Being Queer in Kansas City

Artist and gay rights activist Ryan Wilks told Polarr’s Emily von Hoffmann about his newest project, which includes long form interviews with and portraits of members of Kansas City’s LGBTQIA community. The interviews focus on his subjects as people living more or less ordinary lives — rather than necessarily portraying them as victims of oppression.

Emily: Can you tell me how the idea for “Gender Treason” came about?

Ryan: When gay marriage was legalized, I saw this boom on Facebook and other social media platforms of people who were just very very happy, they were thrilled; but then I also noticed a lot of negativity from people who were angry that straight people and queer people now have equality. A lot of those people were in close proximity to my home in Kansas City, Missouri, so I realized there is still a lot of ignorance in my hometown and in the Midwest in general. I live in the Bible Belt, so it’s pretty dominated by conservative theology. I started realizing that I have a voice, I had been wanting to use my voice for so long to address this ignorance that I’ve seen my entire life, and I just realized that I have every capability in my bones and in my fingertips to make an impactful commentary on the queer population surrounding me in Kansas City, Missouri.

I recently spoke with my FTM Trans friend, who had just gotten his breasts removed a few days prior. I met him around the same time as the Supreme Court decision and started asking him questions, and I realized that if I hadn’t talked to him and if I hadn’t gotten this story, I never would have had the insight that he was able to give me. I never would have been able to get there on my own. And so then I realized that basically that’s applicable to the entire queer spectrum, even as gay man there’s so much I don’t know about my own culture. So as much as this is a learning opportunity for everyone living in Kansas City, gay or straight, it’s definitely a learning opportunity for me.