T'ming ...eins zwei gsuffa! [ and DK's ass at Madre Grande 1983? -artwit ]
I just phoned Joey Cain, who wrote the original Radical Faeries statement back in 1983. I read him the New York faeries adaptation. Over and over again, Joey said, "I didn't write that," "I didn't say that," "hmm, that certainly wasn't in there," "oh, they left out 'workers.'" Transgenders were not included in the original statement, and women were not included as faeries.
My intention is not to dispute the New York statement. We are faeries by our own self-definition, and any faerie or faerie circle can write up anything they wish. But our history is important. If we're talking about a statement that Joey Cain wrote, I think it only appropriate and accurate that we all have a chance to read what he actually wrote.
Joey and I are planning to have some long talks about some of the issues raised above, perhaps tonight, after Randy Conner and others read from their book at Bound Together Books in SF. Meanwhile, I'm going to type away, and include below what we believe to be the original 1983 statement. The only thing I will change is some of the punctuation, misspelling and, to my mind, unnecessary over-capitalization (endemic in these statements, or so it seems). Also, after talking with Joey, I am adding one word that appeared in the later, Stevie Postman-designed brochure, "A Bit About Radical Faeries," which was created for Nomenus and Wolf Creek Sanctuary. (For the history books, this involves changing "way of becoming" to "way of being/becoming."
The earlier brochure by Will Roscoe on the faeries I will save for scanning at another time.
I hope those of you with websites can transfer this information into your site.
Blessings, jason