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Author Bio

Michelle Simotas has taught English and creative writing in community colleges in California since 2008. Michelle is currently completing her doctorate at University of San Francisco in International and Multicultural Education with an emphasis in Racial Justice and a minor in Organization and Leadership. Her research examines what conditions enable college leaders to reimagine education and learning to be creative and liberatory. Michelle has worked with community college faculty, staff, and administrators to transform systems, practices, and pedagogy to be more inclusive and student-centered.

Abstract

If you’re not reading queer Palestinian stories, you should start. Queer Palestinians have been fighting for their right to live and tell their stories, as queer stories have been criminalized and labeled as a threat to “morality and public decency” (Kakissis, 2017, para 10). In November 2023, “Queering the Map” became an online story wall for queer Palestinians living in Gaza to claim space and be remembered (O’Neal, 2023). Reading these and other queer Palestinians’ stories is an act of resistance. It is through these stories that readers can humanize and connect to the queer Palestinian experience, ensuring it cannot be denied. The Skin and Its Girl by Sarah Cypher (2024) is one of those stories that brings to life an existence that colonization attempts to deny.

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