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ORIGINAL LGBTQ BUTTON DESIGNS & POLITICAL SLOGANS
(Collection 1: Sept. - Oct. 2001)
My graphics/slogans are free for personal or activist use, so long as copyright credit remains intact. I offer any design or slogan as a fund raiser for lesbian/gay groups...for T-shirts, decals, coffee mugs, etc. In exchange, I request 1% (one percent) of all sales of items displaying my image. Send me a contract.
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I BASH BACK: This is the very first button I made with my new machine. The idea for a button that says "I bash back" came to me last year (2000); but the one friend I knew who had such a machine (Rita), refused to let me create it...she felt it was a bit over the top. In frustration, I finally searched the web for best prices on a button machine. Actually, the model I got--Bench System II--is more of a button press than a machine. With enough material for 250 buttons, and including the circle cutter (an absolute must) the button-machine kit cost me $118 (total price w/free ground shipping...note that prices have gone up slightly since then.) It's almost the lowest-end model, but it works great! (The lowest is a hand-held version for $87; but I'd steer clear of that one, for I'd think your hands would get very tired before too long, and you'd probably press out more duds tha n with the table-stand model. For button part refills, I'd recommend another place to order, for its lower rates. But beware: their order page is not secure. So I suggest either sending them a check, or ordering via telephone.) I'm very proud of my first design. But the neatest thing about this piece, is that God is in it, in a really big way. See the "I AM" there? (Clue: The "A" and the "M" are part of the pyramid outline itself.) This was not consciously planned, but discovered with hindsight several weeks after its creation. So what is he really saying here: I AM GAY ???? |
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THE CURE FOR AIDS IS IN MY SEMEN: Now, this little puppy is a delight to show off! Cruising just doesn't get more promising than this. If there is ever a Guinness World Record for "bad taste in humor" (or "cruising"), I'm sure I'd be a powerful contender, if not the hands-down winner. I also enjoy coming up with novel ways to display "Mr. Happy". Why, I think I've even topped the one with a bloody bullet hole in his forehead. Yay! I have also satirized PacMan (in a decal), who is--as we all know--a fraternal twin to Mr. Happy. |
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INSIGNIA FOR THE BLUE ROSE MILITIA: Isn't this a noble piece of art! This is the updated symbol for my militia...with or without the pink triangle. I am very happy with the result. Imagine this patch on the military uniforms of our very own queer militia. Yes! (I must confess: the rose is a clipart image that I modified.) The idea of a blue rose for a militia came in a vision some years back: Angels were in my bedroom, fussing over a blue rose they had just embroidered into the window's curtain. One of them said, "See! This is what we want you to do." I responded, "Oh, no, that's too much work; I don't even know how to embroider. Can't I just paint the rose on a cardboard square, and hang it in the window?" The angels deliberated a few moments, then agreed: "Yes. We can work with that." But this dream didn't explain the meaning of the blue rose; though a few days later thinking on it, the phrase "Blue Rose Militia" popped into my head. Thus began my whole vision of the world's first gay militia. My other manifesto, "New Declaration of Independence" is also a fitting accompaniment to the blue rose. And so is this poem. |
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BRAVE LITTLE PONY (THE SPIRIT OF GAY PRIDE): This was originally a design I hand-painted on a T-shirt. Years later when the shirt finally got frayed, I coated Little Pony with thick layers of clear acrylic, then hung it on my door to bless my humble room. I have since scanned it, and created this lovely button. There is a parable that goes with it, and even a decal design dedicated to our 2-spirit (gay) Native Americans. As a medal, Little Pony honors those all-too-few heterosexuals who have made a great sacrifice on behalf of queer civil rights. Obviously, she's a unicorn, and has inspired me to compose many works of art, including this marvelous poem, and this one, too. |
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ALLAH IS GOOD, ALLAH IS GAY:
Sure she is! Got a problem with that? This design was originally drawn
for a decal, as part of my growing collection to represent Hellenes from different cultures and religions. I released this design over the Internet, in 1999, inviting all the various Muslim-related newsgroups, to check it out. The central design is the "Shahada", which is the most sacred saying of Islam...which I embellished with rainbow colors. Translation: "There is but one god, Allah; but one messenger, Muhammed".
As you can see: like Salman Rushdie, I'm still here! (Though unlike Salman, I never made quite the same news splash as he did. But do you hear me complaining? Nah!) |
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THE PURPLE HEART OF EXCALIBUR:
This piece is dedicated to a homeless buddy whom I dearly love. I wanted to design a button of elegant simplicity, that would convey my soul's affections for this guy, Troy. So I diddled with some clipart on a CD, not knowing if anything would come together...but it did, after ten minutes or so, and I cried "Eureka!" Now, the heart actually printed out as a dappled blend of purple and cranberry...because my printer was missing one color, and thus adapted itself as best it could. This was a glorious accident, that cannot be replicated on a printer with all colors working. I doubt that the heart would look anywhere near as pretty, as a solid color. (The pale green shade of our two names prints out in vivid lime.) I consider this piece the loveliest of all my buttons, thus far. There is a poem that goes with this design. I was sort of in a trance that night, working on my image, then photocopying it at Kinko's four blocks away at 3 a.m., and finally producing the first batch of "Troy-Zeke" buttons. I did not sleep at all, but celebrated this piece with lovely visions, including receiving the excalibur from my angelic visitors, and wielding it in the starry sky like a dancing Bodhisattva warrior. Around 10 a.m., I decided to end this ecstatic revelation by coming down to earth and kicking back. So I turned on the TV and guess what I saw: the Taliban had just attacked NYC and Washington, D.C. Somehow, my creation of this lovely button and the September 11 fiasco were cosmically intertwined...which reason I can't fully comprehend at present. Perhaps in dancing with my sword, I brandished it across a large map of America, accidently knocking out the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. (Am I powerful or what? I remember the angels jokingly said: "Careful, Zeke, that sword reaches mighty far!") So the twin towers collapsed at the same time the twin spirits of Zeke and Troy rose to guard the Sacred Heart, or the Sacred Sword, or the Sacred Flame, or whatever. In heaven's military jargon (from my own personal mythology), the Purple Heart of Excalibur is the highest award ever, to bestow on a soldier of God. See how the broad yellow beams can be either a cross, or the hilt of a sword (when viewed sideways). Quite a lovely piece, eh? (Just like darling Troy! However, let us not flatter the dude without some criticism and a warning. Okay?) |
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This image goes by many titles:
Adam and Eve |
No Adults No Hands, No Feet, No Service No Holding Hands No One Allowed No Restrooms Ojo del Dios Transgendered Only White Trash Prohibited World as Seen through Gay Eyes |
| Amazing how this simple piece of non-art just took off! The image came to me all of a sudden...so I scoured the 'net to find the male and female images commonly shown above restroom doors. Originally called "Hetero Scum", it served as a personal catharsis for the constant violation of queers by heterocentric dogma. There is also a parable that could go with this, about the eradication of heterosexuality across the entire globe...as well as an essay. I never really considered this "art," until people who viewed it, came up with different interpretations than the original, such as: "No One Allowed," "No Restrooms" and "Transgendered Only". And since bystanders kept inventing new titles spontaneously, I figured: it must be real art. Also oddly enough, it became the most popular of all my buttons you see here. Go figure! So now, it's become a game to come up with a new title. All the obvious ones seem to have been figu red out...so now we're looking for the less obvious titles; and then from there, non-obvious titles, and even less non-obvious titles! So as each new title is created, it gets a tad more difficult to figure the next one. Wanna play? See if you can come up with an additional title, then send it to me. If I deem it a winner, I'll add it to my list and even credit your contribution. |
The following political buttons I don't consider real art. Obviously, they were a direct emotional response to the infamous September 11th attacks. In general, my activist philosophy is this: "If heteros are permitted to slander gay folks under the dubious premise of 'free speech'--even though slander of any other minority is vociferously decried by our leaders--then I assert my right to condemn breeders."
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Thanks for reviewing my 1st cycle of button art!
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