Five badass gender nonconformists, chosen and drawn by Cristy Road Carrera, Illustration MFA ’17
Tourmaline
The Black transgender activist, artist, and filmmaker elevates her story alongside those of “forgotten” icons such as Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera.
Gladys Bentley
Trailblazing Black lesbian blues singer Gladys Bentley (1903–60) defied gender roles in suits and a top hat, leaving an indelible impression on the Harlem Renaissance.
Alok Vaid-Menon
The Southeast Asian multimedia artist challenges conventional ideas about feminine beauty through poetry, comedy, and self-portraiture.
Shoog McDaniel
Through photography, this queer artist with a punk anarchist bent celebrates the symbiosis between fat bodies and nature.
Grace Jones
Beginning in the ’70s, this fashion and music icon forged a radical new representation of gender, race, and beauty.
About the Artist
Cristy Road Carrera, aka Cristy C. Road, is a first-generation Cuban-American illustrator, writer, and punk rock musician in Brooklyn, NY. Her three graphic novels tackle gender identity, sexuality, cultural identity, and healing from trauma. Next World Tarot, her tarot card deck, envisions a world based on radical redefinitions of love and social justice.