LGBTQ Writers and Artists on Mental Illness

A few years ago I received two phone calls about two months apart. Both were from people who identified themselves as living with serious mental illness (one person had been labeled with schizophrenia, the other as bi-polar) and both people described similar experiences and were calling with the same question. They each had grown up thinking they were heterosexual and being treated as if they were straight. Neither identified as gay or lesbian or bisexual or anything really, but both people said that they felt when they were feeling worse or less stable or, in one of their words "more crazy" that they also felt "more gay". The question they were asking me was whether or not there was any sort of documented relationship between sexual orientation and mental illness.

If you know anything about either topic you know that the intersections of these labels and identities has a deep and painful history. You probably know that being gay was considered a mental illness by the medical profession until very recently (and while it is, thankfully, off the books, some might say we're as far past it as we are the history of slavery in the U.S., which is to say, not so far). You may not realize that what that meant in practice was much more than having a label put on you that made your life a little difficult. It meant imprisonment, sterilization, physical and sexual assault, death.

This history, and the ways that people living with mental illness and people who identify as queer continue to be systemically marginalized today, is just one reason why it's so hard to get people talking about mental illness and sexuality, and more specifically queerness and mental illness. Which is a real big problem in my mind, since without talking about it it's hard to learn from each other, and it's hard to make anything better for ourselves and each other. Which is why I was so excited to get this call for contributors. I don't know anything about the folks putting this together, but it looks like a much needed first effort:

HEADCASE: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, And Queer (LGBTQ) Writers and Artists on Mental Illness
Edited by Teresa Theophano, LMSW

Headcase will be an anthology comprised of 15-20 nonfiction pieces by writers and artists both established and new, exploring the theme of mental health, mental illness, and mental health care in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning (LGBTQ) community. The book is currently being considered for publication by a major queer press.

The anthology seeks essays, poetry, and comics by queer consumers of mental health services or queer individuals who have been diagnosed, but do not identify as patients, with mental illness. Works should explore the intersection of queerness and mental health and can include topics such as psychotropics; Gender Identity Disorder and its acceptance or rejection as a legitimate mental disorder; conventional v. holistic treatment; experiences in therapy, groups, and/or institutions; how race and ethnicity, class, sex, gender identity, age, and disability impact access to treatment; addiction, self-medicating, and recovery.

Modest compensation provided upon publication to contributors whose pieces are chosen.

Guidelines:

• Pieces should be between 750 and 1500 words (approximately 3 to 5 double-spaced pages).
• While the deadline for a 2010 publication date has not yet been established, submitting your piece by December 1, 2009 is recommended.
• Descriptions of pieces in progress are also welcome.
• Submissions should be sent as a Microsoft Word document, double-spaced, 12 pt. font, Times New Roman font.
• Please provide a brief (100 words or less) bio with your submission

Teresa Theophano is a licensed social worker, out queer mental health consumer, and the author of Queer Quotes (Beacon Press, 2004).

Please send submissions/project descriptions to her at headcase_anthology@yahoo.com