GF Reader 1 is a compilation of six essays by GenderFail founder Be Oakley compiled together for the first time. This publication features previous released essays from GF titles including Stonewall was a Riot, This is not another photo of a cis gay white man, My Pronoun (Card) #1 and In Defense of the Softcover Books in the GenderFail Archive. The GF Reader also includes Failure as Futuremaking, a new manifesto written in collaboration with artist Noah LeBien.
Be Oakley, (formally known as Brett Suemnicht) Born 1991 in Clearwater, Florida; is a writer, facilitator and publisher based in Brooklyn, NY. Oakley’s projects looks to what Fred Moten calls “the politics of the mess” by framing their identity as a white non-binary queer person in its intersections with failure and internationality. In 2015 they started GenderFail, a publishing and programming initiative that seeks to encourage projects that foster an intersectional queer subjectivity. Their work has been shown in programs and exhibitions at MoMA PS1 (NYC), the Studio Museum of Harlem, The International Center of Photography (NYC), Vox Populi and Sediment Arts. Their publications can be found in the library collections of The Museum of Modern Art, The Whitney Museum, The Met Museum, The Center for Book Arts and many others.