Queer kinks and the arc of justice: meditations on failure, persistence, and public education

The Trump administration has quickly rescinded some of the limited protections made available to some gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people–for example employment protections for LGBT federal employees–and has doubled down on a military agenda–proposing increased federal funds to the military. This political moment–a more nakedly visible endorsement of structures of oppression–falls on the heels of the neoliberal ‘gay-friendly’ military-lite Obama regime. Building on eight years of participatory observation in counter-recruitment movements and community mobilizations against the militarization of public schools, and participation in concurrent queer justice movements, this essay engages policy analysis and archival work, to map struggles against the military industrial complex (MIC) in schools against and with LGBTQ justice movements, offering meditations on failure, persistence, public education, and approaching organizing queerly.