I am using for “Faggot Community” in this little fictional conversation, is that of male faeries who love other male faeries. I am reclaiming the power of the word “faggot” and making it positive: I reject the negative power this word has; this is similar to how “fairy”--a very negative word angrily hurled at homosexual men for decades--was reclaimed and changed to a positive word. To symbolize it’s transformation, the organizers of the first Spiritual Gathering of Radical Faeries changed it’s spelling to “faerie”. Fairy (faerie)--once a powerful derogatory put down--is now embraced as a word full of love by men, women, queer, straight, trans, in-between, pangender and any other labels (including non-labels) of identification that I am not familiar with.

Y: Faggot Community does not need to be separate from the mixed community, we are all a part of the whole--united we stand, divided we fall.

E: If we look at it from that prospective then there is no such thing as Faggot Community, there is only Mixed Community. It would be like saying, there is no need for an Orchid Society, orchids are just flowers--they are a part of the Floral Society.

Y: Faggot Community is a thing of the past, it was “protective isolation” from the oppressive general society, but now that the general society is being more tolerant and accepting of queer people, protective isolation is no longer needed.

E: The first Radical Faerie gatherings were not about protective isolation; quite the contrary, these gathering were not about hiding, the were about coming forth--exploring who one is. Faggot Community first formed at a gathering, it was not Faggot Community escaping into the woods.

Y: I’ve never heard that before, could you elaborate?

E: In the 1930s to 1970s, homosexual males had to be very discreet in where they met; there was no community to speak of, it was just individual faggots getting together to have a drink and meet each other--often in fear of discovery and the brutal consequences if discovered; and I really do mean brutal, death being a very real possibility.

Y: I very much understand and empathize with that. So the gatherings really were an escape from that oppression.

E: No, I was just setting up the background. In the 70s, there was a sort of faggot community, but it was still mostly individual faggots who came together from time to time to socialize and discuss their social/political status. This community tried to reach out to the general society, specifically to straight males, who were doing all the “gay bashing”. This faggot community--also called the Gay Community--wanted to have the gay bashing stop, they were tired of seeing their friends hospitalized or in the morgue.

Y: I would be tired too; I would be angry!

E: The faggot community was angry, but their sorrow was much greater. This community spoke to the oppressing straight males: “Please stop brutalizing us, we are just like you are--except for what we do in bed”. Emphasis was very much on the “we are JUST like you are”.

Y: So, I have not yet seen anything that indicates that the early gatherings were not protective isolation.

E: I’m getting there. In the mid 70s a group of faggots met and said to each other: “but we are NOT just like straight men, we are very different--it’s what we do in bed that is the same, the only variation is that it’s two males, rather than a male and a female”. “Outside of sex, we are very different; how different, we don’t really know for there is no real information about us any where”. “Why don’t we send out a call for others who feel they are different from straight men, and lets us discover for ourselves who we are: let us explore what is and what can be”.

Y: So why isn’t this common knowledge amongst the larger mixed gender faeries?

E: It is common knowledge, it just doesn’t seem to mean anything. Perhaps this is because what is not common knowledge, is what really happened at these early gatherings. People tend to think that what is called a gathering today is what a gathering has always been.

Y: You mean early gatherings were not like the fabulous gatherings of today?

E: They were fabulous and they were more more human growth oriented “work” than today’s gatherings. The early gatherings had 10 to 15 different circles a day; and I do me a day--these circles were attended through out the entire day; a gathering was not a festival or “hang out with friends ‘get together’”.

Y: That sounds rather boring and tedious; it sounds too much like a conference. It certainly doesn’t sound like anything I would be interested in. Where’s the fun? Where’s the joy? Where’s the spontaneity? Where’s the connecting? Doesn’t really sound very “faerie” to me. Heart circle is enough circle for me.

E: Yes, there were 13 circles offered, but no one attended all 13; you couldn’t because many of the circles went on at the same time; you chose one to three you were interested in. In between circles there was plenty of time to do other things. Unlike today’s gatherings, most people who attended a gathering hung out in common space all day long, rather than wandering off from common space in small groups. We had heart circle too; heart circle was created during the first gatherings.

Y: How could you possibly have heart circle as well as all those other circles? Didn’t you feel talked out?

E: Not all the circles were verbal. Many involved touch: massage, communicating needs & wants without words, looking into each others eyes, nurturing through holding, group mud bath (that was both fun and very nurturing), trust walks, blindfolded group explorations. All of these circles--verbal and non-verbal--helped bring resonance magick forth.

Y: What do you mean by Resonance?

E: Suppose you have 20 Tibetan Bowls: two identical sets of 10 bowls of various sizes. Now suppose you place a set of 10 bowls on one side of a room, and place the other set on another side. You choose one bowl and make it “sing” by rotating a think piece of wood shaped like a wand around its rim. On the other side of the room, one of those bowls also sings. The bowl that sings without being It “made to”, will be the same size as the first bowl. Make 2 or more different bowls sing on one side and you will have harmony. On the other side of the room, you will also have harmony: a harmony created from 2 or more resonating bowls.

Y: How does Resonance apply to male faeries who love other male faeries?

E: Male faeries who love other male faeries are like a Tibetan Bowl of the same size; they are almost the same person--only a slight variation separates one from the other.

Y: So, what did this Resonating do for you?

E: It helped us learn to know, trust and love every one else at the gathering. It helped create “Tightly-Bonded Community”: community where each person felt they belonged to something greater than themselves; community where no one would think twice about helping their brother learn to love themselves; community where we were mirrors for each other; community where helping one person’s growth helped the entire community grow: a community of Lovers!

Y: What do you mean by a community of lovers?

E: You know about being “single”. You know about couple relationships. You may have even heard about triads and quads. Now imagine a group of males being so knowledgeable, so loving and so intimate with each other that they always want to live with everyone else--as a whole group!. Intimacy that involved body, mind, heart and soul. This was a newly discovered type of love. A loved we believed had existed before, but due to various circumstances was lost, so in reality, this love was rediscovered. This group love was possible because we resonated with each other, we were in sync: body, heart, mind and spirit.

Y: You still sound quite elitist with faggot males being the only group of people who can have Tightly-Bonded Resonance Community.

E: I never said males who love males were the ONLY group who could resonate; we--as far as I know--were just the first group who rediscovered this way of relating. If you remember my illustration of the 20 Tibetan bowls of various sizes, each bowl of the same size can resonate with any and all bowls of the same size--in this particular illustration, the would be 10 different resonations. I think that’s beautiful, incredibly beautiful. And then remember, these various sizes of resonating bowls can be sounded together to make other types of music. More beauty, more delight!

Y: I still have one more question. Why would you want to exclude women from this fabulous Tightly-Bonded Resonance Community?

E: Would it be exclusion if you had a 100 Tibetan Bowls all of the same size resonating like crazy and then put 10 bowls of a different size in their midst? Introduce a 101 bowl of the same size into the group of bowls and immediately it would begin to resonate--to sing; the 10 bowls of a different size would not. However, put those 10 bowls in a group of bowls their size, and behold the same type of magick as the first set. Oh, and please remember: Resonance Community is only ONE form of community; there are MANY others. We can celebrate each others different communities. We can celebrate each others truthS. I hope faeries never adopt the idea of a single TRUTH, it would destroy all of the love and beauty.

Y: Let us walk down the road of life hand in hand celebrating who we are as individuals and who we are as groups. As you say, we can celebrate each others truthS; we have no need to fight or put each other down. Long live faeries of all kinds!