Priyank Jindal

Priyank will edit and write for the second issue of Transgressions, a zine by and for people of color with non-conforming genders, i.e., people who are transgender, transsexual, genderqueer, intersex, two-spirit, butch, etc. This zine is a collection of different forms of artistic expression, ranging from personal narratives and political essays to photographs and drawings. As a Desi transgender person involved in racial justice work for the past 10 years, he created this zine as a way for trans people of color community history and current reality to be told, remembered, and honored. Since the long and powerful history of artistic resistance in trans people of color communities is often considered frivolous and unimportant due to racism, classism, and transphobia, there are very few resources for trans people of color to celebrate their work and express their lives. This zine will serve as a community-building tool, linking trans artists and creating a network of trans people of color artists for future collaboration.

Over the past five years, Priyank has written non-fiction and created art for the queer community. He has written articles about the Philippines and worker organizing in Chinatown in support of a group he works with, the CommunitY Organizing Collective (CYOC). His on-the-ground organizing work is his drive for writing and pushes him to write about political issues in a context that remains relevant for community-based work and struggle. Priyank's queer art takes the form of books, zines, and sex toys; it is all grounded in the trans people of color community. His art functions to fill the void of resources available for trans people of color, like his zine Transgressions which shares stories, artwork, and political essays by trans people of color. Transgressions enabled trans people of color activists who had not traditionally identified as artists to participate in a project that redefined their activism as art. The zine has been used extensively as an educational tool for non-trans allies, and for trans people of color to connect with stories that resemble their own. In addition to making sex toys to sell at fundraisers for community-based social justice organizations, Priyank uses the activity as a community-building tool by teaching queer people of color to make their own sex toys, costing only a few dollars for supplies and specifically designed to suit each person's body size, gender and style.