News Release

Where better than San Francisco to debut a new anthology “rejecting the rules of gender and conformity”? On Dec. 5, the James C. Hormel Gay & Lesbian Center at the San Francisco Public Library hosts the book launch party for Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity edited by local activist, author and editor Mattilda (a.k.a. Matt Bernstein Sycamore).

Nobody Passes is a collection of essays that confronts and challenges the very notion of belonging. By examining the perilous intersections of identity, categorization and community, contributors challenge societal mores and countercultural norms. Nobody Passes explores and critiques the various systems of power seen (or not seen) in the act of passing. In a pass/fail situation, standards for acceptance may vary, but somebody always gets trampled on. This anthology asks, “If we eliminate the pressure to pass, what delicious and devastating opportunities for transformation might we create?” From activism to academia, immigration to appropriation to cruising for sex, hip-hop to disability culture to trans communities, this anthology challenges standards of authenticity and destroys notions of acceptability.

“Smart, sassy, and long overdue, this collection of essays by Mattilda and hur badass posse of evil geniuses gleefully demolishes the smug propriety that lurks within most contemporary debates about gender and diversity. What a breath of fresh air!” raved transgender activist, historian and filmmaker Susan Stryker.

Mattilda will moderate a lively reading by contributors Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Dean Spade, Dominika Bednarska, Tommi Avicolli Mecca, Irina Contreras, Jennifer Blowdryer, Jen Cross, Amy André, Kirk Read and Logan Gutierrez-Mock. A member of Gay Shame, Mattilda is known for editing the anthologies That’s Revolting! Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation; Dangerous Families: Queer Writing on Surviving; and Tricks and Treats: Sex Workers Write About Their Clients, as well as for his novel Pulling Taffy. The event begins at 6 p.m. in the Latino/Hispanic Community Meeting Room at the Main Library.

This program is free and open to the public. For more information, please call (415) 557-4277.