Link Alum Lina Harper on Queers, Media and The Real World
Once a Linkie, always a Linkie.
At least that was the attitude of Lina Harper, Montreal-based journalist, blogger and Concordia alumna-turned-queer-media-maverick, when asked if we could pick her brain about our upcoming queer issue.
Managing Editor at The Link from 2006-07 before graduating with a communications degree, Lina has since set her name apart in the Montreal journalism scene as a veritable source of all things queer, and is the sassy sister behind Kox & Kuntz, Montreal’s gay blog at Xtra.ca.
She was kind enough to chat with us over the weekend about life post-Link, gay ol’ media times and the “real” world.
The Link: You started a Montreal Queer Blog Kox & Kuntz and are a regular contributor for the Montreal Mirror. It seems like you’ve got this beat covered. Can you talk about your queer journalism journey beyond The Link, after you graduated?
Lina Harper: I’ve always been interested in a million different things, not necessarily just writing, or just writing about queer issues. I’ve always considered myself a part-time writer, a part-time journalist, but there’s always other stuff I want to work at and do, in terms of community organizing and non-profits.
For a while [after I graduated] I wasn’t really sure where I would go. There’s this great big hope after university, especially after journalism and working at a paper, where you think you’re going to make connections and it’s just going to click, and you’re going to have that cushy journalist job right away but [pause…] you don’t really—unless you really work hard for it.
As soon as I understood that, I took a step back and said I’m going to look at this as a part-time thing, and focus on having a full-time job. I told myself to just keep writing about what I care about, and that’s exactly what I did. It took me awhile, but I started carving out a niche for myself, bit by bit.
[I started] at the Montreal Mirror after I noticed that one of their core queer writers had left the city. I just took the opportunity and pitched and pitched until [the editor] said yes to a story on the first ever [radical queer pride event] Pever/Cité. I just had my ear to the ground, and kept coming at them with feminist and queer issues.
After that, I started getting some attention. The Anglophone writing community is so small and tight [in Montreal], and then, in September 2009, I was approached by Xtra! to start a blog for them, and the rest is history. It all happened really fast.
You were a student of both communications and women’s studies here at Concordia. What influence has that had on your ideas and writing, in terms of being sensitive to queerness, gender and sexuality in the media?
Well, I don’t know what to say about that. I have my qualms, as everybody does, about how queer issues are portrayed in the mainstream media, but I also have qualms about how queers represent themselves from a community standpoint.
I think [queers writing about queer issues] can end up being insular and one-note sometimes, while there is still a diversity of voices that need to be heard.
I don’t know if we’ll ever get all the way there—and that might be a good thing! This strive to be able to cover everyone’s voices, might not be realistic. I don’t know. I’m split on it. But at the same time, I feel like more of the radical queers have something valid to say that should be included in the mainstream coverage, because often we don’t see the real core issues. Issues that have to do with violence against queers, human rights, or access get glossed over by the mainstream sometimes.
Depending on where you’re publishing—the Mirror versus Kox & Kuntz, say—what have you learned by having both forums to work with? What’s your approach? Do you feel freer with the blog? Or more in touch with queers?
Well [blogging] is a different approach, but it’s nice to feel like I’m able to publish something right away. There’s this immediacy of web-based media that is nice sometimes.
I also definitely have a really privileged position right now because I have no real editorial control from anyone. I decide what goes in. It’s scary, at the same time, but I feel like I’ve been really careful and protective of that privilege. Maybe they gave me too much power [laughs].
You have been where we are in terms of putting together a special queer supplement, something that’s become part of The Link’s institutional history and has changed quite a bit since our first “Gay Issue” came out decades ago.
Since that time, more and more media have also been paying attention to the “queer issues,” so my question is, with queer issues increasingly covered beyond local or indie press, why do you think it’s important that we still put out and explore this concept every year?
I think you definitely still need a queer issue—or there should be a queer issue anywhere across the board. If we could have all of those publications publish a queer supplement that’d be great. I’d like to see the coverage that could come out of there. I think we wouldn’t have one story alike, you know? It’s important because there are a lot of things happening and queers are not one note—we’re diverse. The more diversity covering diversity in media, the better we’ll be.
What do you most love writing about in Montreal, queerly?
Oh, I love writing about so many things. I can take any topic. As long as I get to be cheeky and sarcastic, and get to keep playing with language—I love to destroy [language] and remake it, as arrogant as that sounds, but it’s what I like to do.
I also really like to comment and make fun of some how seriously people in the queer community take themselves sometimes, while celebrating the others who don’t get enough attention.
I am also lucky to be able to support my friends, and to profile people. I haven’t done a profile in forever, but I love doing them. What’s the difference between a famous person and you? Nothing, we all have our stories.
I’m wondering if you have any advice for queer media makers coming up and out. Or for student journalists, because, I mean, you’ve been there. Any wise words you’d like to share?
Advice? Tips? Like I said earlier: find your niche. Stay in touch with timely issues. Half of it is being at the right place at the right time, and to keep plugging away and talking to the right people.
For me I like to think of it as a working party, I always find stories that I want to cover, as long as I see it as a melding of work and play. Work and play, you shall succeed.
But I totally remember the hours we used to put into The Link—I used to work my ass off! We worked so hard putting the paper to bed, and that’s something I’ll even bring up during interviews. Working for 40 hours per week practically for free on top of a five-course workload is intense, and people are dually impressed. Be proud of the work you’re doing.
So what’s next for you? Beyond the blog or the Mirror?
Well. [Pause] I’m moving beyond—well not beyond, because I’m not above it—but I want to keep things really fresh. As long as I can maintain the blog, I’d love to keep doing it. But I am shifting my focus away from words and onto visual stuff. I’m into doing web comics lately. I’ve also been working a lot with non-profits, the Youth Services Bureau right now, so I want to continue helping youth be empowered and empower myself, hopefully.
I guess you never know where a communications degree is going to go.
[It can go] so many places! Sometimes I’m realizing that I know a little bit about a lot of things, but I’m not an expert in any of those things, so it’s hard to focus on where to go next, because you learn all the multi-media out there, but fail to be a total pro at one. You know? It’s a life-long challenge. It’s a great challenge.
I would maybe leave you with these words of wisdom: Don’t take yourself so fricken’ seriously. [Laughs] For any queer media maker, journalist, or person out there: have fun with the serious work you’re doing to make it worth your while. If you can just remember this one thing, this is it.
More Information: Check out Lina’s blog Kox & Kuntz at xtra.ca/blog/montreal
This article originally appeared in Volume 31, Issue 16, published November 30, 2010.
