Clubber Spotlight: Tom Botting
This week, we’re spotlighting Dazed Club member Tom Botting’s zine titled ‘The Soft Gay’ – an exploration into musings on his own queer journey and the rituals that come with it.
“I sometimes feel like a bad gay. I’m not as enlightened as I want to be and not as liberated as so many gay people and allies have fought for us to be. On top of that, I am generally very sensitive and I have found myself feeling like an open wound more than usual lately. I’m not sure why… It might be the state of the world, or of my relationships, or of this point in time in my life… But I have used this zine as a cathartic release of these emotions and created ‘The Soft Gay’, an exploration of queer sensitivity.
Usually, my deep (and borderline unhinged) feelings get locked away when I slam shut my journal, but this zine gives a little insight into those pages. I did even include some pages of my journal by scanning them in with ribbon or jewellery laid on top, blocking the parts that felt too personal to share. Most of those pages are about my relationship with my boyfriend, Reggie, who is also featured in the zine. Our relationship is as delicate as it is special and he has been a beautiful passenger on this journey.
Beyond my personal life, this zine has been a blessing on my perspective as a fashion student. I have unlocked how fashion can genuinely become an outlet for my feelings with a fashion photo that was styled by me and taken by my housemate, Georgia. The photo is of me dressing up, rediscovering my childhood ritual of squeezing into plastic princess dresses. It’s a special photo for me because Georgia uplifts the soft gay in me everyday and it was only her who could have captured that moment for me.
I spent so many precious moments with this zine, from nights crying into my inDesign file to connecting further with people I love. You know when something happens at the exact moment in time it was meant to? Yeah, I think that’s what this was for me.”
Companies
Dazed Media
- Publishing