The Radical Faeries of Philadelphia began a celebration of their cause and history yesterday by opening an exhibit at the William Way LGBT Community Center.
The Radical Faerie movement was initiated in the late 1960s by gay-liberation activists Harry Hay and Don Kilhefner. Some gay men see it as a way to give a spiritual context to their sexuality. The local chapter’s website describes it as “queer tribal nation sharing affinity in the spiritual underpinnings of non-mainstream sexuality and heart-centered relationship.” The movement has since spread into numerous local groups and communities internationally, each along the way finding their own ways to champion the spirit.
“We’re relatively new,” Radical Faerie Messapotamia Lefae said of the Philadelphia chapter. “We got started around the 1990s. Every different chapter has its own character. In New York, the Radical Faeries like to party and have a New York City lifestyle whereas in Philly, we’re very community-based. We all spend a lot of time with one another. We’re very insular and we do a lot of community actions. We have a lot of people in the nonprofit sector, so we do get involved with a lot of volunteering and stewarding the LGBT community and queer culture.”
Radical Faeries have at least one or more “faerie names” used in lieu of their real names. In fact, the Radical Faeries as a group are a challenge to describe; Lefae said the exhibition reflects their mercurial and whimsical spirit.
“It’s very obtuse,” Lefae said. “It’s nothing like your typical museum exhibit. It’s flexible. It functions as a lounge space. The opening is an interactive opening where we’re going to be adding, subtracting, decorating and reorganizing the space. It’s not completely finished yet because were going to allow people to participate and then modify what we already have in the space. There’s going to be a lot of sections to it that you can plug into as opposed to just look at. There’s going to be a lounge space where you can just hang out and lay on pillows. There’s going to be a stage where you can try on clothes and have a portrait taken. There’s a maypole, photography and a collage on the walls.”
Lefae said the exhibit at the William Way is open to everyone, including Radical Faerie members from all over the world, some of whom plan to come to Philadelphia this weekend for an event the Faeries dubbed the Urban Gatherette.
“We’ve called faeries from around the world to come in and they’re going to be housed in different faeries’ homes and we have planned a couple meals and seminars that people can participate in,” Lefae said. “We have a talent show, a dance party and a community service project that we’re going to be doing. The opening of the exhibit is just the beginning.”
People introduced to the Radical Faerie movement through the exhibition might feel inspired to join — but like the group itself, how that is accomplished and what it ultimately means isn’t easy to determine.
“It’s difficult to define what a Radical Faerie is,” Lefae said. “It’s a self-identifying group. If you go there and you identify with what the mission is and you see some of our work as activists and you want to find out more, that’s another thing. But it’s also self-selecting. So if you were to attend some faerie events and you find that it is not for you or you don’t fit, you can just step away. We don’t expect anyone to understand or come to conclusions. It’s just something you can participate in and experience, like a story.”
The Radical Faeries of Philadelphia present “Yoo Hoo! The Culture and History of the Radical Faeries of Philadelphia,” through March 25 at the William Way LGBT Community Center, 1315 Spruce St. For more information, visit phillyfaeries.net or www.waygay.org.