In 2008, queer anarchists gathered in Chicago to plot a disruption of the electoral spectacle and cohere a network out of emergent youth crews in multiple cities. Fifteen years later, the proposals put forward then — criminality, autonomous self-defense, riots, and orgies — are needed more than ever. The intervening years have been marked by intensification — of crisis, alienation, loss, and struggle. The right wing no longer hides behind euphemisms: they want to exterminate trans and queer people. The left offers only false solutions: vote, donate, assimilate. A decade of representation, symbolic legal victories, social media activism, and mass-market saturation has left us worse off by all metrics. Our fairweather friends won’t save us from the consequences of their strategy of empty visibility. The inescapable conclusion is that we must come together to protect ourselves.

History confirms the queer legacy of building connection in a world that hates us, the legacy of riotous joy—the legacy of bashing back. The attacks will continue on our nightclubs, forests, story hours, and siblings. To hold on, we need spaces—underground if necessary—to re-encounter each other, spaces to remember, build, share, and conspire.

In this spirit, we are ecstatic to announce the return of the Bash Back convergence! Fifteen years from the original gathering, Chicago will host the 2023 convergence September 8–11. Comrades, old and new, are invited to discuss what’s still vital in the past and what’s needed in the present. In keeping with tradition, the convergence will include presentations, workshops, distros, parties, and other opportunities to make trouble.

Why am I in the Industrial Workers of the World?

Why am I in the Industrial Workers of the World? [a little black cat sits in a field of red, asking the audience this question]

For the logo. Let me explain… [the little black cat is looking up at the insignia of the IWW, a globe in a circle beneath the letters I W W with three stars among them]

The better-known business unions in the states all have logos of varying appeal… [a collection of business union logos, including the Teamsters, the UAW, the SEIU, the AFLC-CIO and the UFCW]

But for all their history and iconography, none of them have what this logo has… Those three stars. [little black cat looks up at the IWW insignia, with the 3 stars glowing]

Really, for me, it’s the last of the three stars that matters the most. It represents the third and final aspect of our work… [The star is glowing in the center of the frame]

Emancipation [chains being broken]

Emancipation of the working class in struggle and at war, and the Earth that feeds and holds us all. [chains encompassing the planet Earth being broken]

Both the IWW and the business unions fight for higher wages and better benefits, which are both critically important, but… [a big, buff black cat flexes imposingly next to a big, buff dog. They are intimidating a blue duck who is sitting behind a desk labeled ‘boss’ and sweating nervously]

We seek to abolish the wage system, to realize Industrial Democracy and live in harmony with the Earth. We want The Big Win, not concessions. Learn more and join at iww.org! [the little black cat is saying all this while the third star glows nearby]

Excerpt:

This detail bears repeating, as it crystallizes Republicans’ selective approach to free speech: Teachers are not required to use their trans students’ chosen pronouns, but trans teachers are expressly forbidden from using the pronouns that align with their gender. The policy appears to stand in direct violation of the First Amendment, as well as the Supreme Court’s Bostock decision, which protects LGBTQ+ workers from discrimination.

The fact that the rules for students’ chosen names apply to both cis and trans children may at first appear as merely a cynical ploy to avoid legal challenges, as anti-trans laws have consistently been blocked in federal courts in recent months. No one truly believes a teacher will face disciplinary consequences for calling a cis boy Rob without a form from his parents. Any such rules will be selectively enforced to attack gender nonconformity.

Excerpt:

In Ukraine, many of the same groups lobbying for greater international support against Russia’s invasion are also speaking out about the need to make sure that money gets to its intended recipients. “Huge money always comes with corruption,” said Vita Dumanska, leader of the Chesno movement, a Ukrainian anti-corruption group. “We can’t keep silent on this.”

Excerpt:

To underline Blanchfield’s point, the ChatGPT book selection process was found to be unreliable and inconsistent when repeated by Popular Science. “A repeat inquiry regarding ‘The Kite Runner,’ for example, gives contradictory answers,” the Popular Science reporters noted. “In one response, ChatGPT deems Khaled Hosseini’s novel to contain ‘little to no explicit sexual content.’ Upon a separate follow-up, the LLM affirms the book ‘does contain a description of a sexual assault.’”

Rigged Vote

PinkWug

Excerpt:

The United States is considering a plea deal that would allow WikiLeaks founder and whistleblower Julian Assange to return to Australia, the Sydney Morning Herald reported Monday.

U.S. Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy told the Morning Herald that there could be a “resolution” to Assange’s now-four-year detention in Britain. Assange, an Australian citizen, has been held in a London prison since 2019 while combating U.S. extradition efforts. He faces 18 criminal charges in the U.S., 17 of which allege violations of the Espionage Act.

Excerpt:

On Friday, local police, acting like the Gestapo, raided the office of the Marion County Record, as well as the home of its owner and publisher. They used a trumped-up search warrant approved by a compliant local judge to seize newsgathering equipment, including the computers and cellphones of reporters. The raid was so traumatic that the publisher’s 98-year-old mother, who was the newspaper’s co-owner, died on Saturday as a result.

The police were trying to suppress the truth that the newspaper had uncovered about a local restaurant owner who hosted an event for the region’s far-right member of Congress, Rep. Jake LaTurner.

The Marion County Record was doing basic accountability reporting, the lifeblood of small-town journalism.

[Verse 1]
Hush little baby don't you cry
Please don't mind the screaming
Of the man in the alley on the small of his back
The police man's knee is kneelin'
I'll tell you an open secret, child
Not everyone is knowin'
If that little man ever left this place
You and I would soon be goin

[Chorus]
'Cause that's what keeps the rent down, baby
That's what keeps the rent down low
That's what keeps the rent down baby
That's what keeps the rent down low

[Verse 2]
Your daddy ain't rich, he's a music man
Your mother she's a painter
We took over the lease of this old house
From those whose hearts are fainter
'Cause we don't mind the painted ladies
With their weeping souls all swollen
We don't mind that everyone we know
Has had their stereo stolen

[Chorus]
'Cause that's what keeps the rent down, baby
That's what keeps the rent down low
That's what keeps the rent down baby
That's what keeps the rent down low

[Verse 3]
One fine morning you wake up to
Bulldozers and renovation
'Cause folks like your mom and dad
Are just shock troops of gentrification
For the single young professionals
Who find the neighborhood hip and charming
But if they heard about the lady who got chopped up in the alley
They'd probably find it alarming

[Chorus]
'Cause that's what keeps the rent down, baby
That's what keeps the rent down low
That's what keeps the rent down baby
That's what keeps the rent down low
That's what keeps the rent down low
That's what keeps the rent down low

Excerpt:

While living in Chicago as an obviously gay man, I felt free to be my unabashed self, clad in all manner of sequins and androgyny. On the road, not only did I literally not have the closet space to accommodate such a wardrobe, but I often didn’t feel safe presenting myself the same way in unfamiliar regions. Despite experiencing kindness across the country, there were times when I’d be too wary to exit the RV at rural gas stations, deterred by the glares I was getting through my window. And in Wyoming, a beautiful state that I adore, a group of teens shouted homophobic slurs and joked about assaulting me—all while I was wearing the most muted, all-black outfit I could possibly find to “hide” myself.