What is your name?

Hunter Westenhofer

 

In what city and county do you live?

Louisville, Kentucky; Jefferson County

 

What are your pronouns?

they/he

 

What does the word Queer mean to you?

I have to default to bell hooks for her definition of queerness because it is the only definition that has truly ever resonated with me: “‘Queer’ not as being about who you’re having sex with (that can be a dimension of it); but ‘queer’ as being about the self that is at odds with everything around it and that has to invent and create and find a place to speak and to thrive and to live.”

 

What was it like growing up as a Queer person in Kentucky?

I grew up being told that being gay (or queer for the sake of this question) was a choice (& there’s a part of me that thinks there’s some validity to that statement because in all honesty, it doesn’t matter), but that caused a lot of confusion for me because, even though I found myself attracted to men, I kept thinking “I can’t be gay (or queer) because I didn’t choose that.” Thanks to quality friends, I learned about queerness in all its variations, & I came to understand myself as queer, that queer was the best label for my identity (back to the hooks quote). I went through a period of distaste for my home place, but during college (Georgetown College), I grew to really love Kentucky. I don’t know if Kentucky will always be where I live, but it is now, I love it here, & it will always be home.

 

What would you say to any person struggling to come into their own identity?

Don’t think that you have to prove any part of your identity to anyone or that you have to present any sort of way to identify how you do. At the end of the day, it’s your life, so as long as you’re safe & others are safe, be who you are, dress how you want, play with identity & queerness—you only have one life, & it’s great because you get to make all your own rules!

 

What issue are you most passionate about in the Queer community? And what do you think the best solution or approach would be?

This is a difficult question for me because every issue is so deeply intertwined with every other issue. You can’t talk about trans people having access to healthcare without acknowledging the pervasiveness of poverty in this country, how thousands of people die in this country annually due to poverty & how poverty inhibits people from embracing their true identity. As a white settler, I struggle to even talk about queer issues in this country knowing that my tax dollars fund a genocidal military that kills queer people abroad. To answer what I’m most passionate about at this moment though, it would probably be prison abolition. How is this a queer issue, you might ask? There are incarcerated queer people! Every single person needs to be released from prison so that we can start repairing communities through education, healthcare, art, etc. Then we can start talking about queer joy.

 

Where have you found community?

The first place where I really found community was Lexington’s vibrant writer’s community, specifically Lexington Poetry Month.

 

How have recent political changes affected your life? 

Fortunately, my life as a white settler really hasn’t been affected much by the current administration; however, during the previous two administrations, I have really grown in my knowledge of geopolitical issues & am much more outspoken in my passion for the dismantling of the U.S.’s military & prison industrial complexes as well as the necessity to abolish borders, police/ICE, & capitalism.

 

What are some LGBTQ+ experiences/artists that have helped you express the struggles or the joy of being queer? 

Félix González-Torres is one of my favorite artists, & I appreciate how his work highlights how a government’s neglect for a population breeds a lot of interpersonal tragedy. Ocean Vuong is an incredible queer writer who discusses the rural queer experience well. & one of my favorite poets, Chen Chen, beautifully intertwines queer whimsy, joy, & humor with the complex relationships many queer people have with their family.

 

Are there any specific queer friendly places you’d like to highlight and share with the rest of the community? 

I would love to showcase the bookstore Set & Setting in Louisville, Kentucky. It’s queer & neurodivergent owned & uniquely curated with a lot of backlist books. Although this isn’t really a place, I would love to highlight the organization Letters for Liberation which is queer friendly & organizes pen pal correspondence between people inside & outside prison (not necessarily queer).

 

If you have some accomplishments you’re proud of, share them here! The accomplishments of queer people are something that should be celebrated!

I’m really proud of all the growth I’ve put into my mental health & how I try to put that back into my community. I’m a writer, & even though I don’t have any major publications yet & have been kind of slacking with that passion of mine, I’m proud of myself for claiming that identity!