“I was a gay teen myself, and it was sort of a tough time, in the ’80s, to be a gay teen,” photographer M. Sharkey tells Queerty. “I wished things had been different, and that I had had the opportunity to be more open about my sexuality. And I felt like this was an opportunity for me to give voice to some of these kids who were demanding to be heard.”
Queer Kids: Coming Out In America is a documentary photography exhibit by M. Sharkey runs through January 4, 2015 at Stonewall National Museum in Wilton Manors, FL.
Sharkey began shooting the editorial portraits in the early 2000s. He found his subjects through LGBT organizations like GLSEN or high school GSAs, as well as online networks like Myspace.
“As far as I’m aware, we’ve never had ‘queer kids’ in human history,” he explains. “And by ‘queer kids’ I mean a self-identified group of young people that fall outside the normative expressions of sexuality and gender. It is wholly new and because of that I felt — and continue to feel–an immense amount of responsibility to portray this radical — I would even say revolutionary — community in the most honest and thoughtful way possible.”
Sharkey says he hopes audiences walk away with a better basic understanding of queer youth today.
“There is nothing terribly complicated about the project,” he continues. “It is simply a portrait of a group of people that have come to a point in history, in their history, where they insist on being seen and heard for who they are. That’s it. Take it or leave it. Where you once perhaps didn’t have a clue about who these people were or what their lives were like, now hopefully you do.”
Scroll down for a sampling from Queer Kids, and see more of M. Sharkey’s work on his Instagram page and website.
Published for one-time use only with permission from M. Sharkey. Photographs may not be saved, copied or republished on any other website.
Related stories:
The Beauty And Diversity Of Today’s Queer Youth Captured In Stunning Photojournalism Project
A Deep Dive Into Identities Of Queer Teens
PHOTOS: Long Island Gay Teens Enjoy A Rite Of Passage At A Prom Of Their Own
RevJim
Why is it that these shows only find the most skin crawling sissy, fruity, girly boys to represent gay youth?! I was never like that, and none of the gay friends I have are like that – and I live half the year in Wilton Manors and the other half in Provincetown! Girly boys are NOT representative of the LGBT community. I’m not bashing them – to each their own – I’m just sick of gays being portrayed that way all the time. Being gay is not a choice – but swishiness is.
Chris
@RevJim: I’m an old fart who spends a lot of his time in Wilton Manors. And yes, being over-the-top fey is not how “normal” gay folk there express themselves. But, if I read the material before the pictures correctly, these young people do NOT express themselves or their sexuality “normally.” It is precisely that which makes them queer. ….. Now, this is a bit post-modern for my tastes. However, insofar as these pictures capture authentic expressions of who they are, then more power to them.
QJ201
@RevJim: Also… the subjects were recruited through GLSEN and GSAs… where the more “queer” kids tend to be present. So it’s a biased sample!
AtticusBennett
@RevJim: show yourself. right now. bet you can’t.
know why they’re all better and stronger than you? because unlike you, as you were raised to hate yourself, they grew up strong and empowered. they can be whomever they want to be, in any way they choose, and feel strong and secure.
YOU, on the other hand, were only able to be tolerated as long as you behaved the way bigots approved of.
stop being angry that those kids are stronger, more courageous, brave and empowered than you.
“normal” gay folks? wow. nice cowardice you show there. oh, you self-professed “normal” gays. take a lesson from the kids you just denigrated – for once in your life be a man and not a wimpy boy and recognize their strength.
AtticusBennett
challenge to anyone who criticizes these brave young kids for being exactly whom they want to be: post the URL to your youtube channel or page so we can see you and your, apparently, ‘better’ example of being queer.
oh, did you miss that part? Queer. self-identifying as Queer.
Xzamilio
@AtticusBennett: Sorry, dude, but your comments are a huge overreaction to something you perceived as being vitriolically self-hating. RevJim definitely sounds ignorant, but he has a point. All too often, we are as a whole stereotyped by our feminine gay counterparts in the gay community, so when someone like me comes along, I’m looked at like a “straight acting” gay guy, or “Girl, bye… stop trying to butch it up.”
Do you know how annoying it gets to keep having to explain to people that I’m actually gay, I’m not obsessed with Beyonce, and I don’t smack my lips and get manis and pedis with my girlfriends? All they see are the flamboyant types and that’s what they like to see, for better or for worse. I see no issue with feminine gay men… in fact they are probably the bravest of us because it takes courage to be that true to yourself in this society. But I do see issue with you thinking you can write somebody off as self-hating and sounding like a bigot just because it’s an easy conclusion to jump to.
People are so damn quick to throw out these words and end the conversation and eventually, the words lose their power. Besides, there are LGBT men and women being killed in other countries. Who the fuck cares what someone looks like on their Youtube channel or in real life?
AtticusBennett
@Xzamilio: then show yourself, if you think your example is better.
when someone “like you” comes along? what, someone who decides that someone else being braver than you somehow makes you silent? nonsense.
oh darn! it’s so annoying to tell people you don’t like Beyonce? that’s your big gripe? think, for one minute, what some of the people in this article must experience on a daily basis – being visible targets for the most bigoted and cowardly members of society.
“Besides, there are LGBT men and women being killed in other countries”
YUP – so your “i’m not flamboyant and its’ so hard having to tell people i’m obsessed with beyonce” makes you sound like not just an idiot, but a complete wimp.
know what makes you sound like a self-hating bigot? saying the s**t RevJim says.
who cares? you guys do, apparently. you’re the loser wimps complaining about “how you’re seen” while giving cowardly excuses to remain invisible and anonymous.
grow a pair.
pjm1
hmmm, It is great that people can be who they are — one of the points of
the article.
I have noticed time and again that some of the commenters take themselves and their
opinions rather seriously — which is ok. But when our opinions take up all the oxygen in
the room, when our opinions do not leave any room for anyone else’s opinions, perhaps
it is time to recognize that and try to understand what about ourselves makes that so. We all
need to explore (the habit) of putting other people down and i am at the front of that line.
I have heard that sometimes things are so important that we should not take them to seriously.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Sure this gallery includes the stereotypical Gays perceived as being “Gay norm”…
But you also see the Gay athlete, the Gay couples who no longer have to hide, cower, and be ascared to come out. Not too very long ago those two Gay couples would have had to trade partners to be photographed to be accepted. Gay kids are coming out earlier and earlier now and finding it to be no big freakin deal.
I can’t actually believe the progress that has been made in just the last ten years. My 12 year old nephew’s best friend is a kid named Tanner, who is openly Gay. He and Tanner pretty much been BS’s since diaper days and when Tanner came out it registered exactally zero on my Nephew’s give a thit scale.
I recently heard my nephew saying how cute Tanner was to another of his friends. I was kinda sorta shocked and asked him if he was Gay. He replied, “nope, but Tanner is so cute that he would have been competition for me with the girls” :p
Xzamilio
@AtticusBennett: Grow a pair of what? Balls? I have them… and they work just fine. I’ll avoid interjecting myself into other people’s comments from now on, and I’ll definitely avoid people like you who seem to be professional victims and hyperbolic simpletons.
Arkansassy
Back in the 90’s, coming out was about rejecting stereotypes. I think in that decade we wanted to be out but not have our personal or professional lives dictated by previous generations or the so called “gay lifestyle”. We didn’t want to be perceived as different, but did want to be accepted.
This generation on the other hand seems to embrace the stereotype as an identity of what it means to be homosexual. Being different becomes an outward expression to the world.
Jacob23
This is a fail on so many levels. Let’s start with the photographer “M. Sharkey.” I presume that he has a first name. So what’s with the initial? Maybe it is a boring, bourgeois name like Mark or Michael. Does he think that using an initial makes him seem more mysterious, more transgressive, or more distinguished? Well, M, the answer is D) none of the above. It only makes you seem pretentious.
Then, there’s the endless stream of fatuous drivel that escapes M’s mouth:
“And by ‘queer kids’ I mean a self-identified group of young people that fall outside the normative expressions of sexuality and gender.”
Why is M arbitrarily limiting “queer” to sexuality and gender? Queer includes anyone and anything set against the norm, so why not include political queers like anarchists and neo-Nazis? Why not include scientific queers, like creationists and climate change denialists? And if M means to focus on queer sexuality, why not include some really transgressive and contrary-to-the norm sexuality? How about some serial rapists, M? Don’t be so consensual-normative!
“It is wholly new and because of that I felt — and continue to feel–an immense amount of responsibility to portray this radical — I would even say revolutionary — community in the most honest and thoughtful way possible.”
Yah, it’s not wholly new. And if M felt an immense amount of responsibility to portray this community, then why did it take him 15 years to complete a project that he himself calls “not terribly complicated.” I wonder what M’s timeframe would be if he didn’t feel “immense responsibility.”
Finally, M informs us: “It is simply a portrait of a group of people that have come to a point in history, in their history, where they insist on being seen and heard for who they are.”
How hilariously clueless. A central tenet of queer theory is that sexuality and gender are not who you are. They are social constructs. Invented and changeable. They are little more than performances. M denigrated his subjects and their sexuality and gender the moment he labeled them queer.
bottom72
Ohhh it so reminds me of me in high school. You go girls carry the gay torch for the queens coming behind you.
Arconcyyon
Strike a pose
Strike a pose
Vogue, vogue, vogue
Vogue, vogue, vogue
Look around everywhere you turn is heartache
It’s everywhere that you go [look around]
You try everything you can to escape
The pain of life that you know [life that you know]
When all else fails and you long to be
Something better than you are today
I know a place where you can get away
It’s called a dance floor, and here’s what it’s for, so
CHORUS
Come on, vogue
Let your body move to the music
[move to the music]
Hey, hey, hey
Come on, vogue
Let your body go with the flow [go with the flow]
You know you can do it
All you need is your own imagination
So use it that’s what it’s for [that’s what it’s for]
Go inside, for your finest inspiration
Your dreams will open the door [open up the door]
It makes no difference if you’re black or white
If you’re a boy or a girl
If the music’s pumping it will give you new life
You’re a superstar, yes, that’s what you are
you know it
Come on, vogue
Let your body groove to the music
[groove to the music]
Hey, hey, hey
Come on, vogue
Let your body go with the flow [go with the flow]
You know you can do it
Beauty’s where you find it
Not just where you bump and grind it
Soul is in the musical
That’s where I feel so beautiful
Magical, life’s a ball
So get up on the dance floor
CHORUS
Come on, vogue
Let your body groove to the music
[groove to the music]
Hey, hey, hey
Come on, vogue
Let your body go with the flow [go with the flow]
You know you can do it
Vogue, [Vogue]
Beauty’s where you find it
[move to the music]
Vogue, [Vogue]
Beauty’s where you find it [go with the flow]
Greta Garbo, and Monroe
Dietrich and DiMaggio
Marlon Brando, Jimmy Dean
On the cover of a magazine
Grace Kelly; Harlow, Jean
Picture of a beauty queen
Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire
Ginger Rogers, dance on air
They had style, they had grace
Rita Hayworth gave good face
Lauren, Katharine, Lana too
Bette Davis, we love you
Ladies with an attitude
Fellows that were in the mood
Don’t just stand there, let’s get to it
Strike a pose, there’s nothing to it
Vogue, vogue
OOh, you’ve got to
Let your body move to the music
OOh, you’ve got to just
Let your body go with the flow
OOh, you’ve got to
Vogue
Link: http://www.vagalume.com.br/madonna/vogue.html#ixzz3KTaPq5bo
tributecat
@RevJim: I get your point- but your point is WHY these types of gay teens need media attention and glorification. They are not seen as people. They are seen by most of their heterosexual counterparts as, how you put it- sissy, fruity, girl boys. That’s not nice. It’s understandable if you are disappointed that the type of gay teen you were is not portrayed here, but that doesn’t excuse rudeness towards the ones that are. This is why teens kill themselves and shame on you as a fellow gay person for reacting the same way someone from a red state would. Perhaps you should do one of 3 things: keep your mouth shut if you have nothing nice to say, do not pay attention to how the media portrays gay teens- because I assure you they are going to focus on those who appear more interesting than you were or pick up a camera and make your own documentary and prove me wrong. It’s not just you- there’s a lot of criticism in these comments from people not doing anything.
AtticusBennett
here we have it – self-identifying Queer youth who don’t care what prejudiced people may think of them, and in the comments section we have insecure guys who *do* still care what prejudiced people think of them, being upset that those who don’t care are “too stereotypical”.
learn something from these youth – stop living each day looking over your shoulder worrying what The Bigots may think or say.
do you wish “your kind of gay” (whatever the heck that is) was more well known? then put yourself online like this brave youth did.
none of my friends ever worry about “people thinking they like Beyonce”. why? because that’s an insecure worry, and one that only those who are still insecure in their gay identities complain about.
it’s par for the course on the internet, though – anonymous cowards complaining that those who stand up to be counted aren’t “like them” – of course they’re not like you. they don’t live in fear of what the unenlightened may choose to think.
try to emulate that.
AtticusBennett
@Xzamilio: professional victim? no. i’ve been Out since i was a teenager. the professional victims are the wimpy cowards who complain that the out and proud are stronger than they are.
talk_talk
@AtticusBennett THANK YOU
WHAT ON EARTH are all these homophobic bigoted gay men talking about. Gay’s okay but queer isn’t? You people should be ashamed of yourselves, period, and not one of you would have the rights you have now if it wasn’t for people as brave as these kids who came before you, who had the courage to stand up against AIDS and against discrimination.
It’s disgusting that being impervious to persecution for queer youth today means deflecting hatred from both right-wing sin-mongerers and apparently old gay men who want them to tone themselves down.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
That poor blonde kid who had top surgery needs to find a good malpractice attorney. Those incisions are like train tracks running across his chest………..
Xzamilio
@AtticusBennett: Okay. Goodbye.
stranded
@Xzamilio: I understand the sentiment behind your post. As someone who is… how should i put it…heteronormative i guess, I understand your grip about the media’s single portrayal of the effeminate gay man. My problem with that grip, in regards to this story, is that the focus of Sharkey’s project is youth who define and identify with the term queer. This is not a project on gay youth in general. Now if Sharkey would have said this is what gay youth are today then i would have had a problem because it negates those who are mentally and physically handicapped, different religions and economic backgrounds. Since this project is focusing on a growing subset of the gay community, i don’t really see your or RevJim’s complaint that valid. To be honest, i think the both of you might have focused too much on the feminine guys, the two boys who look like they’re taking a prom picture look “normal,” the lesbian couple, the topless guy with flowers surrounding him, the basket ball player, all of them seem pretty ordinary. I actually find it interesting that thy define themselves as queer. I’m 29 and i see or should i now say saw, the embracing of the term queer as something only gender benders did. Beyond just portraits i would like to know how these kids define queer and why gay or lesbian isn’t enough.
Xzamilio
@stranded: I kept my scope on RevJim’s statement, not the point of Sharkey’s piece, which I have no issue with at all. I’m entirely sure if this is a growing subset of the gay community, or a different coat of paint on the same face we’re all used to seeing. But then again, “queer” being used in a non-pejorative sense is something new to me, and frankly, it’s a word I’ll never associate with anything other than negative connotations. But, hey… like I regard the N word, if others want to use, kudos to them… but I won’t be. I’m going to end this now because it is quite obvious (and this is not directed at you) that some people on here who clearly are not interested in other perspectives. But thank you for yours.
Xzamilio
I’m *not entirely sure if this is growing subset of the gay community
Forgetting words just throws everything off lol
Kangol
I’m so glad to see these young queer people being celebrated. I hope it will make even more of us comfortable to be and become our true selves.
AtticusBennett
@stranded: i can explain the Queer self-identification, easily.
i identify as gay and queer.
QUEER; from a different point of view. a deviation from the expected norm. unusual. unique. not common. unexpected.
it’s an empowered chosen (elective) form of identity in that we find out strength in what makes us different from the norm, from the masses, as opposed to the people, gay and straight, who choose to want to be seen as one of the masses – those who blend in.
gay does not mean queer, queer does not mean gay.
more youth are identifying as queer because more and more are growing up, like me, not feeling any pressures from family or community to be “just like everyone else” – we don’t need to be “a normal-seeming gay” to be accepted and embraced – we’re embraced because of our differences, not in spite of them, and there’s a big distinction in there.
that’s why you see so many queer-identifying youth standing up to be counted, while those who have a problem with “queer” identification are almost always relegated to anonymous comments on message boards.
there are many gay men who want to be seen as “normal” – us self-identifying Queer gay men are not part of that group.
we don’t worry, nor care, what negative perceptions a person may choose to hold for us. and because of this, we tend to be rather well-integrated, as openly gay and openly queer people, in society: when you live each day showing that you embrace and take control of who you are, it’s near impossible for a person to ever make you feel lesser, or to have the opportunity to disrespect you. Strong Spines inspire admiration.
nobody here is saying that you all must identify as queer – but it’s rather telling that those who seem to take issue with those of us who do are, as usual, the Anonymous Brigade.
AtticusBennett
oh, and as for why “gay or lesbian isn’t enough” – it’s because self-identifying queer folks generally tend to share a similar mindset in terms of sociopolitical identity – it’s not that “gay is not enough” , but we have a gay identity as well as a Queer one – the embracement of the things that set us apart from the perceived societal norm.
stranded
@Xzamilio: No problem, thanks for replying. @AtticusBennett: Thanks for explanations, I sort of came close to that definition myself. I wonder if it’s the same thinking of those who came before us who embraced “gay” over “homosexual.” I guess you can’t help but to break away from the establishment in your youth, only to be the establishment when you’re older.