Behind the zines 性/別 - Kaitlin Chan

Behind the Zines, our new weekly series of zine readings by queer zine makers begins today!

The first zine in this series is 性/別 by Kaitlin Chan. A beautifully illustrated comic zine about gender and relationships. I love how in just a few panels this zine shows some of the exhaustion queer people feel when relationships are misread as friendships, when partners are misgendered, when outing yourself or labeling your relationship becomes exhausting work, and that feeling of pure helplessness which comes with those daily interactions.When you don’t feel seen by others it feels validating to be seen by this zine.

Kaitlin Chan is a cartoonist, zine maker, curator, and karaoke queen. Kaitlin is also the co-founder of Queer Reads Library, a travelling queer library based in Hong Kong who directly inspired the founding of Queer Zine Library in the UK. You can find their zines, comics, and other artwork over at kaitlinchan.com

A copy of 性/別 is catalogued and held in the Queer Zine Library, but you can also read the zine online for free here: kaitlinchan.com/xing-bie

New readings in the Behind the Zines series will be uploaded each week. Each of these zines represents the sometimes secret and always powerful connections which queer zines create. That feeling of being connected to a stranger you’ve never met, a community which feels far away, a place, a song, a feeling, an identity. Each of these zines were selected by queer zine library volunteers and each of us at somepoint have found solace, validation, power, and reassurance from queer zines. These zines have helped us to feel seen, helped us find our way, connected us to each other, and inspired us to make our own zines.