by Melissa S. (Mel) Green
Bent Alaska editor

It’s been nearly a year since I posted “A word from our editor” announcing that Bent Alaska (the blog) would be going into semi-hiatus for a month so that I could return to my own writing.

It turns out that “semi-hiatus” has lasted for far longer, & has been less a semi than full hiatus. And it’s come time to make a complete statement about what is happening, or not, with Bent Alaska.

In short:

• Bent Alaska the blog will continue to be in hiatus indefinitely;
• The Bent Alaska Group on Facebook, founded in February 2013 as a place for Alaska’s LGBTQA community to share news, information, events, and discussion (replacing Bent’s “personal” wall in that role) has grown to over 1600 members. The transition to a “group” model for sharing our news with each other is complete, and we count it a success. The group is thriving, and will continue to thrive.
• Christopher Constant has been doing yeoman’s work as an unacknowledged administrator of the Bent Alaska Facebook group since June. It’s time now to publicly announce Chris as co-administrator of Bent Alaska in general and of the Bent Alaska Group on Facebook in particular.

That was the short version. Now for the long:

A personal statement

I joined Bent Alaska as co-administrator in February 2011, after already having acted as temporary editor a couple of times when Bent’s founding editor, E. Ross, was away. In October 2011, E. Ross left Alaska, and I became Bent Alaska’s sole editor. I agreed to take on this job out of a desire to keep alive what E. Ross has single-handedly turned Bent Alaska into: arguably the most important single source of news and event information for Alaska’s LGBT community.

But from the beginning both E. Ross and I knew that keeping the Bent Alaska blog going would be contingent on getting additional people to help. In fact, a number of people came forward to help with blog posts or behind-the-scenes assistance and support — thank you! — and we also got some unexpected and very welcome financial support from the Last Frontier Drag Kings — thanks again! But as valuable as this help was, no one in the end was able to make an ongoing commitment to share responsibilities as a full co-editor or administrator. I was still effectively shouldering the burden alone.

After three years of extensive public involvement as a blogger and researcher — starting in April 2009 on my own blog Henkimaa.com with Palin’s nomination of Wayne Anthony Ross as Alaska attorney general and continuing with the Anchorage equal rights ordinance AO-64 in summer 2009; a year and a half’s work on the Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey (2010–2012); the Anchorage Baptist Temple housing tax issue; the Andrew Caleb Pritt fiasco; the One Anchorage/Prop 5 campaign; the botched April 2012 Anchorage election and May 2012  recount; two tragic deaths in our community, James Crump at Pride 2011 and Mya Dale by suicide in June 2012; and other events and issues I wrote about in that time — by the end of October last year I was feeling pretty comprehensively burnt out.

When I wrote “A word from our editor” on October 31, 2012, announcing a one-month “semi-hiatus,” I fully intended to return to blogging that December. It didn’t happen; nor did I fulfill my intent to come out of hiatus in February 2013 (as posted on Bent’s FB wall). I had underestimated the extent of my burnout, which had reached a level such that I’ve found it difficult to even visit the Bent Alaska FB group or otherwise conduct any of Bent Alaska’s other work — such as writing this long-overdue post. Burnout is one of those things that puts me into what I’ve termed the cave — not necessarily a bad place, but one from which I have little desire or ability to communicate a whole heck of a lot.

In the meanwhile, I’ve been able to return to my own writing and my own life, and have a better and more fulfilling focus on my day job than I’d had in awhile. I’m feeling happier than I’ve felt in years. The lesson once learned, learned again: there’s only one life I know for certain that I get to live — the one I’m in now. Better take care of it.

After wrestling for some time with what my obligations are, exactly, with regard to Bent Alaska, I’ve come to the conclusion that it is simply unsustainable for one person with a full-time job, who also has important personal-time pursuits (such as my writing, such as my life), to keep up a blog like Bent Alaska all by oneself. An important realization for me — as I have a tendency to guilt-trip myself over responsibilities that, very often, no one has laid on me except myself.

So, again:

Bent Alaska the blog will continue to be in hiatus indefinitely —

— until, if and when, we can find a model for it that doesn’t require one unpaid person to shoulder the vast majority of the work by herself. I will continue to keep the Bent Alaska site with all its content live and available on the web. Bent Alaska has documented much of the experience of the Alaska LGBT community for four-and-a-half years, from March 2008 to October 2012 — a pretty hefty chunk of time.

Bent Alaska Group on Facebook is now the center of Bent Alaska’s internet presence

In February 2013, Bent Alaska Group replaced Bent Alaska’s (individual) Facebook wall as the place to share your LGBTQIA-related news, event announcements, & discussion. This made it possible for community members to share their own news/event information, instead of having to wait for Bent to share it on their behalf. It’s been working, and the group is thriving, currently with over 1600 members. More information about the group, and the minimal rules governing participation in it, can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/bentalaskagroup/.

Bent Alaska is happy to announce Christopher Constant as co-administrator

Chris has already been doing the job without official acknowledgment since June 2013 — for which I can’t thank him enough, as I’ve felt (due to burnout) incapable of even checking in on the group. Thank you, Chris! Chris has also been an occasional contributor of Bent Alaska blog posts, a behind-the-scenes stalwart, and a friend at least since early 2010. Chris is happy to have people contact him publicly or privately via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/akconstant.

(See also Bent Alaska’s wall at https://www.facebook.com/bent.alaska — but please don’t post events/info there: use the group for that.)

Finally…

Now that I’ve finally written this long-overdue post, I am likely to check in (and help) a little more often in the Bent Alaska group, and elsewhere. But my focus will be on doing what I need to do: my life and my writing. If you’re interested in that, you can find me on my personal blog at Henkimaa.com. You can also find me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/yksin.

Thanks to all of those who have contributed blog posts, financial support, and behind-the-scenes support over the past few years. Thanks also to the Alaska LGBTQ community, and all our allies and friends, for your patience, understanding, and support. You’ve made it all worthwhile.

Melissa S. (Mel) Green
Bent Alaska editor

Photo credits: Photos of Christopher Constant by Jeanne Devon of The Mudflats. Other photos by Melissa S. Green.