32 days left!

Donate to our Kickstarter today, and help us spread the word!

Thank you for all the support!

–Team JABR

The Kickstarter is live! The clock is ticking!!

Please, help us spread the word! Donate if you can! The LGBTQ* community desperately needs this ‘zine. We fully believe in what we’re doing and can’t wait to share it with you!

Tomorrow is going to be awesome!

Just a Bit Radical talks to Kisareth Studios (http://www.kisarethstudios.com/#) very own CEO about their amazing GLBTQ characters and inclusive storylines, in their flagship title for Xbox and PC! So excited!

The upcoming sequel to their first game is set to be wonderful, with new art, new music—And even more of the characters fans of the series know and love. We hope to touch on what makes GLBTQ visibility important in gaming, and many other issues!

The rubber hits the road

I don’t want to break anyone’s bank. I’m broke, and so are a lot of other people. I know it’s tough for everyone. That being said, Just a Bit Radical is going to be available in every digital format I can get my hands on—And print issues will be available on demand. 

The ‘zine is going to be $2.00 USD per issue, digital. $7.00 USD for a subscription gets you all four of this year’s ‘zines. Two bucks. You can’t buy a coffee for $2.00 these days. I know people think I’m crazy. The fact is…I’m not doing this to get rich. I’m doing it because there is a basic, fundamental need to get this content to as many people as possible. Selling the ‘zine for $2.00 ensures that just about anyone can afford it. If someone wants a printed copy because they don’t have access to a computer—I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. For now I stand by digital download.

People need and want this kind of publication. I’m not going to lie to you guys, we got our first Q&A article back yesterday—And it’s amazing. I can’t even begin to tell you how wonderful it is. We have some quality, top-notch things that I can’t wait to show you all.

Stick with us. We’re just getting started.

—Everyone at Just a Bit Radical

Calling GLBTQ Adults! I want to hear you scream!

What can we as GLBTQ adults do to show our support of those that are fighting a struggle we may have already conquered? You’ve come out, your professional and personal life is amazing, life is good. Kiran, I don’t want to have to feel the anxiety, the sadness and the rage, that despair I felt when I was 14 or 15, the loneliness of 16 and 17…The begging and pleading that was 18 and please-oh-please let there be someone, anyone out in the world like me.
The thing is, if you don’t…If I don’t. If we all, as adults…don’t stand up and say, “I am gay, I am happy, and I am proud.” who will? If more celebrities don’t come out, like Chely Wright, Ellen, etc…Mainstream culture will continue to marginalize and dismiss us as somehow ‘less’ in society all based on who we love.

The suicides will continue, and any child dying due to feeling alone and helpless because they are gay, trans*, bisexual…Is one child too many.

When does it stop? When do we as a nation stand up and say, “No more. It ends now.” when do my fellow GLBTQ adults say, “I am out, I am successful, and you can be too.” instead of hiding behind a computer where it’s safe. Places like glbtq and straight youth centers are few and far between, and glbtq meetings at coffee shops, dances, etc. just don’t happen anymore. When does our own community stand back and say, “We have to show the kids out there that’s it’s going to be okay.” How many kids in tiny backwater towns where it’s just NOT okay to be GLBTQ are going to kill themselves? How are they going to know if the community as a whole doesn’t rise up and say, “I exist, perhaps even in your town! I survived, and so can you.” worse, if these kids have a disability they’re ALREADY being picked on. Adding being gay on top of that is like, “I am a target for bullying!! Make fun of me!” and bullies these days will miss no opportunity to harass them nonstop. They’re malicious and cruel, and with the addition of Facebook, Twitter, and social media in general–The torment can literally never end.

You can say, “Where were their parents?” but they’ve probably went to the school and they were ignored! What kind of lackluster bullshit anti-bullying policy is that?! IT’S NOT, THAT’S WHAT. That’s not a policy, it’s a “cover our asses and say the right things so we don’t get sued.” But when it comes time to enforce it?! Nope. No dice. Didn’t do it. And now those children are DEAD and they are going to stay dead and even if they rewrote the policy it won’t bring them back. I want to work in educational policy for GLBT youth so this stops happening, and no school can ever ignore this sort of thing again. I want to leave them with no course of action *but* to take action! Staying silent and not addressing these issues when they were brought directly to the schools in question by family, friends, and teachers? For shame.

That is not a policy. That is not anti-discrimination. It is the height of ignorance, and it is despicable.
The GLBTQ adult community, the college students, the working professionals–We cannot stay silent. We have to realize that for so many of today’s youth (yes, still!), there is no light at the end of the tunnel. There is nowhere to go, no-one to talk to. If my writing this can help one person, it’s a start. It will never be ‘enough’ but it’s a bit of headway on a long and uphill battle.

Stand up, take action. Don’t let these children suffer alone. Make changes. Speak out. I will be.

Will you?

Call for Submissions!!

Hey all!

Are you a member of the GLBTQ spectrum, or a straight ally? Do you want to get your voice heard on topics such as advocacy, sex, gender identity, stereotypes, GLBTQ youth in mainstream media, and more? Just a Bit Radical is looking for submissions that fall into their first theme: ‘Silence’ Whether you submit a piece of artwork, an article, or a poem–It’s all welcome.

The zine will be published monthly online, and quarterly in print to the New England area.

For some ideas:

How has the media ignored GLBTQ youth today?

If we don’t come out, who will?

How non conformist gender identities are ignored and made to feel invisible by society

Why speaking out can save lives

What I wish I could say to _________

Draw an image that represents GLBTQ silence to you

The world is your oyster!!

Please email submissions to: justabitradical@ gmail dot com.

Submission Deadline: 4/15/2012