While the Hawaiian shirts and one-hitters came out for this weekend’s Lollapalooza, the fans at the third annual Fed Up Fest wore their rattiest denim vests and favorite political buttons. To judge by the name of the queercore collective that organizes the festival, you might not expect it to be a celebration of love and support, but its mission statement calls for just that. “We believe that at the center of liberation is radical love for each other and ourselves,” the organizers write on their Facebook page. “That love pushes us to try to create a better world. Because of that, we are working to minimize the amount of harm that occurs in our space.” Hordes of sweaty punks gathered for workshops on race, transphobia, and mental health, and closed each day with booming hardcore and punk shows.
McKenna Dodson, 19: “I’m from southern Wisconsin, and there’s not a lot of opportunity for stuff like this up there. Both my mom and dad are pretty cool and supportive. They ask a lot of personal questions, and I get that. They just want to understand what I am going through. They’re great. For a long time, I felt really isolated, but queer folks don’t need to get caught up in one narrative. There are lots of different ways to be trans, to be queer.”
