[toggle title=”English Version”]Pride Merch For Sale at Comifuro 17 in Pursuit of Visibility at Public Space
Comic Frontier (Comifuro) is a bi-annual event for artists and Japanese pop culture fans to sell original merchandise like keychains, pins, posters, and stickers. In addition, there have been an increase of artists who sell pride merch in the pursuit of queer visibility at the event.
Comifuro 17 was held on December 16-17, 2023 at the Indonesia Convention Exhibition (ICE) BSD building, South Tangerang. Within the merchant hall of which ten thousands of visitors flooded the area, there were hundreds of booths that sold fan-made merchandise (fanmerch) from anime, manga, games, and original creations, including queer merchandise created and designed by ally friends or gender and sexual minorities.
Through field observation during the event, there were at least five booths that sold queer merchandise like Magnolia which sold original 百合 (yuri or Lesbian) manga as well as Fevers! and Bakpau Chicken which sold accessories with pride flag patterns.
Some of those booths had already sold items at Comifuro events in the past such as Fevers!, a group of artists (known as circle) consisting of three members: Uri, a cisgender pansexual woman, as well as Nemu and Sisu, two cisgender ally women.
Since their first venture at Comifuro 16 in May 2023, Fevers! focused on selling fanmerch for Genshin Impact game and numerous virtual Youtuber characters while sneaking in some queer accessories like boba tea pins with pride flag color accents and keychains in the form of Seelie creature from Genshin Impact, also with similar color motifs.
According to Kak Uri, the design for Seelie keychains came from her friend, Nemu. Lore-wise, Seelie is a fish-like spirit who wishes to befriend everyone regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, hence Nemu decided to design it with pride flag motifs as a form of friendship.
“We created some unique and subtle designs in order to convey a positive message without needing to go overly explicit,” said Kak Uri.
In addition to keychains and pins, there were also stickers with the image of foods & beverages created by Notus, a trans man from Bakpau Chicken circle which consists of five cisgender ally women alongside himself.
Kak Notus designed the stickers in the forms of cake, iced tea, soda, and milkshake with pride flag motifs with safety and subtle messages in mind, in addition to the fact that foods and beverages are universally beloved by everyone.
Obstacles at Comifuro by the event organizers, visitors, and close relatives
Kak Notus, Kak Uri, and numerous other gender and sexual minorities sold pride merch in the pursuit of improving visibility for themselves and others in public space. However, the business at Comifuro wasn’t always running smoothly for them.
Comifuro 15 was the first event that was held by the end of 2022 since the start of COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, there was at least one booth who was able to sell pins with explicit pride flag motifs and a number of visitors were also able to wear the pin.
However, at Comifuro 16, security officers and event organizers forcibly closed down the very same booth due to selling merchandise that were too explicitly queer, despite no such rule existed that prohibit selling pride merch. As the writer questioned their legal reason, the event organizer refused to respond.
In addition, there were also a number of discrimination acts by the visitors. Kak Uri said, “A number of people passed in front of our booth and mocked our queer merchandise and sometimes they did it while directly looking at our product catalogue.”
“Not only anonymous visitors, but some friends also visited the event and saw me selling these products. I feel anxious, but at the very least they already knew my identity firsthand.”
However, the more concerning scenario would be their family members or close relatives discovering their activity at Comifuro, especially considering some of the artists are college students and relying on their parents for their daily life.
At the time, Kak Uri just graduated from college and still hadn’t gotten a job, hence she was afraid if her family found out about her activity or if they barged into her room and discovered those items.
On the flipside, Kak Notus who is still a new college student suffered from a different form of discrimination by his family. Despite already coming out, his family refuses to acknowledge his identity as a trans man along with all his activities related to gender and sexual minority.
Hard-fought battle to improve visibility and spirit for the community and themselves
In spite of their numerous and dangerous obstacles, these gender and sexual minority artists continue their hard-fought battle in selling queer merch at Comifuro events for themselves and others.
“I’m extremely happy to know that I’m not alone in this open public space. Even though these food and beverage stickers are all I can currently sell, I want to be more open and help increase other minority friends’ confidence,” said Kak Notus.
“The happiest feeling I can experience here is when I see the positive reaction from the people who bought my merchandise, especially if we continue to talk to each other and they come out to me.”
Although not every booth has a desire to expand their business outside of Comifuro, some of them do wish to expand their business and friendship out there, such as Kak Uri and the Fevers! circle.
“I really want to sell merchandise at Comifuro and other events. By doing so, I can further support and encourage others to accept their identity or other gender and sexual minorities,” kak Uri explained.
The next 18th Comifuro event is going to be held on May 11-12, 2024 at ICE BSD building again. They have great expectations to be able to return and solidify the visibility of gender and sexual minorities in public space. Therefore, let us all visit them and show our support for their effort, welfare and advocacy!
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Oleh: Lena Tama*
SuaraKita.org – Comic Frontier (Comifuro) yang berlangsung dua kali setahun adalah acara unjuk gigi para seniman dan penggemar budaya pop Jepang dengan menjual karya seni olahan sendiri seperti gantungan kunci, pin, poster, dan stiker. Selain itu, mulai nampak juga bertambahnya seniman yang menjual karya bernuansa pride dalam rangka visibilitas di ruang publik di acara tersebut.
Acara Comifuro ke-17 berlangsung dari tanggal 16-17 Desember 2023 di gedung Indonesia Convention Exhibition (ICE) BSD, Tangerang Selatan. Di tengah-tengah aula perdagangan karya seni yang penuh oleh kurang lebih 10 ribu pengunjung, terdapat ratusan booth penjual karya fan (fanmerch) anime, manga, game, dan karangan orisinil mereka, termasuk karya-karya seni queer olahan kekawanan ally maupun teman-teman minoritas gender dan seksual.
Dari observasi di lapangan, terdapat minimal lima booth penjual karya queer seperti Magnolia yang menjual komik-komik orisinil bergenre 百合 (yuri atau Lesbian) serta Fevers! dan Bakpau Chicken yang menjual aksesoris dengan motif bendera-bendera pride.
Beberapa booth tersebut sudah beberapa kali berjualan di acara Comifuro, seperti booth Fevers! yang merupakan sekumpulan seniman (dikenal dengan istilah circle) terdiri dari tiga orang: Uri seorang perempuan cis panseksual serta Nemu dan Sisu, dua teman perempuan cisgender ally.
Berjualan sejaku Comifuro 16 pada bulan Mei 2023, Fevers! fokus berjualan fanmerch untuk game Genshin Impact serta karakter-karakter virtual Youtuber sambil menyematkan dagangan pin teh boba dengan aksen warna bendera-bendera pride dan gantungan kunci berbentuk karakter Seelie dari Genshin Impact dengan motif warna serupa.
Menurut kak Uri, desain gantungan kunci Seelie ini adalah ide dari temannya, Nemu. Menurut cerita pada game-nya, makhluk roh seperti ikan ini ingin berteman dengan semua orang tanpa pandang orientasi seksual maupun identitas gender, sehingga Nemu memutuskan untuk memberi motif bendera-bendera pride sebagai bentuk pertemanan.
“Kami membuat desain yang unik dan tersirat agar bisa menyampaikan pesan positif tanpa harus terlalu terbuka,” ujar kak Uri.
Selain gantungan kunci dan pin, ada juga stiker-stiker berbentuk makanan & minuman yang merupakan karya Notus, sosok trans pria dari circle Bakpau Chicken yang terdiri dari lima anggota perempuan cisgender ally dan dirinya.
Kak Notus membuat stiker desain kue, es teh, soda, dan milkshake berwarna bendera-bendera pride dengan pertimbangan desain tersebut cukup aman dan tersirat, ditambah makanan dan minuman adalah suatu hal universal yang semua orang sukai.
Rintangan di Comifuro oleh panitia, pengunjung, dan kerabat dekat
Kak Notus, kak Uri, dan sejumlah seniman minoritas gender dan seksual lainnya berjualan karya-karya pride dengan tujuan meningkatkan visibilitas teman-teman dan diri sendiri di ruang publik. Akan tetapi, berjualan di acara Comifuro ini tidak selalu berjalan mulus bagi mereka.
Comifuro ke-15 adalah acara pertama yang mereka selenggarakan pada akhir tahun 2022 semenjak masa pandemi COVID-19. Saat itu, terdapat satu booth yang boleh menjual pin bermotif bendera-bendera pride dan sejumlah pengunjung pun boleh mengenakan pin tersebut.
Akan tetapi, pada acara Comifuro 16, petugas keamanan dan panitia membubarkan booth yang sama dengan alasan menjual karya-karya yang terlalu menampakkan motif bendera pride, meski tidak ada aturan tertulis yang melarang penjualan barang-barang tersebut. Ketika penulis menanyakan alasan pembubaran secara lebih jelas, pihak panitia menolak memberi jawaban.
Selain itu, ada juga tindak diskriminasi dari sejumlah pengunjung. Menurut kak Uri, “Beberapa pengunjung melewati booth kami dan nyindir dagangan queer kami atau kadang sambil melihati dagangan kami yang lainnya.”
“Selain pengunjung asing, ada juga kekawanan lain yang berkunjung ke acara dan melihat saya berjualan pernak-pernik ini. Ada rasa gugup, tapi mereka sudah tahu identitas saya,” lanjutnya.
Hal yang lebih mereka takutkan adalah bila keluarga dekat mengetahui aktivitas mereka di Comifuro, terlebih karena beberapa dari mereka masih berkuliah dan bergantung pada orang tua mereka dalam kehidupan sehari-hari.
Kak Uri saat itu masih baru lulus kuliah dan belum mendapatkan pekerjaan, sehingga sangat khawatir bila keluarganya tahu bahwa beliau berjualan pernak-pernik queer ataupun bila keluarganya masuk ke kamar tanpa izin lalu menemukan barang-barang tersebut.
Di sisi lain, kak Notus yang masih merupakan mahasiswa tingkat awal mengalami diskriminasi yang berbeda dari keluarganya. Meski sempat coming out, keluarganya menolak mengakui identitasnya sebagai trans pria maupun segala aktivitasnya yang berkaitan dengan minoritas gender dan seksual.
Berjuang meningkatkan visibilitas dan keberanian untuk komunitas dan diri sendiri
Meski rintangan yang harus mereka lalui itu berat dan banyak, para seniman minoritas gender dan seksual ini terus memperjuangkan penjualan pernak-pernik queer mereka di Comifuro untuk diri mereka sendiri dan orang lain.
“Saya bahagia bisa tahu bahwa saya tidak sendirian di ruang publik ini. Meski baru berjualan stiker makanan ini, saya ingin lebih terbuka dan membantu meningkatkan rasa percaya diri teman-teman minoritas lainnya,” ujar kak Notus.
“Rasa paling bahagia adalah ketika melihat reaksi positif orang-orang yang membeli barang saya, apalagi bila mereka lanjut bercerita atau coming out pada saya,” lanjutnya.
Meski tidak semua booth tersebut punya kehendak berjualan di luar acara Comifuro, ada juga yang ingin menambah jaringan penjualan dan pertemanan mereka, seperti kak Uri dan circle Fevers!
“Ingin sekali bisa berjualan di Comifuro dan acara lainnya. Dengan begitu, saya bisa semakin mendukung dan membantu orang lain agar menerima identitas dirinya maupun kawan-kawan minoritas gender dan seksual lainnya,” ujar kak Uri.
Acara Comifuro berikutnya, yang ke-18, akan berlangsung pada tanggal 11-12 Mei 2024 di gedung ICE BSD kembali. Besar harapan mereka untuk bisa berjualan kembali dan mengokohkan visibilitas para minoritas gender dan seksual di ruang publik. Oleh karena itu, mari kunjungi dan dukung usaha mereka untuk kelangsungan hidup dan advokasi mereka!
*Penulis adalah seorang penerjemah dan penulis lepas dari tahun 2016, Lena mulai mendalami dunia jurnalistik pada tahun 2020 bersama The Jakarta Post. Selain menulis, ia juga terlibat dalam pelatihan keamanan sosial dan pergerakan aktivisme untuk komunitas LGBTQ.
