This event takes place in person at Charis and on Crowdcast, Charis' virtual event platform. This event is free, but registration is required for virtual attendance. Register at the link above to attend virtually. Please read the in-person event guidelines at the bottom of this page to be sure you can participate in the event.
Charis welcomes Jason Ezell in conversation with Yarrow Koning for a discussion of For a Spell: Sissie Collectivism and Radical Witchery in the Southeast, an intimate account of the formation and dissolution of sissie houses that reveals a little-known history of Southern gay liberation, nonbinary gender expression, and radical feminism and femininity. Jason and Yarrow will be joined by Georgia State University archivist Morna Gerrard, who will provide archival contextualization.
In the Southeastern United States of the late 1970s, a regional network of radical communal gay households formed in the face of rising New Right terror. Consisting of primarily white, self-described sissies, the Southeast Network, as it came to be known, spanned from the Ozarks, to New Orleans, to Appalachian Tennessee. Though this network was short-lived, its legacy lives on today through Short Mountain Sanctuary, a thriving member of the international Radical Faerie movement. Jason Ezell's intimate account of the formation and dissolution of these sissie houses reveals a little-known history of Southern gay liberation, nonbinary gender expression, and radical feminism and femininity.
Drawing on journals, letters, oral histories, collective manifestos, and newsletters, Ezell illustrates how these gay households nurtured their community through lesbian feminist practices such as collectivism, consciousness-raising, witchcraft rituals, and rural gatherings. As people and practices traveled from one house to another, these linked houses attempted to conjure underground sanctuaries for queer Southerners. Preserving their moving stories, Ezell details the visions, experiments, and shortfalls of these radical households in their attempts to build solidarity, resist mounting right-wing violence, and sustain their revolutionary dreams for queer movements yet to come.
About the Author
Jason Ezell is an LGBTQ+ movement historian and academic librarian, now the Head of Research and Learning Services (Olin and Uris Libraries) at Cornell University. Recent research interests include the role of affect in movement dynamics, learning, and information activism. They have also taught university seminars on the history of US gay liberation and mentored students’ LGBTQ+-related capstone and thesis projects.
About the Conversation Partner
Yarrow Koning (they/them) is a queer, trans, and non-binary environmental educator with a particular interest in queer ecologies and queer climate justice. They hold a Master of Environmental Education degree from Florida Atlantic University and have taught at multiple sites across Florida and Georgia. They are also a multimedia storyteller with a deep passion for documenting stories of queer Southern joy, survival, and resistance. Alongside their work as a bookseller at Charis Books and More, Yarrow is a Co-Director and Impact Campaign Coordinator for the feature-length documentary Can’t Stop Change: Queer Climate Stories from the Florida Frontlines. In their free time, Yarrow enjoys hiking, birding, nerding out about queer animals, reading, and snuggling with their cat.
About the Archivist
Morna Gerrard (she/her) is the archivist for Women’s/Gender and Sexuality Collections at Georgia State University. In this role, she collects, preserves, and makes available the records and oral histories of women and the LGBTQ+ communities in Atlanta, Georgia, and the South. One of the projects that Morna is most proud of is the Georgia Transgender Oral History Project, which was created and supported by an outstanding group of trans advisors and volunteers. Morna lives in Decatur with her husband and two cats.
The event is free and open to all people, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle, our programming non-profit. Donate on Crowdcast or via our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate or in person at the event.
Charis Books is a fully wheelchair accessible space with on site van accessible parking, two ramps, and additional overflow accessible parking nearby. Additional accessibility information can be found on the Accessibility page of our website.
In-person event guidelines:
- All attendees must wear a face mask during the event.
- We will begin seating people at 7:00 PM ET.
- This event will be live-streamed via Crowdcast. Register at the link above to attend virtually.
- As a reminder: If you are not feeling well, please do not come to the event.
If you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request specific accessibility accommodations, please contact
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By attending our event, whether in person or virtually, you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), class, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to Charis staff immediately or email
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- Next Tuesday, 14th October, 11:00 pm, Queer Romance Book Club Reads: Dead Collections in Decatur, Georgia
- Next Wednesday, 15th October, 07:30 pm, Imani Rituals: Nurturing African Spiritual Heritage -- A Conversation with the Authors in Decatur
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